Apple uses to treat all public-facing announcements as activities. Even on the surface of investors and the media, it is a well-designed circus. If there is any conclusion to the new evens-free launch of the company since the introduction of the iPhone 16 series six months ago, it’s already past every word hanging on Apple.
Some of this boils down to the company’s new preference for recorded, highly edited video presentations rather than live performances. Some of these may also be related to the fact that since Apple began making chips to power its smartphones, tablets and computers, most “new” things have introduced spec bumps. Since the iPhone 16, Apple has managed to announce eight new products, and if you figure out a new chip that debuted in one of the company’s updated desktop computers, nine. From Apple’s latest release to the last 2024 new computers.
M4 MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is one of Apple’s most popular laptops, so it’s the only thing that comes naturally, and it should get the latest M4 chip. Fortunately, this extra power source doesn’t come at the expense of a more expensive computer. The 13-inch MacBook Air now starts at $999, and the 15-inch model costs $1,199, which is less than the $1,099 you once had to pay to get the M3 MacBook Air. The new laptop also comes with an improved 12MP center stage webcam, as well as a new metallic color option Apple’s voiceover “Sky Blue”. This isn’t the most exciting announcement, but a new laptop that features twice as powerful as Apple’s M1 computer at a lower price.
Mac Studio
Apple’s update to the MacBook Air announced Mac Studio is more like a pure spec bump. The studio has no facelift changes: the short, stout computer still has a USB port and an SD card reader on the front, and more I/O options on the back. The difference is the chip that powers Mac studios internally. Apple offers the M4 Max with a 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU or the new M3 Ultra Chip, which gives the studio plenty of swing space to handle most professional creative workloads. With the M4 Max you can get up to 128GB of unified memory, but if you choose the M3 Ultra, you can always reach 512GB. All of these powers will cost you, though. The Mac Studio with the M4 Max starts at $1,999, while the M3 Ultra version starts at $3,999.
M3 Ultra
The M3 Ultra is a truly novel part of the Mac Studio update. Later chips occupy the top spot in Apple’s M3 lineup, with 32-core CPUs (24 of which are performance cores), up to 80-core GPUs and 32-core neural engines. Apple claims that the M3 Ultra is more than twice as powerful as the M1 Ultra, probably because it is technically two M3 Max chips and is connected to the company’s “super-in-one” architecture. The new chip also supports Thunderbolt 5’s connection speeds and is specific with up to 512GB of unified memory. Currently, the M3 Ultra is only available on MAC Studio, which oddly disconnects the MAC Pro from the loop. Apple’s most expensive Mac may be updated soon, or maybe waiting for a more powerful chip on the wing.
M3 iPad Air
The same week Apple updated the MacBook Air and Mac Studio, which also tweaked the iPad Air to offer a new M3 chip for 11 or 13-inch tablets, and an updated version of the magic keyboard with a feature line and a slightly larger trackpad. The iPad Air is already able to own Apple Intelligence and is very fast with the M2 chips it receives in 2024, so Apple’s announcements mostly keep it competitive, and unless you’re interested in ray tracing, these chips are available in certain console games that the iPad ports to iPad. The new iPad Air starts at $599, while the new Magic keyboard starts at $260, and strangely, there is only white.
iPad
Apple’s changes to entry-level iPads are even smaller. It has been upgraded from the A14 Bionic chip to the A16, which means the tablet is faster, but it still won’t work with Apple Intelligence. The new tablet also starts with larger storage space. Now, without at least 128GB of storage, you won’t get an iPad instead of the easy-to-candid 64GB iPad offered by Apple. That’s not bad, even for Apple’s $349 price starts. Still, besides being the go-to choice for families looking to buy a tablet for their kids or grandparents, Apple’s basic iPad seems to be a way to get people into more expensive options.
iPhone 16e
Waiting for a replacement for the 2022 iPhone SE is long, and it turns out that Apple wants to come up with this idea a bit unexpected. The company started the year, turning the SE into the iPhone 16E, the new low-end of the company’s smartphone lineup. The iPhone 16e is a weird blend of iPhone Old & New. It has an A18 chip, which means it can handle the small Apple smart that currently has to offer, it looks like the iPhone 14, but comes with an singular camera. For some reason it doesn’t have magsafe. The iPhone 16e isn’t a deal, but it’s cheaper and more importantly, it’s Apple’s first phone with a custom C1 modem.
M4 Mac mini
Small computers are always pleasing, and the more compact M4 Mac Mini Apple released by late 2024 is no exception. The updated Mac Mini looks more like a tall Apple TV than the shape of Apple’s older model’s Flat DVD player, which also has a front port. With a price of as low as $599, the Mac Mini gives you access to the latest M4 chip and up to 64GB of unified memory, it’s a powerful little machine. With the option to plug it into the M4 Pro, it can even be your workhorse. The Mac mini represents another side of the specifications Apple is focusing on recently. New chips aren’t the most exciting thing in the world, but it’s worth it if it can lead to a fundamentally smaller computer.
M4 iMac
The move of iMac toward M4 is far less than the overhaul of MAC MINI. Apple changed some color options, added a 12MP webcam, and introduced optional nanotext effects to the display, but otherwise it was the same old 24-inch fully reasonable computer. Interestingly, the bigger news in iMac refresh is probably its accessories. After switching to the USB-C port on basically all devices, Apple finally got rid of the lightning ports on the Magic Mouse and Magic keyboards. The mouse is still charging upside down, but at least you can use the same cable for everything. This might be the representation of the entire iMac: it has the same quirks, but definitely better than before.
M4 MacBook Pro
Shortly after Apple launched the iPhone 16, the new laptops were mainly tools to introduce the entire M4 chip family. Apple hasn’t really changed the design of the MacBook Pro, it just gives it more RAM, more Thunderbolt ports and a slightly brighter screen. The MacBook Pro comes in 14-inch and 16-inch varieties with M4, M4 Pro or M4 Max chips. The cheap side of the M4 chip has a 10-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, while the high-end M4 MAX has a 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU. The M4 MacBook Pros has started the cascading wave of Apple’s introduction of Spec Bumps over the past few months, and the company’s AI focus: The M4 chip has a larger NPU or neuroengine for completing AI tasks, no matter which version you get.
