Apple’s Peek Performance event: rumors, news, and announcements

Apple has a “Pro” problem — while some products bearing the label are clearly intended for professional use (like Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, and the Mac Pro), years of Apple and competitors slapping the name onto wireless earbuds and slightly fancier phones have made it hard to tell what “Pro” even means. Which is why my ears perked up when Apple used a different word to describe its new computer and monitor that clearly targeted its audience of creative professionals: “Studio.” I wondered if I was witnessing the start of a new brand for Apple.

From the jump, Apple made it clear who the Mac Studio and Studio Display were for. It showed them being used by musicians, 3D artists, and developers in its presentation, and the message was clear: these are products for creative professionals or people who aspire to be creative professionals. You know, the same exact crowd it’s targeted with MacBook Pro commercials for years.

Apple’s announcement of the Mac Studio on Tuesday may have fulfilled a dream that some Mac users have been clinging to for a couple of decades. Finally, there’s a modular desktop Mac that’s more powerful than the Mac mini without carrying the Mac Pro’s high price tag.

Back in the ‘90s and early 2000s, being a Mac nerd meant using a Power Mac. The arrival of the original iMac in 1998 was greeted with enthusiasm by Mac nerds because it meant that Steve Jobs might be able to restore Apple to greatness after it foundered in the mid-’90s—but none of them would ever stoop to using one themselves.

As expected, preorders have officially opened up for the newest iPad to hit Apple’s lineup: the 2022 iPad Air. Announced alongside the new iPhone SE and Mac Studio during the company’s “Peek Performance” event on March 8th, the new base model starts at $599 and will be available beginning March 18th. You can, however, preorder the iPad Air starting today, March 11th, from Apple, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and a handful of other retailers.

The iPad Air boasts the same M1 chip found in the latest iPad Pro, as well as 5G connectivity and a USB-C port that allows for faster data transfer speeds. Apple says its eight-core CPU is up to 60 percent faster than the A14 Bionic processor in the 2020 iPad Air, too, and its eight-core GPU should provide two times the graphics power of its predecessor. The tablet houses a 12MP front-facing camera that can take advantage of Apple’s Center Stage feature, which is designed to automatically keep you centered in the frame during video calls.

At its “Peek Performance” hardware event, Apple announced the third-generation iPhone SE. It’s similar in many ways to the 2020 version, with a 4.7-inch screen that’s surrounded on top and bottom by thick bezels. Notably, it’s still the only iPhone that Apple sells with Touch ID biometrics. But it has received three big enhancements since the last-gen phone, and you can probably guess one of them from the name: 5G, claims of better battery life than the previous SE, and Apple’s modern A15 Bionic processor that’s in the iPhone 13.

We’ll have a full review of the phone on the site soon. But if you’ve arrived at this page, it’s because you want to know how much the iPhone SE with 5G is going to cost, when you can get it, and whether carriers are offering sweet promotions. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do next.

The new iPhone SE may look eerily familiar to anyone who has seen an iPhone in the last eight years, but as Apple has shown us with its budget line, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The latest entry-level iPhone is set to come out on March 18th, with preorders going live on Friday, March 11th, and when it does it will be packing a beefy A15 Bionic processor and a slightly higher starting price of $429 with 64GB of storage. That’s the same processor found in the iPhone 13 line, making the SE nearly as capable as other current iPhones. But what if you’re not just shopping in Apple’s world? How does a “budget” iPhone compare to Android phones within a comparable range of value?

First off, let’s get the most obvious determining factor out of the way. If you use an Apple Watch, AirPods, AirPlay, or are a blue bubble in iMessage, you most likely want to just turn back now. Yes, there are alternatives to all of these in the realm of Android, but each one will present a level of friction that may be too much for many. Though if you’re considering making a switch, there’s a lot to like outside of Apple’s walled garden.

Apple’s site says that its new 27-inch, 5K Studio Display is compatible with a wide range of Macs (and even some iPads), but the company has also told The Verge that it should also work fine when plugged into a Windows PC. There are a few caveats, of course, but if your PC is capable of outputting to it, the Studio Display should act like any normal monitor with a built-in webcam and speakers.

The webcam’s Windows compatibility has been a bit in question; Apple’s website states that “Studio Display camera features and firmware updates require connection to a Mac.” While that language is unclear, Apple spokesperson Alex Bender told The Verge that the Studio Display’s built-in 12 megapixel camera should work like a normal USB webcam when you’re using a PC.

There was a time not long ago when it seemed like Apple spent more time telling its customers what they wanted rather than just giving it to them. 

Convenient features like SD card slots, HDMI ports, and a traditional laptop keyboard were unceremoniously booted from MacBooks in favor of USB-C and a disastrous butterfly keyboard paired with a divisive OLED touch bar. Apple’s professionally focused Mac Pro was given a space-efficient cylindrical redesign that failed at the basic task of keeping power-hungry components (like those a professional user might actually need) cool.

Apple announced a new iPad Air during its “Peek Performance” event on March 8th. While the design is similar to that of the last-gen Air, Apple did introduce a few iterative changes.

For one, the iPad Air now shares the same blazing-fast M1 processor found in the most recent iPad Pro. The new Air also touts a 12MP front camera (updated from the last gen’s 7MP) equipped with Apple’s Center Stage feature, which can automatically follow you in the frame during video calls. There’s also 5G connectivity on the cellular models, a USB-C port that’s up to twice as fast as the last gen’s port, and 10Gbps of data transfer speeds.

Apple launched a new Magic Mouse today, March 8th, 2022. It’s a slick-looking black version. It also still has its charging port on the bottom — meaning that six and a half years after its introduction, Apple still seems to think that the best way to charge the mouse is by flipping it over (rendering it useless) and plugging in a Lightning cable.

Here’s a little secret: I copied and pasted most of that last sentence from an article I wrote about this exact issue nearly a year ago, when Apple introduced a whole line of colorful Magic Mice and had the opportunity to change how they charge, but didn’t. Apple has kept this charge-on-the-bottom design since October 2015.

Lining up with many of the last-minute rumors, Apple’s “Peek Performance” event revealed that we’ll have a new compact Mac machine to look forward to. As you might expect, the new Mac Studio can be equipped with either the M1 Max or the new M1 Ultra CPU. The Mac Studio also boasts an impressive number of connectivity options, in addition to Apple’s latest proprietary chip.

The Mac Studio bears a striking resemblance to the 2020 version of the Mac Mini. According to our review by Chris Welch, this model of the Mac Mini offered an “appealing price for the power it offers.” And thanks in part to the M1 CPU, provided “blazing performance.”

Now that the dust has settled from Apple’s “Peek Performance” event, we know that the latest entry in the iPhone lineup is the iPhone SE (2022). It’s a new iteration of the budget model from 2020, and it’s set to launch March 18th with preorders opening on March 11th. This new iPhone SE rounds out the entry-level offering from Apple, coming in at a slightly higher price of $429 (an increase of $30) and equipped with the latest A15 Bionic CPU, 5G compatibility, a slightly larger battery, and more durable glass on the front and rear.

There’s a lot to like in the 2022 iPhone SE — especially if you love a Touch ID fingerprint sensor and home button — even if it still has a dated design with a smaller 4.7-inch screen and big bezels. So how does it stack up to the iPhone 13 line? Can the budget darling compete with the big guns at the flagship level that share its processor? Let’s dive into what specs the new iPhone SE has and compare it to each model in the iPhone 13 lineup, specifically the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Apple just introduced the third-generation iPhone SE, and it has some nice improvements, including support for sub-6GHz 5G and an A15 processor. But Apple is also claiming it has longer battery life, and it seems that’s in part because the phone has a physically larger battery — a fact about the new iPhone SE that the company confirmed on background in a group briefing with reporters.

Apple hasn’t shared the battery capacity, so we’ll have to wait for teardowns to see exactly how much juice it has. But comparing the new SE’s tech specs page with the old one, Apple is promising some decent improvements.

Apple has just finished its Peek Performance event, where it introduced a new version of the iPhone SE with its latest mobile processor and 5G, a new desktop Mac aimed at creative professionals, and an external monitor that doesn’t have a $5,000 starting price (finally). If you’re looking for a quick round-up, here are the biggest announcements Apple made in its hour-long presentation.

Apple announced a new addition to its Apple Silicon lineup, with the M1 Ultra. The TL;DR is that it’s basically two M1 Max chips put together, supporting up to 128GB of RAM. Apple says it’s eight times faster than the standard M1 chip. The M1 Ultra will be available in the Mac Studio and likely in the Mac Pro that Apple teased as an upcoming announcement. Speaking of...

Following a host of late-breaking rumors, Apple officially announced a new Mac during its “Peek Performance” event today, adding another machine to its expanding desktop lineup. Each configuration of the Mac Studio, as it’s called, will feature either Apple’s M1 Max or its new M1 Ultra processor, with the M1 Max and M1 Ultra models starting at $1,999 and $3,999, respectively. Apple also introduced the forthcoming Studio Display, a new monitor that starts at $1,599 and is designed as a companion to Apple’s new desktop machine. Both products are available for preorder starting today, with shipping slated to begin on Friday, March 18th.

If you’re looking for additional details or to preorder the Mac Studio or the monitor ahead of our reviews, we’ve compiled a list of retailers currently offering the new devices below.

Apple announced a new Mac and monitor at its Peek Performance event, but let’s talk about what we were all really hoping for in our heart of hearts: a black version of the Magic Trackpad. Please hold your applause, and let the darkness consume you.

It’s been a second since the company has sold a dark version of the trackpad separately. The space grey (which was decidedly lighter than the version on Apple’s store now) version was discontinued early last year. The black and silver version was available — if you bought a Mac Pro. In fact, the Mac Pro product page still says that the “matching trackpad can only be purchased with your Mac Pro” at time of writing. But nobody would do that just to get a black trackpad. (Please do not tell me you would or, worse, have. I cannot mentally handle it.)

Apple has finally discontinued the 27-inch iMac. Minutes after Apple’s Peek Performance event wrapped, the last of the Intel iMacs disappeared from its online store.

It’s not as if this news is surprising. Ever since Apple announced it was switching to its own chips, the Intel iMac’s days were numbered. That said, the 27-inch iMac was still available after last spring’s Spring Loaded event, which introduced the 24-inch M1 iMac. It made sense. At the time, there wasn’t really another option for people who wanted a larger desktop screen that wasn’t the ludicrously expensive Pro XDR Display.

Apple’s new Mac Studio has officially arrived on the scene as the most powerful computer powered by its in-house Apple silicon chips yet — including the new M1 Ultra processor the company announced alongside the new desktop computer. But the Mac Studio’s power doesn’t come cheap: while it starts at $1,999 for the entry model (powered by an M1 Max chip) and $3,999 for the cheapest M1 Ultra version, getting a fully specced-out machine will set you back an eye-watering $7,999.

You’re getting some serious bang for your buck, at least (which it had better, given that it costs more than a 2011 Honda Accord): an M1 Ultra processor with the full 20-core CPU and 64-core GPU configuration (instead of the 48-core GPU on the “base” M1 Ultra), 128GB of memory, and an 8TB SSD.

Apple has just announced its new Studio Display, a 27-inch 5K Retina display with a built-in webcam. While it isn’t quite as high-end as Apple’s Pro Display XDR, the Studio Display has one big advantage over it: for the $1,599 you’ll pay for the monitor, you’ll also get an included stand.

The lack of a stand was one of the biggest criticisms of Apple’s $4,999 (starting price) 6K Pro Display XDR when it was announced in 2019 — and perhaps more outrageous was that Apple’s official stand accessory cost an eye-watering $999. Fortunately, Apple isn’t forcing you to pay that kind of premium to be able to stand the Studio Display on your desk.

Apple’s rolling out its highly anticipated iOS 15.4 update next week. The update, which has been in beta since January, comes packed with an array of exciting new features offering improvements to the overall user experience.

Apple doesn’t pinpoint an exact release date, but it may become available as an update starting on March 18th. This is the same day Apple’s new iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro with sleek green finishes become available. As noted on the press release, each phone will ship with iOS 15.4, so it would only make sense to launch the update on the same day.

Apple just announced a new external display during its “Peek Performance” event. The Studio Display is designed to be the ideal companion for the company’s Mac lineup — including the brand new Mac Studio desktop powered by the M1 Ultra chip. With a starting price of $1,599, this is Apple’s first monitor targeted at prosumers in many years.

The Studio Display has a 27-inch, 5K screen encased in an aluminum enclosure. The display can reach up to 600 nits of brightness, supports P3 wide color, and also works with macOS’s TrueTone feature. Its specs are quite similar to the panel from the now-discontinued 27-inch iMac, though brightness topped out at a lower 500 nits on the iMac. Above the Studio Display’s screen is a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera for video conferencing.

Apple has announced the Mac Studio, a desktop system that looks like the Mac Mini on the outside but packs a lot more power on the inside. The Mac Studio features both Apple’s M1 Max chip and a new, even more powerful processor, the M1 Ultra. It looks a bit similar to the Mac Mini, but Apple claims that the new device will be faster than even its top-of-the-line Mac Pro.

The chassis is 3.7 inches tall; Apple claims it “fits perfectly under most displays” and will remain quiet under heavy workloads. The rear includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as a 10Gb Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI, and an audio jack. It supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. The front includes two USB-C ports (10 Gbps on M1 Max systems, 40 Gbps/Thunderbolt 4 on M1 Ultra systems) and an SD card slot. The Mac Studio can support up to four Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV, Apple says.

The next generation of Apple Silicon chips has arrived with the announcement of the company’s new M1 Ultra SoC (system on a chip), the latest entry to Apple’s M1 chipset lineup that’s even more powerful than the M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips it’s released so far.

The key to the M1 Ultra is Apple’s UltraFusion architecture — effectively, Apple is fusing together two separate M1 Max chips into a single, massive SoC, thanks to the 2.5TB/s inter-processor connection that the M1 Max offers. That design lets Apple double virtually all the specs from its M1 Max chip on the M1 Ultra: 20 CPU cores (16 performance and four efficiency), 64 GPU cores, a 32-core Neural Engine for AI processing, and up to 128GB of RAM. All told, Apple says that the M1 Ultra offers eight times the performance of the regular M1.

Apple announced today it’s bringing weekly baseball games to subscribers of Apple TV Plus.

During the company’s Peek Performance event on Tuesday, Apple boss Tim Cook announced that Apple’s streaming service will feature two Major League Baseball games on Friday nights during the regular season. Kicking off when the season begins, Friday Night Baseball will feature pregame and postgame programming.

Apple has announced an update to the iPad Air a year and a half after it gave the tablet an iPad Pro-style redesign. Much of that redesign is still intact, but the new iPad Air model has been updated with a faster M1 processor, first seen in Apple’s Macs. It also supports 5G, and the USB-C port is up to twice as fast with 10Gbps of data transfer speeds.

It’ll be available starting at $599 for the Wi-Fi-only model, rising to $749 for the Wi-Fi and cellular version. It’ll come with 64GB or 256GB of storage and available colors include gray, pink, purple, blue, and a silver / gold cross Apple is calling “starlight.” Preorders open this Friday, March 11th, and the tablet will be on sale on March 18th.