Apple Announces New iPhone SE, iPad Air, and Powerful Mac Studio

Apple unveiled several new products during its first media event of the year today. As expected, the company refreshed its iPhone SE, the most affordable model in the iPhone family with a newer chip complete with 5G connectivity.

The 2022 iPhone SE keeps the same design introduced with the iPhone 8 but adds an A15 Bionic chip under the hood. This is the same chip that powers the iPhone 13, and it will bring better performance and battery life to the iPhone SE. In addition to 5G support, other notable updates include new color options and the inclusion of more durable glass on both the front and the back of the device.

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Apple also unveiled today a new iPad Air that uses the same M1 chip previously seen on the iPad Pro and Apple Silicon Macs. This new iPad Air also comes with a 12MP ultra-wide camera on the front with Center Stage, a feature that automatically pans the camera to keep users in view as they move around. There’s also a new USB-C port that supports up to 2x faster data transfer speeds, and 5G cellular connectivity is available as an option.

The highlight of Apple’s event was definitely the company’s new Mac Studio, which will be available with an M1 Max chip or the brand new M1 Ultra variant. This new M1 Ultra chip uses a new die-to-die “UltraFusion” interconnect technology to connect two M1 Max chips together to deliver even more performance. Apple pointed out that macOS will still see the M1 Ultra as a single chip, which means that app developers won’t need to do any extra work to support a new architecture.

“M1 Ultra can be configured with up to 128GB of high-bandwidth, low-latency unified memory that can be accessed by the 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine, providing astonishing performance for developers compiling code, artists working in huge 3D environments that were previously impossible to render, and video professionals who can transcode video to ProRes up to 5.6x faster than with a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner,” Apple explained today.

The new Mac Studio has been designed for Mac users looking for a compact and powerful workstation. The new desktop looks like a bigger and taller Mac Mini, and it has two USB-C ports on the front and an SD card port. On the back, there are four Thunderbolt 4 ports, one Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, and a pro audio jack.

The Mac Studio can provide up to 128GB of unified memory on systems with an M1 Ultra, and the SSD delivers up to 7.4GB/s speeds and a capacity of up to 8TB. “Every element inside Mac Studio was designed to optimize the performance of M1 Max and M1 Ultra, producing an unprecedented amount of power and capability in a form factor that can live right on a desk,” Apple said today.

To complement the new Mac Studio, Apple also unveiled an all-new Studio Display today. It comes with a 27-inch 5K Retina display With 600 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, and True Tone support. The built-in stand can tilt the display up to 30 degrees, but there’s also tilt- and height-adjustable stand option
as well as a VESA adapter mount option.

Apple’s new Studio Display comes with an A13 Bionic chip inside to control the 12MP ultra-wide camera that supports the aforementioned Center Stage feature. Additionally, the Studio Display features studio-quality mics and a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system that supports Dolby Atmos for music and videos.

Here are the pricing details for Apple’s new products, which will all start shipping on March 18:

  • iPhone SE: $429 for the 64GB model, up to $579 for the 256GB version
  • iPad Air: $599 for the 64GB model, up to $749 for the 256GB model with 5G
  • Mac Studio: The M1 Max model starts at $1,999, and the M1 Ultra model starts at $3,999.

Apple did mention at the end of today’s event that the Mac Pro family will also get its Apple Silicon refresh soon, and it will be interesting to see if Apple has an even more powerful chip than the M1 Ultra in the pipeline. The company is also expected to release new MacBook models later this year, including a redesigned MacBook Air that could be the first Mac to come with a new M2 chip.

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Conversation 81 comments

  • Donte

    08 March, 2022 - 2:58 pm

    <p>So no new M2 or a new Macbook Air with the M2, or the higher end Mac Mini with a M2. (Intel Mac mini still on their web site) or larger iMac with the M1Pro/Max. Instead we get the M1 Ultra, essentially 8 M1’s glued together. Is the Mac Pro dead and this Mac Studio its replacement.</p><p><br></p><p>The Apple rumor mill is always fun to watch. Often it is so wrong.</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      08 March, 2022 - 3:08 pm

      <p>At the end of the event they said <span style="color: rgb(66, 66, 66);">there’s "just one more product to go, Mac Pro, but that is for another day."&nbsp;</span></p>

      • arjay

        08 March, 2022 - 3:17 pm

        <p>One to go means the Pro is the last of the Intel Macs.</p>

        • Skandalous

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 3:17 am

          <p>I don’t think they were talking about the Intel Mac Pro. This entire event was focused on Apple Silicon, and I don’t think Apple would end it by openly hint at another Intel-based Mac. At this point, updates to the Intel Mac Pro seem destined strictly for press releases. I think Apple’s got another plan for a larger body + the M1 Ultra and I’m looking forward to seeing what it is…</p>

          • bkkcanuck

            10 March, 2022 - 1:21 am

            <p>’One more to go’ meant there was one more mac to update to Apple silicon… it was to reassure pros that don’t want to go with a trashcan style pro machine — that they have not been forgotten about this time… this was not a replacement for the Mac Pro… it is next up to be assimilated by Apple silicon…</p>

    • bkkcanuck

      08 March, 2022 - 9:24 pm

      <p>The M2 event announcement never made any sense as a rumor, i.e. having an event around an old design (very old), with a new M2 chip… If they were going to have any first M2 event – it would be the redesigned Macbook Air. The Mac Studio device was long rumoured, but many dismissed it being introduced before WWDC using what was previously code named ‘Jade2C’ (JadeC-Chop aka M1 Pro, JadeC-Die aka M1 Max, Jade2C aka M1 Ultra are all out now, the only one left is Jade4C which is the basis of the Mac Pro (educated guess). [4C is 4 M1 Max Chiplets]. </p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 March, 2022 - 12:33 am

      <p>Annoucing M1 Ultra and M2 at the same time would be confusing for some people. It makes sense to separate them into different events.</p><p><br></p><p>The M2 supposedly has faster single core performance than the M1 generation and includes ProRes as standard (that was reserved for the Pro/Max/Ultra in the M1 line), but it isn’t as powerful as the M1 Pro+ models.</p><p><br></p><p>It makes sense to have a professional event and then, later, a second consumer event for the entry level 2nd generation chips.</p><p><br></p><p>As to the Mac Pro, the article states that Apple explicitly says that a Mac Pro announcement is in the pipeline. But, unless you have Intel only software that tanks on ARM, I would say the current Mac Pro Xeon is dead in the water, given the Studio is over 5x faster… I can see some studios with an all-Intel workflow still buying them, because they haven’t been able to transition to ARM, but apart from that, the market must be increasingly small for them.</p>

      • crunchyfrog

        09 March, 2022 - 7:46 am

        <p>Having four different M series CPU’s is already confusing to me by name alone. I think Intel did a better job with i3, i5, i7, etc. This naming scheme created an entire branding that others copied because it created a mental picture of the capabilities of each product line. Adding things like Max, Ultra, etc. to each gets confusing because there’s no obvious escalation between these as words alone. Had Apple used numerical designations; ie. M1, M2, M3, M4, this would have been far easier to follow.</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 9:28 am

          <p>To be honest, I think the Apple naming makes as much sense as the Intel. i7 is better than i5 is better than i3, although early i7s were slower clocked than i5s, but had more cores, so were slower than i5 for gaming, but faster for tasks that needed MP, then you have Atom, Celeron, Pentium and Xeon in there as well, depending on the naming of the actual chips, they overlap or what you would expect to be better chips are worse (one generation of Pentium (G?) chips had Atom Cherrytrail cores and were actually slower than Celeron J chips or something like that (I can’t remember the exact models, off hand). Likewise some entry level Xeon chips are actually worse than Core i-series chips that plug into the same motherboards.</p><p><br></p><p>The Apple naming makes some sense, M1 is for normies, like you and me, M1 Pro is for professional, who need more power. Max and Ultra seem poorly named, but it is obvious that both are above Pro, but just by the name, not so obvious which is the better.</p>

          • locust_infested_orchard_inc.

            09 March, 2022 - 6:16 pm

            <p>Had Apple named their ‘M’ series chips as:</p><p><br></p><p>M1 Lamb</p><p>M1 Ewe</p><p>M1 Ram</p><p><br></p><p>the iSheeple would instantly and spontaneously bleat out with approval, and there would be no misunderstandings as to the power of each of the models.</p>

            • Stabitha.Christie

              10 March, 2022 - 3:20 pm

              <p>The first thing I think of when someone uses word "sheeple" is Alex Jones. The second thing I think is, "Just like Alex Jones, this person probably has nothing of substance to offer." And I have to be proven wrong. </p>

            • pecosbob04

              10 March, 2022 - 4:34 pm

              <p>Would this really confuse you? The lamb, ewe, ram hierarchy seems intuitive enough that most humans would be able to figure out the intended power differentiation. Though granted their is some ambiguity twixt ewe and ram. <strong><em>Intuitively obvious to a box of rock</em></strong><em>s</em> comes to mind.</p>

              • bkkcanuck

                11 March, 2022 - 4:59 am

                <p>Obvious… yes, childish… yes… worthy of response… no.</p>

      • Donte

        09 March, 2022 - 7:56 am

        <p>This new Mac is cool from a tech perspective. I personally would never touch the power of it. </p><p><br></p><p>As a IT infrastructure tech my most demanding application is Visio or Secure CRT. Maybe Outlook when not using webmail. </p><p><br></p><p>At home I play PC games so I would never choose a Mac.</p><p><br></p><p>I bet the MacBook Air is 60-70% of Mac sales.</p>

  • fishnet37222

    Premium Member
    08 March, 2022 - 3:03 pm

    <p>I’m glad the new iPhone SE is keeping Touch ID.</p>

    • arjay

      08 March, 2022 - 3:18 pm

      <p>Makes my wife happy. She does not like Face ID at all.</p>

    • wpcoe

      Premium Member
      08 March, 2022 - 7:33 pm

      <p>Hear, hear! I passed on the iPhone 13 Mini because Apple just couldn’t find it in their heart to add a fingerprint sensor (on the power button?). My aging Sony XZ2 Compact finally found a successor.</p>

  • red.radar

    Premium Member
    08 March, 2022 - 3:07 pm

    <p>I am surprised that the mac studio is just an inflated Mac Mini. I figured they would update the design. It looks poorly proportioned. </p><p><br></p><p>I guess Pro users don’t care about looks. I suppose it will go in a cabinet out of site. I suspect they reused the design to minimize tooling and capital costs. </p>

    • bluvg

      08 March, 2022 - 4:55 pm

      <p>Or to brag how little power/cooling it needs?</p>

    • bkkcanuck

      08 March, 2022 - 9:44 pm

      <p>I guess they are trying to stay as far away from a trashcan design as possible. Could not care about the shape, just wish it were black… oh wait, I could not wait for it and went with laptop (14" Macbook Pro – M1 Max 32 core GPU, 64GB RAM). To be honest it has more power than I need but it is sooo cool to the touch during average usage (my 2018 Mac Mini turned into a frying pan during average usage – and the laptop absolutely obliterates that in performance). I just wish Apple had a 10GB adapter or managed to fit that into USB-C alternate mode connector — trying to get a 10GB adapter here is difficult and ordering from outside the country just had it confiscated because I lacked the ‘license’ required to import it (it did not but I could not get customs listen to the broadcast regulator)… luckily Amazon issued a refund. And someone in Customs or UPS got a nice new Thunderbolt ethernet adapter…</p>

      • johnnych

        08 March, 2022 - 11:28 pm

        <p>Damn, you one upped me with the 64GB option (I stopped at 32 lol) but in all honesty like you said this is way more than enough machine for me to use. I just wanted something respectable that had all the ports, mag safe, retina display, good keyboard, long battery, future-proof performance, etc. I’ve never felt this machine get warm or even spin up the fans at all, ever, it’s pretty amazing value for what it’s worth. And this is just the first version of this hardware, wait until Apple gets on a regular cadence and roll with this stuff, I think there will be a good option for everybody interested with a wide range of prices available.</p>

        • bkkcanuck

          08 March, 2022 - 11:57 pm

          <p>The ports, and the bandwidth were what I was waiting for with regards to M1, I have 3 x 27 external monitors connected to it, another thunderbolt dock (splits to 3 thunderbolt/USB-C ports) – which should provide enough ports/bandwidth for my external thunderbolt SSD (high performance), eventually the 10GB Ethernet port when I can get it, 3 x 4K monitors (and on the USB-C an old webcam [which I want to replace with an Opal camera go mainstream – i.e. deliver other than be on waiting lists]; and a USB Audio Interface – Scarlett Solo)… That is why the M1 could never meet my needs… </p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        09 March, 2022 - 1:04 am

        <p>Heise in Germany did some benchmarks (Cinebench R23 Multi-processor) on the old high-end Intel MBP and the M1 Mac MBP. Not only did the new one run rings around the old, one, it did it silently. The M1 Max didn’t get over around 34°C (94°F) and didn’t need to turn on its fans. The Intel Mac, on the other hand, was well over 60°C (140°F) and the fans were screaming.</p><p><br></p><p>Likewise, they did the same test with the new MSI gaming laptop with the Core i9-12900HK processor. It crept ahead of an M1 Max, but was well over 70°C (158°F) and its fans made an incredible 66dB noise, the loudest they have ever had on test. And that was without the GPU being ramped up, not sure how loud it would be with both processor and GPU burning away (literally), although it would probably have to throttle both to keep them from melting.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 March, 2022 - 12:57 am

      <p>There are also a lot of peripherals built around the Mac mini case.</p><p><br></p><p>I have an external port and drive assembly that the mini drops into. That would also work for the Studio, if extra ports are needed, for example. It is also a clean and unobtrusive design, it looks a bit over-tall, but still looks smart on the desktop, to me.</p>

      • pecosbob04

        09 March, 2022 - 9:12 am

        <p>Remember the Cube‽</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 9:40 am

          <p>Yes, and I’ve seen videos of newer Mac motherboards being transplanted into it, Rasperry Pis as well.</p><p><br></p><p>A lovely, if impractical design, like the Trashcan Mac Pro. Interesting design, but prone to overheating and poor for connecting peripherals.</p>

    • ianbetteridge

      09 March, 2022 - 5:22 am

      <p>Pro video users (and this is what the Studio is aimed at) care about performance and ports, in that order. This is basically everything they want. It’s not for me – although boy would I love one of those displays – but then again the base level Mac mini suits my needs perfectly, at a very nice price. </p>

  • johnnych

    08 March, 2022 - 3:16 pm

    <p>Now we are starting to see what Apple can really do with its own silicon design that it could never do with Intel! They can stitch together chips with a level of performance that they couldn’t have done before – new designs, new engineering. I can’t imagine what they are going to do for the next Mac Pro 🙂 M1-Ultra Duo? Quadro??</p><p><br></p><p>– Sent from my Macbook-Pro-M1-Max-14-inch-ARM-based laptop (Intel free since pre 2023!)</p>

    • Stabitha.Christie

      08 March, 2022 - 4:02 pm

      <p>I’m curious if we will see the Mac Pro be part or the M2 rollout. </p>

      • bkkcanuck

        08 March, 2022 - 9:29 pm

        <p>No, M1 based design makes more sense from logistics and timing point of view… You release your smallest chips first (Mx), then work your way up the lineup to the higher end (Xeon is often on the prior architecture to the desktop). If they waited for M2 for the Mac Pro it would mean likely no announcement for this year and likely most of next.</p>

    • bluvg

      08 March, 2022 - 4:58 pm

      <p>Intel’s roadmap shows them doing the same type of thing, though. They’re all moving to that model out of necessity, it’s not just an Apple thing.</p>

      • johnnych

        08 March, 2022 - 5:49 pm

        <p>Right, I think even AMD beat Intel towards the infiniti fabric idea but I read that Intel is now trying to do that next. At any rate, I’m still happy to see Apple doing this regardless — I personally prefer the design and engineering of an ARM-based chipset and SoC layout as I believe it’s more geared towards future-forward metrics like performance-per-watt!</p>

      • bkkcanuck

        08 March, 2022 - 9:35 pm

        <p>I just don’t see them being to do it and meeting the performance per watt (i.e. much higher power / thermal requirements). This by itself is limiting. The additional hardware requirement for the x86 hardware decoder that translates it into the RISCish based micro-ops has to add inefficiency to any design (something they did long ago to keep x86 viable). </p>

        • bluvg

          09 March, 2022 - 12:17 am

          <p>Maybe, but I think it’d be a mistake to count them out. Gelsinger has spoken frequently about Apple as a primary competitor, and specifically about perf/watt. They’re well aware what they’re up against. A similar story was played out back in the IBM Power days. Maybe a different result this time, who knows.</p>

          • bkkcanuck

            09 March, 2022 - 12:54 am

            <p>The IBM Power PC was hindered by lack of ANY investment in it — IBM did invest in the Power architecture but only when it came to the chip they used in their large box machines… they invested nothing in perf/watt when it came to laptops and since Apple was the only one using them – they did not have any incentive to really develop it further. Apple moved to Intel out of necessity since they did not have the volume needed to take it in-house at that time. Apple however developed a core team around those that developed the DEC Alpha (if I remember right) which went on to create PA Semi after HP acquired DEC…. and have gone on to augment the team with probably more chip people than AMD has working for them. Apple has the advantage of not being tied to as archaic a legacy as Intel x86 has. The lack of the Windows enviroment to having to ever migrate is now a liability since the vast majority of software tied to strongly to x86. </p>

            • bluvg

              09 March, 2022 - 2:57 am

              <p>They acquired P.A. Semi, right. Jim Keller was at DEC (which was later acquired by Compaq) where he worked on Alpha, but that predated P.A. Semi by quite a bit–he was next at AMD where he worked on Athlon, then under a couple other companies before he joined P.A. Semi, then Apple, then back to AMD (worked on Zen), and later Tesla, and then Intel. Pretty much everything CPU-related these days has had his influence, which is pretty remarkable… obviously not only him, but he has definitely earned his living legend status.</p><p><br></p><p>Anyhow, I just mention Power because there was similar hand-wringing and x86 writing-off at the G4 launch (laptop/desktop split quite different at that time). Maybe it will be different this time, who knows. But this isn’t this story’s first rodeo.</p><p><br></p><p>Regarding Windows, NT was designed from the start to be multi-ISA. If they have to, they will switch. Who knows, maybe it will all move to RISC-V (Intel nearly bought SiFive, but nevertheless partnered with them as part of the $1B ISF fund). Cutler may get the last laugh on that yet!</p>

          • bkkcanuck

            09 March, 2022 - 12:56 am

            <p>The real achillies heal of the POWER PC line though was the lack of investment in laptop chips (laptops make up 65%+ of the computer market).</p>

            • johnnych

              09 March, 2022 - 9:51 am

              <p>I know I’m old now but back in my day I tried to save up everything I could to get the Aluminum PowerBook G4 back in the day – it was a solid machine but it was quickly being out paced by the competition at the time. The rumour/joke back then was how Apple would be able to cool the PowerPC G5 chip in a laptop and I don’t think they ever could get it done. They saw the writing on the wall and switched to Intel for the time being but I wonder when they knew to keep working on ARM behind the scenes along the way – it was a smart move! </p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 1:08 am

          <p>That’s why I pulled the trigger on the Mac mini M1, in the end, more than enough performance, in use it feels faster than the Ryzen 1700 it replaces, but it uses a fraction of the electricity. Given the electricity prices rose 65% last year and due to Russia invading Ukraine, they are set to increase yet again, that power per watt is the defining feature for any new device at the moment.</p>

      • danno

        Premium Member
        09 March, 2022 - 2:54 pm

        <p>This was on Apple’s roadmap five years ago or more. It will take that long for anyone else to catch up.</p>

        • bluvg

          10 March, 2022 - 4:49 pm

          <p>Stitching together chips with fast interconnects? No. They’ve all had it on their roadmaps–and have been implementing it–for quite a while. It may take others a while to catch up to Apple for other reasons, but not because they weren’t already also pursuing those designs.</p>

  • will

    Premium Member
    08 March, 2022 - 3:44 pm

    <p>Intel: We have a new 12th gen processor that puts us above the high end M1 Max</p><p><br></p><p>Apple: Hold my beer</p>

    • bluvg

      08 March, 2022 - 5:00 pm

      <p>They don’t really expect to surpass Apple in terms of perf-perf/watt until 2024/2025</p>

      • locust_infested_orchard_inc.

        08 March, 2022 - 6:22 pm

        <p>Under the relatively new stewardship of Pat Gelsinger, Intel has finally begun the hard slog to recapture their former glory – but it will take time after the 15 years of stagnation, 6 of which was under CEO Paul Otellini (RIP), whom I attribute to Intel’s woeful performance.</p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Pat Gelsinger was the former CTO of Intel, and co-developed the 80486 CPU. So if there’s anyone who knows how to regain Intel’s silicon manufacturing edge, it’s Pat Gelsinger.</span></p><p><br></p><p>I find myself unable to choose between Intel and AMD, as I have immense respect for both Lisa Su and Pat Gelsinger – both of which are electrical engineers.</p>

        • bluvg

          09 March, 2022 - 12:08 am

          <p>Agreed about Gelsinger, who is making some smart moves. Their recent successes pre-date Gelsinger, though.</p>

      • SvenJ

        09 March, 2022 - 1:52 pm

        <p>As long as Apple pulls a hammie. </p>

  • Stabitha.Christie

    08 March, 2022 - 4:00 pm

    <p>Credit to Apple, they managed to keep the Mac Studio and Studio Display under wraps up until two days before the unveiling. The rumor mill was all over the place on what was going to actually get announced. I think they only thing they consistently got right was the iPhone SE. </p>

    • igor engelen

      08 March, 2022 - 4:07 pm

      <p>Totally agree. Wasn’t sure what to expect but the Mac Studio certainly wasn’t on my list.</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        09 March, 2022 - 12:38 am

        <p>And a fantastic machine for most video editors, I would thing.</p><p><br></p><p>I’d love one, but way out of my price league, and after 30 years of always needing the high end chipsets, I’ve come to realise, that the standard M1 is actually fast enough for my needs. The reduced electricity costs and lower purchase price certainly make me glad, I no longer need the power of Studio like devices, even if I lust after them.</p>

        • bluvg

          09 March, 2022 - 2:25 am

          <p>What, you mean you <em>don’t</em> need 18 8k ProRes streams simultaneously?</p><p><br></p><p>Agreed, brilliant video machines, DAW also. I saw some YT videos of some weird and frustrating behaviors in some programs, but I’m sure they’ll get sorted, if they haven’t already. </p>

    • bkkcanuck

      08 March, 2022 - 9:25 pm

      <p>Mac Studio is the long rumoured ‘Mac Pro Mini’, most though were not expecting the release to happen or be announced before WWDC.</p>

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    08 March, 2022 - 4:16 pm

    <p>I was looking primarily for an updated Mac Mini and MacBook Air, so of course Apple gave me neither. Gotta love them adding $30 to the SE price and keeping the base storage for that device and the new Air at 64GB. Apple will ALWAYS get their pound of flesh! </p>

    • johnnych

      08 March, 2022 - 4:52 pm

      <p>Try to hold out for the next M2 Macbook Air with the new colors, updated processor, and possibly magsafe + ports (plus updated display too). People are already impressed with the current air but I think the next one is the one to save up for! 🙂 </p>

      • digiguy

        Premium Member
        08 March, 2022 - 7:14 pm

        <p>I am especially waiting for a lighter M2 model (12in macbook weight with a 13in screen)</p>

    • rob_segal

      Premium Member
      08 March, 2022 - 5:03 pm

      <p>The increased cost is not surprising considering it has a new chip and 5G, as well as rising inflation and still existing supply chain problems.</p>

  • Stabitha.Christie

    08 March, 2022 - 5:08 pm

    <p>Less exciting but interesting from a cool competitive standpoint is the iPhone SE, Mini, 13, Pro and Pro Max all have the same processor and the iPad Air and iPad Pro have the same processor. All have 5G as well. So when it comes to the Phones and iPads Apple doesn’t see performance as the differentiator in high and low end models. </p>

  • vernonlvincent

    Premium Member
    08 March, 2022 - 5:54 pm

    <p>The first thing I thought of when I saw the MacStudio cooling on the bottom was the plinth on the Microsoft Surface Studio.</p>

  • snutter

    08 March, 2022 - 11:55 pm

    <p><span style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">There aren’t words to express how disappointing today’s Apple event was for me. My feeling are literally hurt. I feel like an idiot for being an Apple fan since my first IIe in 1983.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">If you’re a regular consumer (even a tech enthusiast), maybe if you want a phone or iPad you can find something in product lineup that doesn’t require a second mortgage now … but the computers &amp; monitors are certainly beyond the reach of most mortals. (I was really looking forward to the "cheaper" monitor. All I can do is shake my head in disbelief … </span><em style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">$1600 + 400 for an adjustable stand</em><span style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">) They seem to be nano-focused on developing only for the tiny creative professional niche. I’ve been an IT Professional for 25 years managing very complex VMware &amp; Nutanix infrastructure, and I’m still using my decked out 15" MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt display. I had pinned my hopes on finding hardware to upgrade to with this event … but alas … my new slogan (thanks Ben Curtis!), "</span><strong style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor=""><em>Dude, I’m getting a Dell!</em></strong><span style="background-color: rgb(26, 29, 30); –darkreader-inline-bgcolor:#151718;" data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="">"</span></p>

    • bkkcanuck

      09 March, 2022 - 12:13 am

      <p>I am feeling the opposite, but then if you are looking at pricing you never look at the top of the line anything… especially when in some ways things cross into workstation territory. </p><p><br></p><p>I love the directly they are taking… most people don’t need anything more than a M1 based computer (lets say that is the 80/20 rule)… those computers filling that range are really good (just not for me). </p><p><br></p><p>I personally hate all-in-one computers (iMac type)… so today… I rejoice… the end of the 27" iMac… and the option to get a Mac Studio (low end is $1,999 – if I did not just buy a MacBook Pro – I would consider it)… and you can either get a very good (but not the one I want) Apple monitor – or you can buy any 3rd party monitor… (which are not bad – you can get acceptable 4K quality for $450ish). Apple’s monitor is basically a replacement for the LG Ultrafine and reasonably priced for what you get (just not for me) — I am fine with my 4 x 4K LG 27" monitors (on arm mounts). 5 years ago, I was worried – today I feel joy.</p>

      • snutter

        09 March, 2022 - 12:30 am

        <p>I recently sold my Late 2015 5K iMac that performed wonderfully for 7 years. Never have I seen a better screen. It was $2,000. Apple’s equivalent now requires a minimum outlay of $3,600 (M1 Max Studio + Studio Display). This is direction they’re taking with all their products. I’m finally out!</p><p>I really do prefer discrete components vs all-in-one, but I’m not paying $1600 more to replace my 5K iMac.</p><p>I’m happy it will bring you joy to line Apple’s coffers even more. :)</p>

        • bkkcanuck

          09 March, 2022 - 12:45 am

          <p>If you had a $2,000 27" iMac (2 thunderbolt + some USB connections)… it would be equivalent for the most part of a M1 Mac Mini and the monitor…. not the low end Mac Studio… that would be equivalent to a high-end 5K or iMac Pro. If I remember right that 27" iMac came with a base of 8GB, a 1TB hard drive (not SSD), an anemic graphics option, but a nice monitor section… the cost would have all been in the monitor.</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        09 March, 2022 - 12:52 am

        <p>Exactly. I paired my M1 mini with a 43" LG UDH HDR display, it is absolutely brilliant. I’d hate to think how much I’d have to pay for a 43" display from Apple, but the LG was well worth the ~500€ I paid for it.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      09 March, 2022 - 12:49 am

      <p>They already released the Macs for mere mortals, like you and me.</p><p><br></p><p>At the moment, they are filling out the rest of the line for the high-end professionals. Once that is out of the way, the second generation consumer devices will be back in focus.</p><p><br></p><p>Given component shortages at the moment in most industries and the fact that launching the M1 Ultra and M2 at the same time would lead to some confusion, it wasn’t really surprising that there were no new consumer Macs in there.</p><p><br></p><p>I’d love a Studio, purely because it is so powerful. But, given that I had to have the most powerful chips, until recently, to do my job, I was lusting after a high end Mac, but realised, that all the software I need works fast enough on the standard M1, or my work i5 Windows laptop.</p><p><br></p><p><em style="background-color: rgb(19, 24, 26); color: rgb(232, 230, 227); –noir-inline-background-color: #0f1315; –noir-inline-color: #d8d4cf;" data-noir-inline-background-color="" data-noir-inline-color="">I’ve been an IT Professional for 25 years managing very complex VMware &amp; Nutanix infrastructure, and I’m still using my decked out 15" MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt display.</em><span style="background-color: rgb(19, 24, 26); color: rgb(232, 230, 227); –noir-inline-background-color: #0f1315; –noir-inline-color: #d8d4cf;" data-noir-inline-background-color="" data-noir-inline-color="">&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p>Me to, well, over 40 years, in my case. But, to be honest, to manage our complex VMware clusters, my company ThinkPad i5 is more than fast enough. I have it connected to a 43" LG display (I have the same display at home for my Mac mini, and share it with the ThinkPad when I’m in home office). That is more than enough power for managing our VMware clusters. The servers need the power, my laptop doesn’t, any more.</p><p><br></p><p>The Mac mini is great, it is faster than my ThinkPad (hardly surprising, it is an 8th Gen i5) and provides better photo editing performance than the Ryzen 1100 desktop it replaces – for a fraction of the power consumption, which I am really happy about, given the current electricity and gas crisis.</p>

      • Donte

        09 March, 2022 - 7:48 am

        <p>43inch monitor? </p><p><br></p><p>I recently tried a 32 inch. It was just to big for my desk and I returned it and kept using my 27inch. Moving my head around to see things was just not for me. I can’t imagine 43inches. That is TV size for me and I would need to sit way back from that. </p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 9:37 am

          <p>I’ve been using a 34" Dell UW for about 4 years, but I wanted more vertical space. Ideally, a 36"-38" 4K would have been perfect, but I could only find 32" (150% zoom) or 43" (100% zoom, but text a little larger than necessary). The 34" feels tiny, when I look at it now (it is sitting on my other desk at home, connected to my Raspberry Pi 400 and my old Ryzen 1700 PC, but doesn’t get used much these days).</p><p><br></p><p>Working with Teams (on the laptop screen), then browser, RDP consoles, command lines, Outlook, browser, TeamViewer, softphone etc. all open on the screen, it is nice to have so much space to spread everything out and have everything in view.</p>

      • crunchyfrog

        09 March, 2022 - 7:55 am

        <p>My last company had those same ThinkPads with i5’s. Overall, a good laptop but some of the slowest HDD access I’d seen in over a decade. Lenovo hobbles their systems with terribly slow drives so I cloned the HDD and replaced it with an SSD just so I could get some work done.</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          09 March, 2022 - 9:33 am

          <p>By the 8th Gen, they were all NVMe SSD devices. I have the T418. Just had a T518 in for repair, SSD not booting, it turns out there was a manufacturing problem with some of them, the is a cold solder point on the NVMe controller, which can cause the drive to not be recognised or keep "disappearing", no wonder replacing the SSD didn’t solve the problem.</p><p><br></p><p>Performance wise, they are fine, nothing spectacular, but quick enough.</p>

    • bkkcanuck

      09 March, 2022 - 2:32 am

      <p>Just looked up the LG 5K Ultrafine monitor (which this is at it’s base is — but a bit upgraded from that version) — and it is $1295USD on Amazon… (that was I believe the basis of the old 5K imac – LG Ultrafine screen + apple internals)… The new Apple one is basically the newer version of that (600nits instead of 500 nits of brightness) + 12MP wide-image webcam + A13 for the processor to handle the 3 mic array sound cancellation and image imaging engine… So I don’t think $1,599 is that bad as far as price if you want an Apple monitor of that quality… Apple does not make lower end versions like LG does (and LG lower end monitors are actually quite good… I have a total of 6 x 27" 4K monitors (3 for windows workstation, 3 for Mac)… I think at an average price of maybe $450 per monitor (I took off the stand and have them on monitor North Bayou H100 VESA monitor arms mounted through grommet mounted arms) … the $450 monitor is IMHO quite good for the price. </p><p><br></p><p>So for components… the base price iMac from 2015 had either a 1TB hard drive or the option of a 256GB SSD (it might have even been an upgrade option i.e. +$ – but let’s say it is still equivalent in pricing… with 8GB of RAM and a 1GB ethernet port and wifi… with not great graphics… </p><p><br></p><p>The equivalent would be:</p><p> $699USD Mac Mini ($899 for slightly larger SSD + a bit more graphics power)…</p><p> $1,599USD for better 5K Apple branded monitor.</p><p>Total $2,298 for maybe a slight bump in things like camera etc. </p><p><br></p><p>Now with it componentized, you could save a bit of money and go with a good 4K monitor with the same Mac Mini for $699 + $450 = $1,149</p><p><br></p><p>If you wanted to upgrade to ‘pro’ level processing power then the Mac Studio is an option at the additional cost… </p><p><br></p><p>But then, this may just be an emotional response to ‘feeling left out’ — in which case you can always go with an equivalent Windows platform… which is fine for many.</p>

    • Saarek

      09 March, 2022 - 11:36 am

      <p>With respect I think you have to realise that Apple still has not released the full Apple Silcon line up, your 27" iMac upgrade is almost certainly coming. </p><p><br></p><p>Yes, the Apple Studio monitor is not cheap, and they are taking the mick when it comes to the £400 upgrade on the stand. Having said that the monitor itself is actually rather well priced against the competition. Most cite the LG Ultrafine, and with good reason, but the Studio Display, at least on paper, is far superior and only around 10-15% more. No, it’s not cheap and yes it would have been nice if they could have kept the £999 price point, but the simple fact is there is no sub £1000 5K display out there that is worth owning.</p><p><br></p><p>The Mac Studio is a new product, I suppose the closest you can get to it in the old line up would be the iMac Pro which cost £5000 upon release.</p><p><br></p><p>Just wait, by the end of the year there will be options in the iMac’s that fit within the Mac Studio if you need it. But the cheaper M1, and then M2 machines when they ship, should more than cover the average person for years to come.</p>

      • bkkcanuck

        09 March, 2022 - 11:46 am

        <p>Saarek, Apple said ONE machine is left to be updated and that is the Mac Pro. The iMac 27" that existed on the order page the day before this event has been removed. That is a pretty clear indicator that there is no plans for an iMac 27 with a huge chin or thick monitor containing a computer without a chin…</p>

        • Stabitha.Christie

          09 March, 2022 - 4:16 pm

          <p>I’m inclined to agree with this. Especially when you couple it with the fact that Apple compared the Mac Studio to the 27 iMac inch and Mac Pro in the keynote. It seems like they were pitching it as the replacement for the 27 inch Mac. </p><p><br></p><p>That said, they may eventually bring back different screen sizes for the iMac but it certainly doesn’t seem like it will be any time soon. </p>

        • Saarek

          10 March, 2022 - 4:02 pm

          <p>We will have to see, but I suspect a revised 27" iMac will once again grace the Apple Store sooner rather than later.</p>

    • Chris_Kez

      Premium Member
      09 March, 2022 - 11:59 am

      <p>The 24" iMac, the Macbook Air, and the Mac Mini all seem pretty accessible to people that are keen on using MacOS. What are you doing with your 2015 iMac that you can’t do better (and cheaper) with a new M1 iMac? </p>

    • atlantapaul

      Premium Member
      09 March, 2022 - 2:41 pm

      <p>Why is the post from snutter blacked out?</p>

      • bkkcanuck

        09 March, 2022 - 2:59 pm

        <p>Because he posted it that way. I am guessing he thought it was symbolic on how he was feeling. To read it you have to highlight the text.</p>

        • locust_infested_orchard_inc.

          09 March, 2022 - 6:24 pm

          <p>… alternatively toggle on/off the browser’s dark/night mode.</p>

        • snutter

          09 March, 2022 - 9:38 pm

          <p>You can blame the Dark Reader extension for that. Never post with Dark Reader enabled is the lesson. No way that should’ve happened.</p>

    • locust_infested_orchard_inc.

      09 March, 2022 - 6:22 pm

      <p>You have two options: either continue purchasing Apple in exchange for one of your kidneys, or invest in one of the shitcoins (altcoins with no intrinsic value) that have an inclination to dramatically rise by 100+% over a few hours for no apparent reason.</p>

  • RobertJasiek

    09 March, 2022 - 1:15 am

    <p>As to the Air 5, its aspect ratio is 1.44 and its absolute USB speed remains unknown so far. Besides the camera bump, I do not buy the Air 5 because Apple treats users as 2nd class endconsumers (no more iPadOS updates via WLAN, at least twice per day popups asking to yield) if they reject the iCloud terms.</p>

  • saint4eva

    09 March, 2022 - 7:47 am

    <p>Not so useful.</p>

  • harrymyhre

    Premium Member
    09 March, 2022 - 8:45 am

    <p>Single vendor sourcing.</p><p><br></p>

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