Apple has unveiled a range of new products this month, from an affordable MacBook to a new iPhone.
The technology giant kicked off its announcements on March 2 with the introduction of the iPhone 17e and the M4 iPad Air. The following day, Apple revealed the M5 MacBook Air, new MacBook Pro models, new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, as well as a new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR. On March 4, Apple introduced a more affordable MacBook named the MacBook Neo, which operates on a chip similar to those in the iPad and iPhone.
A week and a half later, Apple surprised its audience with the announcement of the AirPods Max 2, the eagerly anticipated successor to its high-end headphones first released in 2020.
For those who may have missed the announcements, here’s a comprehensive overview of all the new products Apple has introduced.
iPhone 17e
Apple introduced the iPhone 17e, the newest addition to its affordable smartphone line. Priced at $599, it will be available from March 11.
The device includes the A19 chip, which is also used in the base model of the iPhone 17. The entry-level version offers 256 GB of storage, doubling the storage capacity of the iPhone 16e.
A key upgrade from its predecessor is the inclusion of MagSafe and Qi2 technology, allowing for wireless charging up to 15 W. The camera remains a 48-megapixel unit, similar to the iPhone 16e.
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The iPhone 17e also comes equipped with C1X, Apple’s latest cellular modem, boasting speeds up to twice as fast as the C1 in the iPhone 16e. According to Apple, C1X consumes 30% less energy than the modem in the iPhone 16 Pro, enhancing battery life.
Users can choose from black, white, and a new soft pink color.
iPad Air M4
Apple has launched the iPad Air with the M4 chip, making it 30% faster than the M3 iPad Air and 2.3 times faster than the M1 model. The pricing remains at $599 for the 11-inch version and $799 for the 13-inch version. Educational customers receive a $50 discount.
The new iPad Air is optimized for speed, thanks to an enhanced neural engine and increased memory, which improve its capabilities for AI applications.
With an 8-core CPU and a 9-core GPU, the iPad Air is well-suited for gaming and photo editing. It includes 12GB of unified memory, a 50% increase from its predecessor, and the memory bandwidth has been increased to 120GB/s. Apple claims these improvements allow users to run AI models more efficiently than on previous models.
Available in blue, purple, starlight, and space gray, the iPad Air offers storage options of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max
With the introduction of the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, Apple has updated its MacBook Pro lineup. These new chips are designed to enhance the performance of the laptops in handling complex AI tasks, promising speeds up to four times faster than the M4 predecessors.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips offer up to four times the speed in LLM prompt processing compared to the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and eight times faster AI image generation than the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
The MacBook Pro models offer up to twice the read/write speed of the previous generation. They start with 1TB of storage for the M5 Pro version and 2TB for the M5 Max. These laptops boast up to 24 hours of battery life and can charge to 50% in 30 minutes with a 96 W or higher USB-C adapter. They also include Thunderbolt 5 support and a six-speaker sound system.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro chips are priced at $2,199 and $2,699, respectively. The models with M5 Max chips begin at $3,599 for the 14-inch and $3,899 for the 16-inch, available in black or silver.
M5 MacBook Air
The new MacBook Air, like the updated MacBook Pro models, is engineered to perform better with AI tasks.
Offering an 18-hour battery life, the new MacBook Air improves on the 2020 Intel-based Apple laptops by six hours. It also features a 12 MP Center Stage camera for video calls, a three-microphone array, and a sound system with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support. The device includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.
The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099, while the 15-inch model begins at $1,299. Available in sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver, the Air now starts with 512GB of storage, doubling the previous model’s base capacity.
MacBook Neo
Introducing the MacBook Neo, Apple’s new low-cost, entry-level laptop designed to compete with Google’s Chromebook. Starting at $599, this model is ideal for students and users whose tasks don’t involve intensive workflows like video editing or 3D rendering.
The 13-inch laptop comes in silver, blush, citrus, and indigo, with the base model offering 256GB of storage. A $699 version offers 512GB of storage and includes Touch ID.
Powered by the A18 Pro chip, the same one found in iPhone 16 Pro models, the MacBook Neo does not use the more expensive M5 chip found in the latest MacBook Air.
The MacBook Neo is equipped with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and dual microphones, along with speakers on each side supporting Spatial Audio. It offers up to 16 hours of battery life on a single charge, with charging provided through one of its two USB-C ports.
Featuring a five-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine, the MacBook Neo supports levels of gameplay and on-device AI tasks similar to those of a recent iPhone.
According to a teardown by the how-to website iFixit, the MacBook Neo is the most repairable MacBook in approximately fourteen years.
AirPods Max 2
The latest version of Apple’s over-the-ear headphones, the AirPods Max 2, is priced at $549. These headphones offer active noise cancellation, Apple’s H2 chip specifically for audio, support for live translation, enhanced sound quality, and more. They are available in colors midnight, starlight, orange, purple, and blue.
Apple claims the new headphones’ active noise cancellation (ANC) is 1.5 times more effective than the previous model. The Adaptive Audio feature automatically adjusts ANC and Transparency levels based on the user’s surroundings to enhance the listening experience.
According to the company, Transparency mode now feels more natural due to a new digital signal-processing algorithm optimized for the H2 chip and the AirPods Max microphone array, helping users remain aware of their environment and those around them.
The headphones also support Camera Remote, a feature that allows users to trigger the camera shutter on an iPhone or iPad from a distance, and include a Loud Sound Reduction feature to protect users from loud environmental noises while maintaining the sound signature of what they’re listening to.
Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
Apple has launched two new displays: the $1,599 Studio Display and the $3,299 Studio Display XDR. Both 27-inch displays offer improved cameras and connectivity. They feature a 12 MP Center Stage camera, which Apple claims enhances image quality, and Desk View support, allowing users to show their face and an overhead view of their desk simultaneously.
These displays are equipped with Thunderbolt 5 ports, enabling connections to accessories and the ability to daisy-chain up to four displays, with a Thunderbolt 5 Pro cable included.
The Studio Display features a 5K Retina display with over 14 million pixels, 600 nits of brightness, and supports the P3 wide-gamut color standard, which covers a broader range of colors than sRGB.
The Studio Display XDR offers a 5K Retina XDR display (5120 x 2880 resolution) with a mini-LED backlight and more than 2,000 local dimming zones. It can reach up to 1,000 nits of SDR brightness and 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness and has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. It also supports the Adobe RGB color standard.
M5 Pro and M5 Max chips
The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are built around Apple’s new Fusion Architecture, which integrates a powerful CPU, scalable GPU, Media Engine, unified memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.
Both chips feature an 18-core CPU, representing an upgrade from the 14-core configuration in the M4 Pro and the 16-core in the M4 Max.
The CPU now includes six “super cores,” Apple’s term for its highest-performance cores, along with 12 all-new performance cores. Together, these enhancements boost performance by up to 30% for professional workloads.
The M5 Pro supports up to 64GB of unified memory, an increase from the 48GB available on the M4 Pro, with a bandwidth of 307GB/s. The M5 Max continues to support up to 128GB of unified memory, with bandwidth increased to 614GB/s.
New accessories
Apple has introduced new spring colors for iPhone cases, Apple Watch bands, and the Crossbody Strap. The silicone case for the standard iPhone 17 is now available in Bright Guava, Vanilla, and Electric Lavender. Bright Guava and Vanilla are also offered for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
The Apple Watch Sport Band can now be purchased in Bright Guava, Clementine, and Soft Pink, while the Sport Loop adds Bright Guava, Blue Mist, and Cantaloupe to its color options.
The Crossbody Strap is newly available in Bright Guava and Soft Pink.
