From budget-friendly MacBooks to new iPhones, Apple has announced a series of new products this month.
The tech giant kicked things off on March 2 with the new iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air. A day later, Apple announced the M5 MacBook Air, new MacBook Pro models, new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, and a new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR. On March 4, Apple announced an affordable MacBook called MacBook Neo that runs on a similar chip to the iPad and iPhone.
A week and a half later, Apple made a surprise announcement: AirPods Max 2, the long-awaited successor to the premium headphones that launched in 2020.
If you haven’t had time to check out all the new products, we’ve compiled all the announcements here.
iphone 17e
Apple has unveiled the iPhone 17e, the latest version of its budget-friendly iPhone line. The iPhone 17e retails for $599 and is scheduled to be released on March 11.
The smartphone is powered by the A19 chip found in the base iPhone 17. The base model comes with 256GB of storage. This is twice the native storage space of the iPhone 16e.
One of the most notable changes from the previous low-cost iPhone is the addition of MagSafe and Qi2, which support wireless charging up to 15W. As for the camera, the iPhone 17e is equipped with the same 48-megapixel camera as the iPhone 16e.
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According to Apple, iPhone 17e also features Apple’s latest generation cellular modem, C1X, which is up to two times faster than C1 in iPhone 16e. The tech giant says it uses 30% less energy than the iPhone 16 Pro’s modem, resulting in longer battery life.
The smartphone is available in black, white, and a new soft pink color.
iPad Air M4
Apple has announced the new iPad Air powered by the M4 chip. This is 30% faster than the M3 iPad Air and 2.3 times faster than the M1 version. The retail price of the new device is still $599 for the 11-inch model and $799 for the 13-inch model. There is a $50 discount for education customers.
iPad Air is designed to be faster and better suited for AI use thanks to an updated neural engine and more memory.
The iPad Air also features an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU, making it a great option for gaming and photo editing. It also comes with 12GB of integrated memory, a 50% increase over the previous model, with memory bandwidth now up to 120GB/s. Apple says these upgrades will allow users to run AI models faster than previous generations.
The device is available in four colors: Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray. Storage options are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max
Along with the launch of the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, Apple has unveiled updated MacBook Pro models with the latest chipsets. Apple says this new chip is designed specifically to make laptops more capable of handling intensive AI tasks. The new Pro laptops can process AI tasks up to 4x faster than previous M4 laptops.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are up to 4x faster at LLM prompt processing than the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and up to 8x faster at AI image creation than the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
MacBook Pro delivers up to 2x faster read/write performance than the previous generation and starts with 1TB of storage for MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and 2TB of storage for MacBook Pro with M5 Max. The laptop’s battery life is up to 24 hours, and a 96W or faster USB-C adapter can charge the battery to 50% in just 30 minutes. The laptop supports Thunderbolt 5 and features a six-speaker sound system.
The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro chip start at $2,199 and $2,699, respectively, while the models with the M5 Max chip start at $3,599 and $3,899 and are available in black or silver.
M5 MacBook Air
Like the new MacBook Pro models, Apple’s new MacBook Air is also designed to better handle AI tasks.
The new MacBook Air offers 18 hours of battery life, a six-hour improvement over 2020 Intel-based Apple laptops, and features a 12MP center stage camera for video calls, a three-microphone array, and a sound system with support for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. It also features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099, and the 15-inch model starts at $1,299. Available in Sky Blue, Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. The Air now starts with 512GB of storage, doubling the base capacity of the previous model.
macbook neo
Apple has unveiled a low-cost entry-level laptop called the MacBook Neo, its answer to Google’s Chromebook. Starting at $599, the MacBook Neo is designed for students and users performing tasks that don’t require intensive workflows, such as video editing or 3D rendering.
The 13-inch laptop is released in four colors: silver, blush, citrus, and indigo. The base model comes with 256GB of storage, while the $699 model comes with 512GB of storage and Touch ID.
The laptop runs on the A18 Pro chip that powers the iPhone 16 Pro models, rather than the more powerful and expensive M5 chip used in the latest MacBook Air.
MacBook Neo comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and dual microphones, and has speakers on both sides that support Spatial Audio. The battery comes via one of two USB-C ports and can last up to 16 hours on a single charge.
MacBook Neo features a 5-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine, enabling gameplay and on-device AI operations similar to the latest iPhones.
It’s also the most repairable MacBook in “about 14 years,” according to a teardown by how-to website iFixit.
AirPods Max 2
Apple’s new behind-the-ear headphones, AirPods Max 2, cost $549 and feature active noise cancellation, Apple’s audio-specific H2 chip, real-time translation support, improved sound quality, and more. The headphones are available in Midnight, Starlight, Orange, Purple, and Blue colors.
Apple says the active noise cancellation (ANC) on the new headphones is up to 1.5 times more effective than its predecessor. And the Adaptive Audio feature allows the headphones to automatically adjust ANC and transparency levels based on the user’s surroundings to optimize the listening experience.
The company says that thanks to a new digital signal processing algorithm optimized for the H2 chip and the AirPods Max microphone array, Transparency Mode is now more natural, allowing users to remain aware of their surroundings and the people around them.
The headphones also support Camera Remote, a feature that lets you trigger your iPhone or iPad’s camera shutter from afar, and Loud Sound Reduction, which helps protect you from loud environmental noises while retaining the sound signature of what you’re hearing.
Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
Apple has unveiled the new $1,599 Studio Display and $3,299 Studio Display XDR. The 27-inch display comes with upgraded cameras and improved connectivity. Both products feature a 12 MP center stage camera that Apple says delivers improved image quality, and support Desk View, a feature that simultaneously shows the user’s face and a view looking down from the desk.
The display comes with a Thunderbolt 5 port that can be used to connect accessories and daisy-chain up to four displays (Thunderbolt 5 Pro cable included).
Studio Display’s 5K Retina display features more than 14 million pixels, 600 nits of brightness, and supports the P3 wide color standard, which covers a wider range of the visible color spectrum than standards like sRGB.
Studio Display XDR features a 5K Retina SDR brightness is up to 1,000 nits, HDR maximum brightness is up to 2,000 nits, and the contrast ratio is 1,000,000:1. It also supports the Adobe RGB color standard.
M5 Pro and M5 Max chips
The new chip is designed based on Apple’s new Fusion Architecture, an advanced design that includes a powerful CPU, scalable GPU, media engine, integrated memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities.
Both chips feature 18-core CPUs, an upgrade over the 14-core configuration of the M4 Pro and 16-core configuration of the M4 Max.
The CPU now features 12 all-new performance cores, plus six “super cores,” Apple’s term for the highest performance cores. Overall, the CPU improves performance of professional workloads by up to 30%.
The M5 Pro supports up to 64GB of integrated memory, up from 48GB on the M4 Pro, with a bandwidth of 307GB/s. M5 Max continues to support up to 128GB of integrated memory, and bandwidth increases to 614GB/s.
new accessories
Apple has introduced new spring colors for iPhone cases, Apple Watch bands, and Crossbody Straps. Apple’s standard silicone case for the iPhone 17 is now available in three new colors: Bright Guava, Vanilla, and Electric Lavender. Bright Guava and Vanilla are also available for iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
Apple Watch Sport Bands are now available in Bright Guava, Clementine, and Soft Pink, while the Sport Loop adds Bright Guava, Blue Mist, and Cantaloupe to its color lineup.
The crossbody strap is now available in Bright Guava and Soft Pink.
