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

‘Pro’ has lost all meaning, and Apple knows it

2022-03-14T12:17:37-04:00

Apple is marketing its Studio products to the same people it marketed Pro products to — the creative types. | Image: Apple

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 …

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The Mac Studio is myth fulfillment

2022-03-13T09:00:00-04:00

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In 2008, Macworld devoted five pages to the kind of midtower Mac that Apple refused to make. | Photo by Jason Snell

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.

When Jobs returned to Apple, he presided over a d …

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How to preorder Apple’s new iPad Air

2022-03-11T08:08:47-05:00

The new iPad Air comes in five colorways, including a new shade of blue. | Image: Apple

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.

Otherwise, the tablet is similar to the 2020 model and is available in two different storage configurations — 64GB and 256GB — each outfitted with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display. We’ll have a review for the newest iPad Air in the near future, but if you’re looking to secure the slate ahead of its launch next week, it’s available for preorder right now in a slew of colors, including blue, gray, pink, purple, and a silver-gold colorway called “starlight.”

Where to preorder the 2020 iPad Air with Wi-Fi

The new, Wi-Fi-equipped iPad Air with 64GB of storage retails for $599 and is available for preorder right now at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Target. If you need more storage, the same retailers — Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Target — are currently taking preorders for the 256GB variant for $749. Again, both configurations will are slated to begin shipping on Friday, March 18th.

Where to preorder the 2022 iPad Air with Wi-Fi and cellular

The 5G-equipped iPad Air with 64GB of storage starts at $749, while the 256GB cellular configuration retails for $899. Like with its Wi-Fi-only counterpart, you can preorder an unlocked model with 64GB of storage right now from Apple, Amazon, B&H Photo, Target and Best Buy. The unlocked, 256GB configuration is also currently up for preorder, specifically at Apple, Amazon, B&H Photo, Target and Best Buy. Both cellular configurations are expected to begin shipping on Friday, March 18th, when the tablet officially goes on sale.

Update 4:57PM ET, March 11th: The 64GB, Wi-fi-equipped iPad Air is no longer available at Walmart starting at $559. We’ve updated the copy to reflect the change.

How to preorder the new iPhone SE

2022-03-11T08:00:00-05:00

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 wan …

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How the new iPhone SE stacks up against its budget-friendly Android competitors

2022-03-10T12:16:34-05:00

While many Android phones look like each other from farther away, the iPhone SE (2022) looks like many iPhones before it. | Image: Apple

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 ph …

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Apple’s Studio Display should work with Windows — including the webcam

2022-03-09T18:59:09-05:00

It probably shouldn’t be your first pick, but it’ll work in a pinch. | Image: Apple

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 …

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Apple’s new strategy is to give — not tell — users what they want

2022-03-09T13:46:17-05:00

The new Mac Studio. | Image: Apple

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.

But with yesterday's announcements, which include the powerful and …

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How the M1-powered iPad Air compares to other iPad models

2022-03-09T12:54:27-05:00

The latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, and iPad Mini (from left to right). | Image: Apple

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.

Like the last-gen m …

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It’s 2022 and the Magic Mouse still charges from the bottom

2022-03-08T18:55:22-05:00

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 …

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Mac Studio vs. Mac Mini vs. Mac Pro

2022-03-08T18:21:14-05:00

Find out how the new Mac Studio stacks up

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."

On …

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