Apple has unveiled a host of new MacBooks, and other devices intended to connect to them.
In all, Apple released a new MacBook Air, powered by the existing M5 chip, as well as MacBook Pro with the new and more powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max. It also released two new displays, both of which replace products that have gone without updates for years.
Apple had already revealed the M5 chip late last year, but that has now been added to the MacBook Air as well. Apple says the new chip is up to four times faster at AI, and the new MacBook Air also features more and faster storage as well as improved wireless chips.
That computer has become $100 more expensive, though the starting storage has also been doubled. There had been some rumours and fears that Apple could increase the cost of the computer substantially, in the face of the increasing cost of memory.
Apple also added more powerful versions of that M5 chip – the Pro and Max – to its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Apple says those too are up to four times faster than the previous generation.
Those computers are also slightly more expensive than their predecessors, though they also get more starting storage. Otherwise, the two high-end MacBook Pro models are largely unchanged.
Alongside the new MacBooks, Apple also released two new displays: a Studio Display and a Studio Display XDR. It is the first update to Apple’s standalone displays since that first Studio Display was released in 2022.
The latter, higher-end display replaces the Pro Display XDR. But it retains the design of the lower-end Studio Display, and does not for instance include the eye-catching – and reportedly very expensive – lattice of holes in the back, which were meant for cooling.
It marks the middle of what is expected to be three days of announcements from Apple. Monday saw the launch of a new, cheaper version of the iPhone – the 17e – and Wednesday is widely rumoured to bring the release of a new, cheaper MacBook that might be powered by a processor borrowed from the iPhone.
