The $599 iPhone 17E kicked off Apple’s latest round of product announcements, and the $599 MacBook Neo concluded the flurry. In between, we saw updates to both the MacBook Air and Pro lines, a couple of overdue Studio Display monitor refreshes and a new iPad Air. Whew!
It’s a lot to keep track of, so I’ve collected all the news in one place. In reverse chronological order, here are all the new products that Apple announced this week. And yes, everything listed below is available to preorder now and shipping March 11.
MacBook Neo
This was the biggest piece of news from Apple this week, and I’m not just saying that because I review laptops for a living. The new MacBook Neo significantly lowers the entry point for MacBook shoppers. At just $599, it costs $500 less than the cheapest MacBook Air, and students can get it for $499. I expect to see a lot of MacBook Neos in classrooms by next fall, but I think the Neo could be more than just a school laptop.
The MacBook Neo has an iPhone-level processor and only 8GB of RAM, so it’s definitely geared more toward writing term papers than the heavier lifting required by STEM or graphic design students. And even then, you’ll probably want to spend the extra $100 for the larger SSD and Touch ID keyboard. Its 13-inch display isn’t much smaller than the Air’s, and it has a lightweight, all-aluminum body that’s on par with that of Apple’s pricier MacBooks. Plus, it comes in three fun colors (in addition to standard silver).
I expect the MacBook Neo to sell well, and it will probably eat into iPad sales more than the MacBook Air’s. Or maybe the two will eventually merge, sending CNET’s Scott Stein into nirvana.
M5 MacBook Air
Apple’s mainstream MacBook got a refresh this week. The MacBook Air was upgraded to Apple’s latest M5 processor, but that wasn’t the only change. Apple removed the undersized 256GB SSD option from the previous version, upping the minimum storage to 512GB. The starting price went up by $100, but the M5 MacBook Air is actually a better deal than the M4 model — currently my favorite laptop overall for most people — when you factor in upgrade costs. Plus, Apple says the new SSD in the M5 Air is twice as fast as before.
M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro
The 14-inch MacBook Pro got the M5 treatment at the end of last year, and now Apple has rolled out the higher-powered M5 Pro and M5 Max chips to both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The new processors introduce a chip architecture Apple dubs “Fusion,” referring to its method of combining two dies to scale its system on a chip rather than linking multiple SoCs.
My colleague Lori Grunin has more details on the new chip design and the specs for the M5 Pro and M5 Max. Spoiler: They’re not cheap. Prices for the new laptops start at $2,199 for the MacBook Pro 14 and $2,699 for the MacBook Pro 16 with the M5 Pro, and $3,599 and $3,899, respectively, for the M5 Max.
Studio Display and Pro Display XDR
If you have been looking to upgrade your relatively old Studio Display or really old Pro Display XDR, then your day has come. Apple refreshed both this week. The new 27-inch Studio Display XDR costs $3,299 and is a 27-inch 5K model that brings a long-awaited 120Hz refresh rate to Apple’s monitor lineup, along with a brightness boost. The 27-inch Studio Display costs $1,599 and has an improved webcam and Thunderbolt 5 support — but no HDR or high refresh rate for the mainstream version, which Grunin found disappointing.
M4 iPad Air
Apple’s midrange iPad tablet received a processor bump this week. The iPad Air was refreshed with the M4 chip while maintaining the previous pricing: $599 for the 11-inch model, $799 for the 13-inch model. Memory was also increased, from 8GB to 12GB. Apple says the new M4 iPad Air is up to 30 percent faster than the M3 model. Scott Stein says Apple updated the wrong iPad.
iPhone 17E
The week started with an update to Apple’s budget iPhone. The new iPhone 17E keeps the same $599 price as last year’s iPhone 16E but offers twice the storage and MagSafe. You can also get it in pink.
The iPhone 17E features the A19 chip, which is similar to but not quite the same as the baseline iPhone 17’s chip. I’ll let my colleague Abrar Al-Heeti explain the chip details and the other changes to the iPhone 17E. And check out why CNET’s Jeff Carlson thinks one feature missing on the iPhone 17E is a good thing.
So there you have it, the week that was from Apple. Stay tuned to CNET for more details as we test these devices hands-on and put them up against the competition.
And if you’re an Android fan, don’t despair. Mobile World Congress and Samsung Galaxy Unpacked also just wrapped up, bringing plenty of new phones for you, too.
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