Apple (Hacker News, MacRumors): The chips are built using a new Apple-designed Fusion Architecture. This innovative design combines two dies into a single system on a chip (SoC), which includes a powerful CPU, scalable GPU, Media Engine, unified memory controller, Neural Engine, and Thunderbolt 5 capabilities. M5 Pro and M5 Max feature a new 18-core […]

Apple (Hacker News, Reddit, MacRumors): The new Studio Display features a 12MP Center Stage camera, now with improved image quality and support for Desk View; a studio-quality three-microphone array; and an immersive six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. It also now includes powerful Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, providing more downstream connectivity for high-speed accessories or daisy-chaining […]

Apple Newsroom:

Apple today announced a new family of displays engineered to pair beautifully with Mac and meet the needs of everyone, from everyday users to the world’s top pros. The new Studio Display features a 12MP Center Stage camera, now with improved image quality and support for Desk View; a studio-quality three-microphone array; and an immersive six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. It also now includes powerful Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, providing more downstream connectivity for high-speed accessories or daisy-chaining displays. The all-new Studio Display XDR takes the pro display experience to the next level. Its 27-inch 5K Retina XDR display features an advanced mini-LED backlight with over 2,000 local dimming zones, up to 1000 nits of SDR brightness, and 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness, in addition to a wider color gamut, so content jumps off the screen with breathtaking contrast, vibrancy, and accuracy. With its 120Hz refresh rate, Studio Display XDR is even more responsive to content in motion, and Adaptive Sync dynamically adjusts frame rates for content like video playback or graphically intense games. Studio Display XDR offers the same advanced camera and audio system as Studio Display, as well as Thunderbolt 5 connectivity to simplify pro workflow setups. The new Studio Display with a tilt-adjustable stand starts at $1,599, and Studio Display XDR with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand starts at $3,299. Both are available in standard or nano-texture glass options, and can be pre-ordered starting tomorrow, March 4, with availability beginning Wednesday, March 11.

Compared to the first-generation Studio Display (March 2022), the updated model really just has a better camera. (Wouldn’t take much to improve upon the old camera.) The Studio Display XDR is the interesting new one. Apple doesn’t seem to have a “Compare” page for its displays, so the Studio Display Tech Specs and Studio Display XDR Tech Specs pages will have to suffice. Update: The main “Displays” page at Apple’s website serves as a comparison page between the new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR.

The regular Studio Display maxes out at 600 nits, and only supports a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The Studio Display XDR maxes out at 1,000 nits for SDR content and 2,000 nits for HDR, with up to 120 Hz refresh rate. Nice, but not enough to tempt me to upgrade from my current Studio Display with nano-texture, which I never seem to run at maximum brightness. I guess it would be nice to see HDR content, but not nice enough to spend $3,600 to get one with nano-texture. And I don’t think I care about 120 Hz on my Mac?

Unresolved is what this means for the Pro Display XDR, which remains unchanged since its debut in 2019. Update 1: Whoops, apparently this has been resolved. A small-print note on the Newsroom announcement states:

Studio Display XDR replaces Pro Display XDR and starts at $3,299 (U.S.) and $3,199 (U.S.) for education.

Update 2: I neglected to mention what might be the biggest upgrade: Thunderbolt 5 with support for daisy-chaining multiple displays. With the original Studio Display (and Pro Display XDR), each external display needed a cable connecting it to your Mac. Now, you can connect your Mac to one Studio Display, connect that one to a second, and connect the second to a third. Nice.

Apple Newsroom:

MacBook Air now comes standard with double the starting storage at 512GB with faster SSD technology, and is configurable up to 4TB, so customers can keep their most important work on hand. Apple’s N1 wireless chip delivers Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for seamless connectivity on the go. MacBook Air features a beautifully thin, light, and durable aluminum design, stunning Liquid Retina display, 12MP Center Stage camera, up to 18 hours of battery life, an immersive sound system with Spatial Audio, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for up to two external displays.

Base storage went from 256 to 512 GB, but the base price went from the magic $999 to $1,100 ($1,099, technically, which doesn’t make the 99 seem magic). Presumably, those in the market for a $999 MacBook will buy the new about-to-be-announced-tomorrow lower-priced MacBook “Neo”, which I’m guessing will start at $800 ($799), maybe as low as $700 ($699), but will surely have higher-priced configurations for additional storage. Today’s new M5 MacBook Airs have storage upgrades of:

• 1 TB (+ $200)
• 2 TB (+ $600)
• 4 TB (+ $1,200)

Colors remain unchanged (and in my opinion, boring): midnight, starlight, silver, sky blue (almost black, gold-ish gray, gray, blue-ish gray). RAM options remain unchanged too: 16, 24, or 32 GB.

A comparison page showing the new M5 Air, old M4 Air, and base M5 MacBook Pro suggests not much else is new year-over-year, other than the Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support from the N1 chip.

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors:

A regulatory document for a “MacBook Neo” (Model A3404) has appeared on Apple’s website. Unfortunately, there are no further details or images available yet. While the PDF file does not contain the “MacBook Neo” name, it briefly appeared in a link on Apple’s regulatory website for EU compliance purposes.

My money was on just plain “MacBook”, but I like “MacBook Neo”.