Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:

Let’s start with the surprises. Both M4 MacBook Air models are priced $100 less than their predecessors: $1199 for the 15-inch model and $999 for the 13-incher. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the new-generation design of MacBook Air introduced with the M2 chip has been available at the classic $999 price at launch. (The M1 Air, based on the Intel-era visual design, debuted at $999, but the M2 Air debuted at $1199 and only reached $999 when it was offered as an older model alongside the M3 Air.) As of now, the M4 Air can hold down the sub-$1000 price point all on its own, and previous models are mostly discontinued.

Another surprise is the the new color option: Space Gray is out. The ultra-dark-blue Midnight remains, as do the classic Silver and hint-of-champagne Starlight. The new color is Sky Blue, which apparently is a metallic light blue that really shows itself as a color gradient when viewed at various angles.

Very cool that the new M4 starts at $999. Each successive generation of Apple Silicon, at least in laptops, is getting more and more predictably regular.

Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg on 6 December 2024, regarding Apple’s first in-house cellular modem, “Apple Plans Three-Year Modem Rollout in Bid to Top Qualcomm”:

For now, the modem won’t be used in Apple’s higher-end products. It’s set to come to a new mid-tier iPhone later next year, code-named D23, that features a far-thinner design than current models. The chip will also start rolling out as early as 2025 in Apple’s lower-end iPads.

We now know the name of that modem, the C1, from its debut in the iPhone 16e last month. Then, also on December 6, in a separate report headlined “Apple Explores Macs, Headsets With Built-In Cellular Data”:

The first modem will also appear in low-end iPads next year, with the 2026 update coming to Pro versions of the iPhone and iPad.

The cellular models of the new 11th generation iPads announced yesterday do not, it turns out, use the C1. The specs don’t match those of the iPhone 16e, and when I asked an Apple representative, they confirmed that none of the new iPads (including the Airs) use the C1 modem. (But, Apple reassured me, they all offer terrific cellular networking.)

I’m not saying Gurman was wrong, because there are nine full months left in 2025 for Apple to release a 12th-generation low-end iPad with the C1. The previous (10th) generation came out in October 2022, but the 9th generation came in September 2021, just 13 months prior. And this week’s new M3 iPad Airs replaced M2 models that arrived just 10 months ago. But, you know, it sure seems doubtful Apple is going to rev this hardware in 2025, so I’ll place my bet that he was wrong about this too.

(And yes, a Bloomberg Terminal subscription really does start at $32,000/year per seat.)

Mark Gurman, in his Power On column for Bloomberg, on January 12:

The new entry-level iPads — J481 and J482 — will get faster processors and Apple Intelligence. The current models have the A14 chip and 4 gigabytes of memory. Look for the new versions to have the A17 Pro chip, matching the iPad mini, and a bump to 8 gigabytes of memory. That’s the minimum needed to support the new AI platform.

The new iPads sport the A16 chip and thus do not support Apple Intelligence. But who cares about little details like that when you know the codenames, which is what really matters.

I’ll bet what happened is that Gurman was right, and the new iPads were set to use the A17 Pro chip and support Apple Intelligence. But after Gurman spoiled it seven weeks ago, Apple scrapped those plans and changed the chips to the A16 just to spite him.

Tapbots:

v2.3 is now available on the App Store for Mac and iOS/iPadOS! What’s new?

• Grouped Notifications (Mention and Notification tabs are now merged)
• Support for AlphaNumeric Post IDs (Can now log into more services like GoToSocial)
• Accessibility Improvements
• Bug Fixes

I don’t like grouped notifications, but I’ve got nothing to complain about, because there’s a simple toggle at the top to just show mentions. Perfect.

The big news from Tapbots, though, is the announcement of Phoenix, a dedicated client for Bluesky:

Why two different clients? Why not one that supports both?

While there may be some conveniences of an app that supports multiple social media protocols, we believe the experience will be much better overall if we keep them separate. We do plan to provide a way to cross-post between them so you don’t have to write duplicate posts.

Hear hear to that.

Apple (Hacker News): Mac Studio with M4 Max is up to 3.5x faster than Mac Studio with M1 Max, and is up to 6.1x faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac.[…]Mac Studio with M3 Ultra pushes demanding workflows to a whole new level. It delivers nearly 2x faster performance than M4 Max in workloads […]