MacRumors

Update: Apple has since confirmed to MacRumors that plugging in a fourth-generation iPad Air or iPad mini 6 into the Studio Display will result in a downscaled 1440p output.

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According to Apple, the new 27-inch 5K Studio Display supports a range of Macs going back to 2016 MacBook Pro models, but its compatibility with iPads is notably limited to the 11-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ (third-generation and later), and the new fifth-generation ‌iPad Air‌.

This limitation has left some Apple users wondering why other iPad models with USB-C like the fourth-generation ‌iPad Air‌ and latest ‌iPad mini‌ aren't compatible with the Studio Display. Basically, it comes down to data throughput.

The ‌iPad Pro‌ models supported by the Studio Display feature USB-C with 10Gbps throughput (also known as USB 2.1 Gen 2), whereas the fourth-generation ‌iPad Air‌ and ‌iPad mini‌ 6 include a USB 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps USB-C connection. This connectivity standard supports a single external display with up to 4K resolution at 30Hz.

By contrast, the new ‌iPad Air‌ uses a USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector, which doubles its data throughput compared to the model it replaces, matching the USB 2.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) of the compatible ‌iPad Pro‌ models. Hence these devices are able to support the Studio Display's output.

It's unclear at present whether connecting an unsupported USB-C ‌iPad‌ would output a degraded picture or simply nothing at all, but suffice to say, customers should heed Apple's compatibility list if they want to ensure a fully functional experience with the new display.

Customers can order the Studio Display starting now through Apple's online store, with availability starting March 18, although delivery dates for both the new Mac Studio and its accompanying Studio Display have begun to slip well into April.

In the U.S., the Studio Display is priced at $1,599 with a tilt-adjustable stand and at $1,999 with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand. The monitor can also be configured with nano-texture glass and/or a VESA mount adapter.

Apple's brand new standard Studio Display does not come with a polishing cloth included in the box, unlike the Pro Display XDR which offers a cloth in both the standard and nano-textured models.

On its website, Apple says that only the nano texture Studio Display will come with a polishing cloth in the box, alongside the display itself and a one-meter Thunderbolt cable.

Apple's highest-end Pro Display XDR, regardless of configuration, does offer users a cloth in the box. Customers who purchase the standard Studio Display which starts at $1,599, will need to purchase Apple's $19 polishing cloth or look elsewhere for their display cleaning needs.

Following today's event that saw the introduction of the Mac Studio, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has provided some detail on the MacBook Air, another Mac product that we're expecting to see refreshed later in the year.

According to Kuo, the 2022 ‌MacBook Air‌ will have an all-new form factor design and more color options. Previous rumors have suggested the new ‌MacBook Air‌ will not have a tapered design, with Apple instead favoring a more MacBook Pro-style look.

It is expected to be thinner and lighter, and it could come in color options similar to the 24-inch iMac color options, like blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, and purple. It is also rumored to feature off-white bezels and a matching off-white keyboard rather than black.

Kuo says the ‌MacBook Air‌ will feature an M1 chip, which is not in line with any of the rumors that we've heard about the machine so far.

Everything we've heard previously about the ‌MacBook Air‌ says that the machine will use an updated M2 chip with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, and there have even been signs of such a chip in macOS Monterey. Despite this, Kuo has confirmed to MacRumors that he believes the next ‌MacBook Air‌ will still be an ‌M1‌ chip, although he suggests it could be a modified version of the existing ‌M1‌ that is used.

As expected, the ‌MacBook Air‌ will not feature a mini-LED display, with Apple reserving that feature for its higher-end MacBook Pro models.

Kuo says that we can expect mass production to begin on the ‌MacBook Air‌ late in the second quarter of 2022 or in the third quarter of the year.

Just hours after becoming available for purchase, delivery dates for both the new Mac Studio and its accompanying Studio Display have begun to slip well into April.

The higher-end M1 Ultra ‌Mac Studio‌ now lists delivery estimates of April 13 to April 20, and that delivery timing is likely to get pushed back even further as more people place orders.

Interestingly, upgrading to the 64-GPU version of the ‌M1 Ultra‌ drops the shipping estimate down to the end of March, but that is a $1,000 add-on. Other customized versions also change the delivery date slightly.

The M1 Max ‌Mac Studio‌ still delivers between March 23 and March 30, but even that has slipped from the initial March 18 delivery estimate.

As for the Studio Display, the base model with standard glass and standard stand is still delivering by March 23, but delivery estimates for versions with nano-texture glass and the tilt and height-adjustable stand have slipped into mid-April.

For both products, it is no longer possible to get release date delivery, but Apple could have some in-store stock available for people to purchase. The ‌Mac Studio‌ and Studio Display are both set to launch on Friday, March 18.

Apple today introduced the Studio Display, a lower-priced 27-inch alternative to its Pro Display XDR. The standalone monitor includes a one-meter Thunderbolt cable in the box, and for customers looking for longer options, Apple has started selling a 1.8-meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable for $129 and has a three-meter option coming soon for $159.

Apple says the Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable supports Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB 4 data transfer up to 40Gb/s, USB 3.1 Gen 2 data transfer up to 10Gb/s, and pass-through charging up to 100W for a connected MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

Key features of the Studio Display include a slim all-aluminum enclosure, 5K resolution, up to 600 nits of brightness, support for the P3 wide color gamut and over one billion colors, a built-in stand that allows the user to tilt the display up to 30 degrees, a six-speaker sound system, an A13 Bionic chip that enables "Hey Siri" functionality and the 12-megapixel Ultra Wide camera's Center Stage feature, and more.

The Studio Display is also equipped with three USB-C ports, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and a studio-quality three-mic array.

Customers can order the Studio Display starting today through Apple's online store, with availability starting March 18. In the U.S., the Studio Display is priced at $1,599 with a tilt-adjustable stand and at $1,999 with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand. The monitor can also be configured with nano-texture glass and/or a VESA mount adapter.

The first benchmark for Apple's M1 Ultra chip popped up on Geekbench following today's event, confirming that the doubled-up M1 Max is indeed able to outperform the highest-end Mac Pro as Apple claims.

Labeled Mac13,2, the Mac Studio with 20-core ‌M1 Ultra‌ that was benchmarked earned a single-core score of 1793 and a multi-core score of 24055.

Comparatively, the highest-end ‌Mac Pro‌ with 28-core Intel Xeon W chip has a single-core score of 1152 and a multi-core score of 19951, so the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is 21 percent faster in this particular benchmark comparison when it comes to multi-core performance. As for single-core performance, the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is 56 percent faster than the 28-core ‌Mac Pro‌.

Apple has claimed that the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is up to 60 percent faster than the 28-core ‌Mac Pro‌ when it comes to CPU performance, so Apple may be referencing single-core differences in the metrics that it shared during today's event. This is just one benchmark, so we could see the ‌M1 Ultra‌ performing better in additional benchmarks following the March 18 release of the ‌Mac Studio‌.

(Thanks, Dion!)

The newly announced M1 Ultra is now Apple's fastest Apple silicon chip, unseating the M1 Max as the top-of-the-line option. With the power of the updated chip, the new Mac Studio is able to outperform not only the high-end prior-generation 27-inch iMac, but also the top-of-the-line 28-core Mac Pro.

The ‌M1 Ultra‌ chip offers a 20-core CPU with 16 high-performance cores and 4 high-efficiency cores, a 64-core GPU, 128GB Unified Memory, a 2x more powerful media engine, and 800GB/s memory bandwidth.

When it comes to CPU performance, the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is 3.8x faster than the highest-end Intel Core i9 ‌iMac‌ (which has now been discontinued), and 60 percent faster than the 28-core ‌Mac Pro‌ with Intel Xeon W processor.

As for the GPU, the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is 4.5x faster than the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ and an impressive 80 percent faster than the highest-end ‌Mac Pro‌ with AMD Radeon Pro W6900X graphics. Apple touted the ‌Mac Studio‌ as "up to 80 percent faster" than the fastest ‌Mac Pro‌ during today's event.

The ‌M1 Ultra‌ supports 18 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video, which Apple says no other computer in the world is able to do.

All of Apple's silicon chips offer incredible power efficiency, and the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is no exception. According to Apple, the ‌M1 Ultra‌ is able to offer 90 percent higher performance than the fastest 16-core PC CPU within the same power envelope, and it can deliver the PC chip's peak performance using 100W less power.

It offers similar performance to "one of the most popular discrete GPUs" while using 1/3 as much power, and it provides faster performance than the highest end discrete GPU using 200W less power.

The ‌Mac Studio‌ with ‌M1 Ultra‌ chip is priced starting at $4,000, and it is available for order as of today.

Apple today announced that the HomePod mini will be available to order in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland starting at the end of March, as spotted by iCulture and 9to5Mac. A specific release date has not been provided.

As in other countries, the HomePod mini will be available in five colors, including white, space gray, yellow, orange, and blue. The small Siri-enabled speaker has a woven power cable and comes with a 20W USB-C power adapter in the box.

HomePod mini first launched in October 2020 in the United States, and the speaker is also available in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Austria, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The speaker will likely launch in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland later this year.

There were no HomePod-related announcements at Apple's virtual "Peek Performance" event today, with products unveiled including a new iPhone SE, a new iPad Air, the Mac Studio desktop computer, and a 27-inch Studio Display. We've put together a video that recaps everything that Apple announced at the event today in just seven minutes.

Today's "Peek Performance" event was more exciting than we initially thought it would be, with Apple debuting a new Mac Studio machine and Studio Display alongside a 5G version of the iPhone SE with A15 chip and an M1 iPad Air with 5G chip.

It took Apple an hour to go over all of today's announcements, but we've summarized all of the new product details in a quick seven minute video. Below, we've also rounded up all of our coverage today so you don't miss anything.

Mac Studio

• Apple Announces Powerful 'Mac Studio' With Companion 'Studio Display'
• Mac Studio and Studio Display Orders Now Live
• Complete 'Apple Studio' Package With Highest-End Mac Studio, Studio Display, and Accessories Costs Nearly $11,000

Studio Display

• Apple Unveils $1,599 27-Inch 5K 'Studio Display' External Monitor
• Studio Display Add-On Height-Adjustable Stand Costs an Extra $400, Nano-Texture Glass is $300

M1 Ultra

• Apple Announces 'M1 Ultra' Chip With 20-Core CPU, Up to 64-Core GPU, and Support for 128GB of Memory
• M1 Ultra Chip Supports Up to Five External Displays
• M1 Ultra CPU is 60% Faster Than 28-core Mac Pro, GPU is 80% Faster Than Highest-End Radeon Pro W6900X Graphics Card
• M1 Ultra Outperforms 28-Core Intel Mac Pro in First Leaked Benchmark

iPhone SE

• Apple Announces New iPhone SE With A15 Bionic and 5G Connectivity
• iPhone SE and iPad Air Don't Offer Fastest mmWave 5G
• iPhone SE 2 Discontinued, iPhone SE 3 From $429 Now Apple's Cheapest iPhone
• New iPhone SE Offers Improved Battery Life Compared to Previous Model

iPad Air

• Apple Unveils New iPad Air With M1 Chip, Optional 5G, and Faster USB-C, Starting at $599

iOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3

• Apple Releasing iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 Next Week
• Apple Releasing macOS 12.3 Next Week With Universal Control and More
• Apple Seeds Release Candidate Version of iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 to Developers
• Apple Seeds Release Candidate Version macOS Monterey 12.3 Beta to Developers

Mac Pro

• Apple Teases Apple Silicon Mac Pro at Spring Event
• Mac Mini and Mac Pro are Apple's Last Two Remaining Intel Macs With Launch of Mac Studio
• Mac Pro Gains New AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU Upgrade Option

Other News

• Apple Unveils New iPhone 13 'Green' and iPhone 13 Pro 'Alpine Green' Colors
• Apple TV+ to Stream Live MLB Games With Weekly 'Friday Night Baseball' Doubleheader
• Apple Discontinues 27-Inch iMac
• Apple Releases Black and Silver Magic Keyboard With Touch ID, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse
• Apple Introduces New Spring Colors for iPhone Cases and Apple Watch Bands
• HomePod Mini Launching in Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland at End of March

The ‌Mac Studio‌ and Studio Display can be ordered starting today, with orders set to deliver on March 18. The ‌iPhone SE‌ and the ‌iPad Air‌ will be available for preorder this Friday, with a launch following on March 18.

Apple today introduced the Studio Display, a lower-cost display option that's meant to go along with the Mac Studio. The Studio Display is priced starting at $1,599, making it much more affordable than the Pro Display XDR, but not at the attractive $999 price point of the long-discontinued Thunderbolt Display.

Though the base Studio Display is $1,599 for the display itself and an included tilt-adjustable stand, Apple has expensive add-on accessories and updates, continuing a trend that we've seen for many of the past "Pro" product debuts.

Adding nano-texture glass, which is the same low reflectivity glass available for the Pro Display XDR, will cost an extra $300 over the base price. including the tilt and height-adjustable stand will cost an additional $400. The VESA Mount Adapter can be selected for no additional cost.

The Pro Display XDR made headlines when it was released because a stand was not included and was priced at an additional $999. Apple included a stand this time around, but users will need to pay extra for the high-end stand shown off on stage.

Those who want the top-of-the-line Studio Display with the upgraded stand and glass will need to pay a total of $2,299. That's still less than half of the price of the Pro Display XDR, which continues to be priced starting at $4,999.

The Studio Display features a 5K 27-inch display, while the Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch 6K display. The Studio Display maxes out at 600 nits brightness and it doesn't have the same Extreme Dynamic Range, but Apple has added a 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage support and an A13 Bionic chip to support the camera and speaker systems.

Customers can order the Studio Display starting today, and it will be available on March 18.

Following the launch of the new Mac Studio with M1 Ultra chip, AMD today announced that it has introduced the AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU for the existing Intel-based Mac Pro lineup.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU is built on AMD's RDNA 2 architecture, which AMD says offers "stunning visuals and exceptional performance" for the ‌Mac Pro‌.

The GPU supports up to 8GB of GDDR6 memory with up to 256 GB/s bandwidth, 32MB of last-level data cache integrated on the GPU die to reduce latency and power consumption, and enhanced video compositing and editing for professional workflows.

The W6600X is a $300 upgrade for the base ‌Mac Pro‌, and it joins other higher-end graphics options like the W6800X and the W6900X.

Apple confirmed today that it is working on an Apple silicon-based version of the ‌Mac Pro‌ that will see the company transitioning away from Intel chips and AMD graphics, but there is no word on when such a machine might launch.

Compared to the second-generation iPhone SE, the new 5G-enabled ‌iPhone SE‌ offers improved battery life thanks to the efficiency of the A15 Bionic chip.

Compared to the previous model, Apple claims the new ‌iPhone SE‌ can last up to two hours longer during both video playback and streamed video playback for a total of 15 hours and 10 hours, respectively. Audio playback sees the most significant jump by 10 hours, offering up to 50 hours of playback.

The new ‌iPhone SE‌ can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W power adapter. Despite some rumors, the new ‌iPhone SE‌ does not feature MagSafe technology.

Apple today introduced the M1 Ultra chip with a 20-core CPU, up to a 64-core GPU, and a 32-core Neural Engine. The first Mac to offer the M1 Ultra is the all-new Mac Studio desktop computer, which is available to order starting today.

Tech specs for the Mac Studio confirm that the M1 Ultra chip supports up to five external displays. Specifically, a Mac Studio configured with the M1 Ultra chip supports up to four external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over USB-C, along with a fifth display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI, according to Apple.

By comparison, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M1 Pro chip support up to two 6K displays, while models configured with the M1 Max chip support up to three 6K displays and a fourth display with up to 4K resolution. MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models with the standard M1 chip officially only support up to one external display, but users have worked around this limitation with the use of DisplayLink adapters.

The M1 Ultra chip interconnects the die of two M1 Max chips for higher performance and support for up to 128GB of unified memory, compared to a limit of 64GB for the M1 Max chip. The 20-core CPU has 16 high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores.

"M1 Ultra is another game-changer for Apple silicon that once again will shock the PC industry. By connecting two M1 Max die with our UltraFusion packaging architecture, we're able to scale Apple silicon to unprecedented new heights," said Apple's chipmaking lead Johny Srouji. "With its powerful CPU, massive GPU, incredible Neural Engine, ProRes hardware acceleration, and huge amount of unified memory, M1 Ultra completes the M1 family as the world's most powerful and capable chip for a personal computer."

Apple today announced the Mac Studio and the Studio Display, a setup that includes new Mac situated between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro alongside a new mid-level display.

The ‌Mac Studio‌ and Studio Display are meant to be paired together, but as expected, they are purchased separately to allow users to customize their setups.

To get the full "Apple Studio" experience, customers will need to purchase the ‌Mac Studio‌ itself alongside the 27-inch Studio Display and accessories separately.

While the ‌Mac Studio‌ starts at $1999, the highest-end M1 Max model, which has a 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 64GB of memory, and 8TB of storage, costs $4,999 alone.

Adding the highest-end Studio Display with nano-texture glass and the upgraded tilt- and height-adjustable, plus the new Magic Keyboard will push the total cost to $7,497, plus an additional $99 for a Magic Mouse or $149 for a Magic Trackpad.

But if you really want maximum performance, the highest-end ‌Mac Studio‌ with the brand-new M1 Ultra, which has a 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 128GB of memory, and 8TB of storage, costs $7,999 alone, without a display, keyboard, or mouse/trackpad.

With the Studio Display and accessories, the complete highest-end "Apple Studio" experience will cost customers $10,497, plus your choice of keyboard and trackpad, and you can obviously go even higher if you want to use multiple displays.

The ‌Mac Studio‌ and Studio Display are available for pre-order starting today.

Following its first event of the year today, Apple has introduced new colors for the iPhone 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro MagSafe cases and Apple Watch bands for its Spring 2022 collection.

The new case colors for the iPhone 13 Pro include Lemon Zest, Blue Fog, Eucalyptus, and Nectarine. All the cases are $49 and available starting today. The ‌iPhone‌ 13 ‌MagSafe‌ case shares the same colors.

For the Braided Solo Loop Apple Watch band, there is Starlight, Abyss Blue, Bright Green, and Flamingo, available in both 41mm and 45mm sizes for $99.

In the standard Solo Loop band option, there are new colors as well, including Nectarine, Lemon Zest, Mineral Green, and Eucalyptus.

Bright Green, Lemon Zest, and Blue Fog are new additions to the Sport Band. Lavender Gray, Nectarine, Oat Milk, Blue Jay, and Midnight are all replacing the previous colors offered with the Sport Loop.

There are also new Nike Sport Band and Hermès options avaaible for order.

The Mac Studio that was introduced today may be as powerful as the current Mac Pro, but Apple made it clear that the device is not intended to be a ‌Mac Pro‌ replacement.

Apple senior vice president of Hardware Engineering John Ternus teased a new Apple silicon ‌Mac Pro‌ on stage at today's event to address any confusion about the company's ‌Mac Pro‌ plans.

When talking about the transition to Apple silicon across the Mac lineup, Ternus said that there's "just one more product to go: ‌Mac Pro‌," before adding "that's for another day."

Apple did not provide additional details on when we could see a refreshed ‌Mac Pro‌, but it's possible such a machine will be introduced as soon as WWDC. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said that Apple has additional Mac-related announcements planned for May and June of this year.

The ‌Mac Studio‌ is equipped with M1 Max or M1 Ultra chips. The ‌M1 Ultra‌ features a 20-core CPU and up to a 64-core GPU, along with a 32-core Neural Engine.

Though the ‌Mac Studio‌ does not replace the ‌Mac Pro‌ (or the high-end Mac mini), it does appear to be a replacement for the 27-inch iMac, which Apple has now discontinued.

With Apple's debut of the new third-generation iPhone SE at its spring "Peek Performance" event, Apple has dropped the previous second-generation iPhone SE from its lineup on the online Apple Store, which means the cheapest new iPhone Apple offers has gone up in price.

The old iPhone SE 2 featured an A13 Bionic chip, 3GB RAM, and a low starting price of $399. It came in white, black, and red, and was offered with 64GB or 128GB of storage.

By contrast, the new iPhone SE 3 features the A15 Bionic processor - the same chip found in the iPhone 13 series – as well as improved battery life, a new 12MP Wide camera system, and 5G connectivity (although not the fastest mmWave). As a result, pricing for the new model starts at $429, up $30 from the previous model, and is offered in the same three colors.

The new version of the iPhone SE also includes a new 256GB storage option not offered on the previous model, coming in at $579. The iPhone SE continues to be compatible with Qi-certified chargers for wireless charging, and also supports fast charging.

Preorders for the new iPhone SE 3 begin on Friday, March 11, with the first devices shipping on March 18.

The new $429 iPhone SE and $599 iPad Air with 5G connectivity do not appear to support the fastest mmWave 5G bands, based on the technical specifications listed on Apple's website.

Both the ‌iPhone SE‌ and the ‌iPad Air‌ mention support for the following 5G bands in the U.S.: 5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79), but there is no listing for mmWave bands as there is for the iPhone 13 models that do support faster 5G technology.

With no support for mmWave 5G speeds, the ‌iPhone SE‌ models will be limited to sub-6GHz 5G. sub-6GHz 5G is still faster than LTE in most cases, but it is not the super fast impressive 5G speed that you see in marketing materials.

Sub-6GHz 5G is much more widespread and will be the 5G available in rural and suburban areas, as mmWave 5G is shorter range and limited to more urban spots. That said, AT&T and Version have been expanding their faster 5G networks drastically in the U.S. with the release of C-band spectrum, and it is not clear if the new ‌iPhone SE‌ models will be compatible with the higher speed 5G available from the carriers.

The ‌iPhone SE‌ 5G and the ‌iPad Air‌ will be available for preorder this Friday and will launch on March 18.