Apple held its first product reveal of 2022 overnight and it wasn’t so much the slate of new tech goodies on offer that caught observers’ eye but CEO, Tim Cook’s, very subtle nod of support to the Ukraine.
Apple’s Peek Performance March event was once again live-streamed from the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters due to COVID.
Although Cook hasn’t publicly voiced an opinion on Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, it was obvious to all where the company’s support lay after Cook presented in a blue sweater and an Apple Watch with a bright yellow band. The blue and gold of the Ukraine flag.
Apple had previously indicated its support for Ukraine by pulling their products from Russia and removing RT and Sputnik from the app store, outside of Russia.
Twitter soon lit-up over Cook’s colour choices, even more so than it usually does with its product announcements.
The Apple event also featured a number of big product announcements, most notably the announcement of a new iPhone. The company debuted the updated iPhone SE, which features 5G and an A15 Bionic chip. It also announced a new iPad Air and iPhone colours.
The latest iPhone SE marks the first upgrade to the bare-bones version of Apple’s most popular phone in nearly two years. The new iPhone SE will sell for $US429 — an an eight per cent increase from $US399 price tag for the last version that rolled out it nearly two years ago during the early stages of CVOID. The new iPhone SE will be available in stores March 18. Its launch in Australia is yet to be announced.
However, what appeared to have all the tech sites buzzing this morning was the arrival of the Mac Studio, a powerful desktop that runs on the company’s new M1 Ultra chip, which debuted the same day.
The Mac Studio is considerably smaller than the Mac Pro and its cube-shaped design
Also available from March 18 in the US, the new Mac Studio will retail for $US$1999.
Whereas the Mac mini with M1 is more an entry-level computer for everyday consumers and the Mac Pro is for serious professionals, the Mac Studio is meant for content creators – the ones who need strong performance and graphics and the likes but don’t have the serious coin to throw at a Mac Pro which start at $9999 in Australia.
The new Mac Studio was touted by the firm as being faster than the Mac Pro, and promises to work quietly regardless of the workload. Apple also claims the Mac Studio is more efficient than competitors and requires 1000 kilowatt-hours of energy less than a high-end PC desktop.
A new Studio Display monitor (see above) was also announced, and according to Apple, “together, Mac Studio and Studio Display transform any workspace into a creative powerhouse”.
Apple is reporting the Mac Studio with M1 Max will be up to 50 per cent faster than a Mac Pro.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing said: “We couldn’t be more excited to introduce an entirely new Mac desktop and display with Mac Studio and Studio Display.
“Mac Studio ushers in a new era for the desktop with unbelievable performance powered by M1 Max and M1 Ultra, an array of connectivity, and a compact design that puts everything users need within easy reach.
“And Studio Display – with its stunning 5K Retina screen, along with the best combination of camera and audio ever in a desktop display – is in a class of its own.”
Apple also unveiled a few other innovations, including the additional of Friday night baseball to Apple TV +, new green iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone SE 3 with A15 chip and 5G support and iPad Air with M1 chip and 5G support.
It also teased that a new Mac Pro was in production – but said that announcement would have to wait for a future event.
“One more product to go: Mac Pro. But that’s for another day,” Apple’s head of hardware John Ternus said.
“We look forward to seeing what our users will do with all of these incredible products and the impact they will have on people’s lives,” Tim Cook added.
