One week, seven announcements. Apple brewed up a storm for the first week of Spring with a blitz of new hardware. Some genuinely impressive new products stood out amongst a few subtle spec bumps. We’ll also dig into the optics around the biggest announcement, the MacBook Neo. But let’s unpack everything in the order Apple unveiled each product and go through the important details.
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iPhone 17e
- A19 chip (binned version with one fewer GPU core)
- 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with 60Hz refresh rate
- MagSafe support added for accessories and charging
- 15W wireless charging (up from 5W on the 16e)
- C1X modem with up to 2× faster cellular speeds
- Improved battery efficiency from the A19 and new modem
- 48MP main camera with next generation Portrait mode
- 256GB base storage (double the previous generation)
- Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass with improved scratch resistance and anti reflective properties
- Aluminium design with colours: black, white and soft pink
- Starting price £599 / $599
Apple kicked off the week by unveiling the iPhone 17e. It replaces last year’s iPhone 16e as Apple’s most affordable iPhone. Priced at £599/$599, it competes in the mid range. I wouldn’t describe it as budget at this price point. But it offers some solid feature updates this year that better justify its positioning above budget devices.
The iPhone 17e retains the same design as the 16e but adds one additional colour way, a soft pink joining black and white. It gets the same A19 chip first seen in the iPhone 17, albeit a binned down version with one less GPU core. As mentioned last year in my 16e review, most users won’t be able to discern a huge difference. The A19 is fast, power efficient and will enable the 17e to run reliably and get software updates for years to come.
This year Apple has addressed one of the most glaring omissions from the iPhone 16e by adding MagSafe support. Its absence felt particularly strange on last year’s model. A huge ecosystem of accessories sprung up following MagSafe’s introduction with the iPhone 12. Now the 17e will support these accessories both past and present.
Battery capacity remains identical to the 16e, though battery life should be a touch longer. That’s thanks to the improved efficiency of the A19 chip and a new modem. The new C1X modem, first introduced with the iPhone Air, offers up to 2x faster cellular speeds versus the C1 modem in the 16e while being more power efficient. Along with slightly better battery life and MagSafe charging support, wireless charging speeds have increased to 15W, up from 5W on the 16e.
Camera hardware remains unchanged. But the 17e supports Apple’s next generation Portrait mode with better subject recognition and improved adjustable focus. While the cameras haven’t changed, one thing that has is the storage capacity. You now get double the storage, starting at 256GB for the same price as last year’s 16e. A welcome update. Last year’s 16e already offered a solid camera, so I think Apple made the right call here.
One final improvement is new cover glass for the display with Ceramic Shield 2. It offers 3x better scratch resistance according to Apple and has anti reflective properties. This was a great update on the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, and it’s nice to see Apple offer it here on its most affordable model. The durability it offers strengthens the value proposition and should ensure content looks great on the display for many years.
Where the 17e still lags behind a little is that the display continues to use a 60Hz panel. Many cheaper Android devices have had faster refresh rates for years now. Even a bump to 90Hz would have been nice to see. Many devices in this price range also have more competitive camera hardware such as the inclusion of two or even three cameras.
All in all, while not necessarily an exciting announcement, the improvements Apple chose to focus on were the right ones. Faster performance, faster charging, faster download speeds, along with improved durability and double the storage. The iPhone 17e will feel much faster and more capable than competing products in its price category. There is still room for improvement and I would love to see it priced at £499, which would better justify the camera setup. But I do think this is a much better product than last year’s 16e.
iPad Air M4
The iPad Air was a very modest update. It received the M4 chip as first found in the mid 2024 iPad Pro. I’m not going to deep dive here as there isn’t a huge amount to cover. But here’s the key points:
- M4 chip replaces M3 for faster CPU, GPU, and AI performance
- 12GB unified memory for improved multitasking and Apple Intelligence features
- N1 networking chip adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support
- C1X modem on cellular models for faster and more efficient 5G
- Same 11-inch and 13-inch sizes with no major design changes
- Storage up to 1TB, with pricing broadly unchanged
Apple says the M4 should offer around a 30% bump in performance. The increased RAM, 12GB up from last year’s 8GB, should also help with multitasking, creative apps and Apple Intelligence features. Welcome changes but expected updates.
The connectivity updates are nice to have, offering faster, more power efficient wireless speeds and better smart home integration. As previously mentioned, the C1X as seen in the new iPhone 17e, offers faster download speeds and improved power efficiency. But the N1 chip, that the iPhone 17e did not get, adds WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread to the iPad Air. The N1 is Apple’s first custom built networking chip. It debuted on the iPhone Air and it’s nice to see it come to more products.
It was disappointing to see no display improvements. Apple is still using LCD panels with a 60Hz refresh rate.The iPad Air starts at $599/£599 for the 11-inch model and $799/£799 for the 13-inch. At those prices, it’s hard to justify such ageing panel technology, especially on the larger model.
At the very least, Apple could have increased the refresh rate. The iPad Pro supported 120Hz as far back as 2017, and those displays were LCD too. Apple later pushed the iPad Pro further with mini-LED for better contrast and black levels before eventually moving to OLED. Against that backdrop, it’s hard not to feel the iPad Air should at least have gained a faster refresh rate.
While the performance improvements are welcome, overall the M4 iPad Air is an underwhelming update. It sits in this really confusing part of Apple’s lineup. It isn’t a budget product and yet it relies on dated display technology from pre-2017 iPad models. And it isn’t the thinnest or lightest as the name of the product would imply. I think the only reason it exists is for Apple to compete in every price category of the tablet market and to possibly attract folks who historically have been priced out of a MacBook. But as we’ll get into later…Apple has just introduced a product that will change that.
MacBook Air M5
Similar to the iPad Air M4, the MacBook Air M5 is a modest update albeit with Apple’s latest chip. Here’s the key changes:
- M5 chip for faster CPU, GPU and AI performance
- 512GB base storage (double the previous generation)
- Faster SSD speeds for quicker file transfers and app loading
- N1 networking chip with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6
- Up to 4TB storage available on higher configurations
- Same 13-inch and 15-inch Liquid Retina displays
- Design unchanged, retaining the thin fanless chassis and MagSafe charging
One change that isn’t welcome is the price. Apple did increase the base storage but in doing so added £100/$100 to the entry models compared to last year’s M4 MacBook Air. The MacBook Air now starts from £1099/$1099.
Like the iPad Air, the MacBook Air relies on aging display panel technology. It has a peak brightness of 500 nits and doesn’t support HDR content particularly well as a result. And it doesn’t offer a fast refresh rate, instead locked at 60hz like the iPad Air. Again I think this is hard to justify, especially at these price points which are firmly at the lower end of flagship territory.
Thankfully the new MacBook Air does at least have Apple’s latest chip unlike the iPad Air. And it offers a healthier 512GB of storage as standard. Apple has probably done just enough with the MacBook Air this year for consumers to still go out and buy it. But some of the Air’s marketshare will be gobbled up, much like the iPad Air by Apple’s biggest announcement of the week. Again we’ll get to that.
MacBook Pro M5 Pro & M5 Max
The MacBook Pro received more substantial updates. This was still a spec bump with no major design changes. But the improvements are still significant:
- New M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with up to 18-core CPU and major GPU improvements
- New Fusion Architecture combining two 3nm dies for higher performance and efficiency
- Up to 40-core GPU on M5 Max with improved graphics and ray-tracing performance
- Much improved AI performance, including Neural Accelerators in GPU cores and faster Neural Engine
- Up to 64GB unified memory (M5 Pro) and 128GB (M5 Max) with higher memory bandwidth
- 1TB base storage on M5 Pro models and 2TB base storage on M5 Max
- Up to 2× faster SSD speeds for demanding workflows
- N1 networking chip enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6
- Thunderbolt 5 ports for faster connectivity
Something that Apple was keen to talk about with these new chips was their “Super Cores“. What are they you might ask? Simply put they’re the highest performance CPU cores in the M5 architecture, designed to deliver maximum single thread performance for demanding tasks. Super Cores replace what Apple previously referred to as “performance cores”, with improvements to front end bandwidth and cache design to push higher peak speeds.
Apple is explicitly pitching them for on device AI, saying the new chips can run advanced LLMs locally, with higher token generation helped by up to 128GB unified memory and up to 614GB/s memory bandwidth on M5 Max. Apple also says the M5 Pro and M5 Max deliver much faster LLM prompt processing than the previous generation.
There are some impressive performance updates here but we also need to talk about price. Unfortunately there are increases across the board thanks in part due to the memory shortage across the industry.
Price increases vs last year
- 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro): $2,199
- Previously $1,999 with M4 Pro
- Increase: +$200
- 16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro): $2,699
- Previously $2,499 with M4 Pro
- Increase: +$200
- 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max): $3,599
- Previously $3,199 with M4 Max
- Increase: +$400
- 16-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Max): $3,899
- Previously $3,499 with M4 Max
- Increase: +$400
These increases are the same in USD and GBP. Apple partially offsets the increase by doubling base storage on many configurations. That somewhat softens the blow but prices quickly become eye watering the further you move up the price ladder.
Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
Apple updates its Studio Display for the first time ever. But also replaced the ProDisplay XDR with the Studio Display XDR. The former is a spec bump. The latter is a genuinely exciting upgrade (mostly). Both new displays share the exact same design and 27 inch display size. Here’s how the specs compare:
Studio Display
- Same 27-inch 5K LCD panel (5120×2880) with 600 nits brightness and 60Hz refresh rate
- New A19 chip replacing the A13 used in the 2022 model
- Thunderbolt 5 including a second downstream Thunderbolt port with 96W power delivery
- Improved 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View support
- Upgraded six-speaker system with stronger bass and Spatial Audio
- Three-microphone studio array for clearer voice capture
- $1,599 / £1,499 starting price with standard glass and tilt-adjustable stand
- $1,799 / ~£1,749 with nano-texture glass option
- Higher if you choose the tilt and height adjustable stand
Studio Display XDR
In addition to the A19 chip, new speakers and microphones in the standard model, the XDR gets:
- 27-inch 5K Retina XDR display with mini-LED backlighting and ~2,300 dimming zones
- Up to 2,000 nits peak HDR brightness and 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
- 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync (47–120Hz)
- 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio enabled by the mini-LED local dimming system
- P3 + Adobe RGB colour support for pro colour workflows
- Thunderbolt 5 connectivity with up to 140W power delivery
- Tilt and height adjustable stand included in the price
- $3,299 / £2,999 starting price
- $3,599 with nano-texture glass
The standard Studio Display uses the same panel as the previous model, making this a fairly modest update. There are improvements around the edges, but nothing that feels like a must have upgrade for owners of the first generation display. The real story is the Studio Display XDR, which introduces an entirely new panel and a number of meaningful upgrades over the now discontinued Pro Display XDR.
The Studio Display XDR uses mini-LED backlighting with over four times the number of local dimming zones found in the Pro Display XDR. The older display offered 576 zones and up to 1600 nits peak brightness, while the new model reaches 2000 nits. In theory, the higher zone count should deliver more precise dimming, better black levels, and reduced blooming or haloing around bright highlights.
For the first time on an Apple external display, the Studio Display XDR also supports 120Hz ProMotion. That should make animations and general UI navigation noticeably smoother. It also includes Adaptive Sync, allowing variable refresh rates when running games with unlocked frame rates.
There are trade offs to consider. The Pro Display XDR is a larger 32-inch display with a higher 6K resolution, compared with 27 inches and 5K on the Studio Display XDR. That translates to roughly 33% more pixels and around 40% more usable screen space, which some users may not want to give up. The Pro Display XDR’s stand also allowed the display to rotate into portrait orientation, something the Studio Display XDR cannot do on its included stand, although a VESA mount can achieve the same result.
The brightness increase is also smaller than it might appear on paper. Both displays sustain 1000 nits, so the real world difference mainly shows up in HDR highlights, where the new model peaks at 2000 nits. For many users, the biggest advantages will likely be the improved local dimming and the addition of ProMotion. One welcome change is that the tilt and height adjustable stand is included, rather than sold separately!
The ProDisplay XDR started from $4999/£4599 with the stand separately at $999/£949 or a VESA mount adapter for $199/£199. Effectively, the Studio Display XDR is a more advanced panel for half the price. It’s smaller which will put some people off and the stand isn’t as flexible as that of the ProDisplay XDR. But for most people this is a much better value proposition as a more accessible price.
The main event: MacBook Neo
Perhaps the biggest announcement was the introduction of an all new MacBook line. Introducing the MacBook Neo. While a low cost MacBook had been long rumoured, most expected it be simply called “MacBook”. But instead Apple has gone in a different direction to evoke fun and to clearly differentiate it from the Air and Pro line. Here’s the highlights:
- A18 Pro chip with 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks
- 13-inch Liquid Retina display (2408×1506) with 500 nits brightness and support for 1 billion colours
- 8GB unified memory with 256GB or 512GB SSD storage options
- Up to 16 hours battery life for everyday productivity and media use
- 1080p FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones, and side-firing speakers with Spatial Audio
- Magic Keyboard and large Multi-Touch trackpad (no backlighting or haptics)
- Two USB-C ports and a headphone jack for connectivity
- Aluminium unibody design weighing about 1.23 kg
- Available in four colours: silver, blush, indigo, and citrus
- Starting price around $599 / £599, making it Apple’s most affordable MacBook
This is a breakthrough price point for Apple. The closest Apple has ever come to offering a Mac in this price range is its tiny desktop, the Mac mini. The Mac mini shares the same price as the MacBook Neo but it isn’t a straight comparison. A Mac mini doesn’t include a screen, keyboard or mouse. So if you don’t have those things already, the cost quickly mounts up. Now, with MacBook Neo, you get everything you need in the box. It’s not an entirely fair comparison considering the Mac mini has a much more powerful chip. But for the intended market, this is a pretty amazing value proposition.
So what do you get for that £599/$599 entry point into the Mac ecosystem? You get Apple’s famous rock solid build quality with an all metal design and solid unibody construction. You get macOS and tight integration with your iPhone. And you get a much better display and faster performance than competing products in its price class. All in bright, fun colours that will appeal to students and education (there’s a more neutral silver too for businesses).
The elephant in the room is that the MacBook Neo uses a chip that was first found in the iPhone. It isn’t an M series chip. For the uninitiated, that might imply that this product is slow, clunky and won’t last. And in some respects I can understand that. People assume that just because a Mac is physically much larger than an iPhone, that by default it must be faster. That’s just physics, right? Even those with an interest in tech would be reasonable in making that assumption. But of course there’s much more to this story and it starts with Apple Silicon.
In 2020 Apple announced it was moving away from legacy Intel chips. It wanted to be able to build products like the MacBook Neo but couldn’t. Previous attempts resulted in failures like the ultra thin 2016 MacBook. Intel’s chips ran too hot, were slow and they were expensive. But Apple has been developing custom chips since 2010 with the introduction of the iPad and its A4 chip. Over time, its silicon has gotten better and better with each passing year, offering unparalleled performance per watt of power. Apple’s chip designs run cool, quiet and gently sip at power.
Fast forward to 2026 and Apple has been making its iPhone and iPad chips for 16 years. They’ve become incredibly fast. In single threaded tasks, the A18 Pro is roughly three times faster than the CPUs used in the last base Intel Mac Pro and pulls ahead by around 15% in multithreaded workloads. The MacBook Neo is also two to three times faster than the last Intel MacBook Pro.
A18 Pro
- ~3,445 single-core 40-50% faster than M1
- ~8,624 multi-core on par with M1
Last Intel Mac Pro (2019) – Xeon W
- ~1,260 single-core
- ~7,300 multi-core on the base model
Last Intel MacBook Pro (2019)
- ~1,150 single-core
- ~3,900 multi-core
While I can understand why some people are concerned that the MacBook Neo is going to be slow due to the use of an iPhone chip, the data doesn’t lie. Still, the real test will be once people get their hands on it. In everyday use, it will fly through productivity apps and be more than capable of photo editing, light video work and even some gaming. Modern titles like Resident Evil Village already run on the older A17 Pro in the current iPad mini, so the A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo should be easily powerful enough for the audience Apple is targeting.
The MacBook Neo makes sensible trade offs to reach its great value price point. It only has two USB C ports, one of which runs at USB 3 speeds and the other at USB 2. Its headphone jack doesn’t support high impedance headphones. The camera is 1080p, not 12 megapixels like on the MacBook Air or Pro, and it lacks Centre Stage capability. It also doesn’t have a backlit keyboard or haptics in the glass trackpad. And if you want Touch ID it costs £100/$100. Even that is better than it sounds as you also get double the storage to 512GB when adding Touch ID.
This isn’t going to compete on performance with a MacBook Pro or even the Air. This isn’t a video editing rig. And that’s ok. It doesn’t need to be. At this price point the MacBook Neo is competing with Chromebooks made of cheap plastic and Windows machines using slow, hot Intel chips with poor displays. The MacBook Neo offers fantastic speed and performance for everyday computing needs in a premium build with a great display for the same price. It’s one of the best deals in tech and certainly one of the best value products Apple has ever created. Period.
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