Apple today held its “Peek Performance” event, which marks the end of numerous rumors and industry reports for a ton of products like the next-generation iPhone SE with 5G connectivity, iPad Air 5 with the M1 chip, new Mac Studio, and more. Here are our picks for the 5 biggest announcements from today’s event.
Headlining products from Apple’s “Peek Performance” event
iPhone SE (2022)
Apple today finally announced one of its long-rumored iPhones, the third-generation iPhone SE. The iPhone SE marks the first time Apple has brought 5G connectivity to a budget-friendly iPhone. While the smartphone features the same design as its predecessor with a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and Home button, it comes equipped with the latest chipset for an iPhone, the A15 Bionic chip.
The iPhone SE features an all-new camera system powered by A15 Bionic, with a 12-megapixel ƒ/1.8 aperture Wide camera that offers a ton of improvements to the smartphone’s computational photography including Smart HDR 4, Photographic Styles, Deep Fusion, and Portrait mode.
The budget-friendly iPhone starts at $429 and is available in three colors: midnight, starlight, and Product(RED).
iPad Air 5
The next-generation iPad Air was also unveiled today with the M1 chip, 5G connectivity, a new 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera that supports Center Stage, and more. Similar to the iPad Air (2020) the latest iPad Air features a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, landscape stereo speakers, and Touch ID built into the power button.
The iPad Air 5 comes in five colors: blue, purple, starlight, space grey, and pink. Pricing for the Wi-Fi models starts at $599 whereas Wi-Fi + Cellular models start from $749.
M1 Ultra Apple Silicon chip
Apple announced the latest addition to its Apple Silicon lineup, the M1 Ultra. The chip provides 2x the performance of the powerful M1 Max chip. The latest M1 chip features up to 20 CPU cores, 64 GPU cores, and 128GB unified memory, and is made of 114 billion transistors making it the first desktop chip of its kind. Keeping all of the upgrades in mind, the M1 Ultra is an extremely efficient chip for heavy workloads and CPU-intensive tasks.
Mac Studio
Apple’s roadmap of transitioning all of its products to Apple Silicon is one step closer to the finish line with the 7.7-inch Mac Studio, powered by the M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips. Mac Studio offers incredible performance in a compact square design with an array of connectivity. The internals of the device features an innovative thermal system that ensures it will remain quiet under the heaviest workloads.
The Mac Studio can be purchased with either an M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip. With the M1 Max chip, users can get up to a 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and 64GB of unified storage, while the new M1 Ultra chip features up to 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, and 128GB of storage.
27-inch Studio Display
Lastly, we have the 27-inch Studio Display which features a 5K screen encased in an aluminum enclosure. The display offers 600 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, support for over one billion colors as well as support for Apple’s True Tone technology which automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature as the environment changes.
Featuring the A13 Bionic chip, Studio Display offers an amazing user experience with its highly advanced camera and audio system. The display includes a 12MP Ultra Wide camera with Center Stage, making it the “ultimate video conferencing display.” Studio Display also includes a studio-quality, three-microphone array. Apple also allows users to personalize the display by offering additional technical specifications like nano-texture glass and a choice of stand options
Two honorable mentions that did not make it to the list include “Green” and “Alpine Green” colorways for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Max as well as exclusive streaming of “Friday Night Baseball” MLB games on Apple TV+.
