Apple

Apple has added 5G connectivity to its low-cost iPhone SE and iPad Air and introduced a high-performance chip for its new Mac Studio, a desktop aimed at ...

Apple's new M1 Ultra system-on-chip (SoC) stole the show at its event on March 9, coming with double the number of processor and graphics cores as the M1 ...

Now that the M1 Ultra doubles the package size of the M1 Max and has double the memory support, its memory capacity has naturally been bumped up to 128GB. It can be configured with up to 8TB of storage and features a dual-fan cooler that draws air from the bottom and expels it out the rear. The M1 Ultra only needs “under 100W” to reach the peak performance of the competing desktop processors. Max memory bandwidth has–you guessed it–also been doubled to 800GB/s. Moving large amounts of data quickly from memory is important in maximizing the processing performance of the chip. Additionally, Apple says that at full throttle, the M1 Ultra is 90 per cent faster than a Mac Pro with a 16-core Intel Xeon processor. The M1 Ultra showcases the chip’s scalability.

Apple's entry-level iPhone is now 5G, as the iPhone SE retains some familiar favourites for some, while boosting what's on the inside.

Sporting similar hardware and one less camera, the 128GB 2022 iPhone SE is $799 and manages to be $400 lower than Apple’s other small phone, the 128GB $1199 iPhone 13 Mini. Of particular importance for the 2022 iPhone SE in Australia may well be the competition and 5G phone landscape, particularly in the high-end. You won’t find support for Apple’s MagSafe magnetic charging technology, even if regular non-magnetic wireless charging is here, and while the design is water resistant, the Ceramic Shield isn’t a part of the design. You may not find night mode or Apple’s neat Cinematic Video mode that brings portraiture to video, but still portraiture is still here along for the ride. Apple’s other major change is to the camera on the back, with the wide 12 megapixel likely re-appearing from the iPhone XR given its use of an F1.8 aperture, but still it being the only camera. You might call it a motley crew of componentry, but back when we reviewed the 2020 iPhone SE, found it was a solid choice for people who didn’t need to spend an arm and a leg to get a great iPhone. It even came with water resistance and wireless charging just like the iPhone 8 before it.

“With its powerful CPU, massive GPU, incredible Neural Engine, ProRes hardware acceleration, and huge amount of unified memory, M1 Ultra completes the M1 family ...

Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio and Mac Pro. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio and Mac Pro. Testing was conducted by Apple in February 2022 using preproduction Mac Studio systems with Apple M1 Max, 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, and preproduction Mac Studio systems with Apple M1 Ultra, 20-core CPU and 64-core GPU. Performance was measured using select industry‑standard benchmarks. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Studio. Testing was conducted by Apple in February 2022 using preproduction Mac Studio systems with Apple M1 Max, 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, and preproduction Mac Studio systems with Apple M1 Ultra, 20-core CPU and 64-core GPU. Performance was measured using select industry‑standard benchmarks. The foundation for M1 Ultra is the extremely powerful and power-efficient M1 Max. To build M1 Ultra, the die of two M1 Max are connected using UltraFusion, Apple’s custom-built packaging architecture. M1 Ultra can be configured with up to 128GB of high-bandwidth, low-latency unified memory that can be accessed by the 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, and 32-core Neural Engine, providing astonishing performance for developers compiling code, artists working in huge 3D environments that were previously impossible to render, and video professionals who can transcode video to ProRes up to 5.6x faster than with a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner.1

Here are my quick-hit reactions to Apple's March 8 event, at which the company updated the iPhone SE and iPad Air, rolled out a brand-new Mac and external ...

Since this is the end of the era, I’d expect Apple to turn the page soon and introduce the first wave of M2-based Macs. The M2 will probably be a somewhat modest improvement—you can’t make a big leap in performance and energy efficiency like the M1 every time out. The M1 Max chip itself is intelligent about saving energy by shutting off unused elements, so there doesn’t need to be a micromanager at a high level trying to spread the load. And it will please a lot of people who want a bit more than the 24-inch iMac, but don’t need to spend $2000 on a Mac Studio and then find a display to use with it. While it’s true that an Apple silicon-based Mac could probably do all that work itself, it’s important to remember that the Studio Display is also compatible with Intel Macs, including models from all the way back in 2016. The Mac Studio could be seen as an attempt to let the iMac and Mac mini go back to what they were before, with the Mac Studio shouldering the load as the provider of computing power to people who want it. There’s a good reason the M1 Ultra wasn’t named something like the M1 Max Duo: it’s not two chips, it’s two complete systems-on-a-chip combined into a single package. You heard Apple’s John Ternus right: The M1 Ultra is the final chip of the M1 era. It’s also processing the audio being sent to it, creating spatial audio effects for the Studio Display’s speakers. But here’s why: That A13 is doing the work of Center Stage, scanning the wide-angle camera image for faces and scaling and moving the view so that people are always in frame. With an A15 processor inside, I’d imagine this SE will be on sale for a couple of years at the very least. One of these days, this design will fade into oblivion like the original iPhone SE design (based on the iPhone 5). But Tuesday was not that day. I’m more struck by the fact that the iPad Air’s specs show just how efficient Apple can be about standardizing hardware and re-using it across multiple devices.

Apple's (AAPL) spring event introduced Mac Studio and the M1 Ultra as well as revealing updates to the iPhone SE and iPad Air.

The fully fitted top-line Mac Studio will feature a 64-core GPU, 128GB of memory, and 8TB SSD along with the M1 Ultra, running the price north of $8,000. Center Stage will allow the camera to pan and fit everything in front into its frame. The updated iPhone SE 3 comes with the latest 6-core A15 Bionic processor that the iPhone 13 sports, as well as 5G capabilities.