Newsletter Archives

• Apple silicon just got confusing

  Posted on March 5, 2025 at 12:40 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  Today, Apple announced several new products without fanfare: the iPad Air, MacBook Air, and Mac Studio. In a related announcement, Apple unveiled the M3 Ultra chip.

  This is not the progression I anticipated. I thought 2025 would be the year of the M4, expecting general upgrades to M4 and a new M4 Ultra. Instead, the iPad Air got an M3 chip, the MacBook air an M4 (expected), and the Mac Studio in two models, one with the M4 Max (expected) and the other with the new M3 Ultra (completely unexpected).

  

  Image courtesy Apple, Inc.

  The progression for the Airs makes sense. But the Studio? Now the entry model has an M4 and the tricked-out model has an M3. That will confuse the buying process. It also makes me wonder where the M4 Ultra is.

  Apple Apple, Apple M-series chips, Apple M3 Ultra, Apple M4 Max, Apple Silicon, iPad Air, Mac Studio, MacBook Air

• Three days of M4

  Posted on November 4, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Or were they?

  It turns out that the rumors I mentioned in my Apple article last week were not entirely accurate. With respect to the M4 chips, they were. With respect to the number of days, the count turned out to be three, not five.

  Now I think I know why, which I’ll get to in a moment.

  On the surface, the announcements last week had the M4 chips in common. It’s deeper than that.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.45.0, 2024-11-04).

  Apple Apple Intelligence, Apple M-series chips, Apple M4, iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, Newsletters

• The October surprise

  Posted on October 28, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Most observers were expecting an Apple event in October. They were wrong.

  Which is not to say there was no surprise.

  On October 15, Apple announced its new iPad Mini. “Announced” may be overstating the case — the Mini didn’t even make it to Apple’s home page, and as I write this on the Friday just prior to our publication, it still isn’t there.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.44.0, 2024-10-28).

  Apple Apple M-series chips, Apple Mac, iPad Mini, Mac mini, Macintosh, Newsletters