All this news about the incompetence of our local lawmakers is making a lot of buzz on social media. So much so that it buried some news that usually gets picked up immediately, like Apple news. The Cupertino titan revealed a lot of updates last week, and there are two new products for you to consider. This is what you might have missed in Apple’s updated ecosystem.
Macbook Neo
Apple has lowered the entry point to their laptop lineup with the new Macbook Neo. It starts at a mere PHP 39,990 – PHP 33K less than the base model M5 Macbook Air. It follows the newer shape of the Macbook Air while having a 13-inch screen, a mobile A18 Pro chip which was used in the iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Max, and the new iPhone 17e; battery life is at 16 hours, it is limited to 8GB of RAM, and starts with 256GB storage. It is available in Silver, Blush, Citrus, and Indigo colors.
Of course there’s a trade-off for that price. There are two USB-C ports but one is only USB-2 speed, no MagSafe charging, there’s no Magic Trackpad, only a 1080p camera, no backlit keyboard too, and Touch ID will only be available if you upgrade to the 512GB model.
This is clearly Apple’s way of pushing past the effects of economics. With the M5 Macbook Air base model now at PHP 70K mark for its price, there’s definitely a space for a newer, more affordable model.
Add the fact that many users of the Air aren’t power hungry and the moves Apple made make more sense. You can make do with a mobile processor and I can attest that 8GB of RAM is a lot. My 2020 M1 Macbook Air with 8GB RAM still runs smoothly despite having Photoshop and CapCut open at the same time, along with different folders, a browser with 20 tabs, and more – something most people won’t do since not everyone is a creator.
iPhone 17e
Apple had a few ‘affordable’ iPhones before. There’s the iPhone 5C (that flopped hard), iPhone SE 1, SE 2, SE 3, and last was the iPhone Mini that saw 2 iterations. Now, Apple implemented what they did to the Macbook Neo but to the iPhone with the new iPhone 17e.
The iPhone 17e is slightly smaller with its 6.1-inch screen (6.3-inch for the iPhone 17), has a 60Hz screen refresh rate, still has a notch, and only a single rear camera with 48 MP and a 12 MP selfie camera. It uses the same A19 processor architecture as the 17 but has one less core, and can still go up to 26 hours of video playback.
The best part is it starts at 256GB so those later iOS updates won’t be much of a problem. Oh, the real best bit – it’s PHP 13K cheaper than the 17 with its starting price of PHP 44,990. It’s available in White, Soft Pink, and Black.
M5 Pro and M5 Max
The M5 Pro and M5 Max is a big shift from their previous iteration. Unlike the M4 line where they’re just a bigger processor, the M5 version uses a new “Fusion Architecture” that allows them to have an 18-core CPU for 30% faster multithreaded performance. There’s a dedicated Neural Accelerator on the GPU for 4x faster LLM processing, and 3.8x faster AI image generation.
Memory has been beefed up to 64GB maximum for the M5 Pro, unlike the M4’s 48GB. Meanwhile, the M5 Max is still at 128GB but is now supporting 614 GB/s. They can also read SSDs up to 14.5 GB/s or double the speed of the M4 line.
Macbook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max
Both processors are available in the new Macbook Pro 14 and 16-inch models. Apart from the new processors, both units are also the first to have WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6 and comes standard with Thunderbolt 5 that can read up to 120 GB/s.
The new Macbook Pro with M5 Pro starts at PHP 149,990 while the M5 Max model will start at PHP 239,990.
Macbook Air M5
The M5 processor that was launched last year finally made its way to the Macbook Air. It’s priced higher at PHP 72,990, but with it are some new base model appointments. It now has a dedicated Neural Accelerator thanks to the M5 processor, can be customized up to 4TB of storage, 28% more bandwidth than the M4 MBA, and has WiFi 7. It now has 16GB of memory, 512GB of storage, and ships with a more powerful 40W power adapter.
iPad Air M4
The iPad Air now sits beside the iPad Pro as it now has the M4 chip. It now has 12GB of RAM for much more multitasking, Apple’s own WiFi, Bluetooth, and 5G chips (that was previously outsourced) for 30% better power efficiency, ray tracing, and 16-core Neural engine.
These are massive improvements but Apple didn’t bump up the price. The 11-inch iPad Air M4 is still starting at PHP 42,990 while the 13-inch iPad Air M4 begins at PHP 54,990.
New Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
The last bit that was launched is the Studio Display and the new Studio Display XDR. The Studio Display is more of a spec bump as it now has two Thunderbolt 5 ports in USB-C form, daisy-chaining up to 4 Studio Displays from a single Mac, and a redesigned 6-speaker system around the 27-inch screen. It still starts at PHP 104,999.
Apple has replaced the absurdly expensive Pro Display with the new Studio Display XDR. It now starts at “only” PHP 219,999. Unlike before, this price now includes a stand that is tilt and height adjustable. Other features include Mini-LED panel, 120Hz ProMotion refresh, 2,000 nits of peak brightness, and offers up to 140W of charging downstream.
