The ‘Air’ week that was – all the new updates from Apple

YouTubers were once again proven wrong with their leaks of a thinner, slimmer iPhone. Instead, Apple launched a new, more affordable iPhone in the 16e last month. And last week, what’s supposed to be the event for the ‘iPhone Air’ was nothing but an update to their desktop and handheld products. Here’s a rundown of everything new with Apple.

2025 iPad Air

Apple gave the iPad Air a soft update in the form of a new M3 processor. They say this is 2x faster than iPad Air with M1 and 3.5x faster than iPad Air with A14 Bionic. It’s still available in 2 sizes – 11 inches starting at PHP 42,990 and 13 inches priced at PHP 54,990 clad in Space Gray, Blue, Purple, or Starlight Colors. 

Other iPad Updates

The base model iPad was also given an update while retaining its price. It now starts at 128GB of storage, twice the former 64GB entry point. It can also be had with 256GB and 512GB options. Its processor was also updated to the A16 chip that promises a marginal improvement – around 50% in total performance, from the previous processor. They also say it’s 6x faster than ‘the best selling Android tablet’

Apple also launched a new keyboard to accompany the new iPad Air. The new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air is also available in 2 sizes and comes with a larger built-in trackpad and new 14-key function row for more productivity. It attaches magnetically and the Smart Connector recognizes power and data without the need for Bluetooth. It’s priced at PHP 17,990 for the 11-inch model and PHP 19,990 for the 13-inch model. 

M3 Ultra

In a somewhat puzzling move, Apple has decided to launch a top-end processor for the previous generation. They unveiled the M3 Ultra as an optional upgrade for the Mac Studio, when the M4 series (M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max) were already in place. 

The new M3 Ultra is made up of a 3nm process, same as the other M3 series. It’s basically 2 M3 Max died together for a bigger chip that houses up to 184 billion transistors. It has up to 32-core CPU with 24 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. The GPU also takes up significant space with up to 80 graphics cores, and a 32-core Neural engine. 

Memory is also highest, starting at 96GB and up to 512GB. It also serves as the launch of Thunderbolt 5 for Mac Studio, capable of up to 120GB/s data transfer. It can also support up to 8 ProDisplay XDR for the most demanding workflows. 

2025 Mac Studio

After missing one year in the update plan, the Mac Studio is back as the most powerful in Apple’s lineup – with a weird twist.

It starts at PHP 129,990 with the M4 Max processor that also comes with support for 5 displays, Thunderbolt 5, 36GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. If you want a higher baseline, there’s the Mac Studio with M3 Ultra with 96GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, and more display support at 8. Another difference is the M3 Ultra model has front facing Thunderbolt 5 support, unlike the lower model that only has USB-C support and speed. It’s interesting why Apple didn’t make a new flagship processor and instead, re-worked something older. 

2025 Macbook Air

Apple’s lightest laptop is now more enticing. They dropped the Space Grey color and splashed it with a new Sky Blue hue, on top of some key updates. It now runs with an M4 processor that features a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and starts with 16GB of unified memory and supports up to 32GB. They say it’s 2x faster than the M1 processor which is a lot, considering I’m typing this article in an M1 Macbook Air and this thing is as fast as day 1. Battery life for both models is at 18-hour for video streaming and 15-hours for wireless web browsing. 

The best thing about this year’s MBA are 2 Ps – Productivity and Pricing. The new Macbook Air now supports up to 2 external displays even with the laptop open unlike before where you have to close it. The price is now also lower. It now starts at PHP 64,990 compared to the PHP 69,990 of the previous model, while the bigger 15-inch model is at PHP 79,990 (down from PHP 82,990). Both are starting with 16GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage.