Welcome to our weekly collection of all the Apple news you missed this week, in a handy bite-sized summary. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want to read it during lunch or dinner hours as well.
Missed Opportunities
We were hoping it would be a big event, and Apple’s “Peek Performance” event delivered in spades. We got the much-awaited iPhone SE update, the iPad Air we’ve been waiting for all last year, and a high-powered Mac in a compact chassis, with a fancy display to go with it. There was something for everyone.
The Mac Studio is a compelling launch, and we have few complaints about it. But the iPhone and iPad announcements were each, in their own way, reminders of paths not taken, of missed opportunities. Observers wondered what might have been, had Apple made slightly different choices.
The third-generation iPhone SE, as I’ve discussed at length elsewhere, is a budget phone that’s nowhere near as budget-conscious as it should be. With a mix of tech specs and a pre-“Schitt’s Creek” design, the SE should slide in at prices comfortably under $400. Instead, the device comes at a price to bump (which Apple says is likely justified by the inclusion of 5G support), and millions of potential sales in a market Apple never managed to cover disappeared into the ether.
The iPad Air, meanwhile, is a lesson in the problems that can arise when one part of a company fears stepping on another’s toes. When the latest Air launched, in 2020, it instantly ate the lunch of the 11-inch iPad Pro: why would anyone buy a Pro when the Air was available, with most premium features at a much lower price? And when Apple refused to update the Air for the whole of 2021, it was hard to escape the suspicion that the company wanted to give the next iPad Pro model a chance, like the anxious parent keeping his eldest 10 minutes before joining Easter egg hunt.
Guessing Apple is a silly race, and it’s entirely possible that the alternate universe where Apple released an iPad Air in 2021 and priced the new iPhone SE under $400 is also where a Craig Federighi without the sou must cut his hair. Focusing on premium products has always been a lucrative strategy for Cupertino. But there’s room for the big-budget device too, and it’s fascinating to imagine a world in which Apple is actually trying to capture that market.
Trending: Top stories of the week
The Mac Studio is the Upgraded Power Mac G4 Cube we waited 22 years, says Roman Loyola.
Apple has finally made the Mac that puts Everything is in its placesighs a relieved Jason Snell.
Jason Cross took a deep dive into all things M1 Ultra.
And just like that, the next iPhone SE is already destined to be a flop.
We walked the apple event fine print. Michael Simon spotted 12 small, meaningful details you may have missed.
The rumor mill
IDG
I think we’ve had enough product launch excitement last a year? Wrong. Here’s what’s in store for Apple after this exciting spring event.
the new macbook air could use a recycled M1 chip, not the M2.
Do not worry Mac mini fansthe model you want is always available.
Did Apple come from kill the 27 inch iMac? Presumably.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you want to receive regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also Follow us on twitter for the latest news. See you next Saturday, enjoy your weekend and stay Appley!
