Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) held its first product event of the year on March 8, introducing plans for a cheaper iPhone, a new iPad Air, and a new Mac Studio computer equipped with an M1 chip, the most powerful Mac chip yet. Hundreds of thousands of people streamed Apple's "Peek Performance" product event on Youtube (NASDAQ: GOOGL), but viewing numbers were around half as high as the announcement of the iPhone 13 last year.
The Mac Studio is Apple's first new Mac model in several years and is a desktop computer without a display. The Mac Studio is taller than Apple's Mac Mini and includes a USB-C port and SD card slot. Models with the MI Max chip start at $1,999, and the version with the M1 Ultra starts at $3,999.
According to Apple, the M1 Ultra Mac Studios run 80% faster than the company's most powerful Mac Pro, which had a price tag of more than $50,000. Apple says this improved performance is thanks to its new connection technology, allowing for an increased number of transistors and a 64-core graphics processor.
Alongside the desktop Mac, Apple announced it would be releasing its new Studio Display for $1,599, featuring a 5K Retina 27-inch screen, speakers, a built-in camera, two different stand options, and Apple fast-charging capability.
Apple's new mid-range iPad, the iPad Air, will also be equipped with the M1 processor, along with 5G support and a 12 megapixel front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens and subject tracking technology called Center Stage. The new iPad will start at $599 and is expected to hit shelves on March 18.
The cheapest product introduced during the event is Apple's new low-range iPhone SE with prices starting at $429, slightly higher than the product's $399 predecessor introduced in 2020. Both versions of the SE have 4.7 inch rectangular displays, as well as a fingerprint sensor. The new iPhone SE will carry the latest iPhone processor, the A15, as well as a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera.
Along with these new products, Apple announced that it would be offering new color options for the iPhone 13, including "green" and "alpine green", as well as making its first step into the world of live sports with upcoming free-to-watch pre- and post-game shows, as well as live Major League Baseball games. The new shows will be offered in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
The company also teased a new Mac Pro, but said that device will be formally introduced in a later event.
"One more product to go: Mac Pro. But that's for another day," Apple's head of hardware John Ternus said.