Everything Apple Announced This Week, From the iPhone 17E to the MacBook Neo

The $599 iPhone 17E kicked off the latest round of Apple product announcements, along with $599 MacBook Neo the chaos ends. In between, we’ve seen updates to both the MacBook Air and Pro lines, a few updates to the older Studio Display and a new one. iPad Air. Wow!

There’s a lot to keep track of, so I’ve gathered all the news in one place. In reverse chronological order, here are all the new products Apple announced this week. And yes, everything listed below is available for pre-order now and will ship on March 11th.

MacBook Neo

This was the biggest news from Apple this week, and I’m not just saying that because I’m review laptops livelihood. I the new MacBook Neo significantly lowers the entry point for MacBook buyers. At just $599, it costs $500 less than the cheapest MacBook Air, and readers can get it for $499. I expect to see more MacBook Neos in classrooms next fall, but I think so Neo can be more than just a school laptop.

The MacBook Neo has an iPhone-level processor and only 8GB of RAM, so it’s more geared toward writing term papers than the heavy lifting required of STEM or graphic design students. And even then, you’ll want to spend an extra $100 for the larger SSD keyboard and Touch ID. Its 13-inch display isn’t much smaller than the Air, and it has a lightweight, all-aluminum body on par with Apple’s pricey MacBooks. Plus, it comes in three fun colors (in addition to the standard silver).

I expect the MacBook Neo to sell well, and it will eat into iPad sales more than the MacBook Air. Or maybe the two will eventually meetsends CNET’s Scott Stein to nirvana.

M5 MacBook Air

Apple’s standard MacBook received an update this week. I The MacBook Air has been upgraded to Apple’s latest M5 processor, but that’s not the only change. Apple has removed the 256GB SSD option from the previous version, increasing the minimum storage to 512GB. The starting price is up $100, but the M5 MacBook Air is actually a better deal than the M4 model — currently my favorite laptop for many people — when you factor in the cost of upgrades. Plus, Apple says the new SSD in the M5 Air is twice as fast as before.

M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro

I 14-inch MacBook Pro it got the M5 treatment at the end of last year, and now Apple has released the powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max chips for both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The new processors introduce a chip design that Apple calls “Fusion,” referring to its method of combining two dies to scale its system on a chip rather than connecting multiple SoCs.

My colleague Lori Grunin has more details on the new chip design and specifications for the M5 Pro and M5 Max. Spoiler: They are not cheap. Prices for the new laptops start at $2,199 for the MacBook Pro 14 and $2,699 for the MacBook Pro 16 with M5 Pro, and $3,599 and $3,899, respectively, for the M5 Max.

Studio Display and Pro Display XDR

If you’ve been looking to upgrade your old Studio Display or really old Pro Display XDR, your day has come. Apple updated both this week. The new 27-inch Studio Display XDR costs $3,299 and is a 27-inch 5K model that brings the long-awaited 120Hz refresh rate to Apple’s monitor lineup, as well as brilliant brightness. The 27-inch Studio Display costs $1,599 and has an improved webcam and Thunderbolt 5 support — but no HDR or high refresh rate of the standard version, Grunin found disappointment.

M4 iPad Air

Apple’s mid-range iPad tablet received a processor bump this week. I The iPad Air has been updated with the M4 chip while maintaining previous prices: $599 for the 11-inch model, $799 for the 13-inch model. The memory has also been increased, from 8GB to 12GB. Apple says the new M4 iPad Air is 30 percent faster than the M3 model. Scott Stein says Apple updated the wrong iPad.

iPhone 17E

The week started with the budget update of Apple iPhone. The new iPhone 17E keeps the same $599 price as last year’s iPhone 16E but offers twice the storage and MagSafe. You can also get it in pink.

The iPhone 17E features the A19 chip, which is similar but not exactly the same as the base iPhone 17’s chip. I’ll let my colleague Abrar Al-Heeti explain the chip details and other changes in the iPhone 17E. And check out why CNET’s Jeff Carlson thinks the one feature missing from the iPhone 17E is a good one.

So there you have it, a week from Apple. Stay tuned to CNET for more details as we test these devices in person and put them up against the competition.

And if you’re an Android fan, don’t despair. Mobile World Congress and Samsung Galaxy Unpacked also just wrapped up, bringing you a slew of new phones as well.