Apple unveils low-cost iPhone SE and new iPad Air

The company shifted its in-person events to video during the pandemic and despite offices slowly opening, Apple is sticking with the format for now. The predictably polished but unusually subdued announcement comes at an odd time for Apple and the U.S. tech industry. The company stopped sales of its products in Russia last week and has limited its Apple Pay service in the country in response to international pressure. Apple is the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the country behind Samsung and Xiaomi, according to data from market research firm IDC.

The Help Desk has distilled the most important things you should know about what Apple unveiled today.

iPhone SE: Apple’s cheapest phone gets faster

It might not look all that exciting, but Apple’s low-cost $429 iPhone SE just got some interesting internal upgrades. For the first time, the company’s cheapest smartphone comes with support for 5G networks including the ones that prompted problems for aviation officials in January. (Most of those issues have been worked out, though.) That said, the SE doesn’t support the super-fast mmWave (pronounced “millimeter wave” 5G found in major cities and venues like sports stadiums, so pricier models still have a speed advantage.

Perhaps more important is Apple’s choice of the chip inside the smartphone — the SE model, which stands for “special edition,” uses the same speedy A15 Bionic processor found in the company’s most expensive smartphones. That’s a rarity for a phone that costs less than $500, though it certainly comes with its share of trade-offs.

For one, the iPhone SE is a little more expensive than before — its starting price of $429 is $30 more than the model it replaces. The SE also has a smaller, less detailed screen than the Galaxy S21 FE and the Pixel 6, two ostensibly affordable models from Samsung and Google, respectively. And perhaps to the chagrin of photographers, it has just one rear camera — something you’d be hard-pressed to find among even the cheapest smartphones out there. So why should shoppers pay attention to this thing?

Apple’s latest phone costs hundreds of dollars less than either of those other devices, and it features enough computing power to potentially outperform them both. And that matters, if not today then over the next few years.

Some analysts say the iPhone SE’s relatively retro look won’t stand in the way of sales. In a note to investors, Wedbush Securities managing director Daniel Ives suggests that 30 million iPhones SEs sold in the coming year would be a “conservative” estimate.

The iPad Air inherits some Pro features

Apple also announced a new version of the iPad Air which, like the iPhone SE, was last updated in 2020. Starting at $599, the iPad Air is expected to hold onto its status as the company’s midrange tablet option.

The iPad Air used to be the iPad Pro’s lighter, slightly slower cousin. The newest version of the thin tablet is coming with a more powerful brain. The M1 processor is Apple’s proprietary chip and the same one you’ll find in new iPad Pros and some MacBooks. Apple says that means the iPad Air will run faster and handle more demanding apps, though you probably shouldn’t expect a night-and-day difference for most tasks. It’s also adding 5G capabilities.

For creatives — one of Apple’s target markets for pricey tablets — the Air will include updates to iMovie and faster USB-C ports, which will make for easier video editing and quicker transfer of photos and video files, respectively.

All in all, the new iPad Air is closer to keeping step with Apple’s more expensive tablets, minus a few ounces. It comes in pastel tones and will be available to order online this Friday and in stores March 18.

A new generation of Macs is coming

Slowly but surely, Apple has been redesigning all of its Mac computers to use its own processors rather than off-the-shelf chips from Intel. Now it’s doing the same for the new Mac Studio, a compact desktop computer. The set up (and cost) is almost certainly overkill for the regular person.

Apple introduced two versions of this grown-up Mac mini today — one with the same M1 Max chipset found in the company’s highest-end laptops last year, and another with two of those chips essentially woven together. (Apple calls this combined chip the M1 Ultra, and no, you almost certainly never need to own one.)

As its name sort of suggests, the Mac Studio was mostly designed to be a machine for professionals — think video editors, animators, programmers working on complex projects and others. Buying one just for web browsing and the occasional Netflix binge really doesn’t make much sense. And as with most of Apple’s pro-grade products, the Mac Studio can command eye-watering prices — the standard model starts at $1,999 while the version equipped with the M1 Ultra will cost you at least $3,999. (You may even need to pay more for a monitor, since the Studio doesn’t come with one.)

Everything else

As always, Tim Cook and his band of executives whipped through other announcements at lightning-speed. Here are some of the other things Apple mentioned in passing.

• Very soon, you’ll be able to buy an iPhone 13 in a sort of sage green color. (As our resident style maven Tatum Hunter puts it, the shade is decidedly “last year.”
• To go with the headless Mac Studio desktop computer, Apple is making a pricey 27-inch monitor. The $1,599 Studio Display runs at a super-crisp 5K resolution, comes with a handful of USB-C ports, and even uses the brain of an iPhone 11 (the A13 bionic processor) to help manage its speakers and power features.
• Apple TV Plus might not be worth the asking price for everyone, so the company is trying to sweeten the deal with sports. The company’s streaming service will offer two exclusive Major League Baseball games on Fridays after the season starts, though exactly when that will happen is still up in the air.
• CEO Tim Cook often indulges in a little scene-setting preamble at the top of these events, but skipped it entirely this time. The fast pace of the company’s subdued event meant there was no time for Cook for make mention of the situation in Ukraine, even after Apple paused sales of its products in Russia.