Apple Event: A New Entry-Level iPhone, An Ultra-Fast iPad Air And New Top-Of-The-Line Desktops

It seems like Apple conspired to bring everyone together to watch the Apple Event that took place on March 8. Just a short while before the event was to begin at 11:30 IST, users had started indicating problems at Amazon Web Services. Discord wasn’t loading and Spotify had logged everyone out. To no one’s surprise, Discord came back to life about five to ten minutes post the competition of the event.

That aside, the Apple Event (which was once again a virtual affair) was a blockbuster from start to finish. Apple raced through the multitude of products launched and completed the event within 60 minutes. Here’s a lowdown on what transpired at Apple’s spring launch event.

Apple Wasted A Golden Opportunity To Enter The Budget Smartphone Market

Going into the virtual event, Apple had a massive opportunity on its hands. All eyes might have been on the brand new iPhone SE for 2022, but the iPhone SE from 2020 still lingered in the background. If Apple had chosen to discount the model and not discontinue it, an iPhone might have finally been available in the sub-25k category and compete with the likes of Xiaomi and Realme in the Indian market. Alas, it seems they have chosen to discontinue it altogether. There’s no official word on the discontinuation yet, but it has been removed from the Apple Store.

The new iPhone SE for 2022 (now in its third generation) is rocking the same design as the original. It’s got a 4.7-inch display in a small form factor and chunky bezels. The base model retains the shockingly low 64GB of storage but gets a bump in price. There’s one 12-megapixel f/1.8 camera on the back, but thanks to the A15 Bionic (the same chip that powers the iPhone 13 series), it’s got a whole lot of software improvements - Deep Fusion and HDR 4.

Something that will need to be tested is Apple’s claims that the new A15 Bionic will help improve battery life. Battery life was one of iPhone SE’s weaknesses and only time will tell whether that has been rectified or not. The iPhone SE for 2022 also includes support for sub-6GHz 5G, but that won’t matter in India for at least another 6-12 months.

Last but not least, the iPhone SE for 2022 retains the IP67 rating for water resistance, has the iconic Touch ID sensor that is used for biometric unlocking, and still supports Qi wireless charging.

If any Android manufacturer would have launched a phone similar to the new iPhone SE and its specifications then they would have been ridiculed to no end. Only Apple can get away with a 720p LCD display and a 5-year old design in 2022.

The pre-orders for the new iPhone SE start on March 11th and the smartphone will ship on March 18th. Pricing starts at Rs 43,900 for the 64GB base model and comes in Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) RED colors.

Apple products have always been known to have been out of reach from the masses and hence this was a golden opportunity wasted by the company.

New Colors Equals To More Revenue

Apple had started the event by announcing a brand new color in a bid to eke out more revenue from the iPhone 13 series. There’s now a green color option for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max get the Alpine Green color option.

The iPad Air Gets An Upgrade

A year and a half after it got a design overhaul, the iPad Air is getting a hardware boost. The new iPad Air gets a blazingly fast M1 processor, support for 5G, and a USB-C port with data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps.

The iPad Air will start at Rs 54,900 for the 64GB Wi-Fi-only variant. If you want to add cellular data, then that model (also with 64GB of storage) will retail for Rs 68,900. There’s also a 256GB storage variant but pricing hasn’t been announced as of now. There are five colors - Blue, Space Grey, Starlight, Pink, and Purple - to choose from. Pre-orders begin on Friday, March 11.

The front-facing camera has been upgraded to a 12-megapixel sensor with support for Apple’s Center Stage feature. The rear camera retains the 12-megapixel as on the last iPad Air. The 10.9-inch screen comes with a peak brightness of 500 nits along with HDR support and landscape stereo speakers.

A chip, A desktop And A Display

Yes, Apple did announce a trio of other products at the Apple Event. There’s the new flagship M1 Ultra desktop processor that will be powering the company’s most powerful computers ever. Those computers are being called the Mac Studio and are being targeted toward creative professionals. 

According to Apple, the new desktops will be faster than the top-of-the-line Mac Pro. The Mac Studio comes with Apple’s M1 Max chip or the new M1 Ultra. It’s very similar to the Mac Mini but the focus is on the numerous ports. 

The base variant of the Mac Studio with the M1 Max chip, 32GB or RAM, and a 512GB SSD comes in at Rs 1,89,900. If you’re itching to get the M1 Ultra chip, 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, then you’ll have to shell out Rs 3,89,900.

There’s a new external display as well from the house of Apple. The Studio Display is being touted as a companion to the Mac Studio. To sum it up, the Studio Display is a 27-inch, 5k display that is encased in an aluminum enclosure. It’s got a peak brightness of 500 nits and supports P3 wide color and macOS’s TrueTone feature. There’s no need to fret for the work-from-home crowd as there is a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera above the display that can be used for all your video conferencing needs and more. Apple has chosen to stick with a 60Hz refresh rate, which again, will disappoint a lot of people.

The Studio Display gets a price of Rs 1,59,900 with standard glass and Rs 1,89,900 with a nano-texture glass finish. If one wants an adjustable stand then more money must be shelled out. There’s a tilt-adjustable stand and a tilt and h