Spring Apple Event: Initial Thoughts - Apple Notions
Author: admin
Description: Apple's 2022 spring event just finished. Here are my initial thoughts.
Date: 2022-03-08T19:36:22+00:00

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I have to admit: over the last few years, Apple events have had a bit of a “meh” feeling to me. That just goes to show how spoiled we are as Apple nerds, because the products they’ve introduced have mostly been pretty great. But something was missing.

Specifically, as a Mac nerd and developer, the thing missing was truly awesome Mac updates. We were in a dark time for awhile with Mac hardware. And the software story wasn’t great either. I’m still longing for another macOS update with a giant “NO NEW FEATURES” slide.

The Apple Silicon transition has changed all of that. What Apple is doing with the Mac now is truly jaw-dropping. I find myself dancing, clapping, screaming as I watch these new Macs being unveiled. It’s a truly remarkable time to be a Mac nerd!

Today’s event was absolutely insane. Not only did we get the xMac we’ve been wanting for decades, we got the missing display as well. And that doesn’t even touch on how brain-meltingly good the M1 Ultra performance is!

I watched the event with my wife, as we always do, and we were both absolutely shouting with enthusiasm over the Mac Studio and Studio Display! I’m going to dive into the event with my initial thoughts below.

## TV+

Continues to get better, and some of the new movies really look great. I’ve not been a big watcher of TV originals, with the exception of the fantastic Ted Lasso, but I will be digging into more of this content soon.

Oh yeah, and there was something about Baseball, too.

## iPhone

Tim announced “two stunning new finishes” for the iPhone lineup. And then he showed them: green. My wife and I chuckled at that. Jokes aside, the color looks very nice, and the new iPhone SE, while not for me, continues to be a hugely important iPhone in the lineup. Nice to see the upgrade.

## iPad Air

While impressive, the iPad segment had my wife and I heckling the TV throughout the entire segment. “Pro apps? Where are the pro apps? How about some pro apps? Pro apps?” We must’ve shouted it 20 times. I love the iPad, and the new M1 chip being added to the iPad Air is really awesome. But it begs the question: with all that power, why can’t I run Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro on this thing yet?

## M1 Ultra

Holy moly. This thing is a BEAST! I can’t even really wrap my head around the performance. Using an M1 MacBook Air as my daily driver, and an M1 Max MacBook Pro for even heavier lifting, I never feel myself wishing for more performance. For those that need it, this new chip is astonishing.

Intel, AMD and Microsoft must be extremely nervous right now. Intel proudly announcing that they hope to have a chip that rivals the M1 (Apple’s chip from last year) in performance and power consumption by 2024 doesn’t bode well for them. Where will Apple be in 2024? 🤯

## Mac Studio

Yes. Just yes, please. We got the xMac! Finally! And it’s more powerful than we can even imagine! Extremely reasonable pricing too. Consider that a fully maxed out Mac Studio runs $7,199 and handily outperforms the fully maxed out Mac Pro in just about every way possible. And that Mac Pro costs $51,799. MKBHD must be angril pacing his studio right now, looking at all those $50k Mac Pros that just got obsoleted…

## Studio Display

This thing is just a 100% win all around. Gorgeous design, fantastic specs, and the pricing is dead on. I was really preparing myself for this thing to be $2,000 or even maybe $2,500. In fact I was so sure of it, that when I went to order it, and got to the section where I had to pick a stand option, I thought the standard stand was going to be an extra $1,599 when it showed that price next to it.

I was shocked when that was the total price at checkout. Our longstanding monitor nightmare is finally over! 🎉

## Overall

I would say this event was my favorite in years, and I probably could still say that. Except to say that the last 3 or 4 Apple events have all been blockbusters! The Apple Silicon transition has been a hell of a ride, and we still have the larger iMac (Pro?) and Mac Pro to get to!

Boy it’s good to be a Mac nerd right now, baby!

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