Apple M4 MacBook Air review: I have no notes
The only things missing from these Airs are some Pro-only bells and whistles.

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M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studio Review: A weird update, but it mostly works
M3 Ultra has benefits, but sometimes you're paying more for worse performance.

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Mac Studio (M4 Max) review: Heir to the Mac Pro throne
Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Impressive speed Thunderbolt 5 support Compact design Port flexibility Cons Fixed RAM and SSD; not user upgradable Our Verdict The Mac Studio is a mean machine ideal for the most hectic of production environments. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$1,999 Best Prices Today: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) Retailer Price $1999 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket With its most recent update, Apple’s fastest Mac is the Mac Studio, hands down. The Mac Pro lurking in the background might cost more and look more powerful, but it still has a chip that was released nearly three years ago, and that chip isn’t the fastest anymore. So, the spotlight focuses on the Mac Studio. That’s not by accident. Apple has been trending towards compact designs with its products, so the company’s preference for the Mac Studio as its top performer fits the bill. And the Mac Studio is up to the task–compact doesn’t mean a sacrifice in performance. It’s a mean machine ideal for the most hectic of production environments. The Mac Studio comes with either an M4 Max or M3 (that’s right, M3) Ultra chipFoundry M4 Max Mac Studio: Our model’s specifications Apple offers two standard configurations of the Mac Studio: A $1,999 model with an M4 Max chip, and a $3,999 model with an M3 Ultra. Each configuration can be customized with more memory and SSD, as well as variations on the chip’s CPU and GPU cores. This review focuses on the M4 Max Mac Studio, and our review unit has a chip upgrade from the standard configuration, as well as more RAM and a larger SSD. Here are the specs of our review unit: CPU: M4 Max with 16 cores (12 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores), 16-core Neural Engine GPU: 40 cores Memory: 128GB unified memory (819GBps memory bandwidth) Storage: 1TB SSD Ports: 4 Thunderbolt 5/USB-C; 10Gb ethernet; 2 USB-A (USB 3);  HDMI 2.1; 3.5mm audio; 2 USB-C; SDXC Card slot Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax); Bluetooth 5.3; gigabit ethernet Weight: 6.1 pounds (2.74 kg) Dimensions: 3.7 x 7.7 x 7.7 inches (9.5 x 19.7 x 19.7 cm) Price (as tested): $3,699/£3,799/CA$5,249/AU$6,049 M4 Max Mac Studio: Performance Apple did something…different with the Mac Studio. It offers it with both Max and Ultra versions of its M-series chips, as it has always done. But this time, the chips are not from the same generation; instead, there’s an M4 Max and an M3 Ultra. When asked by Ars Technica why an M3 Ultra instead of an M4 Ultra, Apple flatly said every chip generation wouldn’t have an Ultra chip in its lineup. According to Numerama, the M4 Max chip doesn’t have the UltraFusion technology Apple uses to create an Ultra chip. So this’ll presumably be the top-of-the-line chip until the M5 Ultra comes along. The M4 Max Mac Studio comes standard with a 14-core CPU (10 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores), a 32-core GPU, 36GB of unified memory, and a 512GB SSD. This review looks at the M4 Max option with a 16-core CPU (two more performance cores), a 40-core GPU, 128GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, which all add $1,700 the price of the Mac Studio. Geekbench 6

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15-inch MacBook Air (M4) review: A Mac rhapsody in (sky) blue
Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Can drive two external displays at 6K/60Hz M4 provides a performance boost New 12MP Center Stage camera Cons No more Space Gray option Our Verdict With the M4 MacBook Air, Apple addressed the major flaws with its predecessor, which was an excellent laptop in the first place. Is the M4 MacBook Air flawless? It might be–identifying its flaws is an exercise in personal preferences. This is the laptop for everyone. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$1,199 Best Prices Today: Apple 15-inch MacBook Air (M4, 2025) Retailer Price $1199 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket While the MacBook Air is Apple’s most popular laptop, it’s not the first in line to get Apple’s latest M-series chip. That honor goes to Apple’s most powerful laptop, the MacBook Pro, which was updated with the M4 chip last October. The MacBook Air traditionally gets the chip update a few months afterward and right on schedule, the Air’s time has come for its M4 update. The MacBook Air is a great laptop with an M4 or even with the older M3 chip. But even with the four major changes in the M4 MacBook Air, only one of them is a compelling reason to ditch an M3 MacBook Air that you recently bought. And if you’re still relying on an Intel-based MacBook Air, the M4 MacBook Air is an offer you can’t refuse–it has performance that will save you a significant amount of time. 15-inch M4 MacBook Air: Our model’s specifications Apple offers three standard configurations each for the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air. The 15-inch MacBook Air in this review is customized with more RAM and storage than the top-end standard configuration, which starts at 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Here are the specs for our review unit: CPU: 10-core M4 (4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores) GPU: 10-core M4 Neural engine: 16-core Memory: 16GB unified memory (120GBps memory bandwidth) Storage: 512TB SSD Display: 15.3-inch Liquid Retina LED backlit display with IPS; 2880-by-1864 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch; 500 nits brightness; P3 color; True Tone Ports: 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C; MagSafe 3; 3.5mm audio Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax); Bluetooth 5.3 Weight: 3.3 pounds (1.51 kg) Dimensions: 0.45 by 13.40 by 9.35 inches (1.15 by 34.04 by 23.76 centimeters) Battery capacity: 66.5Wh Price (as tested): $1,399/£1,399/CA$1,999/AU$2,399 The new Sky Blue option for the MacBook Air replaces the Space Gray color.Foundry 15-inch M4 MacBook Air: Performance The new MacBook Air spotlights its new M4 chip, which has a 10-core CPU (4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores), 8-core or 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Compared to the M3 it replaced, the M4 has two more efficiency cores, two more GPU cores, and general CPU tweaks to make it a better performer. Geekbench 6.4

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A totally new look for iOS 19 will likely have a bigger impact than new Siri
A Bloomberg report yesterday suggested that iOS 19 could be getting a completely new look, in the biggest change since iOS 7 back in 2013. A similarly dramatic change is expected for macOS 16. While the report is light on detail, the few clues it provide does make it sound like the upcoming software updates could almost a complete reversal of the flat look we’ve had for more than a decade … more…

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iOS 18.4 likely to require users to upgrade to Apple’s latest HomeKit architecture
With iOS 16, Apple rolled out a revamped architecture for the Home app, designed to enhance the HomeKit device experience. Up until now… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.

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SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD review
Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Rugged design Competitive price Good performance USB-C interface, with USB-A adaptor included Cons No Thunderbolt support Not completely water-resistant Our Verdict It’s not the fastest SSD you can buy for your Mac, but the Extreme Portable SSD is a good all-rounder at a competitive price. Its rugged design is great for outdoor use, and it now provides up to 8TB of storage, making it a good option for your time-machine back-ups and storing large photos and video files. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today We last looked at SanDisk’s rugged Extreme Portable V2 way back in 2021 so it was certainly due for an update, and this latest model comes swaggering back with an even sturdier design and increased capacity that offers up to 8TB of storage. It’s dropped the version number from the name, though, with SanDisk now simply calling it the Extreme Portable SSD. SanDisk’s product names can be a bit tricky too, as the company has several portable solid-state drives that look very similar and have similar names. There’s a model called the Extreme Pro Portable that looks identical and has a faster USB4 interface, but only offers a maximum of 4TB storage. There’s also a less expensive Portable SSD, which is competitively priced but not particularly fast, so you need to check the name and technical details on Western Digital’s website to make sure you order the correct model (SanDisk is now owned by Western Digital, so its products are sold via WD’s main website these days). The external design hasn’t changed much for this update either, sticking with a perforated black case made out of silicon that provides plenty of protection, and a hook for a lanyard so that you can strap it to your belt or backpack when you’re out and about. We tested the largest 8TB version of the drive, which is very slightly larger than the previous model, measuring 9.6mm thick, 52.5mm wide and 100.8mm long – compared to 8.9 x 52.4 x 100.5 – but it’s still slim and light enough to easily slip into your pocket when you’re travelling, and there aren’t many rival drives that provide that much storage in such a compact and portable design. Performance hasn’t changed much either, as this new model uses the same USB-C connector as its predecessor, with support for USB 3.2 (Gen 2). There’s a USB-C cable included in the box, and SanDisk also throws in a USB-A adaptor for older computers as well. SanDisk quotes the same speed for this model too, at 1000MB/s and 1050MB/s for write and read performance respectively. And, unsurprisingly, our tests found that the two drives produce very similar results when running the Black Magic Disk speed test, with the Extreme Portable reaching 946MB/s for write performance and 910MB/s for read performance. That can’t match the performance of some of the faster Thunderbolt drives that are now available, but it’s still fine for general use and Time Machine backups. Take a look at the top SSDs for Mac that we have tested. The main difference is that this update for 2025 is even tougher than before, now boasting an IP65 rating for resistance to water and dust. This means that it’s sealed tight to prevent penetration of dust and other particles, and can withstand high-pressure jets of water. It’s not completely water-proof though, so it’ll be fine in the rain, but you should avoid dropping it into deep bodies of water. SanDisk also states that the drive can withstand being dropped from a height of 3 meters, and to back it up the company provides a full five-year warranty as well. And, as mentioned, this model provides even more storage capacity too, starting at 1GB and going right up to 8TB, so it will be a good option for anyone that needs to store large, high-res photo or video files on their MacBook when they’re working outdoors. SanDisk also says that it has tested the Extreme Portable drive to ensure that it’s compatible with the iPhone 15 range as well, for people who like to shoot video on the move. The drive arrived pre-formatted using the cross-platform ExFat format, but it’s easy to reformat it using Apple’s Disk Utility on the Mac if you prefer. SanDisk also includes its own Security app on the drive, which provides password-protection and 256-bit encryption for your important files. We were also pleased to find that this 2025 model is less expensive too, costing just $99.99/£94.99 for 1TB of storage, and going up to $549.99/£538.99 for the 8TB option. Should You Buy The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD? Professional users may prefer a faster SSD that has a Thunderbolt interface, but Thunderbolt drives do still tend to be pretty expensive. The strength of the Extreme Portable SSD is that it provides good performance and high capacity, along with an extremely sturdy design that makes it ideal for outdoor use. Even better is the fact that it manages to do all that while still maintaining a competitive price that will appeal to both professional and more casual users.

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Believe the Hype About Quantum Security: Report
A call for organizations to take quantum security seriously has been sounded in a new report by Forrester Research. The hype and interest around quantum is real because hackers are already using the “harvest now, decrypt later" approach, the report noted. The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.

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Chipmakers discuss Trump attack on the CHIPS Act; TSMC response unclear
President Trump last month attacked the bipartisan CHIPS Act, seeking to dismantle it, and a new reports says that the White House now appears to have started work on doing so. A chipmaker’s industry association – whose members include TSMC – held a call in which they expressed concerns about the impact on their plans for new US plants … more…

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Everyone is a loser in the Apple Intelligence race
Apple Intelligence is seemingly being lapped in the AI race, but it's hard to determine who's really winning when the competitors change the victory condition every few laps.There's a lot of AI out there, but picking winners and losers isn't that simple Humans are a tribal species that thrives on competition and debate, and it's no different when it comes to technology. Whether you're talking about Android versus iPhone or PlayStation versus Xbox, people love to pick sides.It's no different for the various artificial intelligence systems available. However, almost universally, it seems people and pundits are calling Apple Intelligence the biggest loser — even when compared to systems that haven't released yet. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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AI chatbots can’t be trusted, proves study, but Apple made a good choice
If there’s one piece of advice that bears repeating about AI chatbots it’s “Don’t use them to seek factual information – they absolutely cannot be trusted to be right.” A new study demonstrated the extent of the problem – but did show that Apple made a good choice in partnering with OpenAI’s ChatGPT for queries Siri can’t answer … more…

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Apple Watch sales nosedived in 2024 as rivals surged
Apple Watch sales dropped by 19% in 2024, allowing Huawei and Xiaomi to capitalize on the decline to boost their smartwatch sales. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)

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Apple @ Work Podcast: Replacing OpenVPN
Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple. In this episode of Apple @ Work, I talk with Pete Membrey from ExpressVPN about OpenVPN, LightWave in Rust, and much more. more…

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Which is the Siri delay gonna be: the C1 modem or AirPower?
Macworld Let’s talk about Severance. Perseverance. See what the Macalope did there? It’s a little play on words. Wordplay is a delightful way to draw a reader in. By tricking them. Anyway, the horny one doesn’t actually want to talk about Severance right now because he hasn’t seen last week’s episode yet. Instead let’s talk about Apple’s new C1 modem, which is almost like talking about prestige television but more boring. Look, not every column is going to be wall-to-wall thrills and spills. Still, you have to hand it to Apple. The company’s travails with this modem were the butt of many jokes. Not that the Macalope ever stooped to making any. Cough. He doesn’t know what column you were reading. After acquiring Intel’s modem division in 2019, the company seemingly struggled to ship a modem worthy of the C1 moniker. After repeatedly being rumored to appear soon, it took six years before it finally shipped in the iPhone 16e. But ship it did and the results are pretty good, considering. It seems that maybe it wasn’t so much that Apple was struggling to get the modem to work, it’s that it was struggling to get it to work really well. While it doesn’t support mmWave 5G in the U.S., it’s still a processor that can proudly sit next to its M-series relatives at Easter dinner. (The Macalope knows St. Patrick’s Day is closer, but when looking for a timely reference, “Drink itself blind next to its M-series relatives on St. Patrick’s Day” isn’t quite the image you wanna go for.) IDG The company could have pulled the plug like it did with Project Titan but it stuck with it. This is an interesting and timely example of Apple’s perseverance at a time when another project is facing its own delays: Apple confirmed that the can full of highly anticipated “conversational” version of Siri was being kicked down the proverbial road. It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year. Apple PR’s Jacqueline Roy in a statement to John Gruber (March 7, 2025) Since the company seemed to think it would be able to release chatty Siri relatively soon, it seems like this is probably more like the modem project than Project Titan. But, then, it actually showed a picture of AirPower, and look how that turned out. Apple’s chip development is obviously a different beast than its software development. Still, perseverance has paid off for the company in software, as well. Remember Maps? Sure you do, you used it earlier today to find that place with the thing (hospital specializing in fungal treatment). When Maps first relaunched with Apple’s own data it was, as the French like to say, a bit of an el disastro (disclaimer: that is not French, no French person says that). Now while you can have a reasonable argument over which is better, Apple Maps or Google Maps, there’s no denying that Apple’s offering is pretty good, certainly Good Enough™. Honestly, if it can get “conversational” Siri to be Good Enough™ they should just go with that. You may have noticed the quotes the Macalope puts around that modifier. That’s because no LLM can really have a conversation with you. They’re all just faking it until they make it. Or they tell you to eat rocks and glue. If you’d like to receive regular news and updates to your inbox sign up for Macworld’s newsletters, including The Macalope and Apple Breakfast, David Price’s weekly, bite-sized roundup of all the latest Apple news and rumors.

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Rumor: Apple looking to make significant changes to operating systems with macOS 16, iOS 19 this fall
It’s been some time since there’s been a dramatic overhaul of Apple’soperating systems, but per the rumor mill, 2025 could change things. With 2025 on the horizon, Apple is gearing up to overhaul its operating systems in hopes of making its platforms more cohesive. The idea is that the change should make the platforms feel […] Source

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Apple Sports app added support for F1 and the UEFA Women’s Champion’s League
The Apple Sports app has received another round of updates, and in version 2.6, the company has added support for both F1 and the UEFA Women’s Champion’s League. Where F1 is concerned, the app now offers live leaderboards, lap times, and more. Apple adding F1 support comes ahead of the big-budget Apple TV+ F1 film […] Source

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Kids and teens will love this iPad bundle that comes with Beats Headphones
Macworld iPads are a great way to introduce kids to technology, but brand-new ones are pretty expensive. If you want to get them a tablet that can play games, browse, stream, and all the basics at a fraction of the cost. This 7th Gen iPad is in near-mint condition, but it costs a whole lot less than brand new, and it even comes with Beats Headphones, a case, screen protector, stylus, and charger.  With a 10.2-inch Retina display, this iPad is perfect for watching videos, drawing, or tackling schoolwork. The A10 Fusion chip keeps everything running smoothly, whether they’re gaming or switching between apps, and 32GB of storage gives them plenty of space for their favorite stuff. Plus, with up to 10 hours of battery life, they won’t have to hunt for a charger every few hours. And don’t forget the Beats Flex Wireless Headphones. These Bluetooth earbuds sound great, feel comfortable, and won’t get tangled up like regular wired ones. They even have magnetic earbuds that automatically pause the music when clipped together. With up to 12 hours of battery life, they can jam out all day. Since this bundle comes with a case, stylus, screen protector, and charger, you’re getting everything in one go. Whether it’s for school, entertainment, or just having fun, this refurbished iPad and Beats combo is a sweet deal that won’t break the bank. Get a 7th Gen iPad with Beats Flex Headphones and more accessories for just $174.99.    Apple iPad 7th Gen (2019) 32GB WiFi Space Gray (Refurbished) with Beats Flex Headphones Bundle – $174.99 See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. 

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EU may slap Apple with modest fine for DMA violation
Apple, along with Meta, could face a small fine from the European Union for not fully complying to the Digital Markets Act. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)

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Download the new sky blue M4 MacBook Air wallpaper right here
Apple recently announced a new generation of the MacBook Air, which is powered by the M4 chip. Although it has the same design as the previous generation, it now comes in a new sky blue color. To match the new color, Apple has made a new wallpaper for the – and you can download it to your device right here. more…

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The AirPods 4 with ANC is $30 Off
Now’s your chance to get your hands on the latest AirPods by Apple. Today, the AirPods 4 with ANC is down to just $148.99 from its original price of $180 on Amazon. The AirPods 4 touts new features such as a USB-C charging case, the H2 chip, Personalized Spatial Audio, and a more comfortable fit. […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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