Apple’s M4 MacBook Air could be here in just a few weeks

We may see the M4 MacBook Air as soon as March. In the Power On newsletter this weekend, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is readying itself for the launch of the upgraded laptop next month. The company is “preparing its marketing, sales and retail teams for the debut,” according to Gurman’s sources, and it’s letting inventory of the existing models wind down. The M4 MacBook Air is expected to come in two sizes, 13-inch and 15-inch, like the previous model.

Apple introduced the M3 MacBook Air last March, and unveiled its new M4 chip a few months later, bringing that first to the iPad Pro. In October, it refreshed the iMac, Mac mini and MacBook Pros with the M4 family of chips. The MacBook Air is now due for its turn. While the laptop didn’t get the M4 chip in the fall, Apple did announce a long-awaited memory boost for the lineup at that time, with the M2 and M3 now starting at 16GB of RAM.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/apples-m4-macbook-air-could-be-here-in-just-a-few-weeks-153004599.html?src=rss

Apple just unveiled the iPhone 16e, here’s how it compares to the competition

The new iPhone 16e is designed to get Apple Intelligence into as many hands as possible. The company recently began activating its AI features by default during iOS setup, suggesting a harder push to spur adoption and establish iOS as an AI-first platform. But since Apple Intelligence has up till today only been available on the iPhone 16 series (and just the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max before that), there hasn’t been a sub-$600 iPhone that can run the latest suite of tools. So the addition of the $599 iPhone 16e to Apple’s lineup isn’t surprising.
What was slightly unexpected was the framing. The iPhone 16e’s arrival was heralded by feverish speculation about a new iPhone SE, which was last released three years ago for a starting price of $429. Though the iPhone 16e is cheaper than the rest of the iPhone 16 family, its price certainly isn’t what we might consider "budget" or "entry-level."  

Apple Intelligence’s arrival on a lower-cost iPhone is thanks to one of its biggest upgrades from the SE: the A18 chip (the same processor from the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus). That makes it Apple’s cheapest AI-equipped model by $300. However, that’s quite a bump up from the (now-retired) iPhone SE’s $429.
Fortunately, there’s no skimping on the Apple Intelligence features for the cheaper model; you get all the AI goodies found in the more expensive iPhones. That includes AI writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, ChatGPT integration and notification summaries.

Apple

The phone has a much bigger display than its predecessor: 6.1 inches, up from the 2022 iPhone SE’s mere 4.7 inches. It’s also the first entry-level model to adopt modern iPhones’ full-screen design with Face ID. (Pour one out for the now-retired home button.) However, it doesn’t have the Dynamic Island found on recent higher-end models.
It also gets the Action button, the customizable physical shortcut on the phone’s side. It debuted in the iPhone 15 Pro series and is found in all iPhone 16 models.
The iPhone 16e also complies with EU standards by switching from Lightning to USB-C, which is probably the least surprising thing about it. It also lacks MagSafe charging, sticking with standard Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W.
A list of geeky tech specs doesn’t tell the whole story but can still serve as a starting point. Here’s how the new entry-level iPhone compares to Apple’s previous model and its two biggest Android-running rivals: the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy A35 5G. (Although the A35 isn’t quite in the same price range, it serves a similar niche in Samsung’s lineup.)

iPhone 16e

iPhone SE (2022)

Google Pixel 8a

Samsung Galaxy A35 5G

Price

$599 / $699 / $899

$429 / $479 / $579

$499 / $559

$400

Dimensions

146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm (5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches)

138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 inches)

152.1 x 72.7 x 8.9mm (6 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches)

161.7 x 78 x 8.2 mm (6.37 x 3.07 x 0.32 inches)

Weight

167g (5.88 ounces)

144g (5.09 ounces)

188 g (6.7 oz)

209 g (7.37 oz)

Screen size

6.1 inches

4.7 inches

6.1 inches

6.6 inches

Screen resolution

2,532 x 1,170 (460 ppi)

1,334 x 750 (326 ppi)

1,080 x 2,400 (430 ppi)

2,340 x 1,080 (389 ppi)

Screen type

OLED

Retina HD LCD
60Hz

Super AMOLED
up to 120Hz

SoC

Apple A18

Apple A15 Bionic

Tensor G3

Exynos 1380

RAM

N/A

4 GB

8 GB

6 / 8* GB
* Non-US only

Battery

"up to 26 hrs video playback"

2,018mAh

4,492 mAh

5,000 mAh

Storage

128 / 256 / 512GB

64 / 128 / 256 GB

128 / 256 GB

128 / 256* GB
MicroSD up to 1TB
* Non-US only

Rear camera(s)

48MP, f/1.6

Wide: 12 MP, f/1.8

Wide: 64 MP, f/1.89
Ultrawide: 13MP, f/2.2

Wide: 50MP, f/1.8
Ultrawide: 8MP, f/2.2
Macro: 5MP, f/2.4

Front camera

12MP, f/1.9

7 MP, f/2.2

13MP, f/2.2

13MP, f/2.2

Water / dust rating

IP68

IP67

IP67

IP67

Wi-Fi

Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax)

802.11ax

Wi-Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Bluetooth

v5.3

v5.0

v5.3

v5.3

OS

iOS 18

iOS 18

Android 15

Android 14
One UI 6.1

Colors / finish

Black / White
Aluminum

Midnight / Starlight / (Product)Red
Aluminum

Obsidian / Porcelain / Aloe / Bay

Navy / Lilac

Update, February 19 2025, 1:46PM ET: This story has been updated to add more context about the iPhone 16e in the intro, covering the speculation that Apple was planning to launch a new model of the iPhone SE.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-just-unveiled-the-iphone-16e-heres-how-it-compares-to-the-competition-171306637.html?src=rss

Apple will introduce its ‘newest member of the family’ on February 19

It seems Apple is ready to show off something new. In a tweet on Thursday, CEO Tim Cook told Apple aficionados to "get ready to meet the newest member of the family." What that product is remains a slight mystery, though we won’t have to wait too long to find out what Apple has up its sleeve. The reveal will take place on Wednesday, February 19. In case there was any ambiguity, Cook’s tweet included an #AppleLaunch hashtag.

Cook’s tweet also featured an animated image of a shimmering Apple logo on what appears to be the outline of an AirTag. It’s been rumored for a while that Apple would introduce a second-gen tracker sometime this year. The purported AirTag 2 is expected to have a longer range and a speaker that’s more difficult to remove, as well as Apple Vision Pro integration.

Get ready to meet the newest member of the family.

Wednesday, February 19. #AppleLaunch pic.twitter.com/0ML0NfMedu
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 13, 2025

In addition, reports suggest that Apple will reveal a new iPhone SE very soon. The unveiling was initially believed to be happening sometime this week. However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said on Tuesday that the "new iPhone SE is still imminent and should be announced by next week, when the company is holding product briefings." He added that an Apple Vision Pro announcement appears to be in the offing, while the M4-powered MacBook Air is slated to arrive "within weeks."

It seems that Apple has a lot of irons in the fire at the minute. As such, the company has a bunch of different options for what to reveal next week.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/apple-will-introduce-its-newest-member-of-the-family-on-february-19-162056946.html?src=rss

Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky

(Yes, Bluesky has lore, and that’s probably the most classic Twitter thing about it.) It’s also got a number of features and settings you won’t find on X or Threads, like the ability to choose your own algorithm or moderation tools.
Bluesky hasn’t made Starter Packs searchable yet, so the only way you’ll find them is by searching outside of the platform (I like this directory ), spotting them when they’re posted by other users, or having them sent to you.