MacRumors

It's been just over a week since Apple introduced a whole line of new Macs at WWDC, including a new 15-inch MacBook Air. We picked up Apple's latest notebook and thought we'd check it out for MacRumors readers who are curious whether it's worth picking up over the 13-inch version of a MacBook Pro.

Apple hasn't offered the ‌MacBook Air‌ in two sizes since the 11-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ was discontinued in 2016. The 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ was the sole model until the June introduction of the larger 15-inch option, but with this change, the ‌MacBook Air‌ line is more on par with the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line as there are two sizes for customers to choose from.

Design wise, the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ looks identical to the 13.6-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ that was released last year, with the exception of the larger display and larger chassis size. The 2022 design works well on a 15-inch machine, and the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ is sleek, thin, and pleasant to use.

The 15-inch model features a 2888 x 1864 resolution with 224 pixels per inch, which is the same pixels per inch you get with the 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌. It's also 500 nits brightness and doesn't have the ProMotion technology that Apple continues to reserve for the ‌MacBook Pro‌ line.

In addition to using the same design as the 13.6-inch ‌MacBook Air‌, the 15-inch model also has the same chip inside. It's equipped with the M2 chip that Apple introduced last year, so it's already just a bit outdated. The ‌M2‌ chip is speedy enough with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 8GB memory for the base model, but we may see notable gains with the future M3 chip, for those who want to wait for newer chip technology.

A bigger body allows for a bigger battery in the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌, but unfortunately battery life is still at 18 hours because of the power usage of the larger display.

For those who don't need the power of a ‌MacBook Pro‌ but appreciate a larger screen size, the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ is the perfect machine. It's cheaper than a ‌MacBook Pro‌ at a $1,299 starting price, and a solid alternative to the 13-inch model.

If you have any kind of recent ‌MacBook Air‌ or ‌MacBook Pro‌, it's probably not worth updating at this point, but if you have an older Intel Mac or need to get a new notebook, the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ is worth considering if larger display size is a feature you're looking for.

As expected, the 15-inch MacBook Air with 256GB of storage is equipped with a single NAND chip, according to YouTube channel Max Tech. This will result in the 256GB model having slower SSD read and write speeds compared to 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB models that have multiple NAND chips for faster speeds, but real-world results will vary.

256GB models of the latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini also have a single NAND chip, with benchmark results showing a 30% to 50% reduction in SSD speeds compared to previous-generation models. Apple previously used two 128GB chips for 256GB Macs, but it switched to a single 256GB chip for newer models.

Slower SSD speeds can impact tasks such as transferring files to an external drive, and overall system performance can take a slight hit during heavy workloads, as Macs temporarily use SSD space as virtual memory when physical RAM is fully used. However, the average customer purchasing an entry-level 15-inch MacBook Air is unlikely to notice the slower speeds. Customers who need the fastest speeds should configure their 15-inch MacBook Air with at least 512GB of storage, which is a $200 upgrade over the 256GB model.

The 15-inch MacBook Air launched today after orders began last week. The laptop has the same M2 chip and overall design as the 13-inch model, with key new features including a larger display and two additional speakers. Pricing for the 15-inch model starts at $1,299, while the 13-inch model now starts at a lower $1,099.

Tech accessory company Rolling Square is winding down a successful Kickstarter campaign for AirCard, an innovative Find My-enabled digital business card, with over $700,000 raised so far. Similar to a few other Find My trackers like the Eufy SmartTrack Card, Rolling Square's AirCard is a thin card-sized device intended to be carried in a wallet that can leverage Apple's ‌Find My‌ network of hundreds of millions of devices to help you keep track of your wallet.

In addition to location tracking, AirCard supports other ‌Find My‌ features like left behind reminders and a 105 dB speaker that helps you narrow down its location once you're relatively close, although the Precision Finding feature of AirTags is not available to AirCard and other third-party ‌Find My‌ trackers.

An advanced lost mode for AirCard can also help reunite you with your wallet even if ‌Find My‌ fails, with a QR code on the AirCard enabling anyone who finds your wallet to scan the card to obtain your contact information.

Beyond the ‌Find My‌ features, AirCard can also serve as a digital business card via both NFC and QR code, allowing you to quickly and easily share your contact information with others, and at just 2.2 mm thick (about the thickness of 1.6 typical credit cards), it won't add much bulk to your wallet.

The main body of the card is made of CNC-machined aluminum with a panel of high-resistance tempered glass to allow for the best possible transmission of Bluetooth signals. The AirCard itself can also be used as an RFID blocker, so if you place it on the outermost side of your wallet it can help protect your other cards from being skimmed.

When it comes to battery life, Rolling Square says AirCard will last up to 30 months, but it can't be recharged. Once the battery in your card dies, Rolling Square will send you a coupon code for 50% off a new card. You can then either return the spent AirCard to Rolling Square for component reuse or keep it to continue using its digital business card and QR-code scan-to-find capabilities that don't require battery power.

The Kickstarter campaign for AirCard ends in just over a week, with shipments expected to begin in August. Early bird pricing for a single AirCard is available starting at €27 or around $30 in the U.S. plus shipping, with various multipacks available at decreasing per-unit prices.

While crowdfunded campaigns can carry some risk of commitments not being met, Rolling Square has run over a dozen campaigns via Kickstarter and Indiegogo that appear to have largely met expectations with perhaps some minor delays in shipping schedules.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Kickstarter and Rolling Square. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman on Monday told Reddit employees that he is unconcerned about current protests over the company's sudden API changes. In a letter shared by The Verge, Huffman said that while there's a "lot of noise" right now, it "will pass." He also said that Reddit "has not seen any significant revenue impact so far."

A number of community-moderated subreddits began shutting down and going private on Monday, June 12, with the blackout set to last until Wednesday, June 14 in many cases. Subreddits with millions of subscribers are participating in the protest. Going private means that no new posts are able to be submitted to a given subreddit, and in some cases, the content from the subreddit is not viewable at all.

Huffman's full letter is below:

Starting last night, about a thousand subreddits have gone private. We do anticipate many of them will come back by Wednesday, as many have said as much. While we knew this was coming, it is a challenge nevertheless and we have our work cut out for us. A number of Snoos have been working around the clock, adapting to infrastructure strains, engaging with communities, and responding to the myriad of issues related to this blackout. Thank you, team.

We have not seen any significant revenue impact so far and we will continue to monitor.

There's a lot of noise with this one. Among the noisiest we've seen. Please know that our teams are on it, and like all blowups on Reddit, this one will pass as well. The most important things we can do right now are stay focused, adapt to challenges, and keep moving forward. We absolutely must ship what we said we would. The only long term solution is improving our product, and in the short term we have a few upcoming critical mod tool launches we need to nail.

While the two biggest third-party apps, Apollo and RIF, along with a couple others, have said they plan to shut down at the end of the month, we are still in conversation with some of the others. And as I mentioned in my post last week, we will exempt accessibility-focused apps and so far have agreements with RedReader and Dystopia.

I am sorry to say this, but please be mindful of wearing Reddit gear in public. Some folks are really upset, and we don't want you to be the object of their frustrations.

Again, we'll get through it. Thank you to all of you for helping us do so.

While the protest was only meant to last for a couple of days, Huffman's callous response to user and moderator concerns could potentially escalate the situation. Some subreddits have already pledged to remain inaccessible until Reddit makes a meaningful change. Popular Apple-related subreddit r/Apple, for example, has decided to remain closed indefinitely.

The blackouts are in support of third-party Reddit app Apollo and other third-party apps, some of which will soon be forced offline by the amount of money that Reddit wants to charge for API access and the limited mount of time that developers have to make changes before accruing fees.

Apollo developer Christian Selig said that his app would cost $20 million per year, which is why he made the decision to shut it down on June 30. Apollo and other third-party apps offer a range of features that are not available through the subpar official Reddit app.

Reddit does not offer a similar app experience for users or for moderators, who also use Apollo as a moderation tool. Subreddit moderators work for free, overseeing their respective communities with no compensation. Moderators have expressed growing frustration at the lack of tools provided to them by Reddit, and have said that the loss of Apollo will make their work harder.

Huffman has refused to back down on the API pricing changes or the implementation timeline, and he has also maligned Selig multiple times, lying about the interactions that Reddit had with Apollo despite documentation provided by Selig.

As of right now, more than 8,000 subreddits with millions of Reddit users have gone dark.

Anker continues to offer steep discounts on its Eufy-branded Bluetooth trackers, portable power stations, MagSafe-compatible charging solutions, and more. All of these deals can be found on Amazon this week, and many of them will require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the discounts at the checkout screen.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

A highlight of the sale is Eufy's SmartTrack line of Bluetooth trackers with 1-Pack, 2-Pack, and 4-Pack options for non-Prime members. If you're a Prime member, you can get a SmartTrack Card for $19.99. These trackers work with Apple's Find My app and are perfect for keeping track of luggage and other necessities while traveling.

Another notable discount is on the PowerHouse 757 Portable Power Station, which is available for $899.99, down from $1,399.00. This is $50 lower than the deal price we tracked last month, and a new best-ever price on this accessory. The Power Station features a 1229Wh capacity and 1500 wattage, with six AC outlets, four USB-A ports, and two USB-C ports.

Bluetooth Trackers

• SmartTrack Link (1-Pack) - $13.99, down from $19.99
• SmartTrack Card - $19.99 for Prime members, down from $29.99
• SmartTrack Link (2-Pack) - $27.99 with on-page coupon, down from $35.99
• SmartTrack Link (4-Pack) - $54.99 with on-page coupon, down from $69.99

Cables and Wall Chargers

• USB-C to USB-C Cable (6ft 2-Pack) - $10.99 for Prime members, down from $16.99
• 100W USB-C Power Adapter (2-Port) - $39.09 with on-page coupon, down from $45.99
• Nano 65W USB-C Charger (3-Port) - $39.09 with on-page coupon, down from $55.99
• Compact Power Strip - $79.99 with on-page coupon, down from $99.99

Portable Batteries

• MagGo Battery 5,000 mAh - $29.99, down from $31.99
• PowerCore 24,000 mAh with Smart Digital Display - $119.99 with on-page coupon, down from $159.99
• PowerHouse 757 Portable Power Station - $899.99 with on-page coupon, down from $1,399.99

Hubs and Charging Stations

• 7-in-1 USB-C Power Strip - $45.99 with on-page coupon, down from $65.99
• 11-in-1 USB-C Hub - $61.29, down from $99.99
• 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe Charging - $127.46 with on-page coupon, down from $149.95
• 3-in-1 MagSafe Station - $129.99, down from $139.99

Bluetooth Speakers

• Soundcore Motion Boom Plus - $149.99 with on-page coupon, down from $179.99

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

The first Geekbench 6 benchmark result for the new Mac Pro surfaced today, providing a closer look at the M2 Ultra chip's CPU performance in the desktop tower.

The result lists a single-core score of 2,794 and a multi-core score of 21,453, compared to 1,378 and 10,390 for the highest-end Intel-based Mac Pro with a 28-core Xeon W processor, a configuration that started at $12,999. This means the new Mac Pro is over twice as fast as the fastest Intel-based model, and given that all configurations include the M2 Ultra chip, this performance can be had for a much lower $6,999.

Unsurprisingly, these scores are virtually identical to those that surfaced for the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra chip a few days ago. The new Mac Pro is aimed at customers who need PCI Express expansion, but anyone else should consider the Mac Studio for their desktop computer needs, as it can be configured with the M2 Ultra chip for $3,999.

The new Mac Pro has the same overall design as the 2019 model, but it no longer supports graphics cards and does not have user-upgradeable RAM due to Apple silicon's unified memory. The computer launched today following pre-orders last week.

Apple's new 15-inch MacBook Air is now available to purchase, and Amazon still has the first deal on these notebooks. You can get the 256GB model for $1,249.99 in two colors on Amazon, down from $1,299.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This $49 discount is still the steepest markdown that we've seen so far on the brand new notebook. Amazon has the Silver and Midnight colors at this price, with delivery estimates between June 15 and June 19.

There's also a discount on the 512GB model, which is available for $1,449.99, down from $1,499.00 in select colors on Amazon. The Space Gray option has the same delivery dates as the 256GB models, but the Starlight color has a late June arrival date.

The new MacBook Air comes with a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display, M2 processor, MagSafe charging, two Thunderbolt ports, a headphone jack, and more. For a full rundown on what's new in the MacBook Air, be sure to read our launch post.

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Apple's VP of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron and marketing employee Laura Metz recently spoke with Tom's Guide's Mark Spoonauer about the design of the new 15-inch MacBook Air, including its larger display and two additional speakers.

Bergeron said the 15-inch MacBook Air having the same battery life as the 13-inch model is the result of "thermal control loops and software optimizations."

There's definitely thermal control loops and software optimizations that we use.

The workloads for a typical MacBook Air owner are fairly bursty, meaning they may do something for a few minutes and then walk away from their computer and either have a background process running that's pretty light or just doing nothing at all. And so we can go in and tweak the levers in the silicon and software to be able to take advantage of these gaps in time and really take the power down to the most minimal level.

When asked if Apple considered adding an additional USB-C port or SD card slot to the 15-inch MacBook Air, Metz said Apple believes the existing port selection is "very complimentary to the thin and light design of the product."

There aren't too many particularly revealing comments shared in the interview, but it is a worthwhile read for those interested in Apple's design considerations for the 15-inch MacBook Air. The laptop launched today following pre-orders last week.

In iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, turning off iCloud Drive no longer impacts third-party apps that use Apple's iCloud database to sync their data, a notable change that is likely to be welcomed by both developers and users.

In previous versions of macOS and iOS, when iCloud Drive is manually disabled in System Settings or the Settings app, this also turns off iCloud (i.e. CloudKit) database access for third-party apps, even if they don't use an iCloud Drive folder. This is despite the fact that iCloud syncing of Apple's own stock apps remains unaffected.

This behavior is not made clear in Apple's user-facing settings, which confusingly include separate switches to turn iCloud on and off individually for iCloud Drive, system apps, and third-party apps.

Moreover, iCloud Drive can take a considerable amount of device storage, therefore some users may choose to disable it, without realizing that they are also preventing some third-party apps from syncing between their devices.

By making iCloud Drive and third-party app iCloud access configuration independent from one another in iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, cloud management better reflects the Settings interface. It also means that users with company-issued devices where iCloud Drive is disabled as a matter of policy will still be able to use third-party apps that depend on iCloud syncing to function properly.

The new 15-inch MacBook Air and updated Mac Studio are now available for same-day or next-day pickup at select Apple Store locations in the U.S. The new Mac Pro is also available for in-store pickup, but there is a two-week wait at many locations.

To order a product with Apple Store pickup, add the product to your bag on Apple.com, proceed to checkout, select the "I'll pick it up" option, enter your ZIP code, choose an available Apple Store location, and select a pickup date. Payment is completed online, and a valid government-issued photo ID and the order number may be required upon pickup.

The 15-inch MacBook Air is equipped with the same M2 chip as the 13-inch model, and the laptops share the same overall design. The 15-inch model's only hardware differences compared to the 13-inch model are its larger size and two additional speakers. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299, while the 13-inch model now starts at a lower $1,099.

The new Mac Studio features the same overall design as the 2022 model, but it now features Apple's latest M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, an HDMI 2.1 port with 8K display support, and an updated headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones. Pricing remains unchanged, with the M2 Max model starting at $1,999 and the M2 Ultra model starting at $3,999.

The new Mac Pro has the same design as the 2019 model, but it is now powered by the M2 Ultra chip instead of Intel processors. The high-end desktop tower starts at $6,999, and no longer has graphics card support and user-upgradeable RAM.

Apple may be forced to change the name of its new mixed reality headset in China unless it can come to an agreement with Huawei, which already owns the "Vision Pro" trademark in the country.

Originally spotted by MyDrivers, the trademark was originally granted to Huawei on May 16, 2019, and gives the company exclusive rights to its use in China from November 28, 2021 to November 27, 2031.

Huawei actively uses the trademark in China, and offers a number of products under the Vision name, including smart TVs and smart glasses. If Apple intends to sell its headset in China and call it Vision Pro, it may have to enter into negotiations with Huawei to release the trademark for a price.

It would not be the first time Apple has had to pay a Chinese company to use a product name. Apple in 2012 paid Proview Technology $60 million for the rights to the "iPad" trademark in China. The payment followed several court cases in which Apple unsuccessfully argued that it had already acquired the rights for the name as part of a deal with Proview's Taiwanese arm.

Apple has said it plans to launch the Vision Pro headset in the United States early next year, with the product set to become available in "more countries" later in 2024.

Apple shares closed at a new all-time high on Monday, rising 1.6% to finish the regular trading day at $183.79. It was Apple's first closing high since January 2022, barring an intraday record following Apple's Vision Pro unveiling last week.

Apple's stock gain this year has resulted in a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, according to Bloomberg, putting it in range of hitting the $3 trillion valuation it briefly achieved early last year.

"Apple has a roadmap people are comfortable with, it has unbelievable cash flow, and you can't do better than this incredible business model," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at Phoenix Financial Services, speaking to Bloomberg. "We're seeing people come back following the bear market, and Apple is just one of the stocks where investors are comfortable owning it whether it goes up or down, because they're confident they'll make money over the long run.”

Going into the second half of 2023, Apple will look to build upon its success with a range of new products, including the upcoming iPhone 15 series, a potentially larger iPad model, the newly updated Mac Studio and Mac Pro, and the new 15-inch MacBook Air.

As for Vision Pro, Apple is playing the long game. Priced at $3,499, the mixed reality headset is not expected to launch until 2024, and will initially only be available in the Unites States, likely in limited quantities. A more affordable version of the headset is expected to arrive in late 2025.

With new product debuts, Apple fans in Australia and New Zealand are always the first to get their hands on updated devices on launch day due to time zone differences. It's officially Tuesday, June 13 in those two countries, which means customers who pre-ordered a new 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 Ultra Mac Studio, or Mac Pro last week have started receiving their shipments.

Apple introduced the new Macs at the WWDC keynote on June 5 and started accepting orders on that date. In addition to shipments being delivered on June 13, that date also marks the beginning of in-store availability. New Zealand does not have official Apple retail locations, so customers in Australia will be the first to be able to purchase an updated Mac in an Apple Store.

We aren't expecting product shortages, but available stock in Australia will give us an idea of what we can expect in other Apple Stores around the world.

The 15.3-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ is largely identical in design and performance to the 13.6-inch model that came out last June, but it is equipped with a larger display and a new six speaker sound system. It uses the same ‌M2‌ chips that were introduced in the 2022 13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌, and it has the same look.

As for the ‌Mac Studio‌ and the Mac Pro, neither have received design updates, but the machines are equipped with the newly introduced M2 Ultra chip. The ‌M2‌ Ultra offers up to 20 percent faster CPU performance compared to the M1 Ultra chip.

Pricing on the 15-inch ‌MacBook Air‌ starts at $1,299, while the ‌Mac Studio‌ is priced starting at $2,000 for the base ‌M2‌ Max version and $4,000 for the base ‌M2‌ Ultra model. The Mac Pro is priced starting at $6,999, and all models ship with the ‌M2‌ Ultra chip.

Following New Zealand and Australia, sales and deliveries of the updated Macs will kick off in Asia, Europe, and North America, respectively. Apple retail locations will be opening at their regular times for walk-in purchases and pickups of reserved devices.

Apple's new Mac Pro has a "Product of Thailand" label, but final assembly of the desktop computer still takes place in the U.S., according to an FCC filing.

We have been informed that the new Mac Pro is assembled at the same Austin, Texas facility where it has been assembled since 2013, and units distributed to U.S. customers continue to include components designed, developed, and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies. Apple has not indicated why a "Product of Thailand" label was added to the Mac Pro — this fine print does not appear on the previous model.

Fine print on 2023 Mac Pro models sold in the U.S. reads:

Designed by Apple in California. Product of Thailand. Final assembly in the USA.

Fine print on 2019 Mac Pro models sold in the U.S. read:

Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in USA.

All other Macs are fully manufactured and assembled in Asian countries.

The new Mac Pro features the same overall design as the 2019 model, but it has been updated with Apple's custom M2 Ultra chip. The computer can be ordered now, and will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores this Tuesday.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple's updated Mac Studio with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips will launch in stores and begin arriving to customers this Tuesday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the desktop computer have been shared by select media outlets and YouTube channels.

The new Mac Studio features the same overall design as the 2022 model, but now features Apple's latest M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and support for high-impedance headphones. Pricing remains unchanged, with the M2 Max model starting at $1,999 and the M2 Ultra model starting at $3,999.

Apple has also updated the Mac Studio with an HDMI 2.1 port, enabling 8K external display support. Other ports remain unchanged.

Benchmarks

As expected, the M2 Ultra chip is a doubled-up M2 Max chip. It features a 24-core CPU, up to a 76-core GPU, a 32-core Neural Engine, and support for up to 192GB of unified memory. Apple says the M2 Ultra has a 20% faster CPU than the M1 Ultra, as confirmed by Geekbench 6 benchmark results that have already surfaced.

Jason Snell shared a wider set of benchmark results in his Mac Studio review at Six Colors:

Written Reviews

PCMag's Joe Osborne explained the Mac Studio's expanded display support:

All of this helps widen the breadth of display support for the Mac Studio using M2 Ultra, increasing the maximum number of displays that can be connected at one time from five to eight—all at 4K resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate over DisplayPort via Thunderbolt 4. If you bring the display count down to six, then the panels can go up to 6K resolution at 60Hz. If you halve the connected displays from there, to three, they can all output up to 8K resolution at 60Hz.

If you need a faster refresh rate, you’ll need to use the included HDMI port, which can support up to 240Hz at 4K resolution. This connection also supports variable refresh rate, HDR, and multichannel audio.

Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham said the Mac Studio remains silent:

I liked the Mac Studio a lot last year, and I still like it a lot. It performs well, it's dead silent, it will fit just about anywhere, and it's the rare Apple computer to put ports on the front, where they can actually be accessed. If you're eyeing an upgrade from an Intel Mac, the M2 Max version is a great step (at least performance-wise) for anyone used to a 27-inch iMac's performance level. The M2 Ultra can run circles around the Intel Mac Pro and should perfectly match the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, as it uses the same chip.

Engadget's Devindra Hardawar said the Mac Studio is the "ideal machine" for power users:

That leaves the $1,999 Mac Studio as the ideal machine for Apple power users. It'll be enough for video editing work, and it also comes standard with 32GB of RAM (it could use more than 512GB of storage, though). Step up to the $3,999 model with an M2 Ultra chip, and you've got a system that can destroy just about any task you put in front of it. The few professional users who need PCIe expansion can now opt for the M2 Ultra-equipped Mac Pro, which starts at an eye-watering $6,999.

More reviews were shared by CNET, TechCrunch, Macworld, and others.

Video Reviews

Samsung today launched a new pair of monitors, including the latest version of the iMac-like Smart Monitor M8. The monitor is priced at $699.99 for the 32-inch option and $649.99 for a new 27-inch option, although as of now Samsung is only taking orders on the former size.

New additions to the Smart Monitor M8 include HDR10+ support and portrait orientation. The monitor includes a 4K UHD flat LCD panel with 400 nits of brightness, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a new pivot stand so that you can turn the display 90 degrees for portrait orientation.

In terms of Apple-related features, the Smart Monitor M8 retains the previous generation's AirPlay support so that you can connect Apple devices to the monitor and view content on the display. There's also USB-C charging connectivity, an upgraded 2K SlimFit webcam, smart TV apps, a gaming hub, and more.

Both sizes have a 11.39mm thick chassis, which is 0.1mm thinner than Apple's iMac, and include a flat back, thin bezels, and a height and tilt adjustable stand. You can get the new 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 in white, blue, pink, or green from Samsung's website for $699.99 right now.

If you want to save a bit of money and don't need any of the upgrades to the new Smart Monitor M8, Samsung does still have the previous version at a discount. You can get this model of the Smart Monitor M8 for $449.99, down from $699.99, which remains the best price of the year so far on this device.

The other monitor that Samsung launched today is the 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 Curved Smart Gaming Monitor. It's available for pre-order right now at a discounted price of $2,199.99, down from $2,499.00. The monitor is expected to ship by the end of the month, around June 26.

The 49-inch monitor is aimed at enhancing gaming sessions with an OLED screen that features Samsung's Neo Quantum Processor Pro to provide whiter whites and deeper blacks. The display also curves around the user's field of view and features a 240Hz refresh rate, with easy access to numerous streaming services via the Gaming Hub.

You can pre-order the 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 Curved Smart Gaming Monitor today for $2,199.99 on Samsung's website. Anyone who opts to pre-order the monitor in this early order window will also get a $250 Samsung gift card for a limited time.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple appears to be preparing an iOS 16.5.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs last week. It's unclear when the update will be released, but it will likely be available either this week or next week.

Minor updates like iOS 16.5.1 are typically focused on bug fixes, stability improvements, and security patches, rather than new features. Apple's Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter does not work properly with iPhones running iOS 16.5, but the issue was resolved in the iOS 16.6 beta last month, so a fix is likely to be included in iOS 16.5.1 as well.

Apple released the first beta of iOS 17 at WWDC last week. The update will be publicly released later this year for the iPhone XS and newer, and has many new features, including a StandBy mode while an iPhone is charging in a landscape position, interactive Home Screen widgets, improved autocorrect, a Journal app, and more. For the first time, developer betas are available without a $99/year Apple Developer program membership.

Earlier this month, Apple revealed that 81% of all active iPhones were running iOS 16, but that percentage has surely declined following the iOS 17 beta. Apple will likely release iOS 17 in September, around the time that iPhone 15 models launch.