Apple unveils its ‘most powerful Mac’ as it cuts prices across its Air lineup

The tech giant released a new Ultra chip that it says makes its latest Mac Studio the most powerful computer it’s ever built as it trims prices across its MacBook and iPad Airs.

The new Apple Mac Studio is the ‘most powerful’ personal computer that Apple has produced.

Apple has unveiled a new M3 Ultra chip that it says makes its latest Mac Studio the “most powerful” personal computer it has ever built as it cuts prices across its MacBook and iPad Air range.

The new Mac Studio replaces a two-year-old model, skipping a generation, and is designed to strengthen Apple’s position in the artificial intelligence race, with users able to run large language models on device rather than in the cloud.

It was released on the same day Apple unveiled a new line-up of MacBook Air computers, which retail for $100 - or about 5 per cent - less than last year’s models. The price cut is despite the world’s most valuable company facing a potential hit to earnings from Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Most of Apple’s products are made in China, leaving the $US3.55 trillion ($5.66 trillion) company exposed to the Trump administration’s new 10 per cent duties on the Asian powerhouse, which have rattled global markets.

China retaliated swiftly, imposing tariffs on US agricultural goods amid other measures against US companies, while also filing a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation.

Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said the 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports could wipe 2-3 per cent off Apple’s projected per-share earnings in 2026. Justin Trudeau – Prime Minister of Canada, which is subject to 25 tariffs from the US – says the import tax hikes are a “very dumb thing to do”, which will fuel inflation across America.

But investors have remained bullish on Apple, with its share price surging almost 35 per cent in the past year.

It is now trading around 32 times forecast earnings for this year – 18 per cent above its five-year average, according to FactSet data.

And as it’s launched new products, from its flagship iPhone 16 to the latest MacBook Pros, it has been trimming or maintaining pricing.

New desktop computer

Unlike the more popular Air range, the Mac Studio will be more expensive than its predecessor released in 2023. It will cost $200 more, starting at $3499, which reflects it skipping a generation and being equipped with a faster processor.

The new Studio models feature the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chip, which Apple said made it the “most powerful” Mac they had produced and built to run AI models on device rather than the cloud.It is up to 3.5 times faster than Mac Studio with M1 Max, and is up to 6.1 times faster than the most powerful Intel-based 27-inch iMac, which was retired in . “Mac Studio is ... a powerhouse for AI, capable of running large language models with over 600 billion parameters entirely in memory, thanks to its advanced GPU and up to 512GB of unified memory with M3 Ultra – the most ever in a personal computer,” Apple said.

Apple has shaved $100 off the new Macbook Air.

MacBook Air upgrade

The new MacBook Air features a M4 chip with a 10-core GPU and support for up to 32GB of unified memory. If that sounds like a mouthful, its means itst is about two times faster than the M1 model, which Apple launched in late 2020.

Apple said it also delivers up to 18 hours of battery life and a 12MP “centre stage” camera, which automatically zooms and centres a user’s face to make them appear more professional during video calls.

iPad Air also comes with a speed boost. It features Apple’s in-house M3 chip, which is almost two times faster than iPads equipped with the M1 chip. And for users with iPad Airs with the A14 Bionic chip, which was introduced in 2020, it was 3.5 times faster.

Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said people could feel the M3 chip in “everything they do” from accessing artificial intelligence-powered features, creating “engaging content faster” to playing “graphics-intensive games”.

Faster iPad Air

“iPad Air is so popular because of its unmatched combination of powerful performance, portability, and support for advanced accessories, all at an affordable price,” Mr Borchers said

“For everyone from college students taking notes with Apple Pencil Pro, to travellers and content creators who need powerful productivity on the go, iPad Air with M3, Apple Intelligence, and the new Magic Keyboard take versatility and value to the next level.”

Apple's new iPad Air range, which come in 11 and 13-inch models.

For graphics-intensive rendering workflows, Apple said the newest iPad Air offered up to 4 times faster performance than iPad Air with M1, enabling more accurate lighting, reflections, shadows, and extremely realistic gaming experiences. 3

The faster Neural Engine in M3 means iPad Air users can enjoy even more AI capabilities in iPadOS, Apple said.

“Compared to M1, the Neural Engine in M3 is up to 60 per cent faster for AI-based workloads. Other improvements over iPad models with A-series chips include support for Apple Intelligence, the choice of 11- and 13-inch sizes, and support for advanced accessories, including the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.”

‘Built for Apple Intelligence’

Apple released Apple Intelligence – its AI offering – in Australia last year, which chief executive Tim Cook said would make using its devices “profoundly different”. Features include prioritising and summarising emails, and editing photos, such as removing distracting objects, at a touch of a button.

Other features include the ability to take a picture and look up that item online – a similar function to Google Lens. People can also turn sketches into more refined artwork, make their own “genmojis”, edit pictures, summarise lengthy documents or emails, polish their writing or change writing styles to be more professional or humorous.

Apple has also integrated ChatGPT – which launched two years ago, sparking the generative AI boom – into Apple Intelligence, prompting criticism from Elon Musk, who threatened to ban his employees using the company’s computers.

The new Apple Magic Keyboard features a larger trackpad and function bar.

New accessories

Apple also released a new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air, which has a larger built-in trackpad aimed at delivering greater precision for detail-oriented tasks, and a new 14-key function row allows easy access to features like screen brightness and volume controls.

The new Magic Keyboard attaches magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth; a machined aluminium hinge also includes a USB-C connector for charging. It’s priced from $449 for the 11-inch model and $499 or the 13-inch model.

The MacBook Air starts at $1699 and $2099 for the 13 and 15-inch models respectively. The iPad Air starts at $1249 for the 13-inch model, and $999 for the 11-inch version.

Originally published as Apple unveils its ‘most powerful Mac’ as it cuts prices across its Air lineup