Apple Needs More Money!
Mac Address
·Mac Address
·2022-05-05
·
1,154 words · ~5 min read
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- Inflation. You've probably heard about it on the news. Prices for just about everything are going up.
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Including at the Apple store, seven percent, 23 percent.
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That's how much more some of the new products announced at today's Apple Video Announcement event will cost you.
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So what are we all getting?
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The most exciting announcement Apple made today was the new Mac Studio.
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(mellow music)
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It's the first professional-oriented desktop to get the Apple silicon treatment,
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and Apple unveiled a new chip design just for it.
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It's dubbed M1 Ultra and fully demonstrates that Apple silicon undergoes mitosis.
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Oh no, the cores divided again. Instead of running dual processors through a motherboard,
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Apple developed their ultra fusion packaging architecture to
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link the two M1 Max processors together, with 2.5 terabytes per second of bandwidth between them.
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This doubles everything, memory capacity, memory bandwidth, CPU cores, neural engine,
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media engines, everything. It's a lot of power in a small package.
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A package that includes an amazing array of ports.
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There's four Thunderbolt ports, 10 gig Ethernet, HDMI,
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and even two USB-A ports. And at the front, the front Apple hath given us an
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SD card slot next to two more Thunderbolt ports,
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which are just regular 10 gig type C ports if you spec the base M1 Max processor instead of the Ultra.
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But I'm underwhelmed by the design.
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It's very much a taller Mac mini. - [Narrator] So it takes up very little space
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and fits perfectly under most displays. - [Speaker] Which is a design we've been living with
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for over a decade now. I really see this as the spiritual successor to the
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2013 Mac Pro everyone was so mad about for so long,
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but that thing looked amazing. This is merely... fine.
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It starts at $2,000 and base storage is a scandalous
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512 gigabytes. And if you want that fancy new M1 Ultra chip
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with a terabyte, it's going to cost double. Which I guess makes sense since it's double, right?
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But wait, like the Mac Mini the Mac Studio is BYODKM.
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Which means if you want Apple's new black and silver keyboard and mouse they will set you back another $300.
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So... inflation.
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While Apple compared this to the Mac Pro in the presentation, they also compared it to the
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Core I9 27 inch iMac,
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which coincidentally is no longer available.
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Oh, so this is replacing that computer.
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So we need a screen. Ugh, inflation again.
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The Apple Studio display is something I've been asking for,
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for a while. And I'll tell you about it after a word from our sponsor.
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And it looks like it's Manscaped, who's helping us pay for all these increased inflationary costs.
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They're new Ultrapremium Collection is an all-in-one skin and hair care kit that covers the everyday man
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from head to toe. It includes the Manscaped two-in-one conditioner,
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body wash with cologne scent, hydrating body spray deodorant,
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and moisturizing lip balm as a free gift.
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Cruelty-free, paraben-free and vegan, man maintenance just got easier and cheaper
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with 20 percent off and free shipping if you use the link below.
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Now back to the monitor, we finally got one from Apple. It's the new Apple Studio display.
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And it's nice. Yes. Nice. It looks like the new iMac, but without a chin,
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like the old cinema displays. But Apple did include a couple of notable features.
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It now has center stage on the webcam, which is a first for the Mac.
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There's the six speaker array that we first heard on the iMac with spatial audio,
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some fancy microphones and an A13 chip.
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Why? Can't the computer process all that stuff?
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That means this screen has a more powerful chip than the Apple TV 4K.
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It's as powerful as an iPad. And what do you have to pay for that A13 chip?
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$1,600. This is a big disappointment,
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considering the 5K ultra fine display this effectively replaces is $300 less.
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And the only improvement this panel gets is 100 nits of brightness.
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See, inflation.
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Also, there are three options for holding the screen up.
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A default tilt stand like the IMAX or a VESA mount are included in the base price,
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but a height adjustable stand will set you back another $400
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and it will not rotate. Nano-texture is available for another 300.
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At least it's not a $1,000 for the stand. So deflation, oh no, wait.
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The 5K ultra fine head height adjustment is standard, so inflation still.
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(mellow music)
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I get that professionals in studio environments
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will be able to expense all these increased costs, but Apple's upped prices are hurting the little guy as well,
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as we're seeing with the new iPhone SE, it's now $430.
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What you get for that is the same, very powerful A15 chip
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from the latest iPhones and 5G connectivity, which will help it expand its lifespan.
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Though that 5G connectivity isn't quite as robust as the other 5G iPhones lacking millimeter wave and
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with just two by two MIMO. So, is there anything else worth paying for?
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Well, the color shifted slightly from silver to starlight,
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and black to midnight. Everything else? Exactly the same as the previous model.
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Camera module, same. Screen, same.
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Storage, same. Battery, okay that's a bit better.
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- [Narrator] Bringing this level of performance to our most affordable phone is something only Apple can do.
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- [Speaker] The one inflationary holdout at this event was the iPad Air, which got its price increase 16 months ago.
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Today though it received a long deserved color and spec refresh with the M1 chip, 5G, and center stage front camera.
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That chip bump is quite substantial. Doubling the RAM and putting it on par with the iPad Pro
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in CPU and graphics performance. No Thunderbolt, though, the USBC port now supports
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10 gig speeds. It's too bad that storage stubbornly remains
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at 64 gigabytes priced at 599.
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All right, well, Apple's increases of CPU and GPU power through this transition to their
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Apple silicon architecture is quite exciting. But the price increases happening everywhere with it
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are not exciting. If this event confirmed anything
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is that no matter what level you're at in the Apple ecosystem, prices are going up.
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Thanks for paying more for this Mac Address. If you hate inflation, give this video a like.
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And if you want us to spend all that extra money to show you what these new devices are like
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then you might as well subscribe. One thing I'm curious about in the comments
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is how you feel about the demise of the 27 inch iMac.
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Is the 24 inch screen gonna be enough now?