The WWDC Keynote was held on Monday 5th June. Along with the much-expected software upgrades (iOS 17, macOS Sonoma, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17), there were plenty of hardware announcements – including the long-awaited Silicon Mac Pro and even Apple’s first mixed-reality headset.
Join us as we discuss the main revelations.
15-inch MacBook Air (view products)
We were almost certain this device was on the cards, and now here it is. Dubbed the world’s most powerful 15-inch laptop, Apple’s 15.3” MacBook Air is essentially a scaled-up version of the 13-inch model – which has an 8-core CPU, and up to 18 hours of battery life. It comes with the M2 chip, rather than the M2 Pro, Max or Ultra processor (more on the latter later).
This is an interesting move from Apple. Usually, it’s a case of ‘the more real estate, the more powerful the internals’. However, with the 15-inch MacBook Air you get the greater size and portability, without the need for more high-end processors.
Though, the M2 chip is by no means on the lower end of processing power. It’s a phenomenal chip; even better than the M1 (which was a fantastic processor). We think it’ll be a welcome product, ideal for those who need a MacBook for everyday use and office tasks, but who don’t want to upgrade to a high-end chip.
Mac Pro (view product)
Initially, we thought the Mac Pro had been delayed. We’re glad to say we were wrong – it’s been upgraded with the Silicon processor, completing Apple’s journey to their own chips.
Unlike the MacBook Air, it’s equipped with the M2 Ultra. Although the chassis is identical to its predecessor, it has eight Thunderbolt 4 ports, two higher-bandwidth HDMI ports supporting up to an 6K display at 240Hz, seven PCIe expansion slots, and dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Plus, it can be configured with as much as 8TB of SSD storage.
Thanks to these upgrades, it’s now up to three times faster than even the fastest Intel-based Mac Pro. The device has an extreme amount of connectivity and expansion, which is great – though it won’t necessarily benefit many small business owners.
Other Mac announcements
Also revealed was the first Mac Studio (view product) upgrade. You have the choice of either the M2 Max or M2 Ultra chip. The latter is an announcement in itself. This processor was created by connecting two M2 chips via ‘UltraFusion’ (Apple’s custom-built packaging technology). It has a 24-Core CPU, and is made up of 16 high-performance cores and eight high-efficiency ones, leading to 20% better performance than the M1 Ultra processor. In addition, it has up to 76 next-generation cores, a 32-core Neural Engine, and enhanced video processing.
With the M2 Ultra chip, the Mac Studio is up to three times faster than its predecessor. Plus, it has a higher-bandwidth HDMI port, and now supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 (as does the new Mac Pro).
We were very pleased with these updates, but disappointed that there wasn’t an M2 chip upgrade for the 24-inch Mac – though perhaps that will be announced at their September Special Event.
Vision Pro
The big announcement was Apple’s Vision Pro, their first mixed-reality headset device, with its own operating system ‘visionOS’. They released it in the ‘one last thing’ segment, and it was the first time in a while that Apple had announced something truly revolutionary in this section. It felt like when they first introduced the Mac and the iPhone – real areas of excitement.
This device isn’t available until next year, allowing developers to create apps for it prior to launch. It’s extremely exciting, and very clever, technology that allows for spatial working. Complete with a mouse and keyboard, it begs the question: do you even need a display? Perhaps all you need to work now is a headset, keyboard and mouse. It’s an alternative to the Mac, but then, so is the iPad, and most don’t work from those. Plus, glasses wearers will need to use magnetic prescription ZEISS glass inserts.
Whilst it obviously comes with a pretty high price tag, leasing will make this more affordable. We’ve spoken to our funders, and it’ll follow the same lines as our iPad leasing – there will need to be a two-year profile, though it might be three if it’s bundled in with Mac devices. Customers will also need to show they have insurance in place.
Spread the cost with Lease Loop
Whether it’s the new headset, a Mac, or an iPad product, we can help you find a leasing solution so you can spread the cost over time, and focus on growth. Get in touch today.