The Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC Ice 16GB offers excellent performance, a clean white aesthetic, capable cooling and a factory overclock — making it a very likeable GPU.

This month, tech columnist David Pogue launched a new book called "Apple: The First 50 Years." On Amazon, you can get the new book for $33.80 in hardcover, down from $50.00, the best price we've seen so far on the book.

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.

The book explores the first five decades of Apple's history, including interviews with 150 key people who shaped Apple into what it is today, like Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Jony Ive, and more. The book is launching to coincide with Apple's upcoming 50th anniversary on April 1, 2026.



Amazon's sale is on the hardcover version of the book, and provides an estimated April 3 delivery date for free delivery.

We've collected all of the best deals you can find during Amazon's Big Spring Sale in our dedicated article. If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Amazon is offering new all-time low prices on Apple's M5 Pro/M5 Max MacBook Pro, with up to $149 off select models without the need of a membership or clipping a coupon. This deal is part of Amazon's ongoing Big Spring Sale, which has major discounts on AirPods, iPads, and more.

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.

Starting with the 14-inch models, you can get the 24GB/1TB M5 Pro MacBook Pro for $2,049.99, down from $2,199.00. This deal, along with all of the others we're tracking in this article, represent new best-ever prices on the brand new M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro.




We're also tracking similar steep discounts on the 16-inch models, including a few M5 Max options. These discounts reach up to $199 off original prices, and as of writing we're only tracking these deals on Amazon.




If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Apple has been celebrating its upcoming 50th anniversary by hosting surprise performances and other events around the world over the past few weeks, and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has revealed details about the company's grand finale.


In a social media post, Gurman said Apple's celebrations will conclude this week with a finale at its Apple Park headquarters for employees.

A special guest will perform, according to Gurman. He hinted at Paul McCartney.

"Let me just say he's still going strong, was part of the British Invasion and [Steve] Jobs would've been ecstatic," Gurman said about the headliner.

As spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, the Apple Park Visitor Center is closing early at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, March 31. However, it is our understanding that Apple's final celebration will not have a public component, with the event likely to be limited to Apple's corporate employees and other invitees.

It is unclear if any of Apple's retail employees will be invited to the event.

Apple turns 50 on April 1. It is unclear if the final celebration will be happening on March 31 or on April 1, but it should be quite the party.
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Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone.


In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history."

"iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said.

Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like a book, providing users with a large inner screen for watching videos, playing games, and multitasking. iOS 27 is expected to be optimized for the foldable iPhone, allowing for apps to be open side-by-side and for other iPad-like multitasking functionality.

A few months ago, a report said the foldable iPhone will be equipped with a 7.7-inch inner display, and a 5.3-inch outer display. It was initially rumored that the device would have a virtually "crease-free" inner display, but it was later reported that Apple is using technology that "reduces the crease without eliminating it entirely."

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the foldable iPhone to have two rear cameras, one front camera, and a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID.

Apple will likely unveil the foldable iPhone in September this year, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. However, according to analyst Tim Long and Gurman, the foldable iPhone might ship later than the Pro models.

In the U.S., it has been estimated that the foldable iPhone may start at or above $1,999.


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In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman discussed Apple's upcoming AI plans in more detail. As he reported last week, this will apparently include a Siri app with a so-called "Extensions" feature across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27.


With the Siri app, the report said that iPhone, iPad, and Mac users would be able to interact with Apple's assistant in both text and voice modes. The app would also provide users with access to their past conversations with Siri. Overall, the Siri app would function similarly to the ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude apps.

Siri has been able to tap into ChatGPT since iOS 18.2, and the "Extensions" feature would allow for additional third-party chatbots to be connected.

"Extensions allow agents from installed apps to work with Siri, the Siri app and other features on your devices," reads fine print in the Settings app on an internal, pre-release version of iOS 27, according to Gurman. The first developer beta of iOS 27 should be available in June, ahead of a wide release to all users in September.

In his newsletter, Gurman said the App Store will have a dedicated "Extensions" section.

"It will be a marketplace of sorts for third-party AI integrations," he wrote.

That fine print also seemingly confirms that Apple is indeed testing a Siri app.

It is unclear if the Siri app will be available on all iPhone models compatible with iOS 27, or if it will require an iPhone 15 Pro or newer with Apple Intelligence support.

Beyond supporting more third-party chatbots, Siri will receive a major overhaul on iOS 27, according to Gurman. He expects Siri to have a redesigned interface, which may involve the Dynamic Island, and there will apparently be a systemwide "Ask Siri" button in Apple's apps and a "Write with Siri" button above the keyboard.


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The Zwift Ride and KICKR CORE is one of the best mid-range smart bikes on the market, with a good build quality and impressive performance for the price.

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If you’ve been a longtime web user or web developer, then long ago you probably wouldn’t have imagined how complex the modern web would become, nor how capable just HTML and CSS would evolve to be. Likewise, if you’re a lifelong Nintendo fan, could you have imagined you would one day play a Mario game ... Read More

The MacBook Neo is wildly popular, and while it’s already priced quite aggressively, you can save a little cash on the top end model from both Amazon online store, and from some Costco locations if you’re a member. That brings the MacBook Neo 512GB model with Touch ID to $689, taking $10 off the $699 ... Read More

Amazon today has the AirPods Pro 3 available for $199.00 during its Big Spring Sale, down from $249.00. This is a match of the all-time low price on the AirPods Pro 3, and one of the best all-around deals you can get during the Amazon's springtime Prime Day.

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

This model of the AirPods Pro launched in September 2025 and has 2x better Active Noise Cancellation than the previous generation, better audio quality, a revised fit that's meant to improve comfort and stability, Live Translation for in-person conversations, and heart rate sensing for workouts.



You can also get the AirPods 4 for $99.99 in the Big Spring Sale, down from $129.00, which is a solid second-best price. You can find all of the best discounts going on during this event in our dedicated post, which highlights discounts on AirTag, iPads, MacBooks, and more.

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value air fryer with a capacity that can match the Elite 11-Liter Flexi Drawer.

Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is Netflix's latest horror series and does more than enough to stand out among other huge titles.

We're less than three months away from our first look at Apple's smarter, redesigned version of Siri. iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 will focus on ‌Siri‌ updates, and rumors about what we can expect are picking up.


There's a full chatbot version of ‌Siri‌ in the works, which will change the way that we use Apple's personal assistant. ‌Siri‌ will be more like Claude or ChatGPT, marking a major improvement in how ‌Siri‌ works and what it can do.

SiriBot

With ‌iOS 27‌, Apple will change the way that ‌Siri‌ works. Right now, ‌Siri‌ can answer common questions and complete simple tasks, but you can't engage it in a back and forth conversation, get help with multi-step tasks, or ask complicated questions.

Based on the current ‌Siri‌ chatbot rumors, ‌Siri‌ will be able to do all of that and more with the upcoming upgrade, and it will work like competing chatbots.

Apple wasn't initially planning to introduce a full chatbot like ChatGPT, but chatbots have become too popular for Apple to ignore. Simply adding AI capabilities to apps and features isn't enough for Apple to stay competitive with the way people have embraced chatbots for everything from web searches to coding help.

Google has already integrated Gemini into its Android device lineup, and chatbots like ChatGPT have hundreds of millions of weekly active users.

Standalone Siri App

When ‌Siri‌ evolves into a dedicated Apple-designed chatbot, it will launch alongside a standalone ‌Siri‌ app. The ‌Siri‌ app will look similar to apps from other companies like OpenAI, displaying a grid or list of past conversations.

‌Siri‌ will support text and voice-based conversations, and there will be options to favorite chats, search for content within chats, initiate new chats, and save chats. Conversations with ‌Siri‌ will apparently resemble iMessage conversations, with Apple adopting chat bubbles.

New conversations will start with suggested prompts on what users can ask ‌Siri‌.

Deep Integration

While there will be a standalone ‌Siri‌ app for back-and-forth conversations, ‌Siri‌ will be deeply integrated into Apple devices at the system level. ‌Siri‌ will be activated the same way as today, by speaking the ‌Siri‌ wake word or pressing on the side button of a Siri-enabled device. ‌Siri‌ will be able to respond to both voice and text-based requests.

Siri Capabilities

‌Siri‌ will be able to do much of what current chatbots can do, such as searching the web with visually rich results, providing summaries, and evaluating uploaded documents. The personal assistant will still be integrated into Apple devices. ‌Siri‌ integration will replace the current Spotlight search functionality, but Apple plans to keep and expand on ‌Siri‌ Suggestions. ‌Siri‌ Suggestions will have more access to user data to provide more relevant prompts.

• Search the web for information


• Generate images


• Generate content


• Summarize information


• Analyze uploaded files


• Use personal data to complete tasks


• Ingest information from emails, messages, files and more


• Analyze open windows and on-screen content to take action


• Control device features and settings


• Search for on-device content, replacing Spotlight

‌Siri‌ will also be integrated into Apple's core apps, including Mail, Messages, Apple TV, Xcode, and Photos. ‌Siri‌ will be able to search for specific images, edit photos, help with coding, make suggestions for TV shows and movies, and send emails.

New Look

Chatbot ‌Siri‌ will have an updated look to go along with the dedicated app. Activating ‌Siri‌ will have a new animation that prompts the user to search or ask a question, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple is testing a version of ‌Siri‌ integrated into the Dynamic Island. Apple's test interface includes a glowing ‌Siri‌ icon and a "searching" label in the ‌Dynamic Island‌ while ‌Siri‌ is processing a request, and once done, ‌Siri‌ expands into a larger translucent panel with the results. Pulling down on the menu initiates an interface for a conversation.

Apple may also integrate an "Ask ‌Siri‌" button into the menus of other apps, giving users a way to send content directly to ‌Siri‌ alongside a request. The iOS keyboard could get a Write with ‌Siri‌ option that surfaces Writing Tools.

Memory

Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini can remember past conversations and interactions, retaining a memory of the user. Apple is said to be discussing how much the ‌Siri‌ chatbot will be able to remember.

Apple may limit conversational memory to protect user privacy.

Third-Party Chatbot Integrations

Apple will allow third-party AI chatbots to integrate with Siri in ‌iOS 27‌. Apple already has a partnership with OpenAI that lets ‌Siri‌ hand questions off to ChatGPT, but that integration will expand to chatbots from other companies like Google and Anthropic.

An iPhone user with the Claude or Gemini app installed will be able to send questions from ‌Siri‌ to those chatbots, similar to how the OpenAI integration works today.

iPhone users will be able to choose which services they want to use inside ‌Siri‌ through a new "Extensions" option coming to the ‌Siri‌ and Apple Intelligence section in the Settings app.

Promised iOS 18 Features

‌Apple Intelligence‌ ‌Siri‌ features that were originally planned for iOS 18 will be introduced in ‌iOS 27‌, with ‌Siri‌ able to use personal data and context to answer queries. ‌Siri‌ will also be able to do more in and between apps, and will be able to see what's on the user's screen. Apple promised that those features would appear before the end of 2026.

Underlying Architecture and Servers

Apple has inked a deal with Google that will see Gemini powering upcoming versions of ‌Siri‌. Apple plans to use Gemini for the ‌Siri‌ chatbot and the other ‌Siri‌ features coming in ‌iOS 27‌.

"Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology," the two companies said in a statement in January.

The ‌Siri‌ chatbot specifically will rely on a custom AI model developed by the Google Gemini team. Gurman claims that the custom model is comparable to Gemini 3, and that it is more powerful than models Apple has developed in-house.

Apple and Google are also discussing running the ‌Siri‌ chatbot on Google's servers powered by Tensor Processing Units, probably because Apple doesn't yet have the infrastructure to handle chatbot queries from billions of active devices per day.

Launch Date

Apple is planning to introduce ‌Siri‌'s chatbot capabilities when it announces ‌iOS 27‌, iPadOS 27, and ‌macOS 27‌ at the June Worldwide Developers Conference, which starts on Monday, June 8. It is still unclear which ‌Siri‌ features Apple will be ready to unveil, and some could be held for future updates.
This article, "5+ Things to Know About the Siri Chatbot Coming in iOS 27" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it.


Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year.

Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is finally expected to launch later this year, once the more personalized version of Siri arrives. We are also expecting a foldable iPhone, a MacBook Pro with an OLED display, and long-awaited updates to the Apple TV and HomePods this year.

Here is what to expect from Apple later this year, according to rumors. Where there are arrows shown, it refers to a device's current chip → next chip.

iPhones

• iPhone 18 Pro: A20 Pro chip, a smaller Dynamic Island, a simplified Camera Control button, a red color option, variable aperture for at least one rear camera, web browsing via satellite, Apple-designed C2 modem for 5G, and more.


• iPhone 18 Pro Max: The same features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro, but the Pro Max model might be slightly thicker.


• Foldable iPhone: 7.7-inch inner display with a reduced crease, 5.3-inch outer display, two rear cameras, one front camera, a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID, and more. iOS 27 is expected to be tailored for the foldable iPhone, allowing for side-by-side apps and other iPad-like multitasking functionality.

Apple Watches

• Apple Watch Series 12: A new chip, design changes (or not), and potentially Touch ID.


• Apple Watch Ultra 4: A new chip and potentially Touch ID.

iPads

• iPad 12: A16 chip → A18 chip or A19 chip with Apple Intelligence support.


• iPad mini: A17 Pro chip → A19 Pro or A20 Pro chip, an OLED display, a vibration-based speaker system, and a water-resistant design.

Macs

• Mac Studio: M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips → M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips.


• Mac mini: M4 and M4 Pro chips → M5 and M5 Pro chips.


• iMac: M4 chip → M5 chip, plus new color options.


• MacBook Pro with OLED display: A major redesign towards the end of 2026, with M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, an OLED display, a touch screen, a Dynamic Island, and a thinner design. On this device, which could also be named MacBook Ultra, macOS 27 is expected to offer a touch-friendly interface.

Home

• Apple TV: A17 Pro chip with support for the more personalized Siri, and Apple's N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 support. A built-in FaceTime camera has been rumored for a future Apple TV, but it is unclear if that will arrive with the next model.


• HomePod mini: S9 chip or newer with support for the more personalized Siri, Apple's N1 chip with Wi-Fi 7 support, improved sound quality, a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, and potentially new color options like red.


• HomePod: A new full-sized HomePod that supports the revamped Siri.


• Home Hub: An all-new smart home hub featuring the more personalized version of Siri, a 6-inch to 7-inch square display, an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence, FaceTime, and more. Place it on a table or mount it on a wall.


• Security Camera/Sensor: Apple-designed, HomeKit-enabled security camera/sensor accessory to be sold alongside the new smart home hub.


• Face ID Doorbell: A video doorbell with Face ID and HomeKit Secure Video, wirelessly connects to a compatible deadbolt lock.

For more details, read our Upcoming Apple Products Guide: What's Coming in 2026.
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It was a busy week in the Apple world, with Apple announcing the discontinuation of the Mac Pro, releasing iOS 26.4 and other updates, and officially announcing dates for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference.


This week also saw the AirPods Max 2 become available to order while we heard some fresh details about upcoming Apple hardware, so read on below for all the details!

Top Stories

Apple Confirms Mac Pro Is Dead, No Future Models Planned

It shouldn't be much of a surprise considering it hadn't been updated in three years and there have been no rumors of anything coming in the future, but it was still a bit sad to see Apple officially discontinue the Mac Pro this week. And yes, Apple's infamous $700 kit to add wheels to the Mac Pro has also been put out to pasture.


Arriving 20 years ago as an Intel-based upgrade to the PowerPC-driven Power Mac G5, the Mac Pro evolved from a traditional tower workstation to a compact cylindrical form factor and back again over the years, but while it was intended to serve the high-end professional market, it was never upgraded as frequently as other Macs and its role has largely been usurped by the Mac Studio that carries a much lower starting price.

Apple Releases iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 With New Emoji, Playlist Playground, Purchase Sharing Changes and More

Apple this week released iOS 26.4 and related operating system updates, delivering several improvements but not the revamped Siri we'd been hoping would make an appearance in these releases. That major revamp now looks like it may not come until iOS 27.


iOS 26.4 does bring a number of new features like the AI-driven Playlist Playground in Apple Music, eight new emoji characters, concert listings in Apple Music, CarPlay enhancements, and more.

Alongside iOS 26.4, other releases included macOS Tahoe 26.4 with the return of the compact tab bar option for Safari and a new battery charge limit setting, plus tvOS 26.4 with a new Genius Browse content discover feature, subtitle styling, and more.

Apple Announces WWDC 2026 Will Take Place June 8 to 12

Apple has officially announced that its annual developer conference will take place during the usual timeframe, kicking off with a keynote on Monday, June 8, and running through Friday, June 12.


WWDC will be a hybrid event again this year, with developers able to attend virtual sessions and labs free of charge. There is a lottery, however, for developers to enter for a chance to attend the Monday keynote sessions in person at Apple Park.

We're expecting to see Apple unveil significant AI advancements this year after a number of delays, and the company has confirmed that those advancements will be a major focus of WWDC.

AirPods Max 2 Now Available for Pre-Order With First Deliveries as Soon as April 1

Apple this week began accepting pre-orders for the AirPods Max 2 headphones that were introduced on March 16. In the U.S., Apple's online store intially listed a delivery timeframe of April 1 to April 3, although orders placed today may arrive a few days later than that.


Priced at $549, the ‌AirPods Max 2‌ feature the same design as the original AirPods Max, but Apple updated the over-ear headphones with an H2 chip that adds new capabilities already offered by other AirPods models. Amazon is already offering small discounts on select colors.

The AirPods Max 2 aren't the only new audio product launched by Apple in the past week, as the company's Beats brand also released new special-edition Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 featuring Nike's signature neon green-yellow "Volt" color.

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Apple has unveiled quite a few new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models.


In his Power On newsletter this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other Apple Intelligence upgrades are released later this year. In a live Q&A on Thursday, Gurman indicated that a new full-size HomePod is in the same predicament.

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Apple this week announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features.


Rolling out on April 14, the service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single interface to manage devices, employees, communications, and customer engagement across Apple's ecosystem.

The effort will also bring ads to Apple Maps, starting "this summer" in the United States and Canada.

Apple Reportedly Preparing 'Biggest Set of iPhone Revamps' Ever

Apple is working on "the biggest set of iPhone revamps in the product's history," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.


In an in-depth profile of Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus, who is widely considered to be the leading candidate to become Apple's next CEO whenever Tim Cook steps down, Gurman said Ternus is "overseeing the biggest set of iPhone revamps in the product's history, including a foldable model this year and a version with an edge-to-edge screen that could arrive as early as 2027, for the device's 20th anniversary."

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
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Anime streaming service Crunchyroll is now available as an Apple TV app channel, making it easier for prospective customers to subscribe without having to open up another app.


‌Apple TV‌ users in the U.S., Canada, UK, and Australia are now able to subscribe to Crunchyroll through the ‌Apple TV‌. There's a 7-day free trial available, after which the service is priced at $9.99 per month. The Crunchyroll ‌Apple TV‌ Channel is separate from existing Crunchyroll subscriptions, and an existing account can't be linked to the ‌Apple TV‌ app.

As with all ‌Apple TV‌ Channels content, if you sign up for Crunchyroll with the ‌Apple TV‌ app, you'll be billed through Apple. Crunchyroll says its full catalog of over 50,000 episodes is available through the Crunchyroll ‌Apple TV‌ Channel.

Apple TV Channels have long been an ‌Apple TV‌ app feature that makes subscribing to multiple services more convenient. Channels content can be watched in the ‌Apple TV‌ app without having to open up another app, and access can be shared with up to six members of a Family Sharing group. Channels also offer watch on-demand content and offline downloads.

Some of the available ‌Apple TV‌ Channels include Starz, Paramount+, AMC+, Mubi, Shudder, MGM+, and IFC Films.
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It's been a little over two weeks since the MacBook Neo launched on March 11, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using it daily to do a more thorough review.


At $599 (or $499 for students), the ‌MacBook Neo‌ is the cheapest laptop that Apple has come out with, and given the quality of the product, it's an impressive price. The A18 Pro chip isn't underpowered for a notebook machine, and the Neo is going to handle every day-to-day task that you might throw at it.

8GB RAM might sound like not enough because all of Apple's other Macs have 16GB or more, but Macs use RAM so efficiently that most people aren't going to miss having more RAM. If you're browsing the web, watching videos, managing documents, writing, scrolling through social media apps, sending emails, completing homework, and doing other light work, the ‌MacBook Neo‌ isn't going to struggle. 8GB RAM is also sufficient for all of the Apple Intelligence features that Apple has come out with so far.

The ‌MacBook Neo‌ works totally fine for editing photos and videos, but it's of course not as quick as Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M-series chips. You're going to see slower export times, but the actual process of editing video on the ‌MacBook Neo‌ doesn't feel overly sluggish.

The ‌MacBook Neo‌ had no problems with 30 Chrome tabs open with YouTube, Google Docs, news sites, spreadsheets, Twitter, and more, even when other apps like Mail, Messages, and Spotify were running. Bumping up to 60 tabs used all of the available RAM, but everything running was usable with no freezing or beach balls. A Windows laptop probably wouldn't be able to operate like the Neo does on just 8GB RAM, but with Apple's SoC, it works.

There are some compromises with the ‌MacBook Neo‌ in addition to the RAM. You're not going to get Apple's best display, but it's not too far off the ‌MacBook Air‌ display. There's just no True Tone for adjusting the display white balance to the lighting in the room. You're limited to two USB-C ports (one limited to USB 2 speeds at 480Mb/s, which does impact how fast files transfer), and another that's USB 3 at 10Gb/s. There's no Thunderbolt, no MagSafe charger, no SD card slot, no HDMI port, and no backlighting for the keyboard. The trackpad is mechanical instead of Force Touch, but it works largely the same, and there's a 1080p camera.

Battery life is solid at up to 16 hours on a full charge, and the power draw is low enough that you can get some extra juice with a small power bank. The ‌MacBook Neo‌ only comes in 256GB and 512GB configurations, so storage is a bit limited, and we do recommend that 512GB upgrade for an extra $100 if you can swing it because it adds Touch ID to the keyboard. The ‌MacBook Neo‌ is slim and lightweight at 2.7 pounds, plus it comes in fun colors like blush, citrus, silver, and indigo.

The ‌MacBook Neo‌ is designed for students on a budget, parents buying a first laptop for a child, and people who just need a basic machine for everyday online tasks. It may be Apple's lowest tier Mac, but it is one of the best computers you can get in its price range.

Many competing Windows PCs and Chromebooks around the $600 mark are bulkier and uglier, with dimmer displays and less powerful chips. PC makers haven't had to try in the low-end market because Apple didn't compete there, but now that's changed.

There's a reason why ASUS CFO Nick Wu said that the ‌MacBook Neo‌ was a "shock" to the entire PC industry that's being taken "very seriously." PC makers are going to need to innovate to keep Apple from dominating the affordable and education market.
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Apple has hired former Google VP Lilian Rincon as its vice president of product marketing for artificial intelligence, reports Axios. Before joining Apple, Rincon was vice president of product for Google Shopping.


At Apple, Rincon will be in charge of product marketing and product management for all of Apple's AI platforms, reporting to Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak.

Rincon led the global product organization that handled Google's consumer-facing shopping experiences, and before that, she was a director of product management in the Google Shopping division, and she worked on Google Assistant. Rincon first joined Google in 2017, and she also previously worked at Microsoft and Skype.

Apple's AI marketing efforts come at a critical time as it prepares to roll out the updated chatbot version of Siri in iOS 27, and Rincon has a lot of work ahead. Apple is seen as being far behind competitors when it comes to AI development, both because of its failure to deploy Apple Intelligence Siri features on time and because iOS, macOS, and iPadOS offer far fewer AI features compared to Android and Windows.

With ‌iOS 27‌, Apple is overhauling ‌Siri‌. We'll get the smarter ‌Siri‌ Apple first introduced at the June 2024 WWDC keynote, plus Apple is planning for a full chatbot version of ‌Siri‌ that will compete with chatbots like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.

We'll see our first glimpse of the new AI features Apple has planned at the 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins on Monday, June 8.
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Apple is into its final days of hosting 50th-anniversary celebrations around the world, making stops in Washington D.C., Mexico City, Shanghai, Tokyo, and beyond.


On Tuesday, March 24, actor Troy Kotsur and Gallaudet University president Roberta Cordano sat down for a discussion with Apple's accessibility chief Sarah Herrlinger about how accessible technology helps to foster creativity.

In 2022, Kotsur became the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award for his performance in the Apple TV film CODA, while Cordano is the first deaf woman to be president of the Gallaudet University for the deaf and hard of hearing.


The discussion was part of a special Today at Apple session held at Apple's Carnegie Library store in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of other accessibility advocates also attended the event to reflect on what it means to have Apple products and technologies that work for everyone, including people with disabilities.

On Wednesday, March 25, Apple brought together "some of Mexico's most celebrated filmmakers, actors, and creators" for a conversation about creativity and storytelling at its Apple Antara store in Mexico City. This included some of the people behind the hit Apple TV productions Las Azules, Acapulco, and Midnight Family.

In front of its Jing'an store in Shanghai today, Apple set up a circular catwalk that models walked around as part of Shanghai Fashion Week.


And over in Tokyo today, a virtual YouTuber and singer known as Mori Calliope appeared live on a screen at Apple's Omotesando store.


Today at Apple sessions were also held at Apple Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Canada and at Apple Champs-Élysées in Paris, France this week, and there will be another session at Apple BKC in Mumbai, India on Sunday, March 29.

Apple kicked off its 50th anniversary celebrations with a surprise Alicia Keys performance at its store inside New York's iconic Grand Central Terminal earlier this month, while Mumford & Sons performed in London earlier this week. Apple has also held events in Australia, South Korea, Thailand, and elsewhere over the past few weeks.

Apple turns 50 on April 1.
This article, "Apple's 50th Anniversary Events Continue in Washington D.C., Shanghai, Tokyo, and Beyond" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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