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.
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.
Segunda Marquetalia ordered the attack last year according to trial testimony.
Segunda Marquetalia announce their formation in 2019, from the jungles of Guainia, Colombia. Video Capture.
Revelations that former FARC leaders ordered the 2025 killing of Miguel Uribe have heightened political tensions in the run-up to the May presidential elections.
The 39-year-old Colombian senator and presidential hopeful was gunned down by a Bogotá gang hired by the Segunda Marquetalia, an armed group created by disgruntled guerrillas hiding in Venezuela, according to testimony revealed in court.
The senator was shot down by a 15-year-old assassin at an open-air political rally in the barrio of Modelia in June, 2025. Uribe died of head wounds two months later.
After months of investigations and multiple arrests, state prosecutors were last week finally able to link the local gang that carried out the hit with the armed group.
The breakthrough came during the trial of Bogotá-based gang leader Simeón Pérez Marroquín, also known as ‘El Viejo’, who admitted he had hired the local Plata o Plomo (‘Silver or Lead’) gang to carry out the killing on behalf of the Segunda Marquetalia armed group.
“The deal was that they would pay one billion pesos [US$270,000] for the senator’s death,” said Marroquín in a statement reported by magazine Semana.
Right hand man
Confirmation of involvement by an armed group founded by former FARC leaders sparked a political spat between front-runners for the upcoming presidential election.
Right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia was quick to accuse the Petro government of negotiating peace with the Segunda Marquetalia – even while the armed group was plotting the murder of Uribe.
Valencia referred to Marroquín’s statements that the hit was organized by veteran guerrilla Zarco Aldinever, the right-hand man of the group leader Iván Márquez, in early 2025.
At this time Aldinever was nominated a ‘peace manager’ by the Petro government, meaning any arrest warrants were suspended and the rebel was free to roam. This despite the collapse of peace talks with the Segunda Marquetalia at the end of 2024.
Valencia further pointed to the closeness between her main election rival Iván Cepeda and leaders of the armed group.
Old photo
Iván Cepeda with Iván Marquez.
“The killer of Miguel Uribe is photographed hugging Iván Cepeda,” she wrote on X, attaching a photo of her rival with Segunda Marquetalia founder Iván Márquez.
In fact, the photo of Cepeda dated from the 2016 FARC peace talks, explained President Petro in a strongly worded statement defending his friend and political ally.
“The photo shows Iván Cepeda’s attempt to help [the Santos government] achieve peace. At that time, the entire FARC was ready for peace,” said.
Iván Márquez was number two in the FARC at the time and widely respected for his role in the negotiations.
Petro went on to blame his predecessor, right-wing president Iván Duque, for undermining the FARC peace process that forced former guerrilla leaders like Márquez back to arms and the Segunda Marquetalia.
Following the 2016 deal, some former FARC leaders had been “entrapped by state prosecutors with fake drug charges”, he said, leading to extradition requests from the United States.
Faced with this legal pressure several top commanders, including Iván Márquez and Jesus Santrich, fled to Venezuela in 2018 before emerging on video a year later to announce their new incarnation as the Segunda Marquetalia, named after the village in the Tolima department where the original FARC first formed in 1964.
The armed group was active in drug trafficking and illegal mining along the Colombia-Venezuela border, in the departments such as Vichada and Guainía, according to a profile by InsightCrime. The leadership is suspected of hiding out in Venezuela.
Another study by Fundacion Ideas para La Paz estimated the group to have 530 armed combatants in 2025, an increase of 15% on 2024, and work mostly in the eastern plains of Colombia.
A hunt is on
In a press conference on Tuesday, Valencia accused Cepeda and other left-wing lawmakers of backing the former FARC commanders in their legal battles back in 2018, creating a chain of events leading to the creation of recycled armed group.
“Congressmen like Cepeda defended [Marquéz and Santrich] …and didn’t allow them to be extradited. If these thugs had been extradited, Miguel Uribe would be alive today,” she said.
In his own press statement Cepeda called Valencia’s comments “a dirty political game” and issued a challenge to the candidate, and her political mentor right-wing former president Álvaro Uribe, to back up the accusations in court.
“It’s infamy to accuse me or President Petro to have any type of involvement in such a deplorable deed as the assassination of senator and presidential pre-candidate Miguel Uribe,” he said.
Meanwhile this week the Colombian attorney general’s office launched a fresh hunt for the leaders of the Segunda Marquetalia, offering around million-dollar rewards for the capture of seven commanders including Iván Márquez and Zarco Aldinever.
In fact, Aldinever was reported killed by rival armed group ELN in Venezuela during a squabble over a cocaine shipment in August last year – the same month that Miguel Uribe died – according to Colombian state forces at the time.
This week Colombia’s Minister of Defense Pedro Sanchez walked back that claim saying no body had ever been found and that the initial report of Aldinever’s death – sent from the Segunda Marquetalia itself – could be disinformation.
“At this time, the position is clear: without a body there is no confirmation of death, and that is why all institutional resources remain active to locate him,” said Sanchez.
Underworld connections
Closer to home, the Segunda Marquetalia’s influence in Bogotá was under scrutiny after Simeón Marroquín’s testimony shed light on the murky connections with the city’s underworld.
Marroquín admitted that in previous decades he had acted as an urban operative for the FARC guerrillas, a hired gun ready to carry out orders in the city.
“I never wore camouflage, but while I was here in Bogotá, I was a miliciano. Guerrilla missions would come up, and I’d carry them out, but I was never in the ranks.”
His contacts with the FARC continued to the Segunda Marquetalia that tapped him for the Uribe killing.
Early in 2025, Marroquín was invited to a secret meeting in Cúcuta close to the Venezuelan border where, according to his testimony, Aldinever offered him one billion pesos for the crime (US$270,000) and another 600 million pesos (US$160,000) to “bribe the justice system” to deflect attention from the guerrilla group.
The motive for the killing was not clearly revealed by Marroquín, though a text message later found on his phone sent to his guerrilla paymasters talked of an “eye for an eye”, suggesting the former rebels were out for revenge.
The Uribe case uncovered links between the Segunda Marquetalia guerrillas and urban criminals.
Chilling revelation
Uribe was selected as an influential senator, scion of a right-wing political family, and popular candidate for this year’s presidential elections. He was also an easy target for assassins with his regular visits to communities where he had walkabouts to engage with local voters.
In the first few months of 2025, Marroquín worked his underworld connections to hire the Plata o Plomo gang which in turn lured the 15-year-old gunman who shot and wounded Miguel Uribe in a small park in the barrio of Modelia on June 7.
Marroquín’s account paints a picture of a loose network of petty criminals lured by cash rather than political interests, ignorant of the details of both their intended target and the paymasters behind the plot.
The middleman saw the hit as a “good business opportunity” but also a chance to rekindle his role as urban operative for a guerrilla organization.
Marroquín’s plan unraveled after the 15-year-old gunman and various low-level gang members were detained in the hours and days following the June attack, creating a trail leading to his own capture in October.
“What’s done is done”
One chilling revelation was the order from above for Marroquín to kill low-level gang members to cut links to the guerrilla masterminds. This included murdering alias Gabriela, who transported the weapon and was present on the day of the shooting.
Marroquín refused to kill Gabriela, telling investigators “I didn’t have the heart for that because she was very young.” But he did send her by bus to the city of Florencia where the guerrillas were lying in wait.
#ATENCIÓN | "No hay palabras que justifiquen dicho acto, pero pues ya está hecho (…)", fueron las palabras con las que Simeón Pérez Marroquín, alias ‘El Viejo’, pidió perdón a la familia del senador y precandidato presidencial Miguel Uribe Turbay, tras reconocer que fue el… pic.twitter.com/btgnOsTEF7
The 19-year-old never made it; police investigators, already on Gabriela’s trail, organized for the bus to “break down” some miles before Florencia. Her arrest there and subsequent interrogation lead to Marroquín’s capture and eventual exposing of the links to the Segunda Marquetalia.
Last week, during the court process, Simeón Marroquín attempted to apologize for his role in the killing of Miguel Uribe.
“There are no words to justify my actions, but what’s done is done,” he said on camera from his cell, addressing his victim’s family – Uribe was married with four children – and asking forgiveness. He was then sentenced to 22 years in prison.
How quickly Colombian investigators can find Zarco Aldinever or other Segunda Marquetalia commanders, dead or alive, or hiding in Venezuela, remains to be seen.
Apple this week announced that it has discontinued the Mac Pro, with new configurations no longer available and no further models planned.
Below, we reflect on nearly two decades of the Mac Pro.
2006 to 2013
In August 2006, Apple introduced the original Mac Pro, which was an Intel-based follow-up to the PowerPC-based Power Mac G5 that debuted a few years earlier.
Mac Pro was the final Mac model to transition from PowerPC to Intel processors.
"Apple has successfully completed the transition to using Intel processors in just seven months—210 days to be exact," said Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs, in a press release announcing the first Mac Pro. "And what better product to complete it with than the new Mac Pro, the workstation Mac users have been dreaming about."
The original Mac Pro was powered by two dual-core Intel Xeon processors, making it up to twice as fast as the Power Mac G5, according to Apple. It could be configured with up to 2TB of storage—the most ever in a Mac at the time—and up to 16GB of RAM. The computer was equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics card.
Like the Power Mac G5, the Mac Pro featured an aluminum tower with a perforated front panel, which earned it the nickname "cheese grater Mac Pro." The computer was equipped with a variety of FireWire and USB-A ports, and it had PCI Express expansion slots. In the U.S., the original Mac Pro started at $2,499.
The classic Mac Pro went on to receive faster Intel processors and other spec bumps until 2012.
2013 to 2019
"Can't innovate anymore, my ass," Apple's former marketing chief Phil Schiller infamously joked, when unveiling the redesigned Mac Pro in June 2013.
"The new Mac Pro is our vision for the future of the pro desktop, everything about it has been reimagined and there has never been anything like it," said Schiller, in a press release announcing the second-generation Mac Pro.
The so-called "trash can" Mac Pro featured a cylindrical design with a polished black aluminum finish and a "unified thermal core." The computer was visually striking, but Apple later admitted that it was thermally constrained, and it had poor upgradeability. Instead of internal slots, Apple pushed expansion via six Thunderbolt 2 ports.
Other specs included up to a 12-core Intel Xeon processor, dual AMD FirePro GPUs, up to 64GB of RAM, and up to a 1TB SSD. In the U.S., pricing started at $2,999.
Overall, Apple prioritized the Mac Pro's compact size, thermal efficiency, and quiet operation, when most pro users simply wanted the most performant and expandable Mac possible. Then, the Mac Pro went years without receiving upgrades, leading some to question whether Apple was still committed to the high-end Mac market.
The criticism ultimately led Apple to make the rare and surprising move of publicly apologizing to Mac users and ensuring that it remained committed to the Mac. Apple also pre-announced that it was working on a "completely rethought" Mac Pro with a modular design, along with what became the iMac Pro and Pro Display XDR.
"I think we designed ourselves into a bit of a thermal corner, if you will," said Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi, at the time. "We designed a system with the kind of GPUs that at the time we thought we needed, and that we thought we could well serve with a two GPU architecture. That that was the thermal limit we needed, or the thermal capacity we needed. But workloads didn't materialize to fit that as broadly as we hoped."
So, Apple went back to the drawing board.
2019 to 2023
In December 2019, the third-generation Mac Pro arrived. As promised, it fixed many of the problems that arose with the "trash can" model.
With this Mac Pro, Apple returned to a modular design with an aluminum housing that lifts off for "360-degree access" to the entire system. The computer had a "state-of-the-art thermal architecture" and eight PCI Express expansion slots.
"We designed Mac Pro for users who require a modular system with extreme performance, expansion and configurability," said Schiller, in a press release at the time. "With its powerful Xeon processors, massive memory capacity, groundbreaking GPU architecture, PCIe expansion, Afterburner accelerator card and jaw-dropping design, the new Mac Pro is a monster that will enable pros to do their life's best work."
This was the final Intel-based model, with up to a 28-core Xeon processor available alongside up to 1.5TB of RAM and up to an 8TB SSD. It could be configured with AMD's Radeon Pro Vega II Duo, which Apple said was the world's most powerful graphics card at the time. Other specs included four Thunderbolt 3 ports and an Apple Afterburner accelerator card that enabled playback of three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video simultaneously.
In the U.S., pricing started at $5,999, which was much higher than the previous models.
Mac Pro was the final Mac model to transition from Intel to Apple silicon.
Apple stuck with the same overall design as the previous generation, but the M2 Ultra chip with unified graphics and memory freed up a lot of internal space compared to the Intel model, resulting in a "hollow" appearance. And on the exterior, the Mac Pro gained eight Thunderbolt 4 ports, up from four Thunderbolt 3 ports previously.
Other specs included up to 192GB of unified memory and up to an 8TB SSD. In the U.S., starting pricing rose to a steep $6,999.
By the time the Mac Pro moved to Apple silicon, Apple had already released the Mac Studio, another desktop computer that is smaller than a Mac Pro but beefier than a Mac mini. It is currently powered by M4 Max or M3 Ultra chips, and configurations with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips are expected to launch later this year.
The primary reason to purchase the latest Mac Pro over the Mac Studio was PCI expansion, but the Mac Pro's starting price was thousands of dollars higher than the Mac Studio, so the writing was on the wall that the Mac Pro's days were probably numbered.
Indeed, the Mac Pro was ultimately discontinued this week, marking the end of an era.
Apple Vision Pro owners have a new Apple Immersive video available to watch from today. "Debut at the BBC Proms" is a full classical music concert filmed at the Royal Albert Hall during the 2025 Proms season, courtesy of BBC Arts.
Filmed by Livewire Pictures using Blackmagic's URSA Cine Immersive cameras, the experience follows Austrian piano sensation Lukas Sternath as he takes to the stage in his BBC Proms debut, performing Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, under chief conductor Sakari Oramo.
"BBC Arts is committed to seeking out new ways for people to experience arts and culture, and to reach new audiences with our rich offering. We're grateful that Apple Vision Pro makes this innovative project possible, and to Livewire Pictures for embracing the new technology. We hope audiences are encouraged to also experience the magic of the Proms in person at the Royal Albert Hall this summer, or to follow from home on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds."
The new immersive video experience is available now on the Apple TV app for Vision Pro.
Atlassian has announced that Jira Data Center will reach end of life on March 28, 2029. After this date, Data Center licenses and apps will expire and become read-only, leaving cloud hosting as the only supported option.
Teams around the world are looking for alternatives to Jira, whether due to changing project requirements, a preference for open source solutions or rising costs. However, switching tools is often easier said than done – especially if a seamless migration solution is not readily available. We at OpenProject are currently developing a Jira migration tool to meet this need. With version 17.2 in February 2026, it has been released under feature flag – meaning it is in its final testing phase and soon to be released to our users.
The challenge: Migrating from Jira to OpenProject
For many teams, Jira has long been the project management tool of choice. In many cases, simply out of habit and a lack of time to start over. Especially since Atlassian continues to raise prices and “lock-in” users into their cloud offering, more and more organizations are rethinking their options and looking for cost-effective open source alternatives that are trustworthy and feature-rich.
However, switching from Jira to OpenProject presents challenges:
Time constraints – teams often don’t have the resources to manually migrate their projects.
Technical complexity – a migration tool must be able to handle issues, work logs and custom fields.
Lack of ready-made solutions – until now, there was no specific importer tool that guides the user through a migration process.
The solution: The Jira Migrator, official migration wizard from OpenProject
In current beta version, the Jira Migrator is able to import the following basic data:
Projects
Issues (name, title, description, attachments)
Users (name, email, project membership)
Statuses
Types
With upcoming releases, we aim to also include importing:
Workflows
Custom fields
Issue relations
Permissions
Currently, we only support Jira Server/Data Center versions 10.x and 11.x. Cloud instances are not supported at this time.
Please be aware that right now (March 2026), this feature is still under active development. We know that many users are eagerly awaiting the release, and we are working hard to provide a high-quality migration tool soon.
Watch this video to learn how the OpenProject Jira Migrator will support teams in their Jira exit:
We at OpenProject want to help finding migration solutions
At OpenProject, we want to support solutions that make migration easier. Many teams want to make the switch but don’t have the time or technical skills to do so. Which is why, in the past months, the OpenProject core team was quite busy working on a Jira Migrator.
To support the development of the official migration tool, we are collecting anonymized data samples. This data helps test and validate import capabilities across different Jira and Confluence configurations. Please reach out to us if you want to donate your data, we will sign an NDA to ensure confidentiality.
OpenProject 17.2 has been released and introduces several improvements across the platform. This release opens new possibilities for integrating AI into your project workflows, improves transparency on the Project Overview page, and continues our work on usability and accessibility.
One highlight of this release is the introduction of the MCP Server, which enables secure connections between OpenProject and AI systems while keeping full control over how project data is accessed.
In this article, we highlight the most important changes and what they mean for your daily work. As always, please see our release notes that contain the complete list of features, changes, and bug fixes.
Bring AI to your projects with secure MCP Server (Professional plan and higher)
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday work. Teams are exploring AI assistants that can answer questions, summarize information, and help analyze project data.
Many organizations are therefore asking the same question: How can we bring AI into our project workflows without losing control over our data and systems?
With OpenProject 17.2, we introduce the MCP Server, a new capability that enables secure connections between OpenProject and AI systems.
The MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and exposes OpenProject’s APIv3 resources as MCP-compatible endpoints. This allows external tools, including large language models (LLMs) and other MCP clients, to access structured project data from OpenProject in a controlled way.
With this connection in place, AI assistants can interact with real project context. For example, they can summarize project status, analyze dependencies between work packages, or support planning workflows based on up-to-date information from OpenProject.
At the same time, control remains fully in your hands. The MCP Server integrates with OpenProject’s authentication mechanisms, including OAuth2, API tokens, and external OpenID Connect providers. Administrators can configure the server directly in OpenProject and control aspects such as response formats and response volume.
The MCP Server was sponsored and developed with the support of Mercedes-AMG, who are actively using it in their OpenProject environment. Their collaboration helped shape the feature based on real-world requirements and demonstrates how large organizations can benefit from securely connecting AI workflows to their project data.
Administrators can configure the MCP Server directly in the OpenProject administration interface and control aspects such as response formats and response volumes. This allows organizations to decide how their project data is exposed and how external tools interact with it.
The MCP Server is available as an Enterprise add-on in the Professional plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.
Reusable meeting templates (Basic plan and higher)
Preparing meetings often involves recreating the same agenda structure again and again. With OpenProject 17.2, administrators can now define reusable meeting templates that provide a predefined agenda layout for their teams.
Instead of starting from scratch, users can select a template when creating a meeting. The agenda will automatically include predefined sections and items.
This saves time when preparing meetings and helps teams reuse proven formats for discussions and decision-making.
Note
The reusable meeting templates are available as an Enterprise add-on in the Basic plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.
Project Overview improvements with budget widgets and improved accessibility
OpenProject 17.2 enhances the Project Overview page to provide clearer financial insights, easier editing, and improved accessibility.
Budget widgets for financial insights
Project managers and stakeholders can now see key financial indicators directly on the Overview page.
New widgets display information such as:
planned budget
actual costs
spent budget
remaining budget
Visual breakdowns by cost type and recent monthly actuals help teams understand financial trends directly within the project context.
Inline editing for project description and status
The project description and project status widgets on the Overview tab can now be edited directly inline. Authorized users can update information directly where it is displayed.
Improved accessibility of Project Overview and dashboard widgets
We have significantly improved the accessibility of widgets on both the Project Overview and Project dashboard pages. Widgets are now fully operable via keyboard, provide clearer structural semantics for screen readers, and follow WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines for focus management, labeling, and navigation order.
These improvements ensure that project information and controls are accessible to all users, including those relying on assistive technologies.
Comment fields for project attributes
Project attributes often require additional explanation. For example, a chosen value may depend on assumptions, governance decisions, or project-specific context.
With OpenProject 17.2, administrators can now enable comment fields for project attributes. This allows users to document the reasoning behind selected attribute values directly where the attribute is maintained.
Comments follow the same permission logic as the attribute itself and are:
displayed alongside the attribute on the Project Overview page
tracked in project activity
included in exports
accessible via the API
This provides additional transparency and helps teams better understand important project decisions.
PDF export improvements
OpenProject 17.2 enhances PDF exports to provide more comprehensive reporting.
Work package queries can now include relationship columns, which are exported as structured tables in the PDF report. This ensures that dependencies between work packages remain visible in exported documentation.
In addition, WebP images embedded in work package descriptions are now supported in exported PDFs.
Require login before opening external links (Premium plan and higher)
Following external links inside collaboration platforms can sometimes pose security risks.
Building on the external link safety options introduced in OpenProject 17.1, OpenProject 17.2 adds the option to require users to be logged in before opening external links.
When this setting is enabled, users must authenticate before they can follow external links.
Note
This feature is available as an Enterprise add-on in the Premium plan and higher. See our pricing page and contact us for more information on upgrading to a higher plan.
UX/UI updates with the Primer design system
OpenProject continues the transition to the Primer design system, helping unify the user interface across the application.
Backlogs module update
The Backlogs module has been updated using Primer components. This results in a cleaner layout and more consistent interaction patterns.
Work packages can now also be viewed in a split screen, allowing teams to manage backlog items while reviewing work package details.
Improvements in administration interfaces
Administrative interfaces for Custom Fields, Versions, and Groups have also been aligned with the Primer design system.
OpenProject 17.2: Migration, installation, updates and support
You will find more information about all new features and changes in our Release notes and in the OpenProject Documentation.
If you need support, you can post your questions in the Community Forum, or if you are eligible for Enterprise support, please contact us and we will be happy to support you personally.
New to OpenProject? To test all features of OpenProject 17.2 right away, create a 14 days free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
Prefer to run OpenProject 17.2 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
A very special thank you goes to Mercedes-AMG for sponsoring the MCP server feature and supporting its development. Your collaboration and real-world feedback helped shape this functionality and demonstrate how large organizations can benefit from securely connecting AI workflows to their project data in OpenProject.
We would also like to thank Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, City of Cologne, Deutsche Bahn and ZenDiS for sponsoring released or upcoming features. Your support, alongside the efforts of our amazing Community, helps drive these innovations. Also a big thanks to our Community members for reporting bugs and helping us identify and provide fixes. Special thanks for reporting and finding bugs go to Alexander Aleschenko, Gabor Alexovics, Jörg Mollowitz and Александр Татаринцев.
Last but not least, we are very grateful for our very engaged translation contributors on Crowdin, who translated quite a few OpenProject strings! This release we would like to particularly thank the following users:
Adam Siemienski, for a great number of translations into Polish.
Mehmet Coşkun, for a great number of translations into Turkish.
Liangzdz, for a great number of translations into Chinese Simplified.
Would you like to help out with translations yourself? Then take a look at our translation guide and find out exactly how you can contribute. It is very much appreciated!
As always, we welcome any feedback on this release.
The Mac Pro Wheels kit was introduced in 2020, and allowed Mac Pro owners to add wheels to their machine after purchase. The Mac Pro could be bought with a wheel option for an additional $400, but the lower price was because opting for wheels removed the $300 feet.
Apple's kit included a 1/4-inch to 4mm hex bit for installing the wheels, and an installation guide.
Apple also sold a $300 Mac Pro Feet Kit for users who ordered wheels but wanted to swap to standard feet. That kit has also been discontinued. The Mac Pro and its accessories have been removed from Apple's website entirely, and old links now redirect to the online Apple Store.
For Mac Pro owners who want to switch to wheels but are now unable to do so, OWC sells a less expensive Rover Pro wheels kit for $200.
Apple has discontinued the Mac Pro and has removed the machine from its website, reports 9to5Mac. Apple said it does not plan to design a new version of the Mac Pro, and no new model will be coming in the future.
The Mac Pro was last updated in 2023, which was when Apple added an M2 Ultra Apple silicon chip, but the chassis has not been refreshed since 2019. Apple redesigned the Mac Pro to be more modular in 2019 after failing with its "innovative" trashcan Mac Pro, but the machine has never been mainstream due to its $6,999 starting price.
Apple has largely replaced the Mac Pro with the Mac Studio, a device that is smaller and uses newer Apple silicon chips. The Mac Studio is now Apple's high-end desktop machine designed for professional use.
The current Mac Studio features an M3 Ultra chip, though it is expected to get an M5 Ultra refresh later this year. Apple's desktop lineup also includes the Mac mini and the iMac.
The Mac Pro's downfall started in 2013 when Apple introduced a radical cylindrical design that turned out to be a major mistake. The Mac Pro's components were mounted around a central thermal dissipation core and cooled with a single fan that pulled air from under the case, through the core, and out of the top of the machine. It was quiet, but not efficient.
When Apple announced the 2013 Mac Pro, Phil Schiller infamously said "Can't innovate anymore, my ass," in response to critics who complained about the Mac Pro's lack of updates and Apple's failure to create products for pro users.
Unfortunately, the 2013 Mac Pro's design did not include PCIe expansion slots for graphics cards and other hardware, with expansion handled through Thunderbolt 2 ports. The design also did not account for future updates in GPU technology, leaving Apple unable to add larger graphics cards and other components to the device.
Apple ended up apologizing to its pro user base and said the 2013 design was thermally constrained in a way that made upgrades impossible. It took Apple until 2019 to unveil the current Mac Pro, which adopted a more standard tower form factor with eight PCIe slots.
After the 2019 launch, the Mac Pro got an Apple silicon chip in 2023, and that's it. There have been three Mac Pro updates in the last 13 years, so it's not surprising to see the Mac Pro retired. The Mac Studio offers almost all of the same capabilities as the Mac Pro, with the exception of PCIe expansion slots.
Gurman revealed all of this information in a live Q&A call today on the Bloomberg website, where listeners were invited to ask him anything about Apple.
Of course, the Apple Watch Ultra did usher in an all-new design when it launched in 2022, but that model has only received iterative design changes since.
A redesign is not necessary just for the sake of change, but users who are looking forward to something new might have to be patient, as it was recently rumored that a major Apple Watch redesign will not arrive for at least two more years.
On a live Q&A call today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple is planning to release a new full-sized HomePod alongside new HomePod mini and Apple TV models.
Accordingly, new HomePod, HomePod mini, and Apple TV models should be released this year.
In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini at a minimum have been "ready" since last year, and on the call today he explicitly said "yes" to a new full-sized HomePod coming as well.
Inventory of the Apple TV, HomePod mini, and full-sized HomePod is once again "running low" at Apple's retail stores around the world.
As spotted by Pedro Marques, some HomePod mini configurations are not available until as late as May 8 in Toronto, Canada. This is an oddly far away date, and it may suggest that Apple is no longer manufacturing the current HomePod mini.
Earlier rumors claimed the next Apple TV would be equipped with the A17 Pro chip, which is the oldest chip that supports Apple Intelligence. The device is also expected to feature Apple's N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.
As for the HomePod mini, it is expected to use an Apple Watch's S9 chip or newer, but it is not entirely clear how that chip would be capable enough to support the revamped Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. Other rumored features include the N1 chip, improved sound quality, a newer Ultra Wideband chip, and a red color option.
Apple is evaluating a 200-megapixel telephoto camera sensor that could potentially ship in an iPhone as soon as next year, according to Digital Chat Station, a leaker on Chinese social media platform Weibo with a decent track record.
In a post shared today, the leaker said Apple is actively testing a 200-megapixel 1/1.2" sensor similar to the one rumored for Oppo's upcoming Find X9 Ultra.
On the already-released Find X9 Pro, Oppo debuted a 200-megapixel periscopic telephoto lens with a large 1/1.56" sensor that's far bigger than typical zoom cameras. An earlier leak by Digital Chat Station suggests Oppo's upcoming Ultra model will push this further by introducing a 1/1.28" sensor.
The leaker's latest claim is a notable development. In January, they said 200-megapixel camera sensors were being discussed in Apple's supply chain, but that they had not appeared in engineering prototypes. At the time, Apple's development work was said to remain focused on refining its existing 48-megapixel systems.
January was also the month that Morgan Stanley reported Apple is working to bring a 200-megapixel camera to the iPhone as soon as 2028.
Samsung introduced a 200-megapixel rear camera on its Galaxy S23 Ultra in 2023, and the follow-up models also have one. With a 200-megapixel camera, an iPhone would be able to shoot photos with greater detail. The increased megapixel count would also result in higher-resolution photos, which can be cropped further and printed at larger sizes without a loss of image quality.
In early 2027, Apple is expected to release the regular iPhone 18 as part of a new split-launch cycle, with next-generation Pro models following during the usual September time frame. Next year could also usher in a 20th anniversary iPhone, which could be either a Pro equivalent or perhaps a higher-tier premium model, similar to Apple's iPhone X.
OpenProject offers both a powerful Community edition and Enterprise plans tailored to different organizational needs. This often raises the question of which option is the best choice for your team or organization. While the Community edition is fully functional on its own, some teams require professional support, specific Enterprise add-ons, or Cloud hosting.
In this article, you will learn about the differences between Community and Enterprise, and how to easily upgrade or get started with an Enterprise plan.
Since OpenProject is free (as defined by the Free Software Foundation) and open source software, you can download and run the software on your own infrastructure. It can be used free of charge in the Community edition. This edition is a fully functional project and task management solution and is used by teams and organizations of all sizes.
At the same time, some organizations rely on personal, reliable support when running OpenProject in business-critical or complex environments. Providing this kind of professional support requires dedicated resources and clear responsibilities. The Enterprise edition exists to offer exactly that, while ensuring that OpenProject remains sustainable and fully open source for everyone.
What is the difference between the Community edition and the Enterprise edition?
The OpenProject Community edition is free to use, fully open source, and provides a comprehensive set of project and task management features. It can be used without restrictions on the number of users or projects and is suitable for many teams and organizations as it is.
The Enterprise edition builds on the Community edition. It adds professional support and optional Enterprise add-ons for organizations with higher or more specific requirements, for example when OpenProject is used in business-critical environments or when additional services are needed. The Enterprise edition does not replace the Community edition, but extends it.
In short, the difference is not about access to the software itself. Both editions are fully open source and highly functional. The key difference lies in professional support, Enterprise add-ons, and additional service options.
Community edition
Enterprise edition
License
Open source
Open source
Costs
Free of charge
Paid plans
Core functionality
Fully available
Fully available
Enterprise add-ons
Not included
Available
Professional support
Community-based
Included
Hosting options
Self-managed
Self-managed or hosted by OpenProject
Typical use cases
Teams with basic project and task management requirements
Organizations that need professional support or have specific requirements
Important
Support is the essence of OpenProject Enterprise: It is important to know that while the OpenProject Community edition is free and fully functional, it does not include personal support. Upgrade to get reliable, high-touch support from OpenProject senior support engineers with expert knowledge about running the software in business-critical environments. We are English, German, and French speaking!
What are Enterprise add-ons?
Enterprise add-ons are optional extensions that build on top of the OpenProject Community edition. They are designed to support more advanced or specific requirements that go beyond basic project and task management needs.
All Enterprise add-ons are developed as open source software. They are not a separate product, but integrate seamlessly into OpenProject and can be enabled as part of an Enterprise plan. Importantly, the Community edition remains fully functional without these add-ons.
Enterprise add-ons are therefore best understood as complementary enhancements. They allow organizations to extend OpenProject where needed, without changing the core principles of openness, transparency, and long-term maintainability. Still, the main benefit of the OpenProject Enterprise edition is the professional support.
Watch this video to learn about our current Enterprise add-ons:
Community first
OpenProject values a balance between community spirit and financial sustainability, which is a key element in OpenProject’s high user-friendliness and, for example, its comprehensive documentation, available free of charge to all users. One example of OpenProject’s commitment to the Community is that some Enterprise add-ons are released for the community edition over time.
As an example, here’s a list of Enterprise add-ons that have been released to the Community edition in the past:
Why does OpenProject offer different Enterprise plans?
Organizations using OpenProject vary widely in size, structure, and requirements. Some mainly need professional support to operate OpenProject reliably, while others require specific Enterprise add-ons, additional services, or long-term guarantees for complex or regulated environments.
To address these different needs, OpenProject offers multiple Enterprise plans. This makes it possible to keep entry prices low for organizations that primarily need support, while also offering plans tailored to larger organizations with more specific or demanding requirements. The goal is not to bundle everything into a single plan, but to provide appropriate options for different use cases. Enterprise plans therefore reflect a fair and flexible approach: organizations only pay for the level of support and add-ons they actually need.
All OpenProject editions are fully built on GPLv3-licensed free and open source software and OpenProject is not an open core model. Enterprise plans are paid because they include professional support and services, not because the software itself is closed or proprietary.
How can you upgrade from the Community edition to OpenProject Enterprise?
Upgrading from the OpenProject Community edition to an Enterprise plan is straightforward and does not require a migration or a new installation. Your existing data, projects, and configurations remain unchanged.
Enterprise plans can be evaluated via a trial that activates the Enterprise add-ons and professional support for a limited time. If the trial ends without a subscription, the installation automatically returns to the Community edition.
This makes it easy to explore OpenProject Enterprise at your own pace and decide whether professional support or specific Enterprise add-ons are the right fit for your organization.
Learn more about upgrading to Enterprise edition.
How can you get started with OpenProject Enterprise?
If you want to explore OpenProject Enterprise in more detail, there are several ways to get started. You can review the available Enterprise plans to understand which options best fit your organization’s needs, including professional support and optional Enterprise add-ons.
If you are already using the Community edition, you can start an Enterprise trial directly from your installation to evaluate the Enterprise add-ons and support in your own environment. Organizations that are new to OpenProject can also choose an Enterprise plan from the start, including hosted options.
If you have questions or specific requirements, the OpenProject team is available to help you find the right setup and plan for your organization.
Weeks on from the first floods in northern Colombia, thousands of people remain without many of the basics and facing further problems. Find out what you can do to help.
The northern Colombian city of Montería was hit by extreme weather earlier this year, as exceptionally heavy rains flooded the city completely. Thousands of people in the capital of Córdoba have lost everything in the deluge.
While the relentless cycle of news marches on to discuss the upcoming elections, the families affected cannot. Their lives remain in ruins, with further problems coming as the water recedes. Most of the department is relatively poor, with the affected communities overwhelmingly from those in need even previous to this disaster.
The rains have lessened in severity, with fewer downpours and the water is slowly draining, but it will take years to undo the damage that it has wrought. The immediate emergency may be over for the time being, but the recuperation process will take long years to complete.
Thousands of people need help, many in extreme risk
What can you do to help those affected by the Córdoba floods?
Today, the charitable organisation Colombia Unida por Córdoba is launching a donation drive to help those hit by the rains to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible after the deluge. You can donate here to make your contribution to the campaign.
The money raised will go towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of households, schools and medical centres on the one hand and humanitarian assistance such as temporary housing and medical care on the other.
In the short term, thousands of people need immediate help, whether in terms of shelter or medically. Moving into the medium term there will be a need to both rebuild and restock a range of buildings to get people back to their regular lives.
Within the range of services that are needed by the communities under threat are not only physical and monetary assistance but also psychological help for those that have lost everything. Many farmers will need specialist advisory services to reestablish their fields.
The campaign seeks to bring Colombia together in order to help out a department battered by the effects of extreme weather, something that has grown in magnitude in recent years. It is a movement run both for and by Colombians.
The aid project will require everyone to pull together
Full transparency and auditing is at the core of the project, meaning you can check where the money is really going, unlike some of the larger international organisations. Moreover, the organisers are people who know the situation from firsthand experience.
The Cruz Roja Colombiana are also taking donations of clothes and building materials at their Salitre centre (Av.68 #68b-31), and you can donate money directly on this link. The local government in Bogotá, too, is organising donation drives on this link.
What’s the situation on the ground?
The capital of Córdoba, Montería, is the worst hit major city in the country, with thousands of people evacuated in the city and surrounds. Over 200,000 people have been directly affected by the rains.
A flooded barrio in Montería, Colombia
Everyone has been hit hard – 365 barrios across 25 muncipios. Hundreds of farms are underwater, houses have been inundated and 15 Indigenous reservations are among the list of those now facing an uncertain and perilous future.
A lot of infrastructure is in ruins too, with over 2,000km of roads submerged and hundreds of schools and medical centres unusable for at least the medium term and no sign of what comes next. Córdoba is a relatively poor department, without the resources that Medellín or Bogotá can call upon.
Sadly, politics have come into play here too, with Petro clashing with regional governor Erasmo Zuleta over the management of the department. The pair have had a lot of differences over the years. He also said he was initially unable to land in Córdoba due to the risk of an attack.
More reasonable are Petro’s claims that the situation has been exacerbated by water management systems such as reservoirs. These have diverted normal water flows and critically diminished the region’s ability to handle pressure from unusual weather patterns. Zuleta’s response is that the national government oversees the Urrá hydro plant.
The Caribbean coast has been hard hot elsewhere, with Uraba Antioqueño, La Guajira and Sucre joining Córdoba, and the Amazon and Pacific regions have also seen unusually high rainfall for the start of the year.
Even when the rains stop, the long term effects will take years to overcome. Already, bad actors are starting to take advantage of the situation, with desperate houseowners paying through the nose for boaters to rescue their belongings before thieves arrive.
Fields that are now underwater will take an age to fully drain and even longer to recover from the damage currently being wrought upon them. Thousands upon thousands of hectares of farmland will be unusable for the near future.
President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday declared three days of national mourning in Colombia following a military plane crash on Monday which killed 69 soldiers.
The accident occurred at the Puerto Leguízamo airport in Putumayo, a region located in the southwest of the country, involving a C-130 Hercules aircraft normally used to transport troops and humanitarian aid to remote regions.
According to the latest official reports, at least 69 soldiers and crew members were killed in the disaster. The military transport plane, belonging to the Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC), was carrying over 120 people when it smashed onto the grounds of a nearby farm just after takeoff.
During the period of national mourning, Petro confirmed that flags will fly at half-mast and military honors will be given to the victims of the tragedy and their families.
He decretado tres días de duelo en todo el territorio nacional en memoria de los 69 uniformados pertenecientes al Ejército, Fuerza Aeroespacial y la Policía Nacional que perdieron la vida en el accidente aéreo en Puerto Leguízamo – Putumayo el pasado 23 de marzo.
Many households are grieving the loss of their children, but one family in particular mourns the loss of two: brothers Santiago and Daniel Esteban Arias. Originally from Puerto Libertador, in the Caribbean department of Córdoba.
Monday’s crash is one of the worst aviation tragedies in the country’s recent history. In 2016, a plane carrying players from Brazil’s Chapecoense soccer team crashed into the mountains outside Medellín, killing over 70 people.
Lamentamos profundamente informar que, tras culminar las labores de búsqueda y rescate, hoy confirmamos con dolor los nombres de nuestros héroes que ofrendaron su vida en el accidente aéreo en Puerto Leguízamo, #Putumayo.
— Ejército Nacional de Colombia (@COL_EJERCITO) March 24, 2026
In Puerto Leguízamo, survivors of the military plane crash were transferred to specialized medical centers across the country.
Authorities are investigating the causes of the accident but have dismissed preliminary claims of an attack by guerrilla forces active in the region.
The Mayor of Puerto Leguízamo, Luis Emilio Bustos Morales, told local media, including Blu Radio and Noticias RCN, that “they have many hypotheses.”
He noted that among them, “there is talk that they were carrying too much weight” or “that the runway was too short for them.”
During the emergency, residents used their own motorcycles to evacuate the survivors before official help arrived; some of them were also injured by ammunition exploding in the flames.
The medical center known as ‘Hospital Militar Central’, located in the capital Bogotá, confirmed that a local rescue worker is among those being treated there.
President Petro expressed his gratitude through his X account, stating that “this is how a nation is built.” He thanked the local citizens who rushed to save the survivors. He also highlighted the soldiers who ran to save others during the disaster, calling their actions a “beautiful proof of love and solidarity.”
The painful moments were detailed by soldier Mauro Peñaranda, who survived and described the scene as the aircraft went down to local media outlets: “It was leaning to one side, and there was a weird noise (…) the plane was creaking,” he told RTVC. Mauro also stated that they did not receive clear instructions from the cockpit during the situation.
“I honestly don’t even know how I got out of there… I just jumped and got out,” he said.
The governments of Ecuador, Panama, France, and the United States, among others, also offered their condolences to the Colombian military forces and the victims’ families.
Featured image: Photo of Colombian military plane crash site in Puerto Leguízamo on March 23, 2026.
In his Power On newsletter today, 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.
Inventory of the Apple TV, HomePod mini, and full-sized HomePod is once again "running low" at Apple's retail stores around the world, according to Gurman, but it is unclear if this means anything since the revamped Siri has yet to debut.
Gurman previously reported that Apple was aiming to release the personalized Siri features in either iOS 26.5 or iOS 27. The first developer beta of iOS 26.5 could be available in late March or early April, so at least some of the Siri upgrades might be just a week or two away, unless they are entirely held back until iOS 27 debuts in June.
Accordingly, if the new Apple TV and HomePod mini models remain tied to the Siri upgrades arriving in iOS 26.5 or iOS 27, then Apple should announce the devices at any point between late March and the end of September this year.
Earlier rumors claimed the next Apple TV would be equipped with the A17 Pro chip, which is the oldest chip that supports Apple Intelligence. The device is also expected to feature Apple's N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.
As for the HomePod mini, it is expected to use an Apple Watch's S9 chip or newer, but it is not entirely clear how that chip would be capable enough to support the revamped Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. Other rumored features include the N1 chip, improved sound quality, a newer Ultra Wideband chip, and a red color option.
The Apple TV is now almost two decades old amid rumors of the announcement of a new model.
Today marks 19 years Apple launched the original Apple TV. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple TV at Macworld Expo in January 2007 alongside the original iPhone, but it didn't launch until March.
The Apple TV was initially previewed as the "iTV." The device allowed users to wirelessly stream movies, TV shows, music, and photos from their Mac or PC directly to their TV. Unlike today, there was no App Store or third-party app support, and the experience was centered almost entirely around iTunes-purchased or synced media.
The Apple TV was controlled with a simple Apple Remote and ran a Front Row-style interface designed for navigating iTunes libraries on a TV. It featured a 40GB hard drive for local content storage and supported 720p HD resolution, offering both HDMI and component video output, and was priced at $299.
Apple famously described the Apple TV as a "hobby," reflecting its niche and experimental status within the company at the time. Over subsequent years, Apple slowly repositioned the device over time from a Mac accessory to a standalone streaming device.
In 2010, it dropped the internal hard drive and shifted to a smaller, streaming-focused design. The introduction of tvOS and the App Store in 2015 marked a major turning point, enabling third-party apps and games. Apple later added 4K support in 2017 and continued to iterate with faster chips, culminating in the current model powered by the A15 Bionic chip.
Unlike the original Apple TV, which was primarily designed to stream iTunes content from a Mac or PC, the device now serves as a hub for Apple's services, with integrations for Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, AirPlay, and HomeKit. While competitors such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV devices still dominate the lower end of the market, Apple has continued to position the Apple TV as a premium option with tighter ecosystem integration and more powerful hardware.
Today's Apple TV is the third-generation 4K model from November 2022. A new Apple TV is expected to be announced soon, featuring a faster chip and Apple's custom N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The AirPods Max 2 introduce a range of improvements primarily driven by the addition of Apple's H2 chip, which replaces the H1 chip used in previous models. This new chip underpins most of the upgrades, enabling more advanced computational audio and significantly enhancing the overall listening experience.
One of the most notable improvements is Active Noise Cancellation, which Apple says is up to 1.5x more effective than before, making the headphones better suited to noisy environments such as travel. Transparency mode is also refined, with more natural-sounding ambient audio and improved clarity when hearing voices and surroundings.
The H2 chip also facilitates a suite of new adaptive listening features. Adaptive Audio dynamically adjusts the balance between noise cancellation and environmental sound depending on your surroundings, while Conversation Awareness automatically lowers playback and enhances nearby voices when you begin speaking. Personalized Volume builds on this by learning your listening preferences over time and adjusting volume levels accordingly. In addition, Voice Isolation has been improved, helping to prioritize your voice during calls and reduce background noise more effectively.
Audio quality is enhanced with a new high dynamic range amplifier and updated signal processing. These changes should result in more consistent bass, clearer midrange, more natural vocals, and improved separation of instruments. Spatial Audio has also been refined, offering more accurate sound placement and a more coherent soundstage.
Wireless performance sees an upgrade with support for Bluetooth 5.3, which reduces latency compared to the previous generation. Alongside audio improvements, several new features have been added, including Live Translation powered by Apple Intelligence, the ability to use the Digital Crown as a camera remote for taking photos or controlling video recording, and expanded Siri interactions, including hands-free activation without "Hey Siri" and gesture-based responses.
Despite these updates, several core aspects remain unchanged. The design, materials, and overall form factor are identical to earlier versions, battery life remains at up to 20 hours with noise cancellation enabled, and the headphones continue to use the same Smart Case. Pricing is also unchanged at $549.
AirPods Max 2 will be available to order on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app starting Wednesday, March 25 in the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, and they launch on an unspecified day in early April. The MacRumors Show has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips.
If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion about Apple's concentrated week of announcements that saw the introduction of 10 new products.
The MacRumors Show is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also email us at podcast@macrumors.com or head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.
Both the MacBook Air and entry-level MacBook Pro now feature the M5 chip, so how do the latest models compare?
While the 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $1,099 and the 15-inch model at $1,299, moving to the 14-inch MacBook Pro requires spending at least $300 more. For some buyers, the extra cost is unnecessary; for others, the Pro's ability to sustain performance, along with its more advanced display and expanded I/O, meaningfully change the experience in ways the Air cannot match even with higher configurations.
With the introduction of the MacBook Neo as a new entry-level option, the Mac lineup now spans three distinct tiers. As a result, the MacBook Air no longer represents the default choice for most buyers, but instead occupies a middle position between affordability and performance. If you've already ruled out the MacBook Neo, this guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of Apple's other two popular laptops is best for you. The key differences are as follows:
Silver, Sky Blue, Starlight, or Midnight color options
Silver or Space Black color options
13-Inch: Starts at $1,099
15-Inch: Starts at $1,299
Starts at $1,599
Dimensions are also a key area of difference between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is noticeably thicker and heavier than both MacBook Air models:
MacBook Air (13-Inch)
MacBook Air (15-Inch)
MacBook Pro (14-Inch)
Height
0.44 inches (1.13 cm)
0.45 inch (1.15 cm)
0.61 inches (1.55 cm)
Width
11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
13.40 inches (34.04 cm)
12.31 inches (31.26 cm)
Depth
8.46 inches (21.5 cm)
9.35 inches (23.76 cm)
8.71 inches (22.12 cm)
Weight
2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)
3.3 pounds (1.51 kg)
3.4 pounds (1.55 kg)
Taken as a whole, the MacBook Air now occupies a more clearly defined middle position in Apple's laptop lineup. With the introduction of the MacBook Neo as a lower-cost entry point, the Air no longer represents the default choice for most buyers, but instead serves those who want a meaningful step up in performance, features, and long-term usability without moving into the MacBook Pro tier.
The MacBook Air offers excellent performance with the M5 chip, capable memory and storage options, a good all-round display, and key features like a backlit keyboard, 18 hours of battery life, and a 12MP Center Stage camera. For everyday tasks, performance remains effectively indistinguishable from more expensive models, but the Air is far less likely to feel constrained after several years of use compared to the MacBook Neo. Its thinner chassis, lower weight, silent fanless design, and broader range of color options also remain important advantages.
By contrast, the 14-inch MacBook Pro is differentiated less by baseline performance and more by its ability to sustain it, as well as by a collection of hardware features that materially change the experience. Active cooling allows the M5 chip to operate at higher levels for prolonged periods, avoiding the thermal limitations inherent to the Air's passive design. This becomes noticeable in extended workloads such as video editing, 3D rendering, compiling large codebases, or running intensive AI-driven tasks. If your workload regularly involves sustained performance, such as long video exports, large code builds, or intensive multitasking, the MacBook Air's fanless design may become a limiting factor.
Alongside this, MacBook Pro's mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion offers substantially higher brightness, contrast, and motion fluidity, while the inclusion of HDMI, SDXC, and an additional Thunderbolt port expands its versatility in professional environments. It also delivers consistently better speakers, higher-quality microphones, and longer battery life. For users planning to keep their machine for several years, this sustained performance headroom and broader feature set can make the MacBook Pro a more resilient long-term investment.
The most consequential trade-off emerges at the upper end of the MacBook Air's pricing. At $1,299, the 15-inch MacBook Air sits close enough to the 14-inch MacBook Pro's $1,599 starting price that the decision becomes less about affordability and more about priorities. For an additional $300, the Pro offers a significantly more advanced display, active cooling for sustained performance, longer battery life, additional I/O, and overall greater versatility. Once you are already considering spending over $1,000 on a laptop, these advantages become disproportionately impactful, particularly for users intending to keep their machine for several years.
As a result, the MacBook Air is best understood as the balanced option within the lineup: Meaningfully more capable and longer-lasting than the MacBook Neo, but somewhat constrained compared to the MacBook Pro. The right choice depends less on basic specifications and more on where your needs sit across three distinct tiers, with basic computing at the low end, sustained performance and advanced features at the high end, and the MacBook Air positioned squarely between them.
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