Apple today unveiled AirPods Max 2, with key upgrades including the H2 chip, increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, and features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation.


The new AirPods Max have the same overall design as the previous generation, with most of the new features coming from the upgrade to the H2 chip:

- Adaptive Audio adjusts the levels of ANC and Transparency in response to the environment automatically to optimize the audio experience.

- Conversation Awareness helps lower content volume and reduce background noise when a user starts speaking to someone nearby.

- Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, helps users communicate across languages in person.

- Voice Isolation uses advanced computational audio powered by H2 to prioritize the voice during calls, while blocking out ambient noise.

AirPods Max 2 also support Personalized Volume, which adjusts the volume based on a combination of your surroundings and your volume preferences.

With the H2 chip, Apple says the AirPods Max 2 deliver up to 1.5× more effective active noise cancellation than the previous generation, and it promised that the Transparency mode that lets in some ambient noise sounds even more natural.


AirPods Max 2 feature a new high dynamic range amplifier for "even cleaner audio," and Apple says Spatial Audio content "sounds better than ever." The headphones also have reduced wireless audio latency compared to the previous generation.

The headphones still have a USB-C port for charging and lossless audio. Apple advertises up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge with active noise cancellation enabled, which is unchanged compared to the previous generation.

Like the previous AirPods Max running iOS 18.4 or newer, the AirPods Max 2 support 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio with the included USB-C cable, for the highest-quality wired playback. For wireless connectivity, AirPods Max 2 support Bluetooth 5.3, whereas the previous AirPods Max support Bluetooth 5.0.

Color options remain Midnight, Starlight, Orange, Purple, and Blue.


A new Camera Remote feature allows users to press the Digital Crown on the AirPods Max 2 to take a photo and start or stop video recording while using Apple's Camera app or compatible third-party camera apps on an iPhone or iPad.

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. In the U.S., AirPods Max 2 have the same $549 price as the previous AirPods Max, which Apple is no longer selling.

AirPods Max 2 come with a Smart Case, which has the same design as it always has. The headphones enter an ultra-low-power state when placed in this carrying case, which is fairly important, as the headphones still lack a power button.

These are technically the third AirPods Max headphones to be released. The original AirPods Max with a Lightning port launched in December 2020, and the headphones received a minor update with a USB-C port and new color options in September 2024.
This article, "Apple Announces AirPods Max 2 With H2 Chip and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today introduced a new iPad Air, with key upgrades including Apple's M4 chip for faster performance, an increased 12GB of RAM, Apple's N1 wireless networking chip with Wi-Fi 7 support, and Apple's custom C1X modem in cellular models.


The new iPad Air has the same overall design as the previous-generation model, which is equipped with the M3 chip, 8GB of RAM, and Wi-Fi 6E support.

With the M4 chip, the iPad Air now has up to 30% faster multi-core CPU performance compared to the model with the M3 chip, according to Apple. In the iPad Air, the M4 chip has an 8-core CPU, a 9-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Memory bandwidth increased from 100GB/s to 120GB/s, according to Apple's tech specs.

Apple's custom N1 chip has come to the iPad Air, enabling Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Apple says the N1 chip delivers improved wireless performance when the device is connected to 5GHz Wi-Fi networks, and it improves the overall performance and reliability of features like AirDrop and Personal Hotspot. Apple introduced the N1 chip last year, across the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, and iPad Pro.

Cellular models are now equipped with Apple's custom C1X modem for 5G and LTE. Apple says this chip unlocks up to 50% faster cellular performance, while using up to 30% less power compared to the previous iPad Air with a Qualcomm modem.

You can pre-order the new iPad Air on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app starting Wednesday, March 4, with availability set to begin Wednesday, March 11. In the U.S., pricing continues to start at $599 for the 11-inch model, and at $799 for the 13-inch model. Color options remain Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray.

Storage capacity options remain 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

iPad Air continues to feature an LCD screen with up to 500 nits of brightness, a 12-megapixel front camera with Center Stage support, a 12-megapixel rear camera, Apple Intelligence support, a Touch ID power button, a USB-C port stereo speakers, two microphones, Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro support, and more.
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Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips.


The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new ‌iPad Pro‌ to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing engine. A faster 16-core Neural Engine also delivers more energy-efficient performance. Apple says that performance gains and breakthrough improvements over iPads with the M1 chip are "staggering".

In addition to the M5 chip, the cellular versions of the new ‌iPad Pro‌ feature Apple's custom-designed C1X modem, which allows up to 50% faster cellular data performance than its predecessor, with much greater efficiency.


It also features the N1 chip, a new Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Apple says the N1 brings better performance when connected to 5GHz networks, and improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop.

The new ‌iPad Pro‌ features over 150GB/s of unified memory bandwidth, which is almost a 30% increase compared to the previous generation. It also offers up to 2x faster storage read and write speeds, and the 256GB and 512GB models start with 12GB of unified memory.

The new ‌iPad Pro‌ adds the ability to drive external displays at up to 120Hz and now supports Adaptive Sync, which provides the lowest possible latency in external display performance.

Fast charging is now supported, allowing the new ‌iPad Pro‌ to charge up to 50% in around 30 minutes with a 40W adapter or higher.

The new ‌iPad Pro‌ is available to pre-order starting today, and will be available in stores on Wednesday, October 22.
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Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band.


The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM.

With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared to the previous model with the M2 chip. Apple has not provided any overall performance figures, but its website says the Vision Pro now offers up to three hours of video playback per charge, compared to up to 2.5 hours for the previous model.

Apple says the M5 chip enables the rendering of 10% more pixels on the displays compared to the previous model, resulting in sharper images and crisper text. And the Vision Pro can now ramp up to a 120Hz refresh rate, up from the previous limit of 100Hz. Apple says 120Hz support reduces motion blur and provides a smoother experience when using Mac Virtual Display.

With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro gains hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, for improved graphics rendering. These capabilities were first introduced with the M3 chip, but the previous Vision Pro only had an M2 chip.

Apple says the M5 chip's faster 16-core Neural Engine, and a Neural Accelerator in each GPU core, make AI features run up to 50% faster than on the previous model.

The updated Vision Pro still has an R1 chip for input processing. The headset continues to support Wi-Fi 6, rather than Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 5.3.

There are no design changes or new color options, such as the rumored Space Black. There is still a tethered battery pack, rather than a built-in battery.


The updated Vision Pro comes with the Dual Knit Band, a Light Seal, two Light Seal Cushions, a cover for the front of the device, a polishing cloth, a battery, a USB-C charging cable, and Apple's new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max.

The previous Vision Pro came with Apple's discontinued 30W USB-C Power Adapter.

The new Dual Knit Band comes in small, medium, and large sizes. It is available to purchase separately for $99, and it is compatible with the previous-generation Vision Pro. You can find your preferred size by using the Apple Store app on the iPhone.


Apple says the Dual Knit Band features two straps knitted into a single piece. The upper strap goes across the top of the head, and the lower strap goes across the back of the head. The lower strap has tungsten inserts that provide a counterweight for additional comfort, balance, and stability. You can adjust the fit of both of the straps with the Fit Dial.

Another new accessory is the Logitech Muse spatial stylus, and Apple will begin selling the PlayStation VR2 Sense controller starting Tuesday, November 11.

The updated Vision Pro is available to pre-order starting today, and it will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores on Wednesday, October 22.

In the U.S., the Vision Pro continues to start at $3,499, and it can be configured with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. The new model is also available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the U.K., and the United Arab Emirates. Availability in South Korea and Taiwan will begin at a later date, according to Apple.

You can demo the new Vision Pro at an Apple Store starting October 22.

With the iPadOS 26.1 update, set to be released later this year, Apple says the Vision Pro app is expanding to iPad. It was previously on the iPhone only.
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Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models.


In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB.

Like the M4 chip, Apple's next-generation M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine, but it is faster. Apple says the M5 chip offers up to 15% faster CPU performance, and up to 45% faster graphics, compared to the M4 chip.

An enhanced 10-core GPU has a Neural Accelerator in each core, enabling more than 4× the peak GPU compute performance compared to the M4 chip, according to Apple.

Memory bandwidth has increased from 120GB/s to 153GB/s.

There are no major design changes, with the base 14-inch MacBook Pro still having a Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1,000 nits (SDR) and up to 1,600 nits (HDR) of brightness, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, a headphone jack, a MagSafe 3 magnetic charging port, and a backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.


The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip is available to pre-order starting today, and it will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores on Wednesday, October 22. In the U.S., pricing starts at $1,599, for a configuration with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Available finishes include Silver and Space Black.

Apple says the 14-inch MacBook Pro continues to offer up to 24 hours of battery life, and it remains limited to Wi-Fi 6E, rather than Wi-Fi 7.

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 70W USB-C Power Adapter, except in Europe.

Today's announcement does not include higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which are expected to launch in early 2026.
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Apple today announced the M5 chip, its next-generation chip for the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro.


From Apple's press release:

Built using third-generation 3-nanometer technology, M5 introduces a next-generation 10-core GPU architecture with a Neural Accelerator in each core, enabling GPU-based AI workloads to run dramatically faster. The GPU also offers enhanced graphics capabilities and third-generation ray tracing that combined deliver a graphics performance that is up to 45 percent higher than M4. M5 features the world's fastest performance core, with up to a 10-core CPU made up of six efficiency cores and up to four performance cores. Together, they deliver up to 15 percent faster multithreaded performance over M4. M5 also features an improved 16-core Neural Engine, a powerful media engine, and a nearly 30 percent increase in unified memory bandwidth to 153GB/s.

The M5's next-generation GPU architecture is optimized for AI tasks. Each of its 10 cores features a dedicated Neural Accelerator, delivering over 4x peak GPU compute compared to the M4. The M5 also includes a third-generation ray-tracing engine, providing up to a 45% graphics uplift in apps using ray tracing.

Apple says the next-generation GPU, enhanced shader cores, second-generation dynamic caching, and third-generation ray-tracing engine on the M5 bring more realistic visuals, faster rendering times, and smoother performance. The faster 16-core Neural Engine also delivers more powerful AI performance with greater energy efficiency.

The M5 chip unified memory bandwidth of 153GB/s, providing a nearly 30% increase over the M4, offering higher multithreaded performance in apps, faster graphics performance, and faster AI performance running models on the Neural Accelerators in the GPU or the Neural Engine. It supports up to 32GB of unified memory.

The new ‌MacBook Pro‌, ‌iPad Pro‌, and Vision Pro with the M5 chip are available to pre-order today.
This article, "Apple Unveils M5 Chip With Next-Generation GPU" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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