Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Event: All The Small Things

Today, Apple covered a lot of ground quickly, and as usual, more details have emerged in the aftermath of the event. We’ve been combing apple.com, Twitter, and other sources to learn more about its new services, iPhones, iPads, Mac Studio, and Studio Display, which we’ve collected below:

Services

  • Apple is adding live baseball (when the lockout ends) to TV+. Two games will be broadcast every Friday. The games will be available in United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom initially, with more countries to come later.
  • Apple will also be producing “MLB Big Inning,” a live show that will air every weeknight and include game highlights.
  • Apple also said in its press release that fans in the US and Canada can enjoy a 24/7 livestream of game replays, news, and more.

iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max

  • Apple introduced two new colors of iPhones.
  • The iPhone 13 and 13 mini’s new color is simply green.
  • iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max customers get a darker shade called alpine green.

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Apple’s New iPad Air Adds the M1 Chip, Center Stage Support, and 5G Connectivity

Today’s Peek Performance Apple event included a new iPad Air that replaces the model that was released in the fall of 2020 and features an M1 chip, 5G connectivity, and an Ultra Wide front-facing camera.

The new Air comes in five colors: Space Gray, Starlight, pink, purple, and blue. The chip has been upgraded from the A15 to the M1, bringing it in line with the chip used in the iPad Pro. Apple also upgraded the front-facing Ultra Wide 12MP camera, so it now supports Center Stage, allowing the camera to keep participants in the camera frame during FaceTime and other video calls. The Air adds 5G connectivity and a USB-C port that’s two times faster than before too.

Other than the new colors, the design of the iPad Air remains the same with a Touch ID top button, 10.9” diagonal Liquid Retina display that features 264 pixels per inch and Apple’s True Tone technology, but not ProMotion. The iPad Air comes in 64GB and 256GB storage configurations like the model it replaces too.

With the move to an M1 chip and support for Center Stage, the gap between the iPad Air and the 11” iPad Pro is smaller than ever. Perhaps the narrowing of the gap is temporary and we’ll see it widen again when the iPad Pro is next updated. However, the two iPads are so close in specs now that the new Air is probably the better choice for most users, especially if they can get by with 64GB of storage.

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.

Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Event: By the Numbers

As usual, Apple sprinkled facts, figures, and statistics throughout its presentation today. Here are highlights of some of those metrics from the event that was held online from Apple Park in Cupertino, California.

iPhone SE

  • 5G connectivity
  • 64, 128, and 256GB storage capacities
  • 4 grams lighter than the iPhone SE it replaces
  • An A15 Bionic chip with a 6-core CPU consisting of 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
  • A 4-core GPU
  • A 16-core Neural Engine
  • IP67 water resistance
  • Up to 2 hours more battery life when watching video
  • Support for Smart HDR 4 photography

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Apple Unveils the Latest Iteration of iPhone SE with an A15 Bionic Chip and 5G

Today, Apple updated its budget-model iPhone SE with a new A15 Bionic chip, 5G connectivity, better battery life, and other modern iPhone features.

As with the previous model, the new SE comes in three colors: Midnight, Starlight, and (Product)RED. With the new A15 Bionic chip, Apple says the new SE’s graphics are 1.2x faster than the 2nd generation model it replaces. The addition of the A15 Bionic means iPhone SE users can enjoy advanced features like Live Text too.

A combination of the new chip, different battery chemistry, and changes to the design also allows the SE to run for up to 2 hours longer on its battery in video playback tests. With a 20W charger, the SE can fast charge from 0-50% in 30 minutes too.

The iPhone SE has a 12MP camera with a sensor that is capable of Apple’s Deep Fusion technology. The update also supports Smart HDR 4 and photographic styles, which first appeared on the iPhone 13. Although the camera’s sensor and the hardware that drives it makes this a new camera system, the lens hardware itself appears to be unchanged.

The iPhone SE’s glass has received an upgrade too. It uses the same shatter-resistant type of glass as the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro lines.

Finally, the iPhone SE carries a $429 starting price tag. That’s $30 more than the prior generation.

Other features of the iPhone SE remain the same. The model uses Touch ID embedded in its Home button and has the same 4.7” display as the model it replaces. Like the previous model, the new SE is also IP67 rated for water resistance. The new SE offers 64, 128, and 256GB storage capacities too.

With an A15 Bionic chip, which powered the previous-generation iPad Air, the new iPhone SE is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a smaller iPhone. It would have been nice to see it adopt Touch ID in the power button, as the iPad Air did, but regardless, today’s announcement is a nice refresh of Apple’s most affordable iPhone.

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.p

Replay Apple’s Peek Performance Keynote and Other Videos

If you didn’t follow the livestream or announcements as they unfolded today, you can replay it on Apple’s Events site and catch the product videos on Apple’s YouTube channel.

The keynote video can be streamed here and on the Apple TV using the TV app. A high-quality version will also be available through Apple Podcasts as a video and audio podcast. There is also an American Sign Language version of the event, which is available here.

More videos after the break.

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Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Event – Apple Announces Availability of Green iPhones, iPhone SE, iPad Air, Mac Studio, and Studio Display

Apple announced the following pre-order and availability dates for the products announced today:

iPhone 13 and 13 mini in Green and the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max in Alpine Green

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries

iPhone SE

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, the US, and more than 30 other countries

iPad Air

Pre-Order: Friday, March 11th
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: 29 countries and regions, including the US

Mac Studio and Studio Display

Pre-Order: Today
Availability: Friday, March 18th
Locations: Not specified

You can follow all of our ‘Peek Performance’ Apple event coverage through our event hub, or subscribe to the dedicated RSS feed.

AppStories, Episode 263 – Beyond Doom Scrolling: Getting More Out of Twitter→

This week on AppStories, Federico and John talk about how to get more out of Twitter while avoiding doom scrolling, through a combination of advanced Twitter features, third-party apps, and Shortcuts.

[Subscribe here.](https://www.macstories.net/podcasts/appstories/plans)

Subscribe here.

On AppStories+, Federico and John talk about the upcoming Apple ‘Peek Performance’ event, a curious bug John ran into in Shortcuts for the Mac, and Federico’s experiments with car-based shortcuts for dictation input.

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Last Week, on Club MacStories: Symlinks for Windows and macOS, File Organization Tips, Batch-Converting Saved Timers, and an Upcoming ‘Peek Performance’ Town Hall

Because Club MacStories now encompasses more than just newsletters, we’ve created a guide to the past week’s happenings along with a look at what’s coming up next:

Monthly Log: February 2022

Metroid running at 4K on Federico's MacBook Pro

Metroid running at 4K on Federico’s MacBook Pro

MacStories Weekly: Issue 310

Up Next

Next week on Club MacStories:

  • On March 8th, at 5:00 pm Eastern US time, we’ll be holding a live audio Town Hall in the Club MacStories+ and Club Premier Discord community. Join Federico, John, and Alex for reactions to the day’s events and to ask any questions you may have. More details about the Town Hall are available in the Announcements channel on Discord.
  • In MacStories Weekly 311, John will publish a shortcut for tweeting links to web articles via Typefully.

Nintendo Switch Online 2.0 Gets a Redesign and Adds a Few New Features

Since it debuted, Nintendo Switch Online’s utility has been primarily limited to initiating voice chats and other online features in the Switch games that support them. That’s still the core of version 2.0, but the app has been redesigned and adds a couple of nice new features.

The new design divides the screen into a scrolling row of friends along the top, thumbnails of the games you own that support online services, like Animal Crossing, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and Splatoon 2, and the app’s Voice Chat feature. It’s a simple, good-looking design, but the abundance of blank space, if you’re not using voice chat, reveals just how little else the app has to offer.

Tapping on a friend's Mii shows you what they're playing or when they were last online.

Tapping on a friend’s Mii shows you what they’re playing or when they were last online.

The row of friends indicates who is currently online and who you’ve marked as a ‘Best Friend,’ which pins their Mii avatars to the beginning of your friends list. Tapping on a Mii shows you what someone who is online is playing or when they were last online. The game-specific thumbnails act as launchers for each game’s service, and voice chat is only activated if you first start a game on the Switch in a mode that supports it.

Nintendo Switch Online walks you through the process of starting a voice chat and lets you manage your visibility to friends.

Nintendo Switch Online walks you through the process of starting a voice chat and lets you manage your visibility to friends.

A small but welcome touch is the ability to copy your friend code in the app’s settings. Previously you had to grab your Switch, dig into your profile, and manually copy the information if you wanted to send it to someone. Personally, that’s been a huge drag on how often I share my friend code, so I appreciate the change.

It’s good to see Nintendo Switch Online updated, but it’s still a little disheartening to think that it took the company five years to get to a version 2.0 with such modest feature additions. Still, the update is an improvement, and hopefully, it’s also a sign that Nintendo is prepared to invest more time and effort into the app as a way to enhance the Switch experience.

Nintendo Switch Online is available as a free update on the App Store.