As usual, Apple’s spring event brought to light some interesting and high-performing devices. We sat down with a good friend and resident tech expert Jaime Vazquez to get an insider’s view on just how groundbreaking this year’s first release event really was.
The iPhone SE 3 retains the iPhone 8 form factor of the second-generation SE but once again boasts modern components inside. Vazquez says that for the everyday consumer, “The iPhone SE 3 is the big deal because 5G — which the SE 3 has — is no longer an exclusively premium feature.”
With the base model priced at just $429, the new midrange iPhone may well offer the best bang for your buck of any product in Apple’s recent history. Its A15 processor is the same one from the iPhone 13 and promises impressive speed that should remain that way for years. The smartphone also offers enhanced durability and a battery life increase of up to 3 hours. These improvements make it one of the best phones on the market that you can use with one hand.
But there’s one other iPhone SE 3 feature that Apple fans, including Vazquez, are surprisingly excited about.
To the dismay of many, Apple stopped including Touch ID technology with 2017’s iPhone X. After years of wondering if it would ever come back, it’s finally here. “To me,” Vazquez notes, “The bigger deal is they brought back Touch ID. I missed touch ID like crazy. It's a big deal because with Touch ID you can pull your phone out and if your thumb is in the right place, it just unlocks, versus having to take your phone out and activate Face ID.”
Alongside the long-awaited return of the prodigal Touch ID, Apple has also greatly enhanced the algorithms that Face ID uses. More specifically, Face ID is now able to confirm your identity while you’re wearing a mask, which is more important to the average consumer now than ever.
The iPad Air lineup is a step above the already great base model iPad. The 5th-generation iPad Air sports an impressive Liquid Retina display that boasts a wide P3 color gamut, True Tone premium color accuracy and, most importantly, the Apple M1 chip that powered last year’s iPad Pro.
The new Air doesn’t introduce any groundbreaking features, but as a package, it’s one of Apple’s nicest tablets yet and comes at a reasonable price. You can be absolutely certain when buying an iPad Air 5 that it will continue to provide a streamlined user experience for years to come.
Apple’s Mac Mini is small, convenient and no slouch in its own right, but it’s not exactly blazing fast. Enter the Mac Studio, set to be one of the most powerful mini desktops on the market. “People have been asking for this for years and saying that the Mac Mini was too low-end and the Mac Pros too high-end,” according to Vazquez. The Studio is outfitted with the company’s latest and greatest in-house system-on-a-chip, called the M1 Ultra, the most powerful 64-bit processor ever found in a desktop computer.
The big drawback to the Mac Studio is that it’s still massively more expensive than the Mac Mini, at a list price of $2,000, out of the price range of most consumers. There is still a market, though, as Vazquez rightly observes: “Your typical vlogger, podcaster, or streamer is going to be excited about the Mac Studio.”
While some current monitors do offer integrated speakers and cameras, they’re few and far between. Apple’s new 27-inch Studio Display aims to change that. According to Vazquez, “It’s a gift to minimalists because it has a built-in camera, built-in microphone and built-in speakers. At home, I have a mess of cables and wires, and even with cable management, it's a hassle to deal with.”
Granted, the Studio Display costs a whopping $1,600, which again is out of the reach of most users. But tech enthusiasts like Vazquez aren’t worried that the Studio Display may not sell well. “What I'm hoping for is that suddenly the all-in-one monitor with good speakers, a good webcam and good lighting becomes the thing that everybody else copies.”
At this point, Vazquez confirms what many tech enthusiasts know but dread: “The chip shortage is going to get worse.” But he has one piece of advice that he might not normally offer. “I think preorders make more sense today than they ever have before,” Vasquez says. “In fact, there are reports that the iPhone 14 is going to reuse the last generations' processor because they don't have enough of the new stuff.”
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Chris Thomas writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
