Apple’s affordable MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, M5 Pro/Max-equipped MacBook Pros and the M4 iPad Air went on sale Wednesday. The M5-powered MacBook Air and new Studio Displays also hit retail stores today.
Apple began accepting preorders for these devices last week, shortly after unveiling them.
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MacBook Neo
Photo: Apple
The MacBook Neo is the one that will generate the most consumer buzz. It’s Apple’s most affordable laptop yet, with a starting price of only $599. That makes it $500 cheaper than the M5 MacBook Air.
While Apple has made several compromises on the Neo, it’s still a better buy than other Windows laptops in the same price range. That’s despite the laptop using the same A18 chip from the iPhone 16 Pro and packing only 8GB of system memory.
With a 13-inch display and up to 16 hours of battery life, the Neo should be a huge hit for Apple.
Buy: Apple Store
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s entry-level laptop. It boasts Apple’s signature all-day battery life and ease of use. It can swim through web browsing, document editing and other basic tasks. But if you want higher specs than its 8GB memory or the maximum 512GB storage, the MacBook Air is a better choice.
- 16-hour battery life
- Bright, fun colors
- Thin and light design
- No MagSafe charging
- USB 3 and USB 2 ports
- No support for high-resolution displays
iPhone 17e
Photo: Apple
Successor to 2025’s iPhone 16e, the iPhone 17e packs three key upgrades. A faster A19 SoC, MagSafe support and double the base storage at 256GB. The last change is particularly notable given the ongoing DRAM and NAND shortages — especially since Apple kept the starting price unchanged at $599.
It also includes Apple’s latest C1x modem, which promises faster mobile data speeds.
The iPhone 17e looks the same as the iPhone 16e and still features a notch up front rather than a Dynamic Island.
Buy: Apple Store
M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros
Image: Apple
Apple’s newest Pro laptops feature its fastest chips yet: the M5 Pro and M5 Max. The new SoCs come with an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU. Compared with the M4 Pro and M4 Max, they deliver roughly 15% to 20% faster CPU performance and 50% or more faster GPU performance.
Other upgrades include twice as fast SSD on the M5 Max models and Apple’s N1 chip for better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The new MacBooks cost up to $200 more than their predecessors. But this gets you double the base storage, which now starts at 1TB.
Buy: Apple store
Studio Display and Studio Display XDR
Image: Apple
Apple’s new Pro monitors — the Studio Display and Studio Display XDR — also hit retail stores today. The latter is the company’s new flagship monitor, featuring a 120Hz 27-inch 5K mini-LED backlight Retina panel with over 2,000 dimming zones. It can hit 1,000 nits of SDR brightness and up to 2,000 nits of HDR brightness.
Pricing for the Studio Display starts at $1,599, while the Studio Display XDR costs $3,299. You can add nano-texture glass at an extra cost.
Buy: Apple Store
M5 MacBook Air
The MacBook Air lineup also gets the M5 chip treatment, delivering faster performance in the same package. Like the Pro MacBooks, it now comes with twice the base storage, starting at 512GB. It’s faster too, with Apple claiming a 2x performance improvement.
Thanks to Apple’s N1 chip, the M5 MacBook Air supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 standards.
The M5 MacBook Air now starts at $1,099, making it $100 more expensive than its predecessor. The 15-inch variant also gets a similar $100 price bump.
Buy: Apple store
M4 iPad Air
The 2026 iPad Air refresh is all about Apple’s M4 chip. It helps the tablet perform even faster. Other upgrades include an N1 chip to handle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and a C1x modem on the cellular models for faster mobile data speeds.
Pricing remains unchanged, starting at $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch model.
Buy: Apple Store
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
