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Apple unveiled a new MacBook Air today, and apart from the new M5 chip, things don't look remarkably different. Sure, it's getting a mild refresh, but maybe not in the way most people would want. Namely, it's more expensive — a $100 price bump across all models. In exchange, the MacBook Air M5 does get faster performance and double the storage.
If you placed the MacBook Air M4 and the M5 in front of me, I wouldn't be able to tell which was which. The M5 offers an overall CPU/GPU performance boost, along with some extra storage and double the file transfer speeds. Still, I didn't expect a radical change, but I wish we got more for that extra $100.
It's not worth jumping to the MacBook Air M5 if you've got the M4 unit already, but if you're working with an older model, then it may be worth the switch, especially if you're a professional. Like the rest of Apple's new suite of products, pre-orders start at 9:15AM ET on March 4. I'd wait until full reviews are published before committing to spending money, though. Still, if all you care about are the specs and what they mean, we've got a pretty good idea of all that.
MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: Performance and battery lifeNaturally, the biggest difference between the MacBook Air M5 and the MacBook Air M4 is their chipsets. While the price did go up, we also got double the storage in the MacBook Air M5, jumping from 256GB to 512GB at the base configuration for both sizes. Upgraded configurations start at 1TB.
According
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 The new Studio Display XDR features a mini-LED display with up to a 120Hz refresh rate, but you'll need a newer Mac to get support for the full 120Hz.
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It completely changes how users can think about price for performance on the new MacBooks.
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 Elgato's Stream Deck helped popularize using a macro pad among aspiring livestreamers and regular desk jockeys, so it's only natural for the brand to continue to expand on its lineup. After announcing a suite of new Stream Deck devices last year, Elgato is kicking off 2026 with the Stream Deck XL, a larger version of the already big Stream Deck XL, and a collection of new audio accessories that should help improve sound mixing in and out of livestreams.
The Stream Deck XL not only expands on the number of buttons on the regular Stream Deck XL (from 32 customizable buttons to 36 customizable buttons), but also introduces multiple new control options, including a touch strip and six dials. All the controls on the new Stream Deck are customizable, and the presence of the touch strip means you can receive visual feedback about adjustments you're making while you're making them. The new macro pad should still work well as a way to quickly end a live stream or queue up a transition, and Elgato says that paired with its new Wave XLR Pro audio interface, the Stream Deck XL could also become a straightforward tool for sound mixing, too.
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Apple has promised a "big week" for the company, which includes an in-person event for press and creators on March 4. But it didn't exactly wait until Wednesday to get things started.
The news started on Monday with the announcements of the iPhone 17e and M4-powered iPad Air. The company followed up on Tuesday with the reveal of the M5 MacBook Air, the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, MacBook Pro models that use said chips, a refreshed Studio Display and a brand-new 27-inch Studio Display XDR.
Here's our recap of everything Apple has announced so far this week:
iPhone 17e
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Apple seems to be saving the entry-level MacBook for its event tomorrow, but instead, we have two new pricey Studio Display computer monitors.
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 Accidentally leaked Apple documents that reveal the "Neo" name of the upcoming low-cost MacBook also reference some of the features that will be included.
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 Alongside the all-new, higher-end Studio Display XDR, Apple has updated the regular version of the Studio Display with some new features.
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The company also released updated Studio Display and Studio Display XDR monitors.
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 Apple today discontinued its Pro Display XDR, following the introduction of a new 27-inch Studio Display XDR monitor.
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 Anthropic is aiming to lure customers from ChatGPT and Gemini with a new memory import tool that's available to free users as of today. Conversations and memories from other AI providers can be imported into Claude, so new users will not need to start from scratch.
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Apple has scheduled a product launch event, dubbed an "Apple Experience", for March 4 at 9AM ET. The company is reportedly holding this event in NYC, London and Shanghai.
Everyone loves shiny new products, so what can we expect to see at Apple's first launch event of 2026? We don't know anything for certain, but we have plenty of educated guesses that have been sourced from industry reports and speculation from analysts.
Editor's Note (on March 2 at 9:45AM ET): Apple has officially announced the iPhone 17e and iPad Air (M4). It's expected to continue to unveil new hardware in the following days, per the rest of this article.
Budget-friendly MacBook
There have been rumors swirling that Apple is preparing to launch a cheaper alternative to the MacBook Air. Bloomberg reported on this all the way back in November. Industry rumors indicate that Apple will be stuffing this laptop with an iPhone processor, the A18 Pro, to keep the price down.
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This past summer, we saw the launch of Windows Edit, a new version of MS-DOS Editor which runs in the command line and offers support for Unicode. The 300 KB file limit has been removed, which means you can now handle gigabyte-sized files with Edit if desired.
The latest news is that Edit will soon be the default text editor in the Windows 11 Command Prompt, as noted by Windows Latest. If you want to try Edit now, you can download the program via GitHub.
Edit is open source software and written in the Rust programming language. You don't have to be running Windows to use the text editor; it works just as well on macOS and Linux.
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