Apple’s entry-level products are becoming more and more affordable

Welcome to our regular collection of all Apple News you missed this week. A convenient bite-sized summary. I call it an apple breakfast because it goes well with coffee and tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want it to be read at lunch or dinner.

If the bargain price is costly

Some say you get what you pay for.The late Sir Terry Pratchett said that Very expensive and poor.. But most of our best minds agree that buying cheap tends to come back and bite you to the bottom.

Apple products aren’t cheap, but they’re all relative, and the company has long recognized the appeal of adjacent products at the most affordable prices. I’ve always advised readers and families to look beyond Apple’s attractive baseline price. It tends to run out of storage more than necessary, or lack features and specifications.

But this vague suspicion of low prices has been sharpened by the recent experience of Apple’s newly updated M2 MacBook Air. Amazingly terrible performance When choosing an entry-level configuration. The machine’s single-channel 256GB SSD read and write speed was 50% slower than the top-end $ 1,899 model in testing, with little expected M2 speed improvement.

So the $ 1,499 model with a better chip, more storage, and a more sophisticated charger is actually a better bargain in the long run. The $ 1,199 model may be appealing, but it’s a good idea to pay an extra for at least 512 GB of storage or look for a bargain on the 2020 M1 Air instead of buying the cheapest model of the year. ..

Cut-rate entry-level products are like a trend. The iMac range has similar pitfalls for careless bargain hunters.Cheapest ($ 1,299) version of 24-inch iMac Considering that it has the same 4.5K display as the upper model and a very high performance M1 processor, it seems to be an attractive option. Apple hasn’t announced a power adapter with Ethernet, no Touch ID keyboard, few color options and ports, Only one fan, This means poor performance and increased noise under load. It’s only $ 200 cheaper, so it’s hard to recommend.

As you develop your instinct for price paranoia, you begin to notice the wrong economy across Apple’s range. For example, what is the Apple Watch Series 3 still doing in-store, just a few months after the Series 8 went on sale?I tell you what it’s doing: seduce innocent buyers with its exciting price tags and then disappoint them with its threadbare feature set Imminent lack of software support..

Second-generation AirPods in 2019 are still available, but if the new edition easily justifies additional cash, you shouldn’t really buy it. And the iPhone SE, which is newly updated this year and looks like a bargain price tag, is actually more expensive than its predecessor, I don’t add much In the way of modern functionality. In either case, pay more for a better alternative or don’t spend it.

Of course, it’s all easy to say as an Apple-focused reviewer who has access to (mostly high-spec) products on a fairly regular basis. Of course, I prefer the premium version, but that’s why it’s more expensive. In Apple’s world, price correlates fairly accurately with quality.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a linear relationship, and in different parts of the graph prices are rising faster than quality, or vice versa. At the top end, a lot of extra money brings you relatively little extra quality: the Apple Watch Edition is always low value for money, and the Mac Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro are worth their high price tags unless you are. There are no jobs or specific niche use cases that justify their abilities. Conversely, at the entry level, the product experience can be significantly improved at a very small additional cost.

Whether you buy boots or laptops, buying cheap is generally a waste of money.And that’s useless because we’re talking about Apple Quite a lot Of money. If you spend more or not at all, but you can avoid it, you probably need to skip the entry-level layer.

Trends: Top Stories of the Week

iOS 16 and macOS Ventura Show how far Apple is actually going. Danmoren insists..

Ann No 1 oz iPhone and Mac To make A bitter apple “cocktail”. Yeah, it’s time for the result again.

After repulsion against function Possibility of maliciousnessApple To be Edit and unsend iMessage on iOS 16.

As a matter of course Relaxation rules Apple now manages in-app payments Accused of scaring customers.. It’s ridiculous.

The economy is destined, Watch out for maca rope, And what do you guess?this is All Apple’s fault..

Good luck AOLers: Apple won’t help you Set up a dial-up modem Already.

that is The end of an era.. No longer in Apple’s M2 MacBook Internal Intel Signs..

Rumored factory

Jason Cross Future A16 processorAnd question: how fast will it be? iPhone 14 Pro actually?

14Pro Always displayed..And we saw What it will look like..

Be careful, Apple Watch Series 8 It may be better than the new iPhone.This is 5 Reasons to Excite..

On any theme, good news for squares and square lovers: Apple may finally Redesign Apple Watch-that is There is no new shape..

For M1Mac Pro Reportedly abandoned As Apple plans Huge M2 push This autumn.

Reviews and product comparisons

benchmark Endure our fears: $ 1,199 M2MacBook Air Performance Surprisingly bad In some tests.

that is Most important ecosystemJason Cross insists in comparison iPhone SE and Google Pixel 6a..

Karen Haslam From M2MacBook Air to M1 modelAnd calculate spending of $ 200 It doesn’t make more sense than ever..

Which Apple Charger Should you buy for you New M2 MacBook Air?? Or if you need broader advice, Best USB-C charger Compatible with both MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Do you feel like music? I confirmed and evaluated Best Lightning and USB-C Wired Headphones For iPhone and iPad.

This Week’s Podcast

Rumored factories are stirring some Great potential for Apple Watch..On top of what comes in watchOS 9, I was able to see the biggest change in the Apple Watch lineup in the history of 7 years. This episode of the Macworld podcast describes the upcoming Apple Watch.

Catch all episodes of the Macworld podcast at Spotify, Soundcloud, Podcast appAlso Our own site..

This is the end of this week. If you would like a regular summary, Newsletter..You can follow us too On twitter For breaking news. See you next Saturday. Enjoy the weekend and stay at Appley.