681: The Price of Your Nightmares
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Mar 5, 2026 They unpack new Apple hardware from iPad Air changes to a corrected low-cost iPhone and two refreshed Studio Displays. Deep dives on M5 chips, Pro/Max architecture, and whether local AI performance moves buying decisions. A surprise low-cost MacBook Neo gets design and tradeoff analysis for mainstream buyers.
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M5 MacBook Air Delivers Strong Base Value
- The M5 MacBook Air replaces M4 with full‑line M5 improvements: up to 10‑core CPU, 16–32GB RAM, SSD from 512GB, and N1/C1x radios.
- John praises the $1,100 base (16GB/512GB) as a strong, better‑value entry.
M5 Pro/Max Rebalance Cores And Amp AI Compute
- M5 Pro/Max use a new packaging (fusion/chiplet) with 'Super' cores plus distinct 'performance' and 'efficiency' cores, flipping big/little ratios compared to M4.
- Apple claims modest CPU gains but large GPU/AI compute boosts (up to 4x for neural workloads).
M5 Core Ratio Flip Targets Real World Workloads
- Apple inverted core counts: M4 Pro had many big cores; M5 Pro moves to fewer 'Super' cores plus many improved smaller cores, optimizing common workloads.
- John explains bigger small cores can be more efficient for everyday tasks while reserving Super cores for specialized loads.