Apple's new Studio Display is its first prosumer monitor in years

Source: Apple

It's been a while since Apple introduced a monitor for its users. The Pro Display XDR launched in 2019 was geared more towards creative professionals (at least those who could afford its hefty price tag). It has finally debuted one built for its consumers at a slightly less expensive price tag. The new Apple Studio Display is still obviously pricey at $1,999 (for its most basic configuration), but you might consider it a steal, given the Pro Display XDR's base $6,299 price. 

What's so special about the new Studio Display? It is built to work with Apple's Mac lineup, including the latest Mac Studio desktop. It comes with a 27-inch 5K display encased in an aluminum enclosure. The screen is similar to the now-discontinued 27-inch iMac but gets a slightly brighter display that reaches up to 600 nits (the iMac only got up to 500 nits). It supports P3 wide colour and works with macOS's TrueTone feature. Unfortunately, you're stuck with the standard 60Hz refresh rate on this monitor.

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Apple introduces new compact yet powerful Mac Studio

Source: Apple

It might be compact, but it's not designed to be underestimated. Apple's most significant announcement at its Peek Performance event is a Mac Mini-like new device. Apple dubs it the Mac Studio, a compact desktop system that packs in so much power the company confidently proclaims it can be faster than even the most premium Mac Pro.

The new Mac Studio runs on either the M1 Max chip or the new, more powerful M1 Ultra. The Ultra packs features like support for up to 128GB of memory, a 20-core CPU with 16 high-performance cores and four efficiency cores, a 64-core GPU, and a 32-core neural engine. And the company claims it is "nearly" eight times faster than the M1. 

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Analogue to start shipping Pocket preorders by end of March

Source: Analogue

It looks like Analogue is going to be making its first deadline. The company announced that the new wave of Pocket handhelds will begin shipping at the end of March. The Group A preorders will ship out the last week of March, which meets its Q1 2022 release schedule. But then, those in Group B and C still have a long wait ahead of them, with Group B scheduled for Q4 2022 and Group C and any orders placed now set for 2023.

Those in Group A should be getting an email now, informing them of the shipping date and letting them know they have until Sunday, March 13, to change the shipping address if necessary. You still also have a chance to cancel the preorder by Sunday.

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Nintendo Switch Online app makes it easier to use the friend code feature

Source: Nintendo

Nintendo has just revamped its Switch Online mobile app for iOS and Android. Version 2.0 brings a new look and minor quality-of-life update improvements. One of them is making it easier to find and share your friend code. The 12-digit identifier is the primary way to add friends on Nintendo's online service. You needed to manually copy the code from your Switch console before sharing it. Now, you can easily copy it from the app with one tap. As The Verge noted, though, your friend will still need to manually type out the digits on their console. So, there's still room for improvement there.

Other new features include seeing which of your friends are online and letting you "change your online-status settings." The Nintendo Switch Online app is designed to work with the console. It has features like online voice chat, which isn't available on the console itself.