iPhone sales are up—even without Apple Intelligence

Photo: Apple

Aside from launching the new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro, Apple has also reported its fourth quarter fiscal earnings this week. The report includes the early sales of the iPhone 16 series, which seem to be off to a good start. Apple CEO told CNBC that the sales of the iPhone 15 were "stronger than 14 in the year-ago quarter, and 16 was stronger than 15." This result comes even though Apple only just started to roll out its artificial intelligence-powered Apple Intelligence features this week.

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Samsung reportedly contemplates flagship rebrand

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Samsung might be looking to distinguish its flagship series smartphones from the rest of its product lineup. Korean publication E-Today reported that the company is exploring the possibility of removing the Galaxy name for these premium phones. The approach would be similar to how Lexus is Toyota's luxury car brand and Hyundai sells premium cars under the Genesis branding.

As Tom's Guide noted, the change might be crucial as bloated as the Galaxy name is now. There are five smartphone lines underneath it, as well as tablets, earbuds, smartwatches, and even smart rings.

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Apple gives MacBook Air a 16GB RAM upgrade

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Aside from debuting the new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro, Apple made a small yet important update to the MacBook Air. The M2 and M3 models now have 16GB of RAM as their minimum memory. You used to have to spend extra to get 16GB of RAM on your MacBook Air, but now the laptop is more in line with its competitors and the rest of Apple's computer lineup. This means the 8GB RAM option is no longer available for an Apple computer.

The most likely reason for the upgrade is Apple Intelligence. Artificial intelligence models usually require a lot of RAM to work well, and 16GB seems like the minimum you'll need for these machines to run more smoothly. The Apple MacBook Air starts at $1,299 in Canada for the M2 model, $1,449 for the 13-inch M3 model, and $$1,749 for the 15-inch M3 model.

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Apple MacBook Pro now runs on M4 chips

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Following the launches of the new iMac and Mac mini, Apple announced the refreshed MacBook Pro with the choice of an M4, M4 Pro, or M4 Max chip. The base model addresses criticisms of last year's M3 model. It now gets 16GB of memory instead of the paltry 8GB (at least for a pro-centric laptop). We may have the inclusion of Apple Intelligence to thank for this change. But we welcome it nonetheless.

Aside from introducing a minimum of 16GB memory, the base MacBook Pro comes with three Thunderbolt 4 ports instead of two and it's now available in black. If you pick up the more expensive M4 Pro or Max options, you get faster chips and ports. Apple brings Thunderbolt 5 to the MacBook for the first time.

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