Apple has launched new hardware in its Air line-up, updating the devices with the latest generations of its in-house silicon chips while offering further price cuts for the latest version of the MacBook.
The company introduced the MacBook Air with the M4 processor, with its starting price now at Dh3,999 in the UAE, notably less than the Dh4,599 price tag for the M3 version last year and 20 per cent lower compared with the M2 model in 2022. A 13.6-inch M4 MacBook Air with the maximum hardware is now Dh9,039, compared to the M3's Dh9,639. For students and teachers, the device now starts at Dh3,579.
Apple says spreadsheet calculations can be made on the new device nearly five times faster, video editing is up to eight times quicker, and photo editing is up to 3.6 times faster. Web browsing is up to 60 per cent faster compared with a laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip, it added. The move is aimed at delivering "more value to consumers than ever before", Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said.
Apple also unveiled the seventh generation of the iPad Air, but with an older M3 chip. The company, said the device brings advanced graphics architecture to the iPad Air for the first time.
The iPad continues to be aimed at students, travellers and content creators "who need powerful productivity on the go", Apple said. The new iPad Air is up to 35 per cent faster and has graphics that are up to 40 per cent faster, "enabling more accurate lighting, reflections, shadows and extremely realistic gaming experiences".
Apple also introduced the new Mac Studio, which it describes as the "most powerful Mac ever made". It uses the M4 Max and the new M3 Ultra, which was also revealed on Thursday. The M3 Ultra has the most powerful CPU and GPU in a Mac, with double the Neural Engine cores and "the most unified memory ever in a personal computer", the company said.
The announcement of the new devices comes two weeks after Apple unveiled the iPhone 16e, its most affordable flagship device, which succeeds the iPhone SE line-up. It also comes amid rumours about an iPhone Air, a thinner version of the device. If the rumours are true, it is expected to be introduced in September at the company's annual iPhone launch.
Samsung, the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, already unveiled the slim Galaxy S25 Edge in January, which it expects to be in retail within the first half of 2025.
Apple is expected to be busy in 2025, especially with the ramping up of Apple Intelligence, its generative AI platform. The company last month announced that it will integrate Apple Intelligence on its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, amid a challenge arising from Google, which has teamed up with Samsung for its own Project Moohan headset.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10
*November 15 to November 24
*Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
*Tickets: Start at Dh10, from ttensports.com
*TV: Ten Sports
*Streaming: Jio Live
*2017 winners: Kerala Kings
*2018 winners: Northern Warriors
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
5pm: Rated Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Abubakar Daud
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Tair, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
