Apple Shows Some Much-Needed Love to Neglected Product Lines
*By Hope King*
Apple showed some love to the MacBook Air and Mac Mini Tuesday.
The trillion dollar tech giant hosted its second event in two months to introduce new versions of these somewhat neglected devices.
The MacBook Air was last fully refreshed eight years ago, with a small update three years ago. The Mac Mini hasn’t gotten an update in four years.
Reports ahead of the event anticipated the announcements, but that didn’t leave the crowd — made up of Apple employees, guests, partners, and media — any less enthused when C.E.O. Tim Cook and team finally got on stage.
When the video of the MacBook Air played on stage there were "whoo-hoos" from the crowd when the retina display was featured, and more when the three different color options came on screen: gold, silver, and space gray.
One of the moments that drew the biggest cheers was when Laura Legros, VP of hardware engineering, announced the body of the MacBook Air would be made from 100 percent recycled aluminum.
"That's one of the really exciting things about the product today," Legros told Cheddar after the event. "This is many, many years in the making of actually being able to develop a process out of the materials that we already are using in our production process."
Apple is entering a phase of slowing growth for its iPhone, its most important product for revenue and profits. The company is also seeing increased competition from the likes of Amazon ($AMZN) and Facebook ($FB), two names which are suddenly threats. Amazon this year released 70 new devices and Facebook recently came out with its first-ever hardware devices, the Portal and Portal Plus.
According to Apple, the company unveiled 10 new products this year — more so than in years past.
Can new colors like gold help Apple sell more Apple Watches and computers? Future earnings reports will be the proof, but for now, Apple is heading into one of its trickiest holiday seasons yet.
April's release of the monthly Housing Starts and Building Permits reports by the Census Bureau provides crucial insights into the construction activity in the housing market. These reports are an economic indicator, shedding light on the current state of the housing market and its broader economic impact.
Caitlin Clark is heading to the Indiana Fever, the number one draft pick and the highest-scoring college basketball player of all time. And while she may not be getting millions from the WNBA, there's a few ways she'll net compensation for her generational talents.
Author of 'Clean Meat,' Paul Shapiro joins Cheddar to discuss how the cellular agricultural revolution helps lower rates of foodborne illness and greatly improves environmental sustainability. Plus, how his company The Better Meat Co. is bringing healthier food options to the table.
Recent headlines might make it sound like World War III is imminent, but when it comes to your finances, it's not the time to panic. The market is coming off its longest winning streak since 2011.
You may have noticed fewer new venture capital-backed startups (like Airbnb or Uber) lately. The market slowed to a crawl after 2021, but things are expected to take off again in 2025.
Corporate earnings season is underway, that time when companies share their billions in sales or double-digit profits. But the data shows even companies are struggling with high inflation and interest rates.
Boeing continues their terrifying trend of having their planes fall apart mid-flight, inflation — checks notes — is still up and the future of AI looks terrifying. Cheery!
Food waste – uneaten scraps or leftovers sent to landfills – is responsible for 10% of global emissions. Mill, a new product from the co-founder of Nest, thinks technology can play a role in eliminating it.
By the time the 2024 election is over, be prepared to see some form of a recession – but this shouldn’t be as bad as what we experienced in 2020 or 2008.
