Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the afternoon of Tuesday, October 31st, 2023.
Delivery dates remain mostly stable. The biggest changes are for Verizon where a number of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are now "In Stock".
Today Apple held their "Scary Fast" event. The event was a short one at 30 minutes and it focused on just one family of items, the Mac. Specifically, there were two products that Apple focused on, the MacBook Pro and the iMac.
M3 Family
Representation of the M3 Family of chips
Before introducing the hardware products, Apple unveiled their new family of chips, the M3. They did not introduce just one chip, instead they introduced three, the M3, the M3 Pro, and the M3 Max. These chips utilize the latest 3-nanometer technology, which can hold up to 2 billion transistors in the width of a single human hair. All of these transistors means that the chips are up to 2.5x faster, when compared to the equivalent M1 product.
The M3 family has a few new features called Dynamic Caching, Ray Tracing, and Mesh Shading. Dynamic Caching is a technique that allows the hardware to allocate the proper amount of memory for each task. This can mean that more of the graphics processing unit will be utilized. Hardware accelerated Ray Tracing allows for more realistic shadows and lighting in any app, but it is particularly useful with games, like Myst.
According to Apple, the M3 is up to 50% faster than M1, and significantly faster if you are coming from an Intel-based Mac. The Neural Engine is up to 60% faster than than M1, and up to 15% faster than the M2.
MacBook Pro
Space Black MacBook Pros
Today Apple unveiled new M3-powered 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. The 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with an M3, M3 Pro, or M3 Max. There is a new color option for the MacBook Pro, Space Black. The Space Black model is reserved for the M3 Pro and M3 Max 14-inch model, and all 16-inch models, which only come with the M3 Pro and M3 Max.
For the 14-inch M3 Mac, it comes with an 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU. The base model comes with 512GB of storage, and can be configured up to 24GB of memory and 2TB of storage. Because of the M3, the entry level price for the 14-inch MacBook Pro is now $1599.
The M3 Pro comes in two flavors.. There is an 11-core CPU and 14-Core GPU model that has 18GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage. This model starts at $1999.. The second is a 12-Core CPU and 18-Core GPU model with 18GB of unified memory and comes with 1TB of storage. This model starts $2399.
The 14-inch M3 Max MacBook Pro has a 14-core CPU and 30-Core GPU. It comes with 36GB of unified memory and includes a 1TB SSD. This can be configured a 16-core GPU, 40-Core GPU, and up to 128GB of memory and 8TB of storage. The starting price for this model is $3199.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro only comes in M3 Pro and M3 Max models. The M3 Pro can be a 12-core GPU, 18-Core GPU, and either 18GB of memory or 36GB of memory. The 16-inch MacBook Pro comes with 512GB of storage. The prices for each of these is $2499 and $2899. Either model can be configured with a 14-core CPU and 30-Core GPU SOC, or a 16-Core CPU and 40-Core GPU SOC. The amount of storage depends on the SOC, but possibly up to 128GB of unified memory and 8TB of storage. The New M3 Max can support up to 128GB of memory, this is an increase from the previous 96GB of memory.
You can order any of the MacBook Pro configurations today. The M3 and M3 Pro machines will arrive next week, but the M3 Max MacBook Pros will ship later in November. The last thing to note about the MacBook Pro is that the 13-inch MacBook Pro with TouchBar is no longer available.
iMac
Color options of the M3 iMac
Along with the MacBook Pros, Apple updated the 24-inch iMac. It still comes in the same 7 color options, with Orange, Pink, and Purple being reserved for the higher-end configurations. There are two configuration models, the 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU model and the 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU model.
The pricing remains the same, starting at $1299. You can configure a 24-inch iMac with up to 24GB of unified memory and 2TB of storage. This is higher than the 16GB unified memory limit with the M1 iMac. The M3 iMac does include Wi-Fi 6E and BlueTooth 5.3.
My Thoughts
As mentioned above, the event video was short, 30 minutes. But that is not a problem. Apple leaned heavily into the Halloween theme. If you watch the video you will see a number of things, like skeletons, bats, fog, and even some candy corn.
The new MacBook Pros are good updates if you have an M1 MacBook Pro, and are great if you have an Intel-based machine. The M1 iMac update is a solid update to the iMac. Not much has changed, beyond the processor on the iMac. You can order any of the models today with delivery starting next week for the M3 and M3 Pro, and later in November for the M3 Max MacBook Pros.
Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the afternoon of Monday, October 30th, 2023.
Again, there are not many changes for today. Each of the carriers has a change for some iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max Models, where delivery dates have improved, but a couple have slipped..
Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the morning of Saturday, October 28th, 2023.
The biggest changes are with Apple and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The availability has improved by a few days for each of the iPhone 15 Pro Max models. Along with this some models from Verizon are now "In Stock". You can see the most up to date availability at https://waynedixon.com/availability/iphone.html.
Changes for Apple
iPhone 15 Pro Max
256GB - Blue Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
512GB - Blue Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
1TB - Blue Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
256GB - Natural Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
512GB - Natural Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
1TB - Natural Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
256GB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
512GB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
1TB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 20 - Nov 28 to Nov 14 - Nov 21
256GB - Black Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
512GB - Black Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
1TB - Black Titanium has changed from Nov 13 - Nov 20 to Nov 9 - Nov 14
Changes for the Carriers
AT&T
iPhone 15 Pro - 1TB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 15 to Nov 7
T-Mobile
iPhone 15 Pro Max - 256GB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 02 - Nov 08 to Nov 05 - Nov 20
Verizon
iPhone 15 Pro - 128GB - Blue Titanium has changed from Nov 03 to Nov 10
iPhone 15 Pro - 256GB - White Titanium has changed from Nov 03 to In Stock
iPhone 15 Pro - 512GB - Black Titanium has changed from Nov 10 to In Stock
iPhone 15 Pro Max - 256GB - Natural Titanium has changed from Nov 03 to Nov 10
iPhone 15 Pro Max - 512GB - Black Titanium has changed from Nov 03 to In Stock
Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the morning of Friday, October 27th, 2023.
The biggest changes are with Apple. The iPhone 15 Pro Max changes are a weekend delivery. The more relevant changes are with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Instead of "tomorrow" the delivery dates have slipped either a week or two weeks, so early to mid-November.
Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the afternoon of Thursday, October 26th, 2023.
There are some minor changes for the carriers. The Pink iPhone 15 Plus from AT&T now has a December 4th delivery date. It may be prudent to purchase a device if you want one in time for the holidays.
Today Apple quietly increased the price of some of their services. The price increases are effective today for new subscribers. For existing customers, the new prices will be in effect in 30 days, or at their next renewal, whichever is first. Here is a breakdown of each of the services and the costs since 2021.
Service
2021
2022
2023
Apple Music
$9.99
$10.99
$10.99
Apple Arcade
$4.99
$4.99
$6.99
Apple TV+
$4.99
$6.99
$9.99
Apple News+
$9.99
$9.99
$12.99
You are able to save a bit of money with an Apple One bundle, but these prices are also increasing. Here are the new prices for the Apple One bundles. For the Apple One bundles, this is the second price increase, with the first one being in October of last year.
Bundle
2021
2022
2023
Individual
$14.95
$16.95
$19.95
Family
$19.95
$22.95
$25.95
Premier+
$29.95
$32.95
$37.95
The overall increases since 2021 are 33.4% for the Individual plan, 30% for the Family plan, and 26.7% for the Premier plan. This is quite a bit.
My Thoughts
Included with the Apple One bundles is iCloud storage, which is good given how laughable the free offering of 5GB is.
This price increase is not really surprising given that other services are raising their prices as well. And just like the other services, Apple is not indicating why prices are increasing. The price increase is just another hit to consumers at a time when other services are also raising their prices.
Even though prices are increasing, I do not think a lot people will be cancelling. I am currently on the Family Apple One plan because at the time it made sense because I need the additional iCloud storage, however with the difference in price between the Individual plan and the Family plan, it might make more sense for me to go back to the Individual plan and pay for the 200GB of additional storage that I need. Although, to be honest, if I could pay for 500GB of iCloud storage for $4.99 a month, I would probably do that.
Here is the availability for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max for the afternoon of Wednesday, October 25th, 2023.
The changes for Apple and AT&T are shipping changes to account for the weekend. The changes for T-Mobile and Verizon are changes of about a week for a few models.
Today Apple has announced a virtual-only event taking place on Monday, October 30th. Apple has given the event the moniker of "Scary Fast". Typically, events take place at 10:00 am Pacific Time, but this one is different. This one will begin streaming at 5:00 pm Pacific time on October 30th.
It is suspected that Apple will announce their next generation of processors, the M3 line, and some new Macs that will run them. The reason for this is bcauseif you watch animation on the Apple Events page, you will see a dark version of the Finder icon.
I will have a write up of the event sometime after the event has concluded, likely sometime on Tuesday.
