Apple rocked the computing world with its M1 chip, the first "Apple Silicon" hardware that turned the MacBook Air, Mac Mini and other computers into portable powerhouses. Last year, the company followed that up with the M1 Pro and M1 Max, which delivered even more performance for the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Now, Apple is adding a new member to the family: the M1 Ultra. To put it simply, it's essentially two M1 Max chips put together, making it even better suited to intensive creative applications like video editing and 3D rendering.  

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Apple is updating the iPhone 13 lineup with two new shades of green: an unnamed dark green color for the iPhone 13 and "alpine green" for the iPhone 13 Pro. CEO Tim Cook showed off the new colors at the company's "Peek Performance" event. Both new colors go on sale March 18, with pre-orders opening on Friday. 

While the two shades of green are similar, the "alpine green" finish is slightly metallic. According to Apple, it was made with "multiple layers of nanometer-scale metallic ceramics applied across the surface." The new finishes add another pop of color to the iPhone 13 lineup, which has been available in gold, silver, graphite and "sierra blue."

For now, it seems green colors will be exclusive to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. The newly-announced iPhone SE is available in just three finishes: red, "starlight" white and "midnight" black. 

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After almost a year and a half since its last refresh, the iPad Air is finally getting an update. And while its design hasn't changed a ton, new features on Apple's fifth-gen mid-range tablet include a brighter display, optional 5G connectivity and a huge boost in performance.

With the previous iPad Air being Apple's first tablet to feature an edge-to-edge screen, a power button with an integrated TouchID sensor and the flat-sided chassis Apple has used on subsequent iPads (e.g. the iPad Pro and iPad Mini), the device's exterior didn't need much of a facelift. So for 2022, Apple focused more on equipping the latest iPad Air with revamped components, both inside and out. 

The iPad Air’s front-facing ultra-wide camera has gotten a new sensor that supports Center Stage, which uses machine learning to automatically track and follow your head and keep you properly in frame during FaceTime calls. Meanwhile, for people who need fast mobile data, the new iPad Air can also be configured with optional 5G connectivity. 

But on the inside, the biggest upgrade is the addition of Apple's M1 chip, which should give the iPad Air a major boost in performance, putting it on the same level as the more expensive iPad Pro line. Thanks to its new processor, Apple claims the new iPad Air is now twice as fast as a similarly priced Windows laptop. Unfortunately, it seems the tablet's storage hasn't gotten an upgrade in size, as the base model still comes with a relatively small 64GB SSD. 

The iPad Air will be available in five colors starting at the same price as the previous model: $599. Pre-orders will go live this Friday, with official sales beginning on March 18th. 

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Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!

For the first time, live sports are coming to Apple TV+. Apple announced today during its Peek Performance event it will carry Friday Night Baseball. Once Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agree to a new collective bargaining agreement, Apple will stream two games per week that will only be available on the company's streaming platform. The weekly doubleheader will be available in eight countries and you won't have to worry about local blackouts. In the US, Apple will also stream MLB Big Inning, a live show featuring highlights from regular season games. US fans, in addition to their Canadian counterparts, will also have access to a 24/7 livestream featuring game replays, news, analysis and more. For a limited time, Apple said Friday Night Baseball would be available through Apple TV+ without the need for a subscription. 

Rumors that Apple was bidding on a baseball package came out in January. By that point, the League had been in a lockout since the start of December, but it didn't seem like it would cancel any games. That was then. Now, it's unclear if there will even be a 2022 season.   

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!

It's been two years since Apple launched the last iPhone SE and finally, a new model is here. At its "Peek performance" event today, Apple unveiled the new iPhone SE, which like its predecessors is a more affordable version of the flagship range. As expected, the budget-friendly phone has an updated quad-core A15 Bionic processor. Surprisingly, though, it still retains a home button below the screen for Touch ID, and has a single rear camera.

The new iPhone SE will be available in midnight, starlight and red colors, and has a 4.7 inch Retina HD screen. It's covered in glass, offering IP67 dust and water resistance.

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Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!

Instagram is joining Facebook in its attempt to bury Russian state media in its app. The app will now down-rank posts from state media outlets in its feed and in Stories, and will add prominent labels to discourage other users from sharing their posts.

“Instagram believes the account that created this post may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government,” the labels warn. Users who do share links to Russian state media outlets via the app’s link sticker will also have their posts down-ranked in their followers’ Stories trays. Instagram is also stripping Russian state media accounts from recommendations in Reels and Explore, and making the accounts more difficult to find in search.

Instagram’s update follows a similar move from Facebook last week. In addition to limiting the spread of content from Russian state media, the social network has also blocked ads from Russian advertisers and taken down a network of fake accounts that were boosting pro-Russia propaganda. In response to Facebook’s crackdown on state media, the Russian government blocked access to the social network. Importantly, that block hasn’t affected Instagram, at least for now.

Instagram

Instagram is also ramping up some privacy features for accounts in Ukraine and Russia. The app will hide follower details for all private accounts in the countries so people won’t be able to view the followers of others or who private accounts are following. The app will also highlight its tools for bulk-deleting past activity and downloading their account data.

Esports tournament organizer ESL Gaming has teamed up with Qualcomm to run a mobile gaming league. The Snapdragon Pro Series will have three tiers of competition — Open, Challenge and Masters — and have around $2 million in prize money at stake.

Tournaments will be held in six regions: North America, Europe, the Middle East, China, North Africa and Asia-Pacific. The "multi-genre" competition will come to a head with a live event for Masters-level players. More details about the Snapdragon Pro Series, including which games will be used, will be revealed in the coming months.

ESL formed a mobile esports ecosystem last year with a smaller prize pool of $650,000 and games including Clash of Clans, PUBG Mobile and League of Legends: Wild Rift. With Qualcomm on board and more money on the line, there's a bigger opportunity for skilled mobile gamers to compete in esports and win potentially life-changing prizes. For Qualcomm, the circuit could prove a valuable showcase by letting esports fans see how well games run on Snapdragon-powered mobile devices.

Some of the better-known minds in tech are uniting to tackle one of computing's greater challenges. CNBCreports LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman (pictured above) have formed Inflection AI, a company that will use artificial intelligence software to help humans talk to computers. The hope, according to Suleyman, is that you'll speak to computers in ordinary language — this will "almost certainly" be possible in five years, he said.

Suleyman will serve as CEO, while fellow DeepMind alumni Karén Simonyan will operate as Inflection's chief scientist. The company aims to stay relatively small to preserve the team's focus and speed.

The move was a long time in coming. Hoffman and Suleyman have known each other for nearly a decade, and Suleyman backed away from DeepMind in August 2019 following both a desire to "recharge" and criticisms of his management style in previous years. He became Google's VPP for AI product management and policy in December of that year, but left this January to work with Hoffman at venture capital firm Greylock Partners.

There are still many unknowns surrounding Inflection. It hasn't pinpointed its target audience or a timeline for its first products. The DeepMind veterans could help its chances, however, and they're trying to solve a common problem. Existing AI assistants aren't particularly clever, and fixing that could improve everything from the phone in your pocket to next-generation robots.

Over the years, 8BitDo has released a number of Xbox-specific accessories, including a controller designed for use with Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming service and a pair of media remotes for the Series X/S. And now for the first time, it’s introducing a controller that features an asymmetric stick layout.

Available in both black and white, the Ultimate Wired Controller includes a full set of Xbox-specific face buttons. It also comes with rear-facing paddle buttons you can customize through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software on Xbox, Windows 10, Android and iOS. Other features include a built-in headphone jack and haptic feedback.

The only thing you won’t find here is the inclusion of Bluetooth or 2.4GHz connectivity, but the included USB cable is 9.84 feet long. At $45, the Ultimate Wired Controller looks like a steal. Of course, we’ll have to test it out, but the company has made some great controllers in the past. You can pre-order the Ultimate Wired Controller starting today. It’s expected to start shipping on May 31st.

Apple is holding its latest hardware event today (March 8th) and you'll be able to watch it right here. The event gets under way at 1PM ET. The stream is also available on Apple's website and the Apple TV app 

As for what to expect, it's highly likely that Apple will reveal a new iPhone SE with the A15 Bionic chip used in iPhone 13 devices as well as 5G support. There are also rumors about a refreshed iPad Air with the same features. Elsewhere, tied into the "Peek Performance" tagline Apple is using for the event, it's believed the company will update the 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Apple silicon chip after its larger siblings got CPU upgrades late last year.

Although those seem like the surer bets, there are some other devices Apple's said to be working on that could make an appearance, such as an external 7K monitor, a Mac Studio desktop (i.e. a souped-up Mac mini) or other Macs. In any case, we won't have to wait long to find out.

After the event, be sure to join deputy editor Cherlynn Low and senior writer Sam Rutherford for Engadget's post-show livestream. They'll break down Apple's announcements and share their thoughts on all the news. You can check out the post-event stream below or on Engadget's YouTube channel.

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!