No big, glitzy dog and pony show, but this week Apple continues to introduce refreshed hardware. Yesterday, we saw upgraded iPad Air models. Today, macrumors.com reports that the expected MacBook Airs with M4 chips are in the spotlight. Besides the newer, faster chips, Apple is offering a new ‘Sky Blue’ color…which will join Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. The new Air models also get a 12MP ‘center stage’ camera that keeps you centered in frame as you move around in front of the computer…handy for Zoom meetings. The new Air has a lower base price…it’s $999…with education pricing starting at $899. The Air can be preordered today and is out March 12th. 

If you are all about max power for creative work, Apple also rolled out a freshened Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. The Mac Studio starts at $3999 with the M3 Ultra, but if you really want to go nuts, and configure it with all the whistles and bells, expect to drop a bit over $14,000! By the way, the M3 Ultra is more powerful than the M4 Max…and Apple said that not every computer will have an Ultra version available. Confusing? Yes. Like the MacBook Airs, the Studios can be preordered now and will be out March 12th.

YouTube is launching YouTube Premium Lite at $7.99 a month. According to 9to5google.com, it will make ‘most’ videos ad-free. Standard YouTube Premium stays at $13.99 a month, nearly double the price of the new tier. A couple of notable changes with Lite. For one thing, YouTube Music is removed. You will see ads on music videos. You also can’t download videos or music for offline use. Besides that, Background play is not available. Lite starts out as a pilot program in the US, and will also be dropping in Thailand, Germany, and Australia, then to other countries. 

Google is rolling out a new ‘AI Mode’ experimental feature in Search that will compete head on with Perplexity AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT search. TechCrunch.com says that the new mode will allow users to ask complex, multi-part questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic directly within Google Search. AI Mode will be available to Google One AI Premium subscribers starting this week, and it’s accessible via Search Labs, Google’s experimental division. It is powered by Gemini 2.0. As with everything AI, Google warns it isn’t perfect and is subject to ‘hallucinations.’

With the 25% Trump tariffs on Mexico, most think of big ticket items like vehicles, vehicle parts, appliances, etc. Here’s something that may have slipped under your radar…video game software and hardware. Arstechnica.com notes that physical game discs are overwhelmingly produced in Mexico these days. Ars says this may mean that some publishers will move to an all-digital strategy. This has been a trend for some time, but the tariffs appear poised to accelerate it. Game makers that do keep burning physical discs will probably pass all or most of the 25% tariff on to you, the consumer…just like every other sort of goods subject to tariffs. Another issue: around 75% of all game consoles are made in China, which is just now seeing tariffs go up from 10% to 20% under the new Trump rules. If you are waiting on a new Nintendo Switch 2, you may be ok, though. Over half of those are produced outside of China. This could let Nintendo just ship the units built outside of China to the US and they could hold the line on price increases.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.