The good, the bad and the insulted... Apple's new launches provoke mixed reactions

Apple's March Event has brought a bountiful harvest of new tech goodies, including the iPad Air M4, iPhone 17e, MacBook Air M5 Pro, M5 Pro Max, Studio Display and Studio Display XDR (with rumours of a colourful MacBook yet to come). But with so many new releases, have Apple fans finally got tech fatigue?

While we wait with bated breath for the final announcement (keep up to date with our Apple March Event live blog), strong fan reactions are already brewing. From praise to pessimism, tech fans are not holding back – Apple, you might want to look away for this one.

iPhone 17e

Affordability was the word on everyone's lips this Apple Event, and the 17e (somewhat) lived up to expectations. Over on the r/apple subreddit, fans praised the spec-value ratio and new MagSafe integration. "Wow, this is a pretty generous upgrade. Double the storage, better modem, chip, better display glass, MagSafe... I think this is great value." one fan wrote, while another claimed it "might be the best iPhone lineup in years."

"I actually really like the design of the iPhone ‘e’ models. When I saw the 16e in the Apple Store, there’s something nice and simple about the design. Simple colour, simple, glass back, less camera protrusion, reminded me of the iPhone 4 design (which is goat imo). No MagSafe was a super dealbreaker imo, but now that it has that, this is a perfectly great iPhone for regular, non-tech, people," another fan added.

However, one criticism reigned strong among Redditors. Bring us the island. "Why not just provide Dynamic Island and keep design consistent to keep low development cost and maintenance?" one fan questioned, while another pointed out, "It would've been perfect if they removed the notch, but Apple always has to keep some way to identify the cheap models to push people to upgrade."

iPad Air (M4)

The M4 iPad Air's reception was a bit less welcoming, as many questioned the juiced-up power of the M4 chip paired with the day-to-day usage of the humble iPad Air. "Finally something to cover my usual workload, playing YouTube videos while preparing dinner," one user sarcastically wrote.

"My iPad costs the same price as my computer and my video game console (and probably my TV), yet it serves to let me watch videos while I do dishes. It's such a strange product. It's simultaneously one of my favourite devices while objectively it is such a poor value proposition," another added.

It seems the upgrade may be a blessing in disguise for digital artists, with one fan adding, "The iPad has some really good art apps now.  Using iPad for drawing is one of really strong points," while another added, "Useful for Nomad Sculpt and Zbrush for me."

MacBook Air (M5)

While some fans praised the value of the new MacBook Air, others claimed the updated model wasn't enough of a shift to convince them to part with their pennies. "The M2 Air and M1 Pro were such astronomical jumps in quality that these annual upgrades/refreshes, while nice and still decent value, offer little reason to upgrade for most use cases," one Redditor explained.

"MacBook Air with M5 now comes standard with 512GB of storage. What a win!! Sadly, there is no nano-texture option," another lamented."Am I the only one disappointed that they didn't put a USB-C port on each side? That seems like such a basic miss. They could have fixed the air, but I guess we have to wait for a redesign," one fan added.

M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro

Many fans were pleased with the new MacBook Pro, with one writing, "If you buy the Max model, you get 2TB base, that's a crazy increase for basically the same price as the previous Max model (at least in Norway). The 2TB upgrade was $800 from base model, or even more if I remember correctly." While another jokingly added, "Thoughts and prayers to my wallet."

While many were impressed with the improved specs, some were a little hesitant about making the investment. "I love the updates they're making to the lineup, but honestly this is the first time ever that I've had a laptop for over 4 years and still didn't feel the desire to upgrade. My 16" M1 Max is about 4.5 years old, and I can't imagine upgrading until perhaps next year when they maybe switch to OLED displays or some other more major redesign," one fan shared.

Studio Display and Studio Display XDR

Over on the Studio Display front, things weren't overly positive. "This actually kind of feels insulting from Apple," one fan claimed, while another wrote, "$1600 for a 60hz non-HDR display is a non-starter. Absolutely no reason to buy this product. This coming from someone who owns 3 Studio Displays."

"That price would’ve been acceptable if it launched with the $5000 32 inch Pro Display seven years ago. $1600 for the XDR would’ve been a tough sale but this is an outright scam. This may be the worst product Apple has launched in recent history," another scathingly added.

"For an actual pro user, 60hz in 2026 is insane and given the ~4 year refresh cycle of Apple monitors this product is basically going to become a meme. But from a "know your consumer" perspective, I kind of get it - you'd be amazed how many people can't tell the difference and just work with 1 monitor while prioritising an all-in-one webcam/speaker solution," another added.

Another countered, "As a hot take, the more expensive XDR monitor is actually priced appropriately given the specs. Comparable Asus/etc. models aren't much cheaper and Apple's all-aluminum build quality is no joke. I just wish they had a 32" option."

Let us know what you think of the new releases in the comments below. For more Apple news, check out why we need to talk about Apple's new wallpapers or take a look at why the iPhone 17e sold us on a completely different phone.