Apple stops pretending it's for everyone

It was not the longest event Apple has ever held. But at a mere 58 minutes, the peek performance was all business, without so much as a $19 cloth or a Craig Federighi joke to make us laugh or roll our eyes.

Gone were the themes of the past: no hymn to California, no 420 references, and barely any zooming in, out or around the Apple spaceship. Tim Cook opened the videos by acknowledging the Black Lives Matter protests. If you spotted his yellow Apple Watch wristband or the Ukrainian flag colors in his clothes, you could deduce that Cook was referring to International Women's Day.

In place of those attempts to make Apple look like it stands for and is accessible to everyone, we got a series of pitches aimed at elite users. Can you afford the high-powered products? Don't worry, they're not for you if the phrase "new M1 chip" doesn't make you salivate.

There was enough time for Cook to talk about Apple TV+, but Ted Lasso was not mentioned. It makes sense for Cook to focus on the award-nominated movies on the platform since members of the Academy are filling out their Oscar ballots. This is Apple advertising for the LA crowd.

The bulk of the event was given to the new Mac Studio, a slimmed-down Mac Mini which starts at $3,999. Apple said that it was a game-changer for artists, app engineers, musicians, and video producers, showing each of them in their own minimalist and perfectly manicured houses. If you have an extra $1,599 to spend on the new studio display, you can get excited. Even though Apple has given us 5K since its iMac, it showcased its 5K resolution.

The Mac Studio is powered by the M1 Ultra chip. The M1 lineup starts with the Max, continues with the Pro, and ends with the Ultra. The M1 Ultra is two M1 Maxes stuck together. It has double maximum power. I can't say that I was the only one who saw a guitarist add 11 to his amplifier's volume.

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Apple could have solved the confusion by naming the higher-powered chips M2 and M3 instead. There is a kind of obsession with the M1 architecture. The ad for the studio drove this home by showing a tiny designer looking at a box that was supposed to be used to kill her, but instead she was asleep at her desk the whole time. Mac studio is for any nightmare creative project that causes sleep deprivation and fears that technology is out to get you.

There were two upgrades announced to Apple products. The cheapest Apple product, the SE, is the third generation and increases the price to $429. The upgrade was all under the hood, with a new A15 chip and 5G capability for the lucky few carriers who have turned on 5G service in their areas.

The event tried hard to get us to buy the iPad Air, but it is priced from $599 to $899 and does not include the smart keyboard and second- generation Pencil. Like the iPad Pro, which can be maxed out with such bells and whistles at more than $2,300, the iPad Air may be the company's best machine when it comes to walking out of the Apple Store with less money in your wallet than you expected.

The company knows how to raise its prices and sell you peripherals. Apple products are considered to be luxury items. The event suggests that the company is done playing to its wealthy base. We should be thankful for that level of honesty.