eXtensions - Tuesday 21 October 2025
By Graham K. Rogers
As had been expected, Apple announced M5 devices: iPad Pro and 14" MacBook Pro. iPhone and Mac sales are going well. Apple's financial report coming soon. Most analysts are positive. Apple has acquired TV rights in USA to FI races. Perhaps when current contracts expire, the rest of the world will join in. There is currently some good viewing on AppleTV and Netflix here.
Apple announced new iPad and Mac models this week with the M5 chip (see below), and we can expect the OS 26.1 updates probably in a week or so. Apple's Q4 2025 results will be announced in less than 2 weeks so it is time for the negative analyst reports in the hope (theirs not mine) that the share price will fall (late news: not happening). Hartley Charlton (MacRumors) reports on a claim by Japanese analysts, Mizuho Securities, who claim that Apple has cut back on orders for the iPhone Air because of poor sales compared to other iPhone 17 models. Bear in mind two things here: every year, at some time Apple will cut back on orders for some or all models of the current iPhone because initial orders have been filled and a certain stability has returned, allowing the company to predict future sales more accurately (no point in having hundreds of boxes taking up space in the storerooms); also, this appeared less than 24 hours after reports that the iPhone Air, with its later release in China this year, has sold out (Taimur Assad (Redmond Pie, and others).
The analyst reports that orders for the iPhone Air have been reduced by 1 million units, but orders for the other phones (iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max) have been increased. Taking a longer view, I do not see this as a problem for Apple. A few minutes after seeing the report from Taimur Assad, I saw another article by William Gallagher (AppleInsider) which begins, "Right on schedule, the annual report that Apple is cutting iPhone orders is in." In the content, Gallagher outlines the truer picture (as above) and adds, "There is no citing of supply chain sources, for instance, and the analysts appear to lean heavily on words like "predicted."" I can hardly wait for the Macalope take on this.
Note that this week, it is widely reported that Apple shares have hit an all time high, and are still rising (Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac, & others). This is mainly because of higher sales of the iPhone 17, but also because Mac sales have risen significantly in the last 12 months. I wonder how the new iPad Pro and MacBook Pro will perform. On The Information Martin Peers (Paywall), whose output has never been particularly pro-Apple wrote a typically sour response to the share price increase, claiming it was not keeping up with the rest. I have never seen a positive report from this analyst when it comes to Apple so I question his objectivity. For every silver cloud with Peers there is a grey lining. I suggest a look at the full chart for a better idea of where Apple is: the 10-year chart does not include 2007 when the iPhone was announced.
About those new M5 devices. There have been rumors for weeks about the expected release of devices with the M5 chip (Hartley Charlton, MacRumors). This is fairly predictable, as the development timeline appears to be a new iteration of the basic Apple silicon every year, with a couple of additional versions (Pro, Max, Ultra) released later. That is not always the case, but the annual timeline may need to be slowed down to avoid the Osborne Effect, something Apple has been wary of since its earliest days. Fortunately, the supply chain can be more carefully controlled these days so there is unlikely to be a glut of unsold devices. As the release date for new devices approaches, current stocks, particularly in the USA are offered at reduced prices. That sometimes happens here after the release of new products, but ordering by the retail outlets here is tightly controlled. For most of my Apple purchases, I prefer using the online store. It does not take extra time for special orders (more RAM, for example), and the delivery to my home is done quickly.
Some sources have been raving about the chip speeds, which is all rather last century when the chip speed of each iteration of PC or Mac was compared with the competition. As some realize, it is not just the chip that creates efficiency when actually using the device: there is no point in having the fastest chip in the world, if the memory speeds are restricted, and input/output speeds are limited because of RS232 connections (look it up). Joe Rossignol (MacRumors) outlines some of the other tech that is in the iPad Pro that was released last week: 6 key upgrades (including N1 and C1X chips, and faster storage speeds). Compare this with the back to back M4-M5 comparison from Rajesh Pandy (Cult of Mac).
Also reporting on the iPad Pro, Benjamin Mayo (9to5Mac) outlines the device and some of its new features, including a summary of the new 14" MacBook Pro. Taimur Assad (Redmond Pie) outlines the new 14" M5 MacBook Pro, opening with "the company [notes] that the new chip is particularly performant when processing AI worfklows". I had to look performant up. It is obvious what the word implies, but the Oxford Dictionary app I use explains that it is an adjective used in computing, relating to performance, dating from the 1970s. Another academic coining to make the writer look clever, instead of using "it performs well".
It is expected that as additional M5 chips are developed, the MacBook Pro model lineup will be expanded. This Mac starts at $1599 in the USA without taxes, so I added 7% for VAT and converted to Baht which gives 55,673.66. Apple, however prices this model at 54,900 in the online store here, which has confused me even more when it comes to iPhone 17 pricing, particularly the iPhone 17 Pro, which, no matter how I calculated it, had about 6,000 added compared to the US pricing. As I bought the M4 iPad Pro last year, while I am still running a M1 MacBook Pro (and an M4 Mac mini at work) all of which are totally reliable, the obvious candidate for any update in my home would be the MacBook Pro, especially at that price. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 in the USA. The 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299. Using the same calculation method, that would be 32,711 and 42,534 baht respectively. Adding 7% VAT gives 35,000.77 and 45,511.38. The respective prices in the Apple online store here are 35,900 and 47,900 baht.
At the time of writing neither the new Mac nor the new iPad are currently available here. Each has a charger in the box, unlike the EU models. Some have claimed that this is because the EU banned these. Not so, explains Ben Lovejoy (9to5Mac). Over the years, users tend to collect chargers. I have a couple in each room and spares in a drawer. I have also given some away. Lovejoy explains that "The EU tackled this problem by instructing manufacturers to offer consumers the choice of buying their device with or without a charger." If a customer wants a charger, Apple is happy to sell them one.
Most of my Sunday morning this week was spent watching motorcycle racing from Phillip Island, Australia: one of my favorite circuits. I use the MotoGP app, subscribing to the service every year. Next week the series moves to Sepang in Malaysia. I had found the service on streamed television here less than a pleasure, with advertising interruptions and arbitrary schedule changes for the repeats (some races are run late at night and that is inconvenient for me). The races, sprints and practice are all archived so I can watch (or rewatch) when I want and am not tied to a TV schedule, although of course I prefer to watch live races. Those are not interrupted by advertising, nor do they (not yet) focus on driver girlfriends instead of racing action: a criticism of recent F1 coverage. There is time, Liberty Media have now tied up with Dorna.
However, it was announced in the last few days that Apple now controls F1 rights in the USA (Ryan Christoffel) so those who subscribe to AppleTV in the USA will be able to watch the coverage. Not here, though (the F1 app never allowed this here either) as current contracts will be honored and if you want to watch in Thailand you need to subscribe to the True television service, which I dropped several years ago when AppleTV and Netflix became available without the shackles of scheduled services.
After the motorcycle racing I finished off Series 3 of The Diplomat which has enough twists and clever lines to keep me satisfied for a while. As with the first two seasons, there was enough of a cliffhanger to make me want more, and that was immediately boosted by a headline telling me that another series of The Diplomat was on its way. That was a pleasant surprise. Another surprise came on Friday when I watched the latest episode of Invasion on AppleTV. I had long suspected Billy Barratt, who was one of the core characters during the previous season, would make an appearance. He was conspicuously not only missing from the latest series cast lists, but there was no mention of him in publicity literature. At the same time, Barratt himself who has a social media presence made no mention of Invasion at all online.
As he was absorbed by the mother ship core at the end of the last series, I envisaged a return as part of a human-alien merging. Speculation of course. In Friday's episode, Trevante Cole had an incident that triggered all manner of memories and he began to recall events in the ship with Barratt. We were shown flashbacks that had not been seen before which showed Casper. At the end there was a notice showing Barratt as Guest Star. I think there may be more to come. That will have to be next week which is Episode 10, "The End of the Line" which is also the end of Series 3. Fingers crossed for Series 4.
I also finally took the time to view 28 Years Later. It is hard to remember at times that this was made by Danny Boyle using the iPhone. Actually lots of them, but the output looks as good as if a larger cinematic camera were used. I particularly enjoyed the use of the landscape in this movie. Although they were significant, Edvin Ryding (Young Royals) and Ralph Fiennes played relatively small parts. They were respectively the sole surviving Swedish sailor of a shipwrecked group (he did not survive much longer either) and the allegedly crazy, Dr Kerson, who seemed the most level headed survivor of all. Alfie Williams plays the main character in the movie: a 12 year old trying to help his mother. He takes her to Kerson who diagnoses cancer and eases her out of this world in a moving scene. Williams is now 14 and will also be in the sequence, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. This was foreshadowed at the end. Like Owen Cooper (Adolescence), another young actor from the north of England, Williams has much talent and we can expect to see more of him too in the future.
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader. No AI was used in writing this item.
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