Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

Episode: "Nothing Like a New MacBook!"

Date: March 6, 2026
Host: Marques Brownlee (MKBHD)
Co-hosts: Andrew Manganelli, David Imel, (with appearances from Adam Molina and Ellis River)

Episode Overview

This week, the Waveform squad reconvenes during a jam-packed “Tech Timber” (jokingly rebranded as "Tarch" for March) after a flood of major tech announcements from Apple and Nothing. The team delivers deep-dive commentary on a broad array of new Apple hardware, Nothing’s latest phones and headphones, and discusses the shifting landscape for reviewers in the age of AI. They dissect product strategy, pricing, design trends, and the broader implications for the tech ecosystem.

Key Topics & Detailed Breakdown

1. Apple Event Recap: MacBooks, Displays, iPhone 17e & More

(06:00 – 18:30)

MacBook Air & Pro Updates

• New M5 MacBook Air: Now starts with 512GB storage (doubling the previous base model), up to 4TB, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and slightly higher price (+$100 compared to base M4 Air) but $100 cheaper for the 512GB storage tier.
  • "It's the MacBook Air, but with M5. And Wi-Fi 7." – Marques (06:33)
• M5 Pro & M5 Max MacBook Pros: Announced as more powerful for AI tasks and video editing.
  • "Way better GPU, 4x peak GPU compared to M4 Max." – David (07:13)
• Missing M5 Ultra: The team notes Apple’s pattern with Ultra chips.
  • "Only three Ultra so far." – Marques (08:00)

Studio Display & XDR

• New Studio Display: Minor upgrade, new Thunderbolt port, otherwise similar for $1,600.
  • "The new studio display is a little underwhelming..." – Marques (09:07)
• Studio Display XDR: Replaces Pro Display XDR, now $3,200 (down from $5,000+stand), 5K 27”, 2000 nits, miniLED, 120Hz, daisy-chaining enabled.
  • "Way cheaper and a better display in just about every way." – Marques (09:42)
  • "120 Hz is pretty crazy to be able to do that on these displays." – David (10:30)

iPhone 17e: Redefining the ‘Value’ iPhone

• "Last year’s 16e was a $600 iPhone with a 60Hz display, no MagSafe, one camera – the worst of all worlds." – Marques (13:57)
• This year: Now has MagSafe, new color (pink), latest chip, 256GB storage, Ceramic Shield 2, but still single camera and 60Hz display for $599.
  • "They stuck with a single camera and the 60 Hz display..." – Marques (15:16)
• Discussion around whether consumers actually want 120Hz/screens, multiple cameras, or just the iPhone “ecosystem.”
  • "Lots of people will just buy this phone. ...If you cross-shop a little bit, you can get 120Hz OLED, probably triple cameras.” – Marques (15:31)
  • "For a lot of these, the better one from last year is a better deal. People should get in the habit of looking at used and refurbished." – David (16:03)

MacBook Neo: A New Kind of Entry MacBook

• $599, 13” display, A18 Pro chip from the iPhone, 8GB RAM, 256GB, 4 colors, metal build, cost-cutting features (non-backlit keyboard, 2 USB-C ports – one USB3, one USB2), side-firing speakers, white/tinted keyboards.
  • "It’s a web browser. It’s spreadsheets, word processing, texting... It’s going to kill it at all that." – Marques (24:46)
  • "This is the Safari Book." – Adam (26:29)
  • "I have to get these ..." (regarding Studio Display XDR) – Marques (10:26)
• Prioritizing students, schools, and budget-conscious buyers.
  • "If a parent walks into Best Buy and sees three laptops and an iPad that are all $600, they’re buying the Neo..." – Ellis (36:39)
  • Education pricing brings Neo down to $499.
• Discussion of performance envelope, battery efficiency, and intended use-case.
  • "You can run Mac OS on these phone chips? They just choose not to for sure..." – Ellis (28:07)

2. Nothing’s New Devices: Phones & Headphones

(48:37 – 83:53)

Nothing Phone 4A and 4A Pro

• 4A: Snapdragon 7S Gen 4, 5080mAh, 50W charging, IP64, 120Hz, four colors, “arguably best-looking Nothing phone” so far, focus on value/performance.
  • "It's got triple cameras. ...A pretty good looking set of specs for a phone that is this cheap." – Marques (50:49)
• 4A Pro: Surprise launch, Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, 6.83" AMOLED 120-144Hz, metal body, larger glyph interface, all-new camera bump design.
  • "The silver version of this phone is the best looking..." – Marques (58:39)
  • "Metal body is pretty awesome." – David (58:41)
• Pricing and market strategy:
  • 4A Pro is $499 (US), competitive with Pixel 10a.
  • "I think it looks pretty good. The Nothing design team has been really cooking recently." – Marques (61:04)
• Ongoing jokes about product naming confusion and nerdy market segmentation.

Headphones A

• “Nothing” also introduces Headphones A ($199), with distinctive design, ANC, long battery claims (up to 135 hours, but context-dependent as always).
  • "These, in my opinion, look significantly worse than the regular headphones." – David (65:14)
• Panel hosts hotly debate over-ear headphone design, aesthetics, battery, and sound quality.
  • "I find myself recommending the Nothing headphones more than most other things … and no one wants the Nothing." – Adam (73:43)
• Debate on the state of the headphone market, value vs. style, and whether Sony’s flagship headphones have lost their way.
  • "The Sony’s are so mid-forward and they have so much distortion in the mids … it's the equivalent of rubbing Vaseline on a lens." – Adam (72:14)
• On audio preferences:
  • "The best headphones are the ones that you like." – Adam (79:53)

3. The AI Era: Website Monetization & the Death of SEO

(86:10 – 104:11)

• Ratings.com paywall: Ratings (RTings) moves formerly-free, in-depth testing behind a $10/month or $45/year paywall due to AI scraping and collapsing Google search referrals.
  • "AI actively scrapes and reuses our test results, often without attribution and without the context needed to interpret them correctly." – Andrew reading from Ratings' announcement (87:41)
• Broader industry point: Tech traffic is collapsing everywhere after AI overviews.
  • "This is part of the inevitable death of SEO and the web..." – David (88:34)
  • "The incentive to make good stuff is gone now. Why would you make any more stuff?" – Marques (90:00)
  • "The entire corpus of human knowledge is complete. We need nothing new. We'll just be trained on the old stuff." – Marques, on AI’s mistaken premise (91:05)
• Trend to subscription models, value of support, and ripple effects on journalism, news, and reviewing culture.
  • "If you’re willing to subscribe to Netflix ... think about the quality of your content consumption and what actually matters to you." – David (104:05)

4. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Apple’s storage upgrades:
  • "Now you have to start at a terabyte. That's wild to me." – Marques (08:35)
• On minimal changes to Studio Display:
  • "The new studio display is a little underwhelming ... just added a Thunderbolt port." – Marques (09:07)
• On the iPhone 17e target audience:
  • "If you’re subscribed to tech channels, this isn't for you. ... This is for people who walk in and say, 'Give me the cheap one, I don’t care.'" – Ellis (16:31)
• Color debates:
  • "Regular people will buy a color, schools will buy a thousand of the silver ones." – Ellis (23:37)
• On AI disruption:
  • "It so fundamentally removes the incentives to make good stuff." – Marques (90:00)
• On headphones A’s look:
  • "The yellow and pink ones... I like the colors, but I do not like the headphones. They look so bad." – Ellis (67:32)

5. Engaging Moments & In-Jokes

• Lengthy, impassioned (and sometimes heated) debate over over-ear headphones – especially Sony’s latest.
• Running jokes about MacBook Neo colors, specifically over "piss yellow" and lemon-lime Gatorade.
• Deep-dive on how educational discounts work, nostalgia about old-school classroom tech (overhead projectors, “smart” boards).
• Fun trivia segment: How many tech products feature "Neo" in the name? And the team's struggle to recall various obscure products.

6. Notable Timestamps

• Apple event reactions: 06:00 – 18:30
• iPhone 17e analysis: 13:45 – 18:30
• MacBook Neo panel debate: 18:22 – 36:56
• Nothing phones & headphones, design talk: 48:37 – 83:53
• Ratings.com and AI impact: 86:10 – 104:11
• Headphone ranking debate: 64:10 – 79:20
• Trivia question (Neo products): 104:55 – 108:59

Conclusion & Takeaways

This episode is a snapshot of a rapidly-evolving tech landscape:

• Apple and Nothing are both iterating quickly, shifting the baseline of what’s expected in both premium and value segments.
• There’s an increasing separation between device value-adds for the mainstream market (e.g., MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e) and “enthusiast” expectations.
• The tech creator ecosystem is fundamentally challenged by the rise of AI, with publishers and reviewers reevaluating their business models amidst declining referral traffic.
• The crew’s in-depth, candid, and sometimes irreverent discussions continue to offer genuine insight—for both diehards and casual listeners navigating product choices.

Listen if you want:

• Analysis of Apple’s 2026 spring hardware launches from a user and reviewer perspective
• Real talk on buying tech in the age of AI, with practical advice on value, longevity, and resale
• Lively, funny, sometimes spicy debates on headphones, display tech, and product naming
• Thoughtful commentary on what’s at stake for trustworthy product reviews in an AI-summarized world

Final Words:
"It's Tech Timber / March, so there's probably gonna be a bunch of stuff next week, too. Get subscribed if you haven't already. Iceberg lettuce if you made it this far in the episode." – Marques (110:14)

(Skip all the ads, banter about Gatorade flavors, and sign off chatter—unless you're here for the vibes!)