Morning Brief

1. Apple introduces MacBook Neo
2. Claude Code launches voice mode
3. Setapp allows individual app purchases or subscriptions
4. OpenAI confirms an upcoming new model
5. Keychron releases the B11 Pro foldable keyboard
6. ASUSTOR launches the flagship NAS AS7224RDX

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Apple introduces MacBook Neo

On March 4, Apple officially unveiled the long-rumored “colorful entry-level” MacBook, with the new lineup named MacBook Neo.

Further viewing: Hands-on photos of MacBook Neo from SSPAI

MacBook Neo is powered by the A18 Pro processor, comes standard with 8GB of memory and a 13.0-inch Liquid Retina display, and features one USB 3 port and one USB 2 port. The device supports up to 16 hours of streaming video playback. It weighs 1.23 kg and includes a dual-speaker system with spatial audio support, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6, and a 1080p FaceTime HD camera. The base model includes 256GB of storage, while the 512GB version additionally comes with Touch ID.

MacBook Neo is available in four colors: silver, peach pink, citrus yellow, and indigo blue. The 256GB version is priced at 4,599 yuan, while the 512GB version costs 5,299 yuan. The product will officially go on sale on March 11. Source

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Claude Code launches voice mode

On March 3, Anthropic announced the gradual rollout of a new Voice Mode in its programming tool Claude Code, signaling that the developer-favored concept of “intuitive programming” is evolving toward a more efficient era of “voice programming.”

The voice module is built directly into the underlying architecture of Claude Code. After receiving beta access, users will see a prompt prominently displayed on the welcome screen inviting them to enable the feature. During actual use, developers only need to press and hold the space bar on the keyboard to speak and input development requests, then release the key to quickly send the voice command to the AI for execution.

In terms of pricing, Anthropic emphasized that the voice interaction feature will not incur any additional subscription fees. As the feature rolls out more broadly, users on the existing Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise tiers will all be able to experience this new capability designed to improve development efficiency at no extra cost. Source

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Setapp allows individual app purchases or subscriptions

On March 3, the MacPaw team announced that it will introduce new purchasing options for its Setapp platform, including standalone subscriptions and one-time purchase plans for specific apps. Under the new model, applications such as Bartender, Downie, and AlDente Pro, along with MacPaw’s own apps like CleanMyMac, Moonlock, and Gemini 2, will offer a variety of subscription and purchase plans, including monthly, yearly, and one-time purchase options. These purchase or subscription plans can all be accessed through Setapp, without requiring users to subscribe to the full Setapp service.

Currently, more than 60 apps support the new purchase and subscription options, and the list of participating applications will be updated and announced regularly in the future. Source

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OpenAI confirms an upcoming new model

On March 4, shortly after launching the GPT-5.3 Instant model, the OpenAI team stated on social media that GPT-5.4 “will arrive sooner than you think.” Since the GPT client shows that the older 5.1 model will be discontinued on March 11, some users speculate that OpenAI may officially release version 5.4 around that time. Source

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Keychron releases the B11 Pro foldable keyboard

On March 4, the Keychron brand introduced the B11 Pro foldable portable keyboard. The product features a flat Alice layout, which is more ergonomic than the traditional horizontal layout, while remaining compatible with macOS, Windows, and Linux. The B11 Pro adopts an inward-folding design, with an ABS body and a matte black PU leather back. It uses scissor-switch mechanisms and comes with concave ABS keycaps. In terms of connectivity, the keyboard supports tri-mode connections including USB-C wired, 2.4GHz wireless, and Bluetooth 5.3 wireless, with a “dual 1kHz” polling rate. The entire keyboard weighs 258g and includes a built-in 250mAh battery rated for up to 138 hours of battery life, supporting automatic power-off when folded and automatic power-on when unfolded. The price is set at $64.99. Source

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ASUSTOR launches the flagship NAS AS7224RDX

On March 3, ASUSTOR, a subsidiary of ASUS, announced the launch of its 4U rackmount flagship NAS, the AS7224RDX (Lockerstor 24R PRO Gen2), featuring 24 drive bays. The AS7224RDX is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7745 eight-core processor and provides 24 SATA bays supporting either 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch drives. It also includes PCIe Gen5 ×8 and PCIe Gen5 ×4 expansion slots, one M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 ×4 slot, two 10GbE network ports, and two 1GbE network ports.

In addition, the device features four DDR5 UDIMM memory slots supporting up to 192GB of ECC memory, and comes preinstalled with 16GB DDR5-4800 ECC memory and a 32GB SATA DOM. It is powered by a pair of 550W Platinum redundant power supplies and equipped with four 60mm cooling fans. The system also provides four USB-A 5Gbps ports and one HDMI port for service purposes. Source