Source: Apple / Apple Event
Many thought Apple was done for the year after announcing its new iPhone 12 lineup, but the company said aht aht aht, we got one more thing to drop on y’all.
Tuesday (Nov.10) Apple might have definitely changed the way PC’s are being made. During the well-produced virtual presentation — we hope Apple keeps doing even after the pandemic comes to an end — Tim Cook happily confirmed the news reported earlier this year that his company would be dumping Intel and processors after 15 years and will start putting its own chips into Macs with the announcement of the M1 chip.
Apple didn’t waste no time putting the new M1 chip to work, putting it inside the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini, giving each device significant performance boosts. Apple is no stranger to making custom chipsets. The company has been doing that for its mobile products and platform devices like iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, headphones, HomePods, and Apple TVs.
This marks the first time that Apple has made a chip specifically for its Macs, and the company pledges it will begin transitioning all of its computers to the new specifications.
MacBook Air
Source: Apple / Apple Event
The new 13-inch Macbook Air $999 powered by the M1 chip officially goes on sale today and begins shipping next week. During the event, Apple boasts that the new Macbook Air has 3.5 times the CPU performance and a 5X boost to the graphics performance without sacrificing the 18 hours of battery life that fans of the model enjoy.
The fan has been removed, and the camera’s quality has been improved. It features two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports that can be used for charging and memory expansion. The keyboard and display remain the same.
Mac Mini
Source: Apple / Apple Event
Apple’s Mac Mini will also be blessed to utilize the new M1 chip. The new Mac Mini starts at $699 and features 256 gigabytes of SSD storage and 8 GB of RAM. It’s also $100 cheaper than the previous model. Thanks to the M1 chip, the new Mac Mini boasts three times the previous Mac Mini model’s performance and makes significant gains when it comes to multitasking and running software that will push the mini-computer. For example, Apple claims rendering videos in Final Cut Pro is now six times faster.
MacBook Pro
Source: Apple / Apple Event
Of course, the MacBook Pro is getting a boost with the help of the M1 chip. The new 13-inch model goes on sale starting today and starts at $1,299. Like the other two models, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with the same performance upgrades with a boost in battery life, up to 20 hours. Thanks to the M1 chip, the new MacBook Pro is also faster in CPU and GPU performance.
The new 13-inch Macbook Pro ships next week.
Apple also announced that its new Big Sur operating system — which has been in beta for months — will be available on Thursday (Nov.11). Apple revealed that when paired with the new M1 chip system, responsiveness improves greatly, and popular programs like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro will see boosts in performance.
Don’t worry, we know it sounds like your current Intel-powered Mac, Macbook Pro, and MacBook Air are now obsolete, but Apple ensured Big Sur will work with them as well.
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Photo: Apple / Apple Event
