Monday, October 18, 2021, will go down in the books as the night on which the MacBook Pro changed forever. During the event, Apple gave its beloved laptop a new look, although that is certainly not the only thing the company did.
To give you a good idea of what exactly Apple has shown, I’ll list all the announcements for you!
Apple Unleashed: Music en de Mac
Apple has two focal points at tonight’s Unleashed event: Music and Mac. CEO Tim Cook talks about streaming service Apple Music and the success of the AirPods. According to Cook, the way we use both will be overhauled this fall.
For example, Zane Lowe, the man behind Apple Music, announces that Siri will be more involved in the service. The smart assistant has access to a ton of new playlists. Those lists are already a nice addition to the service, but they can also be controlled completely with your voice.
To do justice to this, Apple is introducing a new subscription: the Voice Plan. In this way, Apple Music can be experienced completely by voice.
HomePod mini in new colors
The Homepod mini gets a nice upgrade. At least in terms of design. If you want to make optimal use of the smart speaker, it is useful to have several at home. Apple makes multiple Homepods in the house less boring by bringing a number of new color options to the market. The smart speaker is now available in the colors yellow, blue, and orange.
Apple Unleashed: the AirPods 3 are a fact
It took a while, but today is finally the day: the new AirPods 3 are here! Apple is expanding support for Spatial Audio with the introduction of the new earbuds. The AirPods 3 feature a brand new design. At least, new… The earbuds look like the AirPods Pro, but without the tips.
Not only on the outside but also on the inside, the earplugs have been addressed. For example, the AirPods 3 is equipped with a low distortion driver, which should make both low tones and mid-tones come across excellently. The earbuds, therefore, support Spatial Audio, they are completely sweating and waterproof and the battery is addressed.
The battery life of the AirPods 3 is extended by six hours. And if that’s not enough, it is now also possible to charge the charging case of the earbuds within five minutes enough for an hour of listening pleasure. This is not only possible with a wired connection, but also with MagSafe or wirelessly.
The earplugs can be ordered immediately and will be on sale from next week. Costs? $179 (Euro prices will be added later).
Apple Unleashed: M1 Pro And M1 Max
Apple will announce tonight that the MacBook Pro will be completely redesigned today. The first step: the new M1 Pro chip. This chip is a version of Apple Silicon that can offer consumers more than the “standard” M1 chip. It was simply created for the customers who need more.
The M1 Pro features twice as many transistors as the M1 chip with a three-core CPU, eight high-performance cores, and two efficiency cores. Add to that the 16 GPU cores and you know that this is a chip for real professionals.
Is M1 Pro not enough for you? Then Apple also has M1 Max for you. Where the first chip is already twice as powerful as the standard model, it is again twice as large. Consumers get a 10-core CPU and 32 GPU cores.
The brand new MacBook Pro
During Unleashed, Apple did exactly what was expected of the company: announcing a new MacBook Pro. This new model takes a completely different approach to the MacBook Pro’s design than any predecessor. The company is bringing back a lot of connections and even provides the laptop with a notch.
The new MacBook Pro will be available in 14-inch and 16-inch models. The latter model is 16.8 mm thick, while the first model is 15.5 mm thick. Both models are equipped with a headphone jack and leave the Touchbar for what it is. The new keyboard brings the function buttons back to Apple’s laptop.
Oh, and MagSafe is back on the MacBook Pro!
An impressive new screen
The new MacBook Pro models feature new displays. The biggest changes and improvements? The arrival of the ProMotion technology, the introduction of the notch, and the considerably thinner screen edges.
Due to this new design, the black bezels around the screens are only 3.5mm thick, which equates to 24% thinner bezels than on the previous models. That screen itself is also better because it is equipped with ProMotion, among other things. The screen of the MacBook Pro is therefore refreshed at a rate of 120Hz. In addition, Apple applies both its XDR and its mini LED technology to the display
In addition, Apple has also chosen to tackle the webcam of the laptop. This time, the device features a 1080p FaceTime HD Camera with a wider lens. This makes it possible to get better results in low-light situations.
The new MacBook Pro also features lace-up microphones for studio-quality recordings.
‘A Beast of a Machine
The new MacBook Pro is a beast of a machine. That’s what Apple itself says about the new device. According to the company, both models manage to crush their predecessors. The 14-inch model works to hold its own in terms of CPU as follows:
And on the GPU side:
The 14-inch model lasts 17 hours on a full charge and the 16-inch model lasts 21 hours. Best of all? Both models feature Fast Charge support.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1999 and the 16-inch model starts at $2499. You can order them directly. They will be delivered next week.
