Apple November 2020 Event Live updates: Apple's new MacBook Air is seen. Apple announced a new MacBook Pro as well powered by the company's own M1 processor. Apple Event November 2020 Live Updates: Apple’s third product event, titled ‘One More Thing’ is now over. Apple is switching to “Apple Silicon” for its MacBooks, relying on the same ARM-based processors that currently power the iPhone and iPad. Apple has showcased its new M1 processor, which will power its new MacBooks and a new version of the Mac mini desktop.
The M1 is an eight-core processor, which integrates the CPU and GPU and comes with a dedicated 16-core neural engine for machine learning and AI-related tasks. Apple is promising power efficiency with its new processor, which will ensure improved battery life on the new Macs along with much faster and better performance. The M1 has four high performance cores and four efficiency cores.
In-depth analysis: A big day for PC industry as Apple makes an ARM switch |
Apple announced a new MacBook Air with the M1 along with a MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. The new MacBook Air will start at $999, while the Mac Mini will cost $699. The new MacBook Pro starts at $1299. Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have a 13-inch display.
The MacBook Pro with M1 processor has a 13.3-inch display with 2560-by-1600 native resolution. It comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB and 512GB storage options, though this can be increased to 16GB RAM and up to 2TB respectively. Apple is promising up to 17 hours of browsing and 20 hours of video playback on the new MacBook Pro. The laptop also comes with two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with support for charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.1 Gen 2. The laptop has also the Magic Keyboard along with a Touch ID sensor and a Touch Bar on top.
Here is a quick look at the specifications of the new MacBook Air: There are two variants: One has the Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 7‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine and 256GB storage. The other has Apple M1 Chip with 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine and 512GB Storage. Both come with 8GB RAM, 13-inch Retina display with True Tone, Magic Keyboard, Touch ID, Force Touch trackpad and Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports.
Apple says the M1 is the first personal computer chip built using 5-nanometer process technology and is packed with 16 billion transistors, which represents the most Apple has ever put into a chip. It integrates the CPU, GPU and Neural engine onto a single System-on-Chip (SoC).
Other features of the M1 are: It comes with Apple’s latest image signal processor (ISP), which will ensure higher quality video with better noise reduction, improved auto white balance, etc. It also has the latest Secure Enclave for security. A high-performance storage controller with AES encryption hardware for faster and more secure SSD performance. Better battery performance. It also has an Apple-designed Thunderbolt controller with support for USB 4 with transfer speeds up to 40Gbps.
Apple says the new macOS Big Sur will be available from Thursday, which is November 12. The new MacBooks are available for pre-order starting today.
Apple MacBook Pro starts at $1299 and $1199 for educational purposes. The MacBook Pro's India pricing and availability is not yet confirmed.
Apple has also announced a new MacBook Pro powered by the M1. This is a 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple says it offers five times faster graphics with the new processor. Apple says the new MacBook Pro is three times faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in the market. The new MacBook Pro has two thunderbolt ports with 4K support.
Apple says the new Mac Mini will start at $699. It is powered by the new M1 chip, with a three times faster CPU and six times faster GPU.
The MacBook Air will start at $999, though for education it will start at $899.
Apple has announced a new Mac mini powered by the M1 processor. Mac Mini delivers up to three times faster CPU performance than the previous generation, according to Apple. The Mini is five times faster than top-end desktops in the market, according to the company.
Apple announces new MacBook Air with M1. Apple says the new MacBook Air is capable of doing a lot more compared to previous generation devices. It can support 4K Pro res video editing, graphics intensive gaming. Apple says MacBook Air is faster than 98 per cent of PC laptops sold in the previous year. Two times faster SSDs will also ensure faster tasks. Plus MacBook Air has no air, and is completely silent. Apple is promising 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of internet browsing.
Thanks to the new M1 processors, the new MacBooks will directly run apps created for iPhone and iPads as developers can optimise their code, across the whole family of Apple devices. This also brings tighter integration across Apple's entire hardware lineup.
The M1 also comes with eight-core integrated graphics and Apple says it performs twice as fast as regular Intel PC. It also comes with a 16-core neural engine designed for machine learning tasks. Apple says the neural engine is capable of executing massive 11 trillion operations per second. According to Apple, this will accelerate machine learning tasks such as video analysis, image processing. It also comes with Apple's latest generation of secure enclave.
John Ternus, Apple's VP of hardware engineering is on camera, talking about the next generation of Macs and the new Silicon. Apple announces M1 which is designed for the new Macs. The M1 delivers a single SoC (system on a chip) combining all the technologies. The M1 has four high performance cores, and four high efficiency cores. The high performance cores are for high-end and tasks that require a extra power, while the high efficiency cores are geared for regular tasks.
'More customers are choosing the Mac,' he says. 'Today over 50 percent buyers are new to the Mac,' he reveals.
The livestream for the Apple November 2020 event has begun. Apple CEO Tim Cook comes on screen. 'This year, we've had more new products this fall than ever before,' he says. Cook is recounting all the launches from 2020 from the new Watch SE, Apple One, HomePod mini, and the iPhone 12 series. 'There is just one more thing,' he says. 'It is time to talk about the Mac.'
For Apple users, they can catch livestream of the event on the Apple TV app itself be it on their iPhone or iPad or MacBook. Of course, there's also the option of watching the event on YouTube. Link for YouTube is on top. Apple's event starts in another five minutes.
While Apple will announce its first laptops powered by ARM-based processors, the transition of the entire MacBook lineup to these is expected to take around two years. Of course, Apple will continue to provide support to its older Intel-based Macs and has Intel-based Macs in development as well, according to the company's announcement made back in June.
Apple will also confirm the release for its next operating system for Macs: macOS Big Sur. Currently the public and developer beta is available for testing. Big Sur will bring major design changes to macOS, bringing it more in line with the overall look and feel of iOS.
Apple will be kicking off its One More Thing event at 11:30 PM IST. At the event, we expect the company to launch the first lot of its new Macs powered by Apple Silicon based on the ARM architecture. Apart from this, it is also expected to announce the rollout date for macOS Big Sur.
You can watch the event streamed live on the company's own website and its official YouTube channel.
The new ARM-based Macs will be based on the A14 chipset, which currently powers the latest iPhone 12 series. Apple will offer improved battery performance with these new MacBooks, according to an earlier report on Bloomberg.