Apple October 2021 event: Apple MacBook Pro is officially here, with a brighter display and a notch. Apple Unleashed October Event Highlights: Apple October 2021 ‘Unleashed event’ is now over. The event was streamed live on the company’s official website and its YouTube channel from the Cupertino headquarters. The highlight of the event was the new MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch variants powered by the new M1 Pro and M1 Pro Max chipset.
As expected, the new MacBook Pro series has a new design, though the display has a notch as well. They are powered by the M1 Pro and M1 Max chipset. Both chipsets have a 10-core CPU and 16-core (Pro) and 32-core GPU (Max). Apple has added HDMI, SD card ports back to the MacBook Pro along with MagSafe charging, which should keep the Pros happy.
Apple also showcased the new AirPods 3 with a redesign, which is similar to the AirPods Pro. They are sweat and water-resistant. Apple AirPods also come with Spatial audio. They also come with adaptive EQ as well, which was earlier seen on Apple AirPods Pro as well. The AirPods 3 start at Rs 18,500 in India and will be available for pre-order from today.
New colour options for HomePod mini were also showcased at the event. The price for the new HomePod mini remains Rs 9,900.
Apple announced a number of new products today, from an Apple Music Voice Plan to two new MacBook Pro variants. Check out all the new products launched here.
With Apple unveiling its two new chipsets which are more powerful than ever, what does this mean for Intel? Read more here.
It looks like the India prices are official. The new MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max are available to order today on the official Apple India online store. They will be in stores from October 26. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at Rs 1,94,900, and Rs1,75,410 for students. The 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at Rs 2,39,900, and Rs 2,15,910 for students. Also note that macOS Monterey will be available as a free software update on Monday, October 25.
Customers can trade in their current computer and get credit toward a new MacBook Pro as well.
The new HomePod mini will be available in yellow, orange, and blue, in addition to white and space grey, for Rs 9900 from the official Apple Store and authorised resellers. It will go on sale in November in the new colour options.
So that's it from Apple for tonight. We are still waiting to know the India prices of the MacBook Pros.
The new MacBook Pros go on pre-order today. The 16-inch version starts at $2499. They will go on sale next week.
Apple says the new MacBook Pro now supports fast charge. It charges up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. The 14-inch version has 17 hours of video playback. The 16-inch version has 21 hours of video playback.
The web camera is 1080p (finally) and has a wider lens. It also relies on computational technology to ensure better video performance. Up to 60 percent lower noise on the microphones. Larger woofers on the newer Macs to ensure a deeper bass. A six-speaker sound system is there on both the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The new MacBook Pro does come with a Mini-LED display and this is an HDR display.
Yes, the new Apple MacBook Pro does have a notch. The leaks were correct it seems. The display is brighter. It also supports ProMotion technology with up to 120 Hz refresh rates.
Apple MacBook Pro is here in 14-inch and 16-inch versions. The Touch bar is gone. The Function keys are back. A lot more ports are here. HDMI, Thunderbolt 4 (three in total), SD card slot and a headphone jack is here. MagSafe charging is back.
AirPods (3rd generation) will be available for Rs 18,500 and are available to order from apple.com/in/store. They will go on sale from October 26. The AirPods (2nd generation) will be available at the new price of Rs 12,900. The AirPods Pro now come with MagSafe Charging Case for the same price of Rs 24,900.
Apple says the new chipsets are well ahead of the competition. Even Apple made by the company will run natively on M1 Pro and M1 Max. There's Rosetta 2 as well to ensure that Intel-based apps run on the new M1 Pro and M1 Max silicon. LogiXPro will now support Spatial Audio on a notebook as well. Over 10,000 universal apps available, says Apple.
As expected, Apple is launching two versions of the new chipsets. The second is the M1 Max, it has double the memory bandwidth. This one has 57 billion transistors. It is the largest chip that Apple has ever built by far. This one has a 32-core GPU, and it has 4X faster GPU performance compared to the M1. Apple claims both the M1 Pro and M1 Max have much better power performance as well compared to the earlier M1 and the PC chips as well.
M1 Pro processor has 10 cores, 5nm design and 33.7 billion transistors. It comes with eight high-performance cores and two efficiency cores. It comes with 16 cores for the GPU. That means the graphics performance is 2X of the original M1 processor. It builts on the M1 architecture says Apple.
MacBook Pro is here with a new M1 Pro chipset. Let's see what the M1 Pro offers.
The new AirPods are here and they look exactly like the AirPods Pro. They are sweat and water-resistant. The battery life is 6 hours, and they come with MagSafe and wireless charging. They come with Spatial Audio and adaptive EQ as well. The price is $179. Pre-orders open today, and the new AirPods will be available next week.
The HomePod mini is now coming in new colours: Yellow, Orange and Blue. Which one do you think looks the best?
Siri will now have custom playlists available for all Apple Music subscribers. These are custom playlists. Apple is also adding a new Voice plan for Apple Music starting at $4.99 where users can access Siri to listen to the entire Apple Music catalog.
Tim Cook is now on stage. Focusing on Music and Mac, he says.
Apple's event begins with a video. And it seems to be a blast from the past. The music is all the starting sounds that take place when you start your Mac.
For those wondering what song is playing on the Apple Live stream. It is called Tunnel by Polo and Pan featuring Channel Tres.
Apple's live stream has begun on the official website. It does give a very Star-Trek-like feel the way the video and visuals are moving right now. Will this presentation move at wrap speed? Who knows.
Apple is expected to upgrade the MacBook Pro at tonight's event, but another trusty device will get an upgrade as well. That's the Mac mini, which is also expected to be powered by the new M1 series processor. According to tipster Jon Prosser, the M1X Mac mini will feature the same magnetic power port that debuted on the 24-inch iMac and it will get the same ports as the Intel version. This means four Thunderbolt, two USB-A, an Ethernet, and HDMI port as well. Of course, this will also mean that the new Mac mini might sport a high price tag as well.
If you are searching on YouTube, the search results might not lead you to some other 'non-official' live streams for the Apple event. Below is the link for the Apple event live video on YouTube.
The new M1X processor is supposed to be a big upgrade over the existing M1 chipset. For one, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, it will have 10 cores, with eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient ones. More importantly, the new M1X is supposed to come 16 or 32-core GPU, which is a big leap over the 8-core one on the existing M1 chip. It will be interesting to see the new generation of M-series processors and what Apple promises with them. Given the MacBook Pro, especially the 16-inch one is aimed at professionals, we expect more stress on how the new devices fulfil this exact purpose.
With the last couple of events, Apple has managed to pull off a few surprises. For instance, the iPad mini made an appearance at the iPhone event this year, and it was a bit unexpected. With the October event, the MacBook Pro is being seen as a given and so is the updated Mac mini. But what will be the surprise element at this event, the 'one more thing' if you will? Any guesses?
Apple CEO Tim Cook has posted his customary tweet ahead of the October 2021 event. And he didn't say much other than 'The big day is here', along with a picture of the Apple headquarters. We will have to wait till the event starts to know what all Apple has in store for us.
AirPods 2 look old now, and it's for Apple to introduce a new pair of truly wireless earbuds. The buzz is strong that Apple might announce the third-generation AirPods during today's event. Experts suggest the new AirPods 3 could cost more and would be priced around $199. The AirPods 3 will have a similar form factor to the AirPods Pro but without the support for Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).
The new MacBook Pros could see the return of MagSafe charging technology to the laptops. Apple used to have this for its earlier laptops, but it was removed from 2016 onwards with the new MacBook and MacBook Pros. The 2017 MacBook Air had Magsafe charging, but it was discontinued in 2019.
For Apple MacBook users, MagSafe remains iconic, and also a very important way of protecting their devices. Because if someone accidentally pulled their laptop's charger while it was plugged in, MagSafe would immediately disconnect, and thus ensure that the device remained safe from any fall. Sadly, the new USB-C style charging does not ensure this kind of protection. Hopefully Apple will bring back MagSafe and make the fans happy.
Some leaks have claimed that Apple might add a notch to the MacBook Pro's display, which will house the webcam (1080p) a true tone sensor, and a microphone. A notch on a laptop display doesn't sound like something Apple would do. What do you think? Will the new MacBook Pro sport a notch or not?
The MacBook Pro this time will be a significant upgrade compared to the one that launched in 2020. For one, it will have a new design, a new miniLED display, the TouchBar will be gone and Apple is expected to add a more powerful M1X processor with 16 or 32 GPU core options. As a quick benchmark let us take a look at the prices of the existing MacBook Pro series in India.
The current 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 chipset is priced at Rs 1,22,900 for the base 256GB version, while the 512GB version costs Rs 1,42,900. The Intel version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro costs Rs 1,99,900 for the base variant, while the higher-end version costs Rs 2,39,900. Apple also offers the ability to upgrade RAM and storage on the MacBook Pro, which is always extra.
As expected, the Apple Store has gone down ahead of Apple's Ünleashed' event suggesting that the new hardware is on the way. The Apple event kicks off at 10:30 pm IST. We are most likely to see the arrival of new MacBook Pros, a high-end Mac mini, AirPods 3, and more.
Mac mini has been the most underrated product in Apple's Mac lineup. The mini-sized desktop computer is designed for basic tasks and it works just fine. But the Mac mini has the potential to be a powerful machine designed to be used to be pro consumers. During Monday's event, Apple is expected to give the Mac mini its biggest makeover with a new design and putting the rumoured M1X processor inside.
Another big changed rumoured to be part of the new MacBook Pro is the display, which will now be a mini-LED. These are very small LEDs (around 0.2 millimetres in size or smaller) and produce the backlight on LCD display panels. The advantage of mini-LED is that it offers more control over light intensity and therefore a better contrast ratio. A mini-LED offers contrast closer to OLED levels, but at a much lower price, though these are more expensive than traditional LCD displays. Read more about mini-LED here.
Apple will also reveal a release date for the next version of its macOS, which is called Monterey. It comes with FaceTime updates, which Apple has also added to iOS 15. Safari has been redesigned completely on macOS Monterery as well. There is a new Universal control feature that lets users connect and control their iPad seamlessly with their MacBook or iMac. Users will even be able to drag and drop content from the Mac to the iPad thanks to the new OS. The Focus feature seen on Apple's iOS 15 is also coming to macOS as well.
Apple is unlikely to announce a MacBook Air at this event. Those are due for an upgrade next year, according to noted Apple analyst Ming Chi-Kuo. Just like the MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Air will get a design upgrade in 2022 and of course, the latest version of the M1 processor, when it launches. However, we don't expect it at today's event, though again Apple could surprise us.
Apple's event is supposed to be all about the new MacBook Pro, but one product that has long been rumoured and is greatly awaited is the new version of AirPods. AirPods 3 as they have been dubbed are supposed to get a new design, similar to the AirPods Pro, and could make an appearance at the event. Or Apple could very well make this event all about the Macs and the new M1X processor. Which one do you think it will be?
The highlight of tonight's events will be the Apple MacBook Pro, which is getting the M-series processor from Apple. This is a highly awaited upgrade. The last big design change was in 2016, and after almost five years, Apple is expected to showcase something entirely new. The design will be flatter, a new miniLED display is expected, along with the more powerful M1X series of processors, which could come with a 16 and 32-core GPU option as well. Apple is also expected to boost the RAM to beyond 16GB on the M series of processors.
Apple is streaming the event live on its official YouTube channel. Apple users can also watch the event straight from the official website on their iPhone, iPad or Macs using the Safari browser or on the Apple TV app as well. The event can also be streamed on Chrome browser and Microsoft's Edge browser.