Apple Announces New MacBooks Using High-End M1 Processor
For the third time in 2020, Apple had a major product announcement event – this time announcing the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, all utilizing a new processing chip that Apple is building itself. The new Apple MacBook systems are all available to order today, and will be available next week.
Apple has released what it calls the “Next generation of Mac,” using their proprietary Apple Silicon computer chips. The first of those chips, M1, will allow Apple to improve the speed and performance of their computers. The chip will replace the Intel processors gradually over the next two years, Apple announced.
Notably, the newest MacBook Air using the M1 processor will still start at $999. For higher-end MacBook Pro users, the newest system will stay at the same $1,299 price point as well. For desktop users, there’s a new Mac Mini using the M1 chip, making it up to three times faster than the last version. They’ll start at just $699, which is $100 lower than their previous price point.
You can order a new Mac today and will be available next week #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/NIe7Ow2evW
— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) November 10, 2020
The systems all are built to run silently, as they have no fan systems internally. But because of the new M1 chip, heat shouldn’t be an issue with the systems, Apple says.
The announcements came in a flashy video from the company, featuring their new beautiful Cupertino, California space-station campus.
MacBook Air
— Safwan AhmedMia (@SuperSaf) November 10, 2020
-Powered by Apple M1
-3.5x Faster CPU
-5x Faster GPU
-2x Faster SSD
-Silent design
-18 hours video playback
-13.3" Retina Display
-TouchID
-Improved Camera
-macOS Big Sur
-Faster than 98% of PC Laptops sold in last year
From $999#AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/7khSXMjyMI
The company also announced their newest operation system release, Big Sur. For those using other Apple products, the new system will look relatively familiar. Big Sur was built with the M1 chip in mind, and connects a lot of the elements from things like the iPhone and iPad to the Mac systems. Most of this won’t matter to the average MacBook user, but for those using their computers for high-level video, photo, or even gaming, the improvements will be a dramatic upgrade.
For users who have all of the Apple products, the biggest positive will probably be that you can run any apps from your iPhone on your Mac, and vise versa. That means all the fun games you play on your phone, you could move over and play on your computer. Sure, there are far more practical uses for this, but that’s a fun development. (They notably used the super viral game Among Us in the example.)
Underneath the hood, the M1 chip is allowing Apple to bridge all their separate technologies into one chip. The process is used in iPhone and iPad already, but had not been used on the laptop and desktop computer Mac platforms. Apple says it will be able to perform 11 trillion operations per second.
The technology giant has had a busy year, announcing new versions of the Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and new software updates as well.
