Apple launched three Apple Silicon-based Mac at the ‘One More Thing’ event on Tuesday.
The Apple Silicon ‘M1’ System-on-Chip (SoC) featured on the Apple Silicon-based Macbook Air, Mac Mini, and 13-inch Macbook Pro.
The first Mac with ‘M1’ SoC is the Macbook Air and is said to have 15 hours of battery life, with pricing starts the same as before at $999.
The Macbook Air will become an all-out Apple Silicon based lineup with this transition despite the Macbook Air getting 10th Generation Intel processor upgrade back in March 2020.
The India pricing for the Macbook Air on the M1 chip starts at Rs 92,900 for the base varient and can go upto Rs 1,17,900 with the option to upgrade RAM, Memory and purchase additional software on Apple’s online store.
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The second device to feature the ‘M1’ Apple Silicon was the Mac mini which sees more features being packed into the same chassis as before with prices starting at $699(India Pricing:Rs 64,900 onwards). There will also be an Intel processor variant for the MacMini.
The third device to feature the ‘M1’ Apple Silicon is the 13-inch Macbook Pro, features 2 USB-C ports, and is said to have a battery life of 17 hours of web browsing, 20 hours of video watching. The device is priced at $1299.
This will be replacing the base 13-Inch Macbook pro with the 8th Generation Intel processor variant and is priced at 1,22,900 for the starting 13-inch Macbook pro with M1 in India.
The higher end 10th generation Intel processor variant of the 13-inch Macbook pro will continue to retail as before.
The ‘M1’ chip models based Macbook Air, Mac Mini and Macbook Pro will be available from November 17 and will replace the similar products in Macbook Pro and Mac Mini, while there will continue to be Intel processor based variants of the same.
The Apple Silicon ‘M1’ SoC features an 8 Core CPU, 8 Core GPU, and a 16-core neural Engine, and more transistors than ever. A lot of Machine Learning capabilities of the SoC using the 16-core neural engine on the M1 was showcased during the event.
A look at the 16 billion transistors on the M1 chip
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macOS 11 Big Sur will be launched on Thursday, November 12, with these devices being available from November 17.
Earlier at WWDC, Apple said that the transition away from Intel chips will take two years. After updating its laptop line, Apple will still have until 2022 to transition the iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, and Mac mini to Apple Silicon.
Reuters adds
Takeaway from the Apple event
Apple Silicon dubbed M1
Apple’s chip, called the M1, is built using a 5-nanometer processor technology and is packed with 16 billion transistors, the most the company has ever put into a chip. It will be used in three of its devices.
Mac mini
The entry-level desktop computer, Mac mini, will come with the latest M1 chip that has an 8-core CPU in its familiar 7.7-inch silver aluminum square design. Its price starts at $699.
Macbook Air
Apple also launched a 13-inch MacBook Air with the new chip, starting at $999 and with a battery life of up to 18 hours, the longest ever for the sleek wedge-shaped notebook that has not radically changed its form-factor since founder Steve Jobs removed it from a manila envelope in the 2008 launch event.
Macbook Pro
Its new 13-inch MacBook Pro will have a starting price of $1,299 and will have a battery life of 20 hours in a single charge, promising to deliver up to twice the battery life of the previous generation using the latest chip.
The three new computers will be available for pre-order from Tuesday and will begin arriving to customers starting next week.
macOS Big Sur
The new Macs will come with Big Sur, the latest version of its desktop operating system. It will let iPhone and iPad apps to run directly on the Mac. The update will be available to eligible device owners beginning Thursday.
