"Unleashed" Apple Event: What To Expect
Apple Silicon
November 10, 2020: Apple announces its first ARM-based processor that will equip the late 2020 MacBook Air, Mac Mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The all new Apple Silicon Macs have started turning the computer world upside down thanks to the unprecedented power of the new M1 chip. Who would believe that the M1 MacBook Air would outperform the i9-powered 16-inch MacBook Pro? Part of this, is that Apple hadn’t yet revealed an Apple Silicon version of its 16” MacBook Pro lineup.
October 18, 2021: Apple is expected to finally close this gap with the introduction of the more powerful Apple Silicon Macs. In case you are not familiar with the current situation, the M1 chip is the base Apple Silicon chip with an integrated 8-core GPU, 4 high efficiency cores, 4 energy-efficient cores and up to 16GB RAM, which power all the base Macs. Apple is expected to unveil a new faster chip with improved graphics performance that will power its more powerful versions of the MacBook Pro and possibly Mac mini or even iMac and later Mac Pro. Mark Gurman from Bloomberg had predicted that Apple will unveil two versions of this chip: one with a 16-core GPU and a second one with a 32-core GPU. Both versions are expected to have 8 high performance cores, 2 energy-efficient cores and up to 64 GB RAM.
Mark Gurman also reports that according to leaked Apple log files there are two versions of the new chip with two different names: the M1 Pro and the M1 Max. As Gurman mentions, these names may just be the internal names; the real marketing names could be different and less confusing.
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New 14” and 16” MacBook Pro Models
The new more powerful Apple chips are expected to power the brand new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Yes; you read that right! The 13-inch MacBook Pro with the infamous TouchBar is expected to be replaced by a larger 14-inch MacBook Pro. Introduction of the 14” MacBook Pro has been rumoured since the launch of the 16” MacBook Pro which replaced the older 15” version MacBook Pro.
Furthermore, Apple is expected to ditch the TouchBar from all MacBook Pro models, making this infamous hardware choice a remnant of Apple’s unfortunate design moments. Just like the base MacBook Pro models, the entire MacBook Pro lineup is expected to include a physical Function-key row instead of the TouchBar.
The chassis is also expected to be finally different this time. Thinner display bezels, flat edges (similar to the current iPad Pros and iPhone 12/13 series), HDMI slot, SD card slot and a new MagSafe charger. Furthermore, the “MacBook Pro” wording will no longer be present on the thinner display bezels.
Based on a last minute Weibo post, the new MacBook Pros could also feature a notch (!). According to this source, the bezels are expected to be so thin that the camera will not be able to fit inside the new bezels. Hence, Apple came up with the idea to copy the notch from the iPhone and use it on the upcoming MacBook Pros. Face ID may not be present though, since Apple is expected to stick with Touch ID.
The 2021 12.9” iPad Pro uses a mini-LED display that offers richer blacks and higher contrasts compared to both regular LED-backlit and LCD displays. According to the display analyst Ross Young, the new MacBook Pro will be the second Apple product that will feature this new display technology. Both models are also expected to feature ProMotion with a variable display refresh rate up to 120Hz.
Mac Mini
Mac mini has always been the most affordable option for someone that wants to enter the Apple ecosystem. Apple’s configuration choices were never aiming towards making the Mac Mini one of the most powerful Macs. On the contrary, Mac Mini has always been set up to be the entrance point to the macOS ecosystem. However, Apple has been usually releasing an additional, more powerful and less affordable configuration alongside most Mac Mini generations. According to the rumours Apple may be repeating itself this year as well and release a more powerful Mac Mini than the M1 version.
AirPods Gen 3
The original AirPods were released in December 2016 and were updated with a new chip and a wireless charging case in March 2019. Apple is now expected to announce the 3rd generation of AirPods almost 2.5 years after the release of AirPods Gen 2. The new AirPods 3 had been leaked several months ago. Apple is expected to release a new design with shorter stem, spatial audio, no ANC and a larger case similar to the one of the AirPods Pro. Audio quality is also expected to significantly improved, however the AirPods Pro will still be better.
Which Apple product are you mostly looking forward to checking from tomorrow’s Apple Event?
