Apple's October event was all about YOU with a decent amount of audio for good measure. Although the reveals of the new 1-inch and 1-inch MacBook Pros were in the spotlight, there was plenty of news if you didn't pay close attention. There have been revelations about the successor to Apple's M1 chipset, its first in-house computing silicon. Or rather, successors: both the M1 Pro and the surprise M5 Max, which Apple says are more powerful than the MXNUMX, although we need to do a lot of testing to find out exactly how many. Even beyond the chipset, there's no question that the new XNUMX-inch MacBook Pro and XNUMX-inch MacBook Pro have improved over their predecessors simply by reversing certain recent design "innovations," such as the integration of HDMI and MagSafe. ports, such as a headphone jack. The oft-criticized Touch Bar is gone, replaced by basic function keys. Finally, we got new AirPods, which incorporate some of the best AirPods Pro features (but not noise cancellation, unfortunately). And HomePod mini is now available in even more colours, perfect for those who are fed up with the uniform black and gray tones of all the other smart speakers on the market. These are all the highlights that it surely grabbed from the headlines that made up after the event, but here are XNUMX things you might have missed in Apple Unleashed.
(Image credit: Apple)
MacBook Pro has multiple configurations that add to the cost...
While nothing beats the Mac Pro M1 for options that can send the cost out of list skyrocketing, newer MacBook Pro models have more options out of the box than their predecessors, which can quickly add up in cost. These include options for more RAM and storage, for example, but also something new: the ability to choose between 5 chipset configurations for the 3-inch MacBook Pro and 1 for the 1-inch MacBook Pro. You also won't have to choose between the M1 Pro and the M2 Max Ultimate. The 1-inch model starts with an Apple M1 Pro with an octa-core processor and 2-core GPU, which can be upgraded to a 1-core processor and 2-core GPU for a small additional cost. The top 1 upgrade levels move to an M1 Max chipset, ending up with a 1-core processor and a 100-core GPU. The 899-inch model only has the top-tier MXNUMX Pro model (XNUMX-core processor and XNUMX-core GPU), like the XNUMX MXNUMX Max configurations. Although we don't yet know much about the differences between the XNUMX chipsets, we do know that they have a difference in capacity due to their memory controllers: the MXNUMX Pro accepts up to thirty two GB of unified memory for up to two hundred GB/s of width. of memory bandwidth, while the MXNUMX Max supports up to XNUMX GB of unified memory and up to XNUMX GB/s of memory bandwidth. As another TechRadar colleague pointed out, the MXNUMX Max means you no longer need a gaming laptop for video editing. Load up any and all options for the pricier XNUMX-inch MacBook Pro and you'll get yourself $XNUMX / £XNUMX / AU$XNUMX. Wow.
(Image credit: Apple)
MacBook Pro battery life can last up to twenty-one hours…but surely fourteen more hours
Yes, Apple boasted about the battery life of the newer MacBook Pro models, claiming that the 1-inch had up to 1 hours of video playback, while the XNUMX-inch was capable of up to XNUMX hours. It can be assumed that it is about watching video media without carrying out a more intense activity; If you faites plutôt of the «browsing Web sans fil», like Apple looks like an occasional activity, attendez-vous à ce that your battery lasts more than eleven hours in fourteen hours and fourteen hours in sixteen hours, they are place. These are still impressive numbers: In our tests, we found the XNUMX-inch MacBook Pro (XNUMX), the forerunner of the new laptop, to get around XNUMX hours. At the lowest level, it is twenty-seven% more autonomy! While credit probably goes to better overall efficiency, such as the use of the new MXNUMX Pro and MXNUMX Max chipsets, that's not the only good news on the battery front: fast charging (via USB charger- C of XNUMX W included in tier configurations) can boost the new MacBook Pros by XNUMX% in XNUMX minutes, Apple claimed.
(Image credit: Apple)
With the launch of AirPods three, AirPods two sees its price drop
The AirPods XNUMX were unveiled at the Apple event with a number of new features, but one thing we didn't expect was that the earbuds you received, the AirPods XNUMX, would stay in the product line and get a drop in price, from € one hundred seventy-nine / €XNUMX / AU€XNUMX to only €XNUMX / €XNUMX, AU€XNUMX. That's a bigger price drop in some areas than others (or Apple just hasn't updated the prices on its sites), but for US buyers, it's a huge discount. We will have to see if it improves throughout Black Friday.
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple Music Voice seems limited to voice commands
Apple has introduced a new tier to its Apple Music subscription service: Apple Voice. The cheapest new tier of service at $XNUMX / £XNUMX / AU$XNUMX a month, Voice sounds like a good deal, though the fine print explains what you're giving up by going for the tier that costs as much as a subscription. . and half of an individual plan. So what are you giving up with Voice? Apple introduced Voice Tier as a Siri-focused version of the service, but it's unclear how much of Apple Music you'll be able to access through the smartphone app. For example, will you be able to search for songs visually or can they only be accessed via voice search via Apple's voice assistant? Subscribers will get "a tailored in-app experience with suggestions based on the listener's music preferences," according to a weblog post featuring Voice Level, suggesting they'll get a more limited version of the regular Apple Music app. It seems Apple is introducing this level as a simplified alternative for people who rely on the automation side of Apple Music: The company is adding "hundreds and hundreds of new activity and mood playlists" that "are absolutely optimized just for voice," according to the weblog. mail. You can still search for individual songs or artists; you may need to do this through Siri, not through manual navigation on your phone. Voice-level subscribers also can't use Apple Music on non-Apple devices, don't get spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, won't have access to lossless audio, can't see lyrics, and can't upload songs to their library, according to Apple Music. level descriptions. All of these are present at the Student/Individual levels and above; We're not sure if you can pick songs on the voice level without Siri, as that "perk" is just added to the level descriptions; compare the current description with last week's descriptions archived at The Wayback Machine.
(Image credit: Apple)
AirPods three can use iPhone 13's MagSafe chargers
Are you a true Apple AirPower connoisseur, and stubbornly want Apple one day to release their voided charging pad that was meant to charge 3 devices at once? Not only are we pretty sure it's dead, but the latest AirPods XNUMX feature strengthens its persistent demise: The case for the new true wireless earbuds charges via MagSafe. It's not the MagSafe XNUMX that charges the newer MacBook Pro models, of course: the magnetized roller-coaster chargers that plug into the back of the iPhone XNUMX and iPhone XNUMX. Whereas the AirPods XNUMX and AirPods Pro may have used wireless charging, the AirPods XNUMX may now take advantage of the magnetic-cradle charging that started with the XNUMX iPhones, suggesting that Apple may retain this hardware advantage. over a certain time. And who knows if that's going to happen on another device, iPad, anyone?