Silicon M1 chip to MacBook Air: Everything Apple unveiled at November event 2020

Apple launched new M1 chipset-powered Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro with prices starting at Rs 58,410.

US-based technology major Apple on Tuesday (November 10) hosted 'One More Thing' event to unveil the company's first-ever in-house made M1 series chipset for PCs along with a new line of MacBook Pro, Air, and Mac mini PCs at Apple Park.

Apple Silicon M1
It is a power-packed proprietary chipset M1 made using 5-nanometer process technology. It comes equipped with a whopping 16 billion transistors. Compare that to A14 Bionic, which has 11.8 billion transistors.

Also, M1 features an 8-core CPU consisting of four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. With this, Apple claims M1 is the world’s fastest CPU core in low-power silicon, the world’s best CPU performance per watt, the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and breakthrough machine learning performance with the Apple Neural Engine.

"As a result, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, all while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs. With its profound increase in performance and efficiency, M1 delivers the biggest leap ever for the Mac," the company said.

Apple M1's eight cores can run close to 25,000 threads simultaneously and the GPU can handle any heavy-duty task with ease, smooth playback of multiple 4K video streams, and even render complex 3D scenes. With 2.6 teraflops of throughput, M1 has the world’s fastest integrated graphics on a personal computer, the company said.

The new 5nm class M1 chipset. Credit: Apple

Furthermore, Apple M1 comes with advanced 16-core architecture and is capable of running 11 trillion operations per second. The Neural Engine in M1 enables up to 15x faster machine learning performance and it can do tasks such as video analysis, voice recognition, and image processing smoothly.

It also comes with the latest image signal processor (ISP) for higher quality video with better noise reduction, greater dynamic range, and improved auto white balance, next-generation Secure Enclave for best-in-class security, high-performance storage controller with AES encryption hardware for faster and more secure SSD performance, low-power & highly efficient media encode and decode engines for great performance and extended battery life.

It also features an Apple-designed Thunderbolt controller with support for USB 4, transfer speeds up to 40Gbps, and compatibility with more peripherals.

Even the upcoming macOS Big Sur is custom engineered to the core to support the M1 chipset. Also, Mac users can run a wider range of apps than ever before and all of Apple’s Mac software is now Universal and runs natively on M1 systems, the company added. macOS Big Sur will be rolled out as free software to all the eligible devices from November 12 onwards.

New MacBook Air
The new MacBook Air comes in a sleek and compact form and yet, with the M1 Silicon ( having 8-core CPU + 8-core GPU), it can deliver more than 8.5X better performance and graphics rendering 9X faster compared to the previous generation.

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Apple also says that M1 chip’s storage controller and latest flash technology can deliver up to 2x faster SSD performance, so previewing massive images or importing large files is faster than ever. It also proclaimed that the new M1-powered MacBook Air is faster than 98% of all the PC laptops sold in 2019.

Thanks to an efficient M1 chipset, the new MacBook Air can deliver up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 18 hours of video playback — the longest battery life ever on a MacBook Air series

Key features of the new MacBook Air. Credit: Apple

In India, the new MacBook Air prices start at Rs 92,900 and students, who plan to buy through an education plan, can avail of it for a special price of Rs 83,610.

New MacBook Pro
With the M1 chip and macOS Big Sur, the 13-inch MacBook Pro promises to deliver buttery-smooth performance. The 8-core CPU, when paired with the MacBook Pro’s active cooling system, it can clock CPU speed up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation and this will enough to smoothly compile code, transcode videos, editing high-resolution photos, and other heavy-duty tasks.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 chipset. Credit: Apple

The company says that the 8-core GPU is up to 5x faster, allowing users to enjoy super-smooth graphics performance whether they are designing a graphics-intensive game or a new product.

And with M1, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is up to 3x faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in its class. Also, Machine Learning capability is up to 11x faster, and for on-device ML tasks that use the Neural Engine, it is said to the world's fastest compact notebook range in the market.

It can deliver up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and up to a staggering 20 hours of video playback, MacBook Pro delivers up to twice the battery life of the previous generation and the longest battery life ever on a Mac.

Key features of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro. Credit: Apple

Furthermore, it boasts Secure Enclave in M1 and Touch ID. It also features two Thunderbolt ports with USB 4 support to connect to more peripherals than before, including Apple’s Pro Display XDR in full 6K resolution. The PC comes with a 13-inch retina display, Magic Keyboard, and 3-pound compact design.

In India, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro prices start at Rs 1,22,900, and students, who plan to buy through an education plan, can purchase it for a special price of Rs 1,10,610.

New Mac mini
It also features the all-new Apple Silicon M1 chipset. It houses an 8-core CPU and promises to offer up to 3x faster performance than the previous generation and can be used to heavy-duty tasks like high-resolution video editing and others. Also, its 8-core GPU can deliver up to a massive 6x increase in graphics performance, allowing Mac mini to tackle performance-intensive tasks like complex 3D rendering with ease.

Also, Apple says that Machine Learning (ML) workloads also take a quantum leap forward with up to 15x faster performance over the previous generation.

And when compared to the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range, the Mac mini is just one-tenth the size, yet delivers up to 5x faster performance, the company added.

The new Mac mini. Credit: Apple

Also, it comes with an advanced thermal design to sustain during heavy workload and perform at maximum speed, while staying cool and quiet. It also supports up to two displays including Apple’s Pro Display XDR in full 6K resolution, and Wi-Fi 6 for faster wireless performance and the Secure Enclave security.

In India, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro prices start at Rs 64, 900, and students, who plan to buy through an education plan, can purchase it for a special price of Rs 58,410.

Apple's eco-friendly initiatives enforced for manufacturing new Macs and also the retail packaging with recycled materials. Credit: Apple

All three new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini are available to order on the Apple store online in India. In the coming weeks, they will be shipped to the customer's home and also, authorised retail brick-and-mortar stores will also start selling them off-the-shelf.

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