Today will go down in history as one of the most game-changing day for Apple as the Cupertino giant has revealed the first-ever machine running on Apple¡¯s homegrown silicon-- the Apple M1.?
This launch not only revealed the computing and graphical prowess of its newest hardware but also a set of new devices that are going to feature this. Here¡¯s all that Apple announced at its ¡®One more thing¡¯ event.?
The Apple M1 CPU is an eight-core CPU where four cores are heavy performance cores whereas the remaining four cores are dedicated for light workflow.?
The CPU has been developed on a 5-nanometre processor making it powerful as well as extremely power efficient. It features 16 billion transistors to make the performance seamless.?
Apple M1 CPU comes with up to 8-core GPU which as per Apple¡¯s claims is faster than any existing integrated GPU found in the market. The CPU is also loaded with a 16-core neural engine capable of carrying out 11 trillion operations per second.?
Along with the CPU, they launched a slew of Apple machines that will be featuring their new homegrown silicon.?
As expected, Apple unveiled its first machine running on Apple¡¯s M1 CPU -- The MacBook Air. Aesthetically it is identical to the previous iteration of Air, featuring the signature sleek and light design with the two Thunderbolt ports to the right and a headphone jack (thank god) to the right.?
You still get the crispy 13.3-inch Retina display sporting P3 colour gamut for a vibrant viewing experience. However, with the new M1 silicon, Apple claims that the Air can offer up to 3.5 times faster CPU performance and 5 times more graphics performance than previous Intel CPUs.? You get up to 16GB memory and up to 2TB of SSD storage.
And since these are ARM-based CPUs, on the MacBook Air, Apple is going fanless. The ARM nature also promises better battery life with up to 18 hours of usage on a single charge, as per the company claims. MacBook Air with M1 starts at a price tag of Rs 92,900.
Another Mac machine that has received a much-needed upgrade is the tiny desktop computer -- the Mac Mini. Mac Mini claims to be 3 times faster in CPU performance and up to 6 times faster in graphical performance. It also boasts 15 times faster machine learning capabilities.?
In terms of storage and RAM you can upgrade up to 16GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD. Unlike the Air, Mac Mini gets an active-cooling solution. Moreover, the Mac Mini seems to be more graphically powerful as it is also capable of supporting up to 6K external displays, something Air isn¡¯t capable of.?
In terms of I/O, you get two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, two USB A 3.0 ports, a headphone jack and a gigabit ethernet port. The new Mac Mini with M1 starts at Rs 64,900.
With the new M1, Apple hasn¡¯t forgotten the MacBook Pro. Apple claims that the M1 MacBook Pro is capable of delivering up to 2.8 times faster performance and up to 5 times faster graphical performance. It also boasts 11 times faster machine learning performance. You get the option to go up to 16GB for memory and up to 2TB of superfast SSD for storage.
Like the Mac Mini, the MacBook Pro gets active cooling as well as support to connect to 6K monitors, like Apple¡¯s Pro Display XDR.
MacBook Pro also gets a TouchBar with the classic Magic Keyboard. The screen is still the 13.3-inch Retina panel with support for P3 wide colour gamut. You get a bunch of other goodies like advanced camera ISPs to make sure the video calls are sharper and well lit as well as studio mics for better audio capture.?
Apple claims that the MacBook Pro can last up to 20 hours on a single charge, which is truly crazy. MacBook Pro with M1 starts at a price tag of Rs 122,900.?