Apple is holding its spring hardware launch event where the company is revealing new hardware, software and services. Here are some of the latest updates, in reverse chronological order.
Update: Apple’s Spring Loaded event has now ended. Check out the major announcements below, or read Liliputing’s article about the new iPad Pro for more details on Apple’s first tablets with M1 chips, up to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, and a mini LED display (for the 12.9 inch model).Â
You can also find more information about Apple’s other new products and services in the press releases for the new iMac, iPad Pro, Apple TV 4K, AirTag, and Apple Podcasts app.
Apple iPad Pro 11 with an M1 chip starts at $799, and the iPad Pro 12.9 with a Liquid Retina XDR display starts at $1099. They both go up for pre-order April 30 and ship in the second half of May. pic.twitter.com/qBsH4XChPR
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The iPad Pro 12.9 display also has a 2,596 local dimming zones, 120 Hz touch sampling rate, support for Apple Pencil input, and a Retina resolution. One other thing about the new iPad Pro that I didn’t squeeze into a previous update: it’ll be available with 5G. pic.twitter.com/icTBwue1Fw
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The 12.9 inch iPad Pro has a “Liquid Retina XDR” has a brighter, higher-contrast display with more than 10K mini LED lights to achieve visuals similar to the companies Apple Pro XDR displays. The previous iPad Pro had just 72 LEDs. The tablet is 6.4mm thin and weighs 1.5 pounds. pic.twitter.com/h5zwD4qUxA
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The new iPad Pro cameras work with the M1 chip for features like real-time green screen or augmented reality apps. There’s also HDR 3 support and improved low-light performance. Front 12MP ultra-wide camera supports Face ID and Center Stage (pan video to follow you as you move). pic.twitter.com/xxm9YIYg2s
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The new iPad Pro features an Apple M1 chip with 50-percent faster performance than the previous-gen model. Still running iPadOS rather than macOS, but it’s the same 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU used in Apple’s latest Macs. New is Thunderbolt and 2X faster storage (up to 2TB). pic.twitter.com/ZhnX3JX8vi
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
iMac with Apple M1 chip goes up for pre-order April 30 for $1299 and up and ships in the second half of May. pic.twitter.com/0i0txYvGkE
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
New iMac keyboards include a model with Spotlight, Dictation, DnD, emoji, and Lock keys, and another with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. pic.twitter.com/hE33VVxS6S
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
Apple says the new iMac with M1 offers up to 85 percent faster CPU performance, 2X faster GPU performance, and up to 3X AI performance. It also has up to 4 USB-C ports (including 2 Thunderbolt) and an Ethernet port in the power adapter. pic.twitter.com/XkWhoKR8NQ
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
Launching during the pandemic and the work-from-home/video conferencing boom, Apple equipped the new M1 iMac with a 1080p webcam (2X the resolution of previous-gen) designed to work well with low-light, a 3-mic array with beamforming, and speakers with spatial audio support. pic.twitter.com/Gg3gTtKLs5
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The new iMac is a colorful, ultra-thin all-in-one desktop designed around an Apple M1 chip with a smaller, quieter thermal system, a more colorful design and a body that’s just 11.5mm thin, or half the thickness of the previous-gen. pic.twitter.com/JWcUv3yKsN
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
The new Apple TV 4K goes up for pre-order April 30 for $179 and up and ships in mid-May. It has an Apple A12 processor, a new Siri remote, and support for using an iPhone’s sensors to help color balance your TV picture. pic.twitter.com/6AwJN6C9Xu
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
Apple’s AirTags are like Tile trackers… but for Apple products, and with privacy baked in. Price at $29 or $99 for a 4-pack, they don’t share your data with Apple or anyone else, and work with the Find My app on iPhones with U1 chips to guide you to your stuff. pic.twitter.com/l4P6Sswf88
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
Apple provides preview of the new Apple Podcasts app with a new UI and new features including Apple Podcasts subscriptions for creators that want to charge for premium content (whether people want to pay remains to be seen). pic.twitter.com/CIOIjEQSi0
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) April 20, 2021
More (consumer ARM) hardware to run Linux for Christmas 2021.
Godspeed AsahiLinux project, marcan, Alyssa Rosenzweig et al.
I like the return of the colorful iMac line. They should do a flower power one too!
It’s like…an ipad on a stand with no battery, even more so now that the ipads have the m1.
Far be it from my place to suggest marketing strategy to apple, but it’s like…if I was given an all in one desktop that thin, I’d kind of want to take it off the stand and use it as a tablet. Unless it’s more than 30 inches or so.
Or better yet!
Let the iMac grow to a 32in size (16:10 ratio), and have the hinge fold down to have the screen staying low to the top-of-desk. Now add touchscreen. Voila!
You have a Home Tablet, that doubles as your Desktop PC. I think the 16GB RAM and 1TB storage are good, but the CPU is a tad underpowered. Where it’s lacking the most is no support of dGPUs, or eGPU solutions. So graphically your days are numbered.