Apple Reveals New Macbook Pro and AirPods at the ‘Unleashed’ Event

The Apple Unleashed event did not disappoint.

Apple recently hosted the much-awaited Unleashed event, unveiling new products that Apple enthusiasts have been waiting for, for a long time. Earlier during the 2021 Keynote event, we got the first look at the new iPad and iPad mini along with the Apple Watch Series 7. This time, the Unleashed event unveiled the new Macbook Pro and Airpods as the two most notable entries.

New Macbook Pro, AirPods 3 and more

The Unleashed event featured a live recording of Tim Cook, as he unveiled some of the most notable new releases.

HomePod Mini

First off, we got the first look at the HomePod mini. From what it looks, Apple is trying to get users back to Siri. Of course, alternatives such as Alexa and Google Assistant have outsmarted Siri in recent years with new advances. Though, the HomePod mini now comes in attractive new colours such as yellow. Nevertheless, Apple did not shy away from explaining how Siri pulls up Apple Music so quickly.

AirPods 3

The AirPods 3, which is perhaps the highlight of this event. From what it looks, the new AirPods are a lovechild of the shorter Pro version and the original longer-stemmed version. However, unlike the Pro version, the AirPods 3 do not come with silicone buds and noise-cancellation. What it does have is Spatial Audio, which helps create a 3D cinema-like sound. With that, it also offers dynamic head tracking, resulting in better immersion while listening to music. Overall, this makes the new AirPods perfect for commuting and everyday use.

The new AirPods are also incredibly suited for people who love hitting the gym or jogging in the rain due to their IPX4 water resistance for both the charging case and the buds. Furthermore, a full charge can give you a listening time of around 30 hours at a price point of $279 (AUD). Currently, the pre-orders for the Airpods are open while shipping will begin next week.

M1 Chips

Tim Cook also revealed the new M1 Max and M1 Pro chips. These are perhaps, the most powerful upgrades to come to Macs. Without getting into the numbers, one can say without a doubt that if the new chips are just half as powerful as Apple claims, they are a huge upgrade. This would make Macs a real powerhouse. Furthermore, the chips will also allow users to run iPhone and iPad apps on the Mac using the universal integration.

Macbook Pro

Finally, we have the new Macbook Pro that everyone has been waiting for. Finally, Apple has placed back all the ports on the new notebook. Now, we get an SD card slot along with an HDMI port. The Macbook Pro comes in a 14-inch and the 16-inch model with thinner bezels. This means that the screen size is larger than ever. However, these look slightly thicker, which might be necessary for cooling purposes. After all, the new Macbook Pro is an actual powerhouse.

The new MacBook Pro models feature an XDR Liquid Retina display with the same technology seen on the iPad Pro. This means that users get 1000 nits of brightness on full screen. So, creative people can enjoy a big color range and hence, better workflow.

Furthermore, the ProMotion technology allows the screen on the new MacBook Pro to reach a 120 HZ refresh rate. Furthermore, the 16-inch version, which is larger among the two new MacBook models, offers 7.7 million pixels. This is the highest number of pixels ever offered on a Macbook before.

Apple has stated that the new MacBook features a 1080p HD camera for Facetime. And this is the best one to date. Apple claims that this will improve the resolution two-fold and significantly enhance the performance in low-light.

Regarding this, the company stated, “The camera system taps into the powerful image signal processor (ISP) and Neural Engine of M1 Pro and M1 Max for computational video that enhances video quality — so users appear sharper with more natural-looking skin tones.”

On its front, users will get new high-fidelity six speakers via two tweeters featuring spatial audio. Well, the new Macbook models are not cheap, though. Based on the current information, both the 14 inch and 16-inch models are available for pre-orders at AUD $2999 and AUD $3749, respectively. According to Apple, the shipping will begin on 26 October 2021.