Today at its One More Thing event Apple has announced three new Macs that are the first consumer Macs to feature the Apple designed M1 Chip for Mac.
The M1 Chip equipped Macs announced today include the new MacBook Air, Mac mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro. All three Macs feature new internals, kicking off Apple shift to ARM architecture based Apple Silicone from Intel processors.
According to Apple the M1 chip found in the new Macs delivers up to “3.5x faster CPU, up to 6x faster GPU, up to 15x faster machine learning (ML) capabilities, and battery life up to 2x longer than before”.
Let’s take a look at the three new M1 Chip Macs announced at the One More Thing event.
MacBook Air with M1 Chip
The first Mac that Apple announced at its One More Thing keynote was the MacBook Air with M1 Chip. This new MacBook Air features a 13-inch Retina Display with powerful Apple designed internals. Apple says this new device has an 8-core CPU that delivers 3.5x faster CPU performance compared to the previous generation. The MacBook Air also has an 8-core GPU, which delivers graphics up to 5x faster. The machine can also take better advantage of Machine Learning algorithms and can perform tasks like face recognition and object detect 9x faster. M1 Chip’s new storage controller and flash technology delivers 2x faster SSD performance on the new MacBook Air.
The addition of the M1 chip also provides significantly better battery life with up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing and 18 hours of video playback, which Apple says is the longest battery life ever on a MacBook Air. Users also get useful features like instant on, which allows them to instantly wake their Mac just like an iPad.
MacBook Air with M1 Chip is now available to order and will be shipped to customers next week. It has a starting price of $999 with the following specs.
Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 7‑Core GPU
256GB Storage
- Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 7‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine
- 8GB unified memory
- 256GB SSD storage¹
- Retina display with True Tone
- Magic Keyboard
- Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Users can also upgrade to 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD storage for the price of $1,249.
13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Chip
Apple has also announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro powered by its new M1 Chip. The MacBook Pro has the same design as the previous generation, however its the internals where we see some massive changes.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is equipped with M1 chip with 8-core CPU that delivers 2.8x faster performance than the previous generation. The 8-core GPU on this machine also delivers 5x faster performance than previous generation. Apple says the new MacBook Pro is 3x faster than the best-selling Windows laptio in its class. Machine Learning on the new MacBook Pro is 11x faster.
Battery life also sees some big improvements thanks to the new M1 Chip on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple claims that it can deliver 17 hours of wireless web browsing and 20 hours of video playback on a single charge. This is twice the battery life when compared to the previous MacBook Pro and “longest battery life ever on a Mac”.
Apple has shared some interesting real life differences that users will feel when using the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
- Build code in Xcode up to 2.8x faster.
- Render a complex 3D title in Final Cut Pro up to 5.9x faster.
- Fluidly design intricate game scenes in Unity Editor up to 3.5x faster.
- Perform ML tasks in Create ML up to 11x faster.
- Separate out beats, instrumentals, and vocal tracks from a recording in real time in djay Pro AI, thanks to the amazing performance of the Neural Engine.
- Play back full-quality, 8K ProRes video in DaVinci Resolve without dropping a single frame.
- Compile four times as much code on a single charge, thanks to the game-changing performance per watt of the M1 chip.
The base model of M1 chip equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro costs $1,299 with the following configuration. Customers can now order the MacBook Pro and it ships next week.
Apple M1 Chip with 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU
256GB Storage
- Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- 8GB unified memory
- 256GB SSD storage¹
- 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
- Magic Keyboard
- Touch Bar and Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Customers have the option to upgrade to 16GB RAM and 512GB hard drive for $1,499. A better value considering it is a ‘Pro’ device.
Mac mini with M1 Chip
The first and only Mac desktop that features the new M1 Chip – Apple’s own Silicone for the Mac is the Mac mini. The new Mac mini features the same compact design of its last generation but will all new internals. It has the M1 Chip with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU.
According to Apple the 8-Core CPU on the Mac mini delivers 3x faster performance than the previous generation while the 8-core GPU has a 6x increase in graphics performance. The new Mac mini can handle the Machine Learning tasks like a champ and delivers a 15x faster performance over its previous generation.
According to Apple the new M1 chip equipped Mac mini delivers 5x faster performance than the best-selling Windows desktop in the same price range. This is despite it being 1/10th of that desktop’s size.
The new Mac mini features Wi-Fi 6, ability to support two displays simaltaneously including Apple’s Pro Display XDR in full 6K resolution.
Apple has slashed the price of the M1 Chip Mac mini compared to last year offering a $100 lower price. The new Mac mini costs $699 and is available for purchase right now. It will be delivered to customers next week.
Apple M1 Chip with 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU
256GB Storage
- Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- 8GB unified memory
- 256GB SSD storage¹
- Gigabit Ethernet
Users can upgrade to 512GB storage by paying $899.
When will Apple launch macOS Big Sur?
Apple will release macOS Big Sur software update for all Macs on Thursday 12th November, 2020.
Source: Apple
