Apple announced multiple products at its Unleashed event last night. The company announced a new Apple music plan, new colours for HomePod Mini, new chipsets for the MacBook Pro lineup, and the third generation AirPods.
The star of the show was the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets powering the MacBook Pro lineup which now comes with a notch similar to the iPhone X from a few years back. Also, the new MacBook Pro lineup now skips Touch Bar and instead brings back a slew of connectivity ports. The new AirPods offer better battery life and an improved audio listening experience.
Here is everything you need to know about the new Apple products launched last night along with their pricing and availability in India.
Apple Music voice plan
Apple started off the event with a new and affordable Apple Music plan called the Voice Plan. Priced at Rs 49 per month, the Voice Plan is half the price of the standard Apple Music plan. This is for those who like to use Siri to command their Apple devices. You’ll be able to skip through songs using Siri.
With this plan, you can access songs, playlists, and stations. However, you will miss out on lyrics and music videos. You can access this on all Apple devices. You also miss out on spatial audio and lossless audio on this plan.
Apple Music Voice Plan: everything we know (and what we don’t)
Apple HomePod Mini gets new colour options
Apple’s most affordable smart speaker, the HomePod Mini will be available in three new colour options一 yellow, orange, and blue. Apart from the new colour options, everything else remains the same. It comes with a Siri voice assistant and smart home capabilities. It is powered by Apple’s S5 chipset and offers a 360-degree audio experience.
AirPods (3rd generation)
The third-gen AirPods brings support for spatial audio with dynamic head tracking (similar to the AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max), adaptive EQ, and longer battery life than their predecessors. They are sweat and water-resistant as well. These new AirPods are easy to set up and pair as they can be paired to all your Apple devices with a one-touch setup.
The buds offer 6 hours of battery life while the case is rated to offer four additional charge cycles 一 taking the total tally to 30 hours. A quick five-minute charge is said to offer one house of music listening. The new AirPods offer Magsafe as well as wireless charging options. They come with a new custom-made driver and a high dynamic range amplifier.
AirPods 3 are here: everything you need to know
MacBook Pro M1 Pro and M1 Max
Lastly, we have the star of the show 一 the new MacBook Pro NoteBooks. The new MacBook Pro machines can be configured with new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. The new M1 Pro chipset is built on a 5nm process, 200GB/s memory bandwidth, offers up to 32GB of unified memory, up to 10-core CPU, and up to 16-core GPU. The M1 Max chipset offers 400GB/s memory bandwidth, offers up to 64GB of unified memory, up to 10-core CPU, and up to 32-core GPU.
The new MacBook Pro is available with two screen size options and multiple CPU, RAM, and storage options. For the first time, Apple has introduced a 14-inch MacBook Pro along with the standard 16-inch MacBook Pro. These new MacBook Pros don't come with a Touch bar instead you get more port options.
The 14-inch variant comes with a 14.2-inch display and the 16-inch variant comes with a 16.2-inch screen. Both feature a Mini LED screen with ProMotion offering up to a 120Hz screen refresh rate. The display can sustain 1,000nits brightness and it has a peak brightness of 1,600nits.
In terms of port options 一 there is an HDMI, Thunderbolt 4, SD card slot on the right while a headphone jack, two thunderbolt ports, and Magsafe 3.0 port for changing on the left. The 14-inch model can last up to 17 hours while the 16-inch model can last up to 21 hours. For the first time, the Pro laptops also support fast charging. A 30-minute charge will offer a 50% battery. Other features include a Full HD webcam, macOSMonterey, magic keyboard with Touch ID, and
