At their Spring Loaded event, Apple made a couple of announcements including a new iMac, iPad Pro, Apple TV 4K and the elusive AirTags.
iMac 24″ (2021)
The iMac has been given an entire design overhaul that’s thinner than ever before at just 11.5mm.
The new iMac now comes with a 24-inch display with a 4.5K resolution that offers 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, and over a billion colours.
Just like the company’s other Macs, the new iMac has made the transition to Apple Silicon with the M1 chip.
“M1 is a gigantic leap forward for the Mac, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new iMac, the first Mac designed around the breakthrough M1 chip,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With its striking design in seven stunning colours, its immersive 4.5K Retina display, the best camera, mics, and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID, combined with the amazing performance of M1 and the power of macOS Big Sur, the new iMac takes everything people love about iMac to an entirely new level.”
The new design also brings a 1080p FaceTime HD camera with studio-quality mics and a six-speaker sound system that supports Dolby Atmos.
While the display can show off a billion colours, the new iMac comes in seven colours including green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver.
On the back of the new iMac, you’ll find the four USB-C ports with two of them being Thunderbolt 3. There’s also a 1Gbps Ethernet port in the power adapter and Wi-Fi 6 support.
The power connector is now magnetically attached to the iMac to make it easier to plug in and get started using.
Each new iMac comes with a colour-matched new Magic Keyboard that including Touch ID for unlocking your device or making payments with Apple Pay. Touch ID on the new iMac also supports Fast User Switching, to let you quickly switch profiles with just your finger.
Pricing for the new iMac can be found below:
- Apple M1 (8-core CPU/7-core GPU) / 256GB / 8GB RAM – $1,599 CAD
- Apple M1 (8-core CPU/8-core GPU) / 256GB / 8GB RAM – $1,849 CAD
- Apple M1 (8-core CPU/8-core GPU) / 512GB / 8GB RAM – $2,049 CAD
The new iMac goes up for pre-order on April 30th and ships in the second half of May.
iPad Pro (2021)
Following the new iMac, Apple refreshed the iPad Pro which now comes with the M1 chip and a new display on the 12.9-inch model.
“The revolutionary M1 chip has been a breakthrough for the Mac, and we’re incredibly excited to bring it to iPad Pro,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With M1’s huge jump in performance, a groundbreaking extreme dynamic range experience on the 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, up to 2TB of high-speed storage, Thunderbolt expansion, a four-speaker audio system, pro cameras with LiDAR Scanner, blazing-fast 5G connectivity, an amazing video-calling experience with Center Stage — combined with the advanced features of iPadOS and a powerful pro app ecosystem all in a device users can hold in one hand — there’s nothing else like iPad Pro.”
As mentioned earlier, the new iPad Pro is powered by the M1 chip as featured in the latest Macs. This should help deliver 50 percent faster CPU performance than A12Z Bionic.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro now has a Liquid Retina XDR display that uses 10,000 LEDs to provide up to 1000 nits of full-screen brightness, 1600 nits of peak brightness, and a phenomenal 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio.
In both screen sizes, there’s a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, True Tone, HDR, Dolby Vision and P3 wide colour support.
The new iPad Pro works with the Magic Keyboard for iPad launched last year, which now comes in a white colour option.
If you need more storage, the iPad Pro can be optioned with up to 2TB of space. There’s also Wi-Fi 6, 5G support and the USB-C port is now Thunderbolt and USB 4.
The front-facing camera for Face ID has been upgraded to a 12MP ultra-wide angle lens to enable a feature called Center Stage. This feature keeps users in the centre of the frame during video calls.
Pricing for the new iPad Pro (11-inch) is below:
- 128GB Wi-Fi – $999 CAD
- 128GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,199 CAD
- 256GB Wi-Fi – $1,129 CAD
- 256GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,329 CAD
- 512GB Wi-Fi – $1,379 CAD
- 512GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,579 CAD
- 1TB Wi-Fi – $1,879 CAD
- 1TB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $2,079 CAD
- 2TB Wi-Fi – $2,379 CAD
- 2TB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $2,579 CAD
Pricing for the new iPad Pro (12.9-inch) is below:
- 128GB Wi-Fi – $1,399 CAD
- 128GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,599 CAD
- 256GB Wi-Fi – $1,529 CAD
- 256GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,729 CAD
- 512GB Wi-Fi – $1,779 CAD
- 512GB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $1,979 CAD
- 1TB Wi-Fi – $2,279 CAD
- 1TB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $2,479 CAD
- 2TB Wi-Fi – $2,779 CAD
- 2TB Wi-Fi & Cellular – $2,979 CAD
The new iPad Pro goes up for pre-order on April 30th and ships in the second half of May.
Apple TV 4K (2021)
Apple’s set-top box also got a refresh with the new Apple TV 4K.
The design of the new Apple TV 4K hasn’t changed but the specs have. The new box is powered by the A12 Bionic (as featured in the iPhone XS, XS Max and 2020 iPad).
The specs boost helps give the Apple TV 4K, “a significant boost in graphics performance, video decoding, and audio processing” according to Apple.
“Apple TV 4K is in a category of its own, leveraging a deep integration of Apple hardware, software, and services that delivers a massive upgrade to any TV for the very best cinematic experience,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the A12 Bionic and the all-new Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K lets customers enjoy their favourite shows, movies, and more in the highest quality, with simple and intuitive controls. And of course, Apple TV 4K offers easy access to Apple services, along with thousands of apps on the App Store for even more entertainment options.”
You can now watch HDR content and Dolby Vision at 60fps, so fast-moving action scenes play more smoothly.
For the new box, Apple is using an “innovative colour balance process” to help improve your TV’s picture quality when using the new Apple TV 4K.
While a lot of people weren’t big fans of the Siri remote, it has been redesign on the new Apple TV 4K. It now includes five-way navigation that is touch-enabled for fast directional swipes. There’s even a circular gesture to seek through films and shows.
The remote also includes a power button to turn off your TV and the voice button is now on the right side of the remote.
Continuing with Apple’s environmental initiatives, the Apple TV 4K will use 100% recycled aluminum in the Siri Remote enclosure, and 100% recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board.
The new Apple TV 4K comes in two storage options, 32GB for $229 CAD and 64GB for $249 CAD.
Pre-orders for the new Apple TV 4K start on April 30th and it’ll ship in the second half of May.
AirTag
The long rumoured AirTag is now official. The AirTag is essentially Apple’s take on trackers like Tile.
“We’re excited to bring this incredible new capability to iPhone users with the introduction of AirTag, leveraging the vast Find My network, to help them keep track of and find the important items in their lives,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing. “With its design, unparalleled finding experience, and built-in privacy and security features, AirTag will provide customers with another way to leverage the power of the Apple ecosystem and enhance the versatility of iPhone.”
The AirTag can be attached to keys, a backpack, or other items. And then when you need to find them, you just use the Find My app on your iOS device.
Each AirTag is made from stainless steel, are IP67 water and dust-resistant, includes a built-in speaker, uses Ultra-Wideband technology and has a removable battery. You can also engrave AirTag with text or an emoji.
There’s also plenty of accessories for AirTag including ones from Apple and third-party companies like Nomad, Belkin, Spigen and Moment.
AirTag will be available in a single pack for $39 CAD or a four-pack for $129 CAD. Pre-orders for AirTags begin on April 23rd and ship on the 30th.
New Purple colour for iPhone 12 and 12 Mini
Apple also introduced a new purple colour option for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini.
This new colour joins the five other colours the iPhones are available in including Black, Blue, White, Green and (Product)Red.
In our iPhone 12 review, we called it a “great all-around device” and “the one to get for most people.”
Pre-orders for the new colour of iPhone 12 and 12 Mini begin on April 23rd. The iPhone 12 starts at $1,129 CAD and the 12 Mini starts at $979 CAD.
Source: Apple
TheCanadianTechie 