Apple on Monday unveiled in an hourlong digital occasion new MacBook computer systems powered by Apple-made processors and an up to date mannequin of its standard AirPods.
Final 12 months, Apple launched a brand new line of computer systems with processors made by Apple with the help of a producing companion, breaking its reliance on the chip maker Intel. The corporate mentioned on the time that the brand new chip, known as the M1, would make Apple units sooner and extra energy environment friendly.
The brand new processors, the M1 Professional and the M1 Max, energy a brand new MacBook Professional that is available in a 14-inch and 16-inch mannequin, beginning at $2,000 and $2,500. The upgraded computer systems may have sooner processing speeds, higher graphics, improved audio high quality and a greater digicam, the corporate mentioned.
Apple additionally rolled again a number of the adjustments it has made to its laptops through the years, bowing to client demand by eliminating the unpopular Contact Bar, a contact display strip above the keyboard, and re-adding ports for an HDMI cable and an SD reminiscence card.
Apple additionally launched a 3rd technology of AirPods with higher audio high quality and longer battery life, for $179 — a $20 improve from the second iteration of the product — together with a brand new Apple Music subscription.
Apple computer systems helped make the corporate a well-known model, however the Mac lineup — luxurious units that sometimes price upward of $900 — has all the time been a small fry within the PC market. Final quarter, Apple computer systems accounted for 7.4 p.c of the worldwide PC market, far behind Lenovo, HP and Dell, which made up greater than 60 p.c of gross sales, in keeping with the analysis agency IDC.
Apple’s AirPods have been immensely standard since their debut in 2016. The wi-fi earbuds are high sellers amongst “hearables,” wi-fi earphones with sensors that discuss to telephones. This 12 months, AirPods have accounted for 57 p.c of the marketplace for high-end hearables, far forward of Samsung, which had 17 p.c, in keeping with a report by Counterpoint Analysis.
Apple’s announcement on Monday got here simply over a month after the tech big unveiled a brand new line of iPhones — the iPhone 13 sequence — an upgraded Apple Watch and a brand new iPad.
