US tech giant Apple has launched new MacBook Pro, AirPods 3 and new chipsets at its unleashed event. The new MacBook Pro will be available in 14-inch and 16-inch models with the new M1 Pro and M1 Pro Max chipsets. Along with this, Apple has also showcased HomePod Mini in new color variants.
Apple's new MacBook Pro with the new chipset is also available for order in India from today. The price of the 14-inch model starts at Rs 1,94,900, whereas the 16-inch MacBook Pro carries a price tag of Rs 2,39,900.
Apple MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pro features Liquid Retina XDR display, a wide range of ports for connectivity, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and the best audio system in a notebook. The Macbook Pro comes with fast charge support. It claimed to charge up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. The 14-inch model offers 17 hours of video playback. At the same time, the 16-inch model offers 21 hours of video playback. The new MacBook Pros come with MagSafe, HDMI, Thunderbolt 4 and small Notch. This year, Apple removed the touchbar from MacBook. Instead , it gets full-size function keys and a new black keyboard design. The new MacBook Pros come in Silver and Space Gray color options.
Apart from new MacBook Pro, Apple has also introduced M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets. The M1 Pro features powerful up-to-10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two high-efficiency cores, along with an up-to-16-core GPU, M1 Pro delivers up to 70 percent faster CPU performance than M1, and up to 2x faster GPU performance. M1 Pro also delivers up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth — nearly 3x the bandwidth of M1 — and supports up to 32GB of fast unified memory.
Coming to M1 Max, it features the same powerful 10-core CPU as M1 Pro, and doubles the GPU with up to a massive 32 cores for up to 4x faster GPU performance than M1. It also has up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth — 2x that of M1 Pro and nearly 6x that of M1 — and up to 64GB of fast unified memory.
Third-Gen Airpods
Apple also announced the third generation of AirPods featuring spatial audio, in a new contoured design. The new AirPods are sweat and water resistant, with an IPX4 rating for both the earbuds and the charging case. Moreover, AirPods also feature AAC-ELD, a superior speech codec that offers full HD voice quality, providing clear, natural communication for FaceTime calls.
A new skin-detect sensor accurately discerns if AirPods are in the ear -versus in a pocket or on a table and pauses playback when removed. To help with sound clarity, beam-forming microphones block out ambient noise and focus on the user’s voice, while users can also enjoy a hands-free experience by simply saying “Hey Siri” for requests.
Apple claims that the extended battery life enables up to six hours of listening time and up to 30 hours of total listening time with the convenient charging case.
The third generation AirPods will be available in India at a price of Rs 18,500. The sale of AirPods 3 will start in India from 26 October. Interestingly, Apple has also slashed down the price of 2nd-generation AirPods by Rs 2,000. The Apple AirPods 2nd generation now costs Rs 12,900 compared to Rs 14,900 before.