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Taking a look at another week of Cupertino news and headlines, this week’s Apple Loop includes the impact of Apple’s new M1 processor, the launch of the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, why nothing has changed for consumers , iPhone 13 features leak, reviewing the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 Mini, listening to the HomePod Mini and Apple’s annoying server issues.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many discussions that have taken place at Apple over the past seven days (and you can read my weekly Android news roundup here on Forbes).
The power behind the M1 chip
This week’s ‘One More Thing’ event saw Apple reveal three new pieces of Mac hardware, but perhaps the most important is the M1 chip that sits at the heart of the next generation of Mac. This is the first chip based on Apple’s ARM on desktop architecture, and it has made big claims about its performance. After an extensive look at the presentation, Andrei Frumusanu sums it up well:
“Apple claims the M1 is the fastest CPU in the world. Given our data on the A14, outperforming all Intel designs and falling short of AMD’s newer Zen3 chips: a higher frequency Firestorm above 3GHz, the cache 50% larger L2, and unleashed TDP, we can certainly believe that Apple and the M1 can pull off that claim.
“This moment has been brewing for years, and the new Apple Silicon is shocking, but also highly anticipated. In the coming weeks we will try to get our hands on the new hardware and verify Apple’s claims.”
More on Anandtech.
UKRAINE – 11/10/2020: In this photo illustration, the Apple M1 chip computer logo seen on a mobile device … [+]
Here come the Mac M1
All chip advancements will be nothing if the hardware isn’t there. And the hardware was there at the event, orders were opened when the event closed, and deliveries the following week. In addition to the two expected Mac laptops, Apple also announced a new Mac Mini. Given the added cooling compared to laptops, this is likely to be the highest potential performing Mac of the advertised Macs. Benjamin Mayo for 9to5Mac:
“The new Mac mini features the same industrial design, but with greatly improved performance thanks to the M1 chip. Apple also lowered the price, now from $ 699. Apple declared that the Mac mini is 5 times faster than the best-selling desktop PCs. The M1 chip also brings the Neural Engine to the Mac mini for the first time, enabling fast and highly optimized machine learning workflows. “
Next up is the MacBook Pro. A slight drop in performance, likely due to lower cooling capabilities, consumers will notice that these MacBook Pros take over the ‘lower tier’ MacBook Pro machines in Apple’s portfolio (the lack of ports is a great gift), but once again the higher performance is the great attraction of Apple. Nathan Ingraham for Engadget:.
“Like the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini, the 13-inch MacBook Pro looks identical to Intel’s current model. Apple says it will perform 2.8 times faster compared to the existing model, and the eight-inch GPU The M1’s cores are 5 times faster. Overall, Apple says the laptop is 3 times faster than the best-selling comparable Windows laptop. While the MacBook Air is fanless, Apple kept a fan on the MacBook Pro to that it can operate at higher maximum levels for longer. “
You finally have the MacBook Air. Thanks to the lower operating temperature of the ARM chip, the MacBook Air can dispense with the cooling fan while increasing battery life. Roman Loyola for MacWorld:
“Apple also touts longer battery life, with 15 hours of web browsing (up to 11 hours), 18 hours of video playback (up to 12 hours), and twice the life during video conferencing as before. Apple offers two configurations standard MacBook Air, priced at $ 999 and $ 1249. Both models have an M1 chip, which has a total of 8 processing cores (four performance cores and four efficiency cores) and integrated graphics. “
The new Macs
One of the cool points that wasn’t specifically mentioned in the presentation was the removal of the Intel-powered MacBook Airs and the aforementioned lower-tier MacBook Pros. It is a movement that explains Apple’s path with the consumer, because it suggests that nothing has changed. The MacBook Air that you can buy today occupies the same roll as yesterday. I took a look at this strategy earlier in the week:
“With the benefits of ARM technology, Apple could have entered the market currently occupied by high-end Chromebooks and the mid-range PC market. That could still happen, and the 12-inch form factor of the recently rested MacBook remains tempting to close.
Instead, Apple stuck with the MacBook Air. If there was a stronger signal that Apple wasn’t going to advance the overall product line, then it was this. The fact that the Intel-powered MacBook Air was quietly removed of the portfolio, to be totally replaced by the MacBook Air with ARM technology made it clear. Apple is making progress on the bottom line. There will be minimal disruption to the consumer. “
Read more about subtle strategy.
Fixing iPhone 12 defects
Apple’s focus this week is on the Mac family, but that hasn’t stopped the iPhone train. While the iPhone 12 seeks to continue consistent sales of previous phones, it made a number of compromises, possibly due to supply chain issues thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, which will need to be addressed in the future to offer spec parity with the ones. Android devices. Gordon Kelly of Forbes reports on the latest details of the iPhone 13:
“The highly trusted Korean website The Elec has revealed that Apple’s iPhone 13 will fix two of the biggest disappointments about the iPhone 12 lineup: its low refresh rate displays and mediocre battery life, both victims of the adaptation. from Apple to its new phones with degraded batteries. And the secret is not bigger batteries, but smarter display panels. “
Read more here on Forbes.
IPhone 12 Pro Max review
In the wake of the lifting of the review embargo on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro in late October. This week it was the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max’s turn to come under the scrutiny of critics. The big draw of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the camera, which is the most advanced of the four models in the iPhone 12 family. With a Lidar sensor to aid autofocus and a third telephoto lens for improved optical zoom, the 12 Pro Max It should be the weapon of choice for portable photographers. Patrick Holland takes a look at the iPhone 12 Pro Max and highlights the camera’s low-light performance:
“One way Apple has addressed this is by giving the 12 Pro Max’s main wide-angle camera a larger sensor. Combined with an f1.6 lens, the new sensor gets an 87% improvement in low-light capability, according to Apple. On paper, that’s impressive. To help even more, the 12 Pro Max has sensor-based optical image stabilization instead of the lens-based OIS found in the 12, 12 Mini and 12 Pro. the sensor, Apple claims you get the equivalent of a stoplight, which again, on paper is impressive. “
More on CNet.
IPhone 12 Mini review
At the other end of the scale you have the iPhone 12 Mini. Arguably the true successor to the iPhone 11 if you put Apple’s move aside to include it in a new lower-tier category, the 12 Mini will attract the same crowd that appreciated the small size and high performance of the 2020 iPhone SE. The big question is, of course, the battery performance. Lauren Goode addresses that in her review:
“The battery life of the iPhone 12 Mini was better than I expected, but still not great. On a particularly busy day last week, I unplugged the charger from the phone at 11 AM, I used Google Maps for About 20 minutes, I listened to a couple of podcasts, took photos and videos, made a few phone calls (including one that lasted over an hour), surfed Twitter and Instagram, and watched Netflix at night. I hit the 10 percent mark. battery power around 10 pm So the phone didn’t “It wouldn’t have lasted a ‘full day’ if my phone test had started that morning.”
The full review is on Wired.
Next is the HomePod Mini
Also on this week’s review list is Apple’s smart speaker.The smallest of the voice-powered speakers, it’s a device that not only collects information from Apple’s own ecosystem, but also requires you to already own some products. Apple key. Samuel Gibbs has heard its limitations:
“The HomePod mini is different from other smart speakers in that it is not cross-platform. If you don’t have a seventh-generation or newer iPhone 6S, iPad Air 2, or iPod touch, you can’t set it up, and while anyone can talk to it, a lot of the features require each person to have their own iPhone. “
More in The Guardian.
And finally…
With the public release of macOS 11, the millions of users who downloaded the operating system update put a significant load on Apple’s servers, causing installation issues and a slowdown in regular use thanks to slower verification. The Ars Technica team reports:
“Other Apple services also faced slowdowns, outages, and strange behavior, including Apple Pay, Messages, and even Apple TV devices.
“It didn’t take long for some Mac users to realize that trustd, a macOS process responsible for checking with Apple’s servers to confirm that an application is notarized, was trying to communicate with a host called oscp.apple.com but failed. repeatedly. It caused a system-wide slowdown when applications tried to launch, among other things. “
The issue now hangs to resolve, presumably because the download rate has dropped.
Apple Loop brings you seven-day highlights every weekend here at Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss out on any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
