MacBook with iPhone-Style Notch and AirPods 3 at $179: Apple Unveils New Products
The company also introduced new colors for the HomePod mini speaker.
On October 18, Apple held its second online autumn presentation of new products.
We cover the company's new products and changes to its familiar lineup.
MacBook Pro
At the presentation, Apple officially unveiled the MacBook Pro with a new design for the first time in five years.
The bezels around the mini-LED display have shrunk by 24%, which has created a notch in the screen for the front camera, similar to the iPhone. Screen brightness has been increased to 1600 nits.
The laptop with the updated design is available in two sizes, 14" and 16", and the display supports a 120 Hz refresh rate and HDR.
Besides the displays, one of the main innovations is the advanced M1 Pro and M1 Max ARM processors. The first one's bandwidth has increased 3 times compared with the previous generation, to 200 Gb/s, and the second one's by 6 times, to 400 Gb/s.
M1 Pro supports up to 32 GB of RAM, while M1 Max supports up to 64 GB.
It is also notable that the redesigned MacBook has regained a large number of ports that had been removed from recent versions.
The laptop now offers HDMI, 3 Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, an SD card slot, a headphone jack and a new MagSafe magnetic connector with increased bandwidth.
The 16-inch version now has six stereo speakers with support for Dolby Atmos "spatial audio."
Battery life of the MacBook Pro 14 is 17 hours, and the MacBook Pro 16 offers 21 hours.
The MacBook Pro 14 will cost from $1,999, and the MacBook Pro 16 from $2,499
AirPods 3
Apple also introduced the entry-level third-generation AirPods.
AirPods 3 received a new body with a short stem and now look similar to AirPods Pro, except without silicone ear tips and active noise cancellation. The new generation of earbuds also offers protection against sweat and water.
At the same time, the pairing system has been improved: once the case is opened, the earbuds connect to all of the user's devices within the Apple ecosystem.
The most anticipated improvement, naturally, is battery life. On a single charge, the earbuds now last 6 hours. The maximum playback time is 30 hours.
Fast charging is also supported: 5 minutes on the charger provides one hour of battery life. AirPods 3 also support MagSafe and wireless charging.
AirPods 3 is already available to order on Apple's official website. In the US, the new product is priced at $179, and the earbuds will go on general sale from October 26.
Other innovations
The HomePod mini home wireless speaker has come in new colors, but has not received any other significant changes.
Its price remains $99, and its advantages include control of the Siri voice assistant.
Apple Music will get a new subscription tier, Voice Plan. It gives access to music only through Siri voice requests and costs $4.99 per month.
The music service will also get playlists "for different life situations."
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