Tag: Apple Event October 2021

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro laptops support up to four external displays

Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max-powered MacBook Pro is capable of handling output to up to three external displays.

To start, the refreshed laptop and its accompanying powerful chip can output to two external displays with up to 6K in resolution at 60Hz. Taking things a step further, it can also handle three external displays at up to a 6K resolution at 60Hz and one 4K screen at 60Hz.

In comparison, M1 MacBook (2020), on the other hand, can run just one 5K monitor like Apple’s Pro Display XDR, for example, or a single 4K monitor through its USB-C port.

Back when the M1 MacBook Pro first launched, I ran into a lot of difficulties connecting it to my 4K HDR monitor at 60Hz. I was forced to switch from using USB-C to the standard HDMI port and an official Apple USB-C AV adapter in order to solve the issue.

Hopefully, Apple’s new M1 Pro and M1 Max-powered MacBook doesn’t suffer from the same issue.

Apple’s new MacBook Pro features an SD card slot, an HDMI port, the return of MagSafe and adopts a fresh new design with squared-off edges.

For all of our coverage from Apple’s event, follow this link.

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s macOS Monterey update will be available on October 25

Apple finally announced the release of macOS Monterey following its ‘Unleashed’ hardware event on October 18th. The newest version of the company’s desktop operating system will be available starting October 25th, according to the macOS preview page.

The iPhone-maker first shared details about Monterey back at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. Now, four months later, we finally have an official release date for the next version of macOS.

Monterey will ship with a ton of new features and chances for Macs, including unifying features across Apple products, such as notification profiles and SharePlay. Monterey will also add ‘Universal Control,’ a feature that lets people control their iPad with a Mac keyboard and mouse.

Apple’s Shortcuts app will also come with macOS Monterey, offering users access to a whole bunch of automations and other capabilities.

Perhaps the most significant upgrade, however, will come to Safari. With the new OS, Apple’s web browser will sport a whole new design with refreshed tabs, tab groups, and other features.

Unfortunately, several of the new Monterey features will not be coming to Intel-powered Mac devices. While not a surprise, it’s disappointing that Intel Macs will be excluded from some of the upgrades — especially ones that don’t actually rely on any specific hardware benefit of the M1 chip.

Those interested in learning more about macOS Monterey can check out our coverage here, or view the update preview page on Apple’s website.

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Mobile Syrup

The new MacBook Pros feature a NOTCH!

Apple has unveiled the highly anticipated new MacBooks with an HDMI port, an SD card reader, MagSafe compatibility and more, at its ‘Unleashed’ event on October 18th.

However, what’s noteworthy is that the new MacBooks now feature an upgraded 1080p camera design with a centred notch. Yep, you read that right. Just like the iPhones, the new MacBooks now feature a notch.

With 24 percent thinner bezels on the sides and a 60 percent thinner top bezel that wraps around the camera notch, the 16-inch MacBook now covers 16.2-inches of display real estate, whereas the 14-inch model cover 14.2-inches of display space.

Additionally, the mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display features ProMotion with refresh rates up to 120Hz with up to 1 billion colours.

The upgraded camera features computational video for Machine Learning (ML) based noise reduction, ML-based Face detection, local tone mapping, auto white balance, Auto exposure and Smart HDR.

Developing…

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Mobile Syrup

Apple unveils new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips for its pro MacBooks

Apple unveiled highly anticipated new MacBooks at its ‘Unleashed’ event on October 18th. One of the key components behind the new computers is the company’s new, more powerful M1 chips.

Dubbed the ‘M1 Pro,’ the first new chip scales up the M1 architecture with support for up to 32GB of memory at three times faster speed than M1. Additionally, M1 Pro boasts two times more transistors than M1 and is available in up to 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU versions.

Overall, the new M1 Pro boasts two times faster graphics performance than M1 and can handle two streams of 4K video at once through the new ‘Display Engine’ for handling output to multiple displays.

Along with the new M1 Pro, Apple unveiled the M1 Max chip, boasting an insane two times performance uplift over the M1 Pro and six times uplift over the M1.

M1 Max can support up to 64GB of unified memory, boasts a 32-core CPU and two times faster video encoding. Apple says the M1 Max supports output to up to four external displays. In typical Apple fashion, the company also showed off several charts comparing performance between M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max compared to PCs.

The charts are somewhat vague, but showcase the company’s bold claims. For example, Apple claims the M1 Pro and Max chips boast 1.7x more performance than an “8-core PC laptop chip” while using significantly less power. Similarly, Apple claims the GPU in the M1 Pro offers similar performance to “discrete PC laptop graphics” while using 70 percent less power.

Moreover, some of these benefits come from how Apple adapts macOS to work with its in-house silicon. For example, Apple says that macOS can take advantage of the performance and efficiency cores by targeting different tasks to them to ensure performance or save power when necessary. Similarly, macOS can make use of the M1 chips’ unified memory, which can improve performance by avoiding the need to copy data between memory for discrete components.

However, it remains to be seen how well the new M1 Pro and Max perform in real-world testing. I’m especially curious to see how professional users feel about the new chips since they appear to target that market.

Finally, Apple also provided an update on its transition to universal apps made for the company’s M1 chips. There are now over 10,000 universal apps.

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s HomePod mini now comes in blue, orange and yellow

Apple’s HomePod mini is now available in more colours.

Starting now, you can buy the Siri-powered smart home speaker in ‘Blue,’ ‘Orange’ and ‘Yellow.’ The new colours join the ‘White’ and ‘Space Grey’ variants that are already available.

In Canada, the new HomePod mini colours cost $129 and launch in November. Apple first released the HomePod mini back in October of 2020. The mini is the only smart speaker Apple sells after discontinuing the original HomePod earlier this year.

For more on the HomePod mini, check out our review of the smart home speaker.

Click here to follow our coverage of the October 18th Apple event.

Image credit: Apple