In this morning’s Apple announcement, industry rumours rightly guessed the new MacBook Pro that’s been long overdue for a revamp. It largely looks similar to previous MacBook Pro models, but with heaps of improvements on the inside, the death of the Touch Bar, and more ports — ones that we actually need. Here’s the rundown.

MacBook Pro

Above: The new MacBook Pro comes in 16″ and 14″ display sizes.

The much-anticipated redesigned MacBook Pro is announced alongside two new chips — M1 Pro and M1 Max. Both these chips are more powerful versions of Apple’s existing M1 chip, and obviously deliver better and faster performance, and power and memory management. The M1 Max, in particular, is Apple’s largest chip ever, and in the brand’s benchmark tests, it sounds insanely fast. For example, compared to the existing highest-end MacBook Pro 13″, its graphics performance is up to 13x faster! Apple also did a whole bunch of benchmark tests against high-end PC chips and laptops, and the new Apple chips beat them out in every aspect. Apple claims the chips are power efficient as well. For example, you get two-times battery life editing photos in Lightroom than the previous MacBook Pro chip.

Above: The M1 Max Chip is the largest chip apple has ever made for their laptops.

There are two sizes of the new MacBook Pro: a 16″ and a compact 14″. The keyboard finally gets rid of the Touch Bar (I keep hitting the Siri “button” accidentally), and the new Magic Keyboard has a wider escape key.

Above: The Keyboard finally gets rid of the Touch Bar.

Ports also make a great comeback; on one side, there’s an HDMI, Thunderbolt, and SD card slot (yai!), and on the other side, two more Thunderbolt ports and an audio jack; while charging is done through a MagSafe charger again (if it works bring it back, right?).

Above: Magsafe charging is a welcome return, and it supports fast charging too.

As expected, there’s more screen real estate across both display sizes, and with a ProMotion refresh rate of 120Hz (just like the new iPhone 13 Pros). It’s also a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display (inspired by that super ex standalone Apple display that no one can afford).

Above: The Liquid Retina xdr display is almost edge-to-edge.

The camera has doubled in resolution to 1080p so you’ll (hopefully) look better in your Zoom meetings, though you’re still going to want to take selfies with your iPhone — the MacBook Pro camera is really just good for video calls. The inbuilt speakers are also new and improved (there’s a 6-speaker sound system), and it supports spatial audio, which is supposed to be a theatre-like experience.

Above: the enclosure is made from 100% recycled aluminium.

Other good things to note: fast charge is also supported; 50% of the battery can be charged in just 30 minutes. And the enclosure is made from 100% recycled aluminium.

Available in Silver and Space Grey, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $2,999, and $2,769 for education; the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $3,749, and $3,449 for education.

Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options, and accessories are available at apple.com/sg/mac.

Available to order soon on apple.com/sg/store and in the Apple Store app, select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorised Resellers.

AirPods 3rd Generation with Spatial Audio

Above: Airpods 3rd generation with spatial audio.

The latest AirPods feature an all-new design inside and out. A new contoured shape looks comfortable to wear, and claims to deliver sound directly to the ears; while Adaptive EQ adjusts frequencies and tunes the sound as it plays.

The Spatial Audio feature is the highlight of this new version, and what it does is that it creates a three-dimensional theatre-like experience so everything sounds better (I imagine more natural, like the band is playing live right in front of you).

Above: check out Apple TV shows like foundation, that are made to sound even better with spatial audio,

With a full charge, you get six hours of listening time (an hour more than the previous generation). The case also now supports MagSafe charging.

Above: The case now supports magsafe charging.

AirPods (3rd generation) is available to order soon, priced at $269.

HomePod mini, now in colour

Above: The HomePod mini now comes in 5 colours.

The HomePod and HomePod mini never really launched in Singapore; it wasn’t on the official Apple store, but you could buy it on independent vendors such as Lazada and Shopee. I first heard the HomePod mini in person at a gathering at Aik Beng Chia‘s; he ordered Siri to play something and the sound was actually impressive, considering the small size of the player.

The elusive device now comes in new colours, making it look even cuter than it already is (although I’d still end up going for the White).

Above: The sound is large and impressive for such a compact device.

There’s no news on if and when this will be available in Singapore, so we can wait, or just Google it in the next week or so.