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Apple’s big Mac event delivered three new computers: a new MacBook Air, a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, and a new Mac mini. But really, he delivered one thing these three computers have in common: the M1 chip. This is the official name of the Arm-based Apple silicon that the company will migrate all of its Mac computers to.
Ahead of the event, I listed ten things to watch out for and while Apple hasn’t really gone as far as I would like, it at least put them all but two. We had wall-to-wall coverage at The edge, and a good place to start is our article detailing the 5 biggest announcements from Apple’s “One More Thing” hardware event.
Here are my takeaways: Apple is surprisingly Trust this chip, these computers and the software it has developed to make sure they all run smoothly.
First, Apple is making statements about the battery that I would call “explosive at best” if applied to a laptop with an Intel chip inside. With this M1 chip, I have no frame of reference except for Apple’s claims – which are substantial.
Apple claims 18 hours of video playback on the MacBook Air and 20 hours on the MacBook Pro. Video playback is a bad metric (especially since modern chips are optimized for this), so the real thing to note is that these claims are significantly higher than what Apple has claimed on their Intel-based predecessors: 6 more on the Air and almost double on the Pro.
But to be frank, I was expecting some big battery claims from Apple. We already knew that it was able to squeeze more performance per Watt than Intel can and that translates directly into battery life. What i was do not expect the company to be optimistic about performance.
Since the M1 is based on the Arm architecture, Apple needs an additional layer of software to run applications designed for Intel chips – this is called Rosetta 2. The whole idea of x86 applications emulated on an Arm processor gives me beehives. The experience of emulated Intel applications in Arm on Windows is not great. But Apple says that for some graphics-intensive applications, it may better performance on an application running Rosetta 2 than on an equivalent Intel chip.
Also, after the event I expected to hear warnings about some apps not working or heavy apps running a little slower when translated through Rosetta 2. Or at least a slight drop in performance expectations on these applications. When Steve Jobs presented the original Rosetta in 2005, the slide behind him said it was “pretty fast (enough)”.
This year? No such caveats. Apple is boldly launching a “just works” message on these types of apps – which will make up the majority of third-party apps that I think most people will be using in the first year of this transition.
Above all, the fact that Apple has stopped selling the Intel version of the MacBook Air is what amazes me. The Air is Apple’s best-selling Mac by far and it comes out of a quarter where Apple made more money on Macs than ever before. Rather than hedge his bet, he is replacing his most popular computer with this new system.
I have to admit I made a mistake in my pre-event thinking about the base 2-port 13in MacBook Pro. It wasn’t the Pro’s move to the new chip that would signal confidence, it was the Air, Apple’s most popular laptop. My mistake is that I see it more as an entry-level Pro machine when it’s probably best to conceptualize it as a more rugged version of the Air. This is certainly true with the new M1 version – the only significant performance difference is that the Pro has a fan. Apple also continues to sell Intel versions.
There is much more to be said about these systems. I don’t mind the fact that they cap at 16GB RAM and dual Thunderbolt ports, on the one hand. Apple is starting at the bottom of its Mac lineup, so it felt there was no need for more. I am convinced that future Apple chips will be able to handle more.
I’m not sure what the plan for the graphics will be. The M1 chip has a built-in GPU, and on Intel machines that usually means below average graphics. We’ll need to see what the reviews are saying about these machines, but again, Apple is exuding confidence. Going forward, however, I wonder if discrete GPUs are in the cards, especially since Apple is also touting the benefits of sharing RAM between CPU and GPU in its onboard system.
These are all interesting questions, but Apple has two years to answer them – that’s how long it will take for this transition. At present, the company is already selling and will soon ship these new computers. I can’t wait to see if Apple’s trust is justified by the performance and battery life of these computers. If so, the M1 chip will be a huge blame for Intel, Qualcomm, and even Microsoft – each for different reasons.
It has been a long time since a company promised and then delivered a gradual improvement in laptops. From this moment we have a big promise, now let’s see if Apple can keep it.
More Apple News
┏ Apple HomePod mini review: play small ball. Dan Seifert is impressed, but also notes that this thing requires that you and everyone you really live with be fully integrated into the Apple ecosystem if you want to get the most out of it.
Fast forward to now and Apple’s new smart speaker, the $ 99 HomePod mini, takes a different approach. It’s smaller, simpler, and a lot cheaper than its big brother, and thanks to Apple’s work on Siri over the past few years, it can actually do more than the original when it launched.
┏ Mac users were unable to launch apps this afternoon after an issue with the Apple verification server. A pretty remarkable thing that happened! The idea that you can’t launch the apps that you downloaded on your computer because they can’t register with Apple to see if they’re okay is, well, that’s one thing. The fact that this thing involves software literally called “Gatekeeper” really hurts the nose, doesn’t it.
I might have a lot of emotions about owning and controlling the computer you paid money for (and I do) and other emotions about if and when it’s appropriate for Apple. to require code signing and other security checks on Macs (and I do). Instead, I’ll just point out that these failures were glaring because when they happened our Macs didn’t tell us why things were broken. There was no clear indication of what was wrong and there was also no elegant fallback.
Things mysteriously broke. The irony is that they mysteriously broke because Apple hasn’t given enough thought to the mechanism that was designed to protect Apple’s ethics of ensuring bad things don’t mysteriously break your computer.
┏ Apple could allay antitrust concerns by suggesting third-party apps to new iPhone owners.
┏ This Leaked Icon May Show What Apple’s On-Ear Headphones Look Like.
┏ macOS Big Sur is now available for download. My advice: wait. This was the standard advice for all Updates to the operating system, but in recent years it has become a bit more normal to install on day one. This year, the changes are big enough that I think it’s safer to wait and see if your apps are performing well – or rather, to wait and let others figure it out before you have to.
┏ Apple’s Arm Mac “ One More Thing ” Live Blog.
┏ All the apps and games Apple promises for Macs with Arm.
┏ Some of the new MacBook Air function keys have different functions. I am particularly happy about it. Access to a button for search is essential for me (pun intended), and I’m glad it is faster to access Do Not Disturb. But making dictation a top-level feature is a big win for accessibility and hopefully it will become more common on all keyboards.
Learn more about The Verge
┏ Google Photos to End Free Unlimited Storage on June 1, 2021. There have been many angry at this change, but I’ll give Google credit for doing it in a way that’s transparent and not totally disruptive. Your cap counter doesn’t start until after June 1 and only counts the items you import afterwards. Google is creating more tools to give you transparency about what is consuming your storage and smart ways to empty it.
Yet Google Photos was a free product that pushed many other great products off the market. Then, after they leave, Google begins to load. I’m not saying there’s a direct cause and effect in this timeline, but it’s hard not to look at the timeline and feel bad for a tech company that isn’t one of the big ones.
┏ The best PS5 and Xbox Series X games to play at launch.
┏ PS5 multimedia remote control: simple, streamlined, secure. Andrew Webster:
I spent about a day using the remote and it’s a nice little addition, although not all apps seem to be optimized for it. In the YouTube app, for example, you’ll see button prompts referencing DualSense.
┏ Video doorbells recall due to fire issues.
┏ Pope Francis urges devotees to pray that AI and robots ‘always serve humanity’. See also the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man”.
┏ In the last days of Quibi. Julia Alexander and Zoe Schiffer:
There was the time Pitbull passed by, clad in a white linen suit, and the employees cranked their necks to get the maximum. The moment her boss was not informed that Emily Blunt and Reese Witherspoon were in the office – an omission she called “the ultimate betrayal.” The times she had swept Goldfish and Snapple for her ride, enjoying the heaps of free snacks, which also included cold nitro beer and flavored seltzer.
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