Apple’s second announcement in a little over a month focused on two things: music and creative professionals.
However, not everything introduced at the event will make its way here and it was almost an hour long.
So here’s our summary of the announcement without the bits that are not coming to Malaysia.
AirPods (3rd Generation)
Design
The new design of AirPods (3rd generation) is lightweight and contoured.
For a more subtle appearance, the stem is shorter and features the same intuitive force sensor as AirPods Pro for media control.
The new AirPods are resistant to both sweat and water, with an IPX4 rating for both the earbuds and the charging case
Audio Features
It has a custom driver and a high dynamic range amplifier that together produce powerful bass with crisp, clean high frequencies.
The microphone is covered by an acoustic mesh to reduce the sound of wind.
AirPods (3rd generation) also feature AAC-ELD, a superior speech codec that offers full HD voice quality, providing clear, natural communication for FaceTime calls.
Computational audio brings adaptive EQ and spatial audio with dynamic head tracking — the same experience on the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max — to the Airpods.
Adaptive EQ tunes sound in real time based on how AirPods fit in the user’s ear.
Spatial audio creates a three-dimensional theatre-like experience, placing sound virtually anywhere in space, and with Dolby Atmos.
Battery Life
AirPods (3rd generation) offer up to six hours of listening time and up to four hours of talk time.
Five minutes of charging provides about an hour of battery life, and with four additional charges in the case, users can get up to 30 hours of total listening time.
AirPods are now also part of the MagSafe ecosystem of wireless charging.
iOS & iPadOS Features
With spatial audio and dynamic head tracking. Voices in a Group FaceTime call sound like they’re coming from the direction in which the person is positioned on the screen.
Announce Notifications allows Siri to read important notifications.
AirPods are now part of the Find My network. They are now easier to find if misplaced.
Pricing & Availability
- AirPods (3rd generation) will be available for RM829 and are available to order soon from apple.com/my/store and in the Apple Store app.
- AirPods (2nd generation) will be available at the new price of RM589.
- AirPods Pro now comes with MagSafe Charging Case for the same price of RM1,099.
- New subscribers can get Apple Music free for six months with the purchase of any AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max.
M1 Pro & M1 MAX
M1 Pro and M1 Max are the next breakthrough chips for the Mac that are meant for creative professionals.
It is designed to handle the new higher ceiling of demand from creators and more.
Those who work with high resolution videos, computer graphics, music, make video games and other high demand creative endeavours, this is for you.
The CPU in M1 Pro and M1 Max delivers up to 70 percent faster CPU performance than M1.
The GPU in M1 Pro is up to 2x faster than M1, while M1 Max is 4x faster than M1.
M1 Pro and M1 Max introduce a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture to pro systems for the first time.
M1 Pro offers up to 200GB/s of memory bandwidth with support for up to 32GB of unified memory.
M1 Max delivers up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth — 2x that of M1 Pro and nearly 6x that of M1 — and support for up to 64GB of unified memory.
The efficient architecture of M1 Pro and M1 Max means they deliver the same level of performance whether the MacBook Pro is plugged in or using the battery.
M1 Pro and M1 Max also feature enhanced media engines with dedicated ProRes accelerators specifically for pro video processing. M1 Pro and M1 Max are by far the most powerful chips Apple has ever built.
Game-changing MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pro pushes the limits of what a notebook can do. They come in 14in and 16in models and can be fitted with either the M1 Pro or the M1 Max.
Battery Life
From pro workflows on the go to everyday tasks, MacBook Pro delivers the same performance — whether users are plugged in or using the battery.
The 14in model delivers up to 17 hours of video playback.
The 16-inch model gets up to 21 hours of video playback. The longest battery life ever on a Mac notebook.
Developers working in Xcode will be able to compile up to 4x as much code.
Photographers on the go will get up to 2x longer battery life in Adobe Lightroom Classic when editing images.
Cooling & Design
All-new aluminium enclosure is precisely machined around an advanced thermal system that can move 50 percent more air than the previous generation, even at lower fan speeds.
The thermal design enables MacBook Pro to deliver sustained performance while staying cool and quiet.
And because of the efficiency of Apple silicon, the fans never even have to turn on for most tasks users perform every day.
The new MacBook Pro also comes with a Magic Keyboard that is set in a double-anodised black well, highlights the backlit glyphs on the keys, and features a full-height function row.
Physical function keys — including a wider escape key — replace the Touch Bar.
The new keyboard is complemented by the Force Touch trackpad that is perfect for pro applications.
Display
For the first time, MacBook Pro offers a Liquid Retina XDR display. It Features the mini-LED technology used in iPad Pro.
The Liquid Retina XDR display delivers up to 1,000 nits of sustained, full-screen brightness, an incredible 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.
ProMotion technology also comes to the Mac on this new display, featuring an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz.
ProMotion automatically varies the refresh rate to match the motion of a user’s onscreen content to help preserve battery life, and makes tasks more fluid and even more responsive.
Video editors can also lock in a refresh rate that is optimal for their footage.
Both models come with a larger display than the previous generation — the 16in model has a 16.2in display with 7.7 million pixels, the most ever on a Mac notebook.
The 14-inch model has a 14.2-inch active area7 and a total of 5.9 million pixels — more pixels than the prior 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The display features even thinner borders and extends up around the camera (notch).
Ports & Connectivity
Both models feature three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports to connect high-speed peripherals, an SDXC card slot for fast access to media, an HDMI port for conveniently connecting to displays and TVs, and an improved headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones.
MagSafe returns to MacBook Pro with MagSafe 3, featuring an updated design and supporting more power into the system.
Additionally, fast charge comes to the Mac for the first time, charging up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.
With M1 Pro, users can now connect up to two Pro Display XDRs, and with M1 Max, users can connect up to three Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV, all at the same time. For wireless connectivity, MacBook Pro also features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Camera & Speakers
The new MacBook Pro comes with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera.
The camera system uses the image signal processor (ISP) and Neural Engine of M1 Pro and M1 Max for computational video that enhances video quality — so users appear sharper with more natural-looking skin tones.
The new MacBook Pro has studio-quality mics that have an even lower noise floor, resulting in clearer calls and voice recordings.
A high-fidelity six-speaker sound system features two tweeters for a clearer soundstage and four force-cancelling woofers, resulting in 80 percent more bass.
The sound system also supports spatial audio.
Pricing & Availability
- The new MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max are available to order soon on apple.com/my/store and in the Apple Store app, select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorised Resellers. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at RM8,799, and RM8,199 for education; the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at RM10,799, and RM9,999 for education. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options, and accessories are available at apple.com/my/mac.
- macOS Monterey will be available as a free software update on Monday, October 25.
- AppleCare for Mac provides expert technical support and additional hardware coverage from Apple.
Final Cut Pro & Logic Pro – Updated
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are now updated with new features for creative professionals, and optimizations that take full advantage of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in the all-new MacBook Pro.
Professional video editors using Final Cut Pro on the new MacBook Pro can play seven streams of 8K ProRes or colour grade 8K HDR video with the new Liquid Retina XDR display — a first for any notebook.
Final Cut Pro also introduces a new Object Tracker that uses machine learning to automatically detect faces and objects, and match their movement.
Logic Pro, Apple’s pro music creation software, now comes with a complete set of tools for authoring spatial audio music.
Musicians can use up to 3x as many plug-ins for recording on the all-new MacBook Pro with M1 Max.
Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are Universal apps that build upon the breakthrough performance and pro capabilities of macOS Monterey, and both are available today on the Mac App Store.
Price & Availability
- Final Cut Pro 10.6 is available today as a free update for existing users, and for RM1,299.90 for new users on the Mac App Store.
- Motion 5.6 and Compressor 4.6 are also available today as free updates for existing users, and for RM199.90 each for new users on the Mac App Store.
- Logic Pro 10.7 is also available today as a free update for all existing users, and for RM799.90 for new users on the Mac App Store.
- Mac users can sign up for a free trial of Final Cut Pro as well as a free trial of Logic Pro. Education customers can purchase the Pro Apps Bundle for Education for RM799.90.
