Apple ‘Unleashed’ Event — What did Apple announce? — Apple Recap

Today, Oct 18 2021, Apple is hosting its October event, titled ‘Unleashed’. Apple is expected to announce its next generation M1 silicon, updates to the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, macOS Monterey release date and possibly, the new AirPods 3. Keep reading to find out all the info about the new releases!

Tim Cook announces that the focus of the event will be music and the Mac.

Music

• Tim Cook speaking about the importance of music and Apple’s music experience;
• Integration of hardware and software creates a seamless music experience;
• Siri will now help you find a variety of new curated playlists on Apple Music;
• New subscription plan for Apple Music — the Voice Plan;
• Use Siri to access everything on Apple Music for $4.99/month on all Apple devices. Available in 17 countries at launch.

HomePod Mini

• New colors for HomePod Mini — yellow, orange and blue;

• Available for $99 starting November.

AirPods

• Reviewing Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos technology;
• Currently, Spatial Audio with Dynamic head tracking can be enjoyed on AirPods Pro and AirPods Max;

AirPods 3

• Force sensor — controls now like on AirPods Pro;
• New low-distortion driver;
• Sweat and water resistant;
• New design, Adaptive EQ;
• New charging case;
• 6 hours of listening time;
• 5-minute charges provides 1 hour of use;
• 30 hours of total listening time with case;
• MagSafe and Wireless Charging supported by the case;

• $179 price, available next week;
• AirPods 2 remain in the line-up for $129.

Mac

• M1 redefined what Macs can do;
• M1 Mac growth outpaced the industry;

MacBook Pro

• Completely reimagined;
• First pro chip designed for Mac;

M1 Pro silicon;

• 200 GB/s memory bandwidth;
• Up to 32GB unified memory support;
• 33.7 billion transistors;
• 10 CPU cores
• 70% faster CPU performance than M1;
• GPU — 16-core GPU

• 2x faster graphics performance than M1;
• ProRES supported by the Media Engine;

• Releasing two new chips for the Mac;

M1 Max silicon

• 400 FB/s memory bandwidth;
• Up to 64GB unified memory;
• 57 billion transistors;
• 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU;
• 4x faster graphics performance than M1;
• Better Media Engine;
• Industry-leading performance per watt;
• M1 Pro and Max have higher performance at every power level compared to PC chips, consuming significantly less power than PC/laptop chips.
• Plugged in or on battery, same incredible performance;

MacOS

• Craig takes the stage to talk about how macOS was built for the the Mac M1 silicon;
• macOS+Apple silicon;
• Industry-leading protection for M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max;
• Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro will receive M1 Pro and M1 Max exclusive features taking advantage of the power (e.g. spatial audio creation on MacBook);

MacBook Pro

• MagSafe charging is back!
• SD port support and HDMI;

• 16 inch or 14 inch model — share the same features and capabilities;
• Has a notch;

• Can move 50% more air quieter;
• 16.8mm thin, 4.7 pounds for the 16-inch model;
• 15.5mm thin, 3.5 pounds for the 14-inch model;

• Keyboard — Function key row is back, TouchBar is gone;
• Fully black keyboard;

• HDMI port, Thunderbolt 4 port and SD card slot on the right side;
• Headphone jack and two more Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe 3 with new design that supports more power, can still charge via Thunderbolt ports;
• Can connect up to 2 display with M1 Pro and 3 displays and 4K TV at the same time with M1 Max;
• 3.5mm borders on the sides and top;
• Notch — menu bar is raised and wrapped around the camera;

• Looks unnoticeable in dark mode;
• 16.2" display on the 16-inch model with 7.7M pixels, 3456x2234 resolution;
• 14.2" display on the 14-inch model with 5.9M pixels;
• ProMotion with dynamic refresh rate up to 120 Hertz;
• 1 billion colors support, Liquid Retina XDR display;
• Mini-LED technology;
• 1600 nits of peak brightness;
• 1000 nits of sustained brigthness;
• 1080p FaceTime HD camera, new 4-element lens, 2x better low-light performance with the new sensor and wider aperture, computational video;
• Studio-quality microphones, six-speaker system and Spatial Audio support;
• 80% more bass, go half an octave deeper;
• 16 inch — M1 Pro and M1 Max 2x faster CPU performance than Core i9; 2.5x faster than Radeon Pro 5600M, M1 Max 4x faster;
• 5x faster ML performance;
• 14 inch — M1 Pro and M1 Max 3.7x faster than Core i7, 9x faster performance than Core i7, M1 Max 13x faster;
• 11x faster ML performance;
• Up to 64GB of unified memory;
• Up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes 422
• Up to 7 streams of 8K ProRes 422;
• Can color grade in HDR on 8K ProRes video on battery;
• Superfast SSDs up to 7.4GB/s read speeds;
• 2x battery life in Lightroom Classic;
• 5x code complies on a single charge;
• 17 hours of Video Hours (+7) on 14 inch;
• 21 hours of Video Hours (+10) on 16 inch — longest battery life ever on a MacBook;
• Fast charge — up to 50% in 30 minutes;
• 100% recycled aluminum on enclosure;

• 14 inch model — starting at $1999;
• 16 inch model — starting at $2499;
• Available in Silver and Space Grey, order today, available next week.