Apple just introduced the first range of Macs that will lead the transition to Apple Silicon with the M1 chip. The MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro are the first to run on the M1 chip with macOS Big Sur out of the box. The trio is on order today and will be available next week.
Although there is no design change in the range, internal components and performance have been significantly improved thanks to Apple silicon. The new Mac lineup has received upgrades in processor speed, faster storage performance, faster machine learning, and better battery life for MacBooks.
The new MacBook Air, Mac Mini and MacBook Pro
Starting with the new MacBook Air, it's the same 13-inch form factor, fanless design, now equipped with the new M1 chip and running macOS Big Sur. Apple claims the new MacBook Air is up to 3 times faster than 98% of Windows laptops made last year. It also claims a 9-fold speed increase in machine learning. The on the Air SSD also takes advantage of Apple's M1 silicon, making it twice as fast as the previous generation.
Apple says the new MacBook Air can deliver 15 hours of wireless web browsing or 10 hours of video conferencing. A new image processor on Apple's silicon will also allow the laptop to provide better FaceTime camera performance.
When it comes to the MacBook Pro, Apple claims it is 2.8 times faster than the previous generation or the Intel backed MacBook Pro. With an 11 times faster machine learning process, the Cupertino giant has crowned it as "the world's fastest compact business laptop". The laptop claims 17 hours of wireless web browsing or 20 hours of video conferencing, which is the longest battery life of a MacBook Pro. The Pro also gets a microphone upgrade with new studio-grade mics.
Finally, the Mac Mini is said to have 3 times better CPU performance with the M1 chip having more room to run, thanks to better heat dissipation. The Mini gets 6x better graphics performance, and Apple claims it's 5x faster than the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range.
With the Mac lineup now available, Apple is officially in the process of transitioning to making native applications running on Apple devices. These being the first in its category, Apple will eventually switch its entire range to its M1 silicon.
Price and availability
The new MacBook Air starts at a price of $ 999 and a special education price of $ 899. The MacBook Pro starts at $ 1,299 and $ 1,199 for education. Mac Mini will be the cheapest of the bunch, starting at $ 699. The whole range is available on the Apple Online Store for ordering and will ship next week.
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