Apple introduces the Apple Music Voice Plan
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced the Apple Music Voice Plan, a new subscription tier for Apple Music designed around the power of Siri. The Apple Music Voice Plan offers subscribers access to the service’s catalog of 90 million songs; tens of thousands of playlists, including hundreds of brand new mood and activity playlists, personalized mixes, and genre stations; as well as the award-winning Apple Music Radio — all through Siri for just $4.99 per month.
Introducing M1 Pro and M1 Max: the most powerful chips Apple has ever built
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced M1 Pro and M1 Max, the next breakthrough chips for the Mac. Scaling up M1’s transformational architecture, M1 Pro offers amazing performance with industry-leading power efficiency, while M1 Max takes these capabilities to new heights. The CPU in M1 Pro and M1 Max delivers up to 70 percent faster CPU performance than M1, so tasks like compiling projects in Xcode are faster than ever. The GPU in M1 Pro is up to 2x faster than M1, while M1 Max is up to an astonishing 4x faster than M1, allowing pro users to fly through the most demanding graphics workflows.
Apple finally listened to the pros
I nearly bought my first MacBook Pro in 2015. It would have been the first Mac I ever personally owned. But I convinced myself to wait another year for faster Intel chips — and in October 2016, Apple took away almost everything I admired about that Mac in one fell swoop.
The comfortable keyboard? Replaced with a too-thin slab that also became a nightmare for many a Mac user over the years, the butterfly switch mechanism so fragile a speck of dust could lay it low. The handy SD card slot for photographers and videographers, and the HDMI port to easily connect to monitors or TVs? Both axed seemingly in favor of selling us more overpriced dongles.
Apple doubles down on chip strategy with new premium-priced MacBooks
Oct 18 (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Monday announced two new MacBook Pro models that run on more powerful in-house chips, furthering its break from previous supplier Intel Corp (INTC.O) and showing its strategy for setting its machines apart from the rest of the PC industry.
The new 14-inch and 16-inch models start at $1,999 and range up to $6,099 in their most expensive variations. Using two new chips called the M1 Pro and M1 Max, Apple claims they will far outperform rival machines based on Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), especially when the new laptops are used with only battery power.
Here’s how to pre-order the new Apple AirPods (3rd gen) and MacBook Pro
On Monday, October 18, Apple unveiled its newest products during the “Apple Unleashed” event. While the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros were the stars of the show, we also got first looks at the new Apple AirPods (gen 3) (which look decidedly similar to the current AirPods Pro) and some vibrant new colors for the indomitable Homepod mini.
Pre-orders start today, October 18, and the products become available starting next week. Here’s what we know about them so far.
Apple listened to its most loyal customers and fixed its laptop problems from the last five years
Before Monday, the last major redesign for Apple’s larger MacBook Pros came in 2016, with several features that looked to the future.
The 2016 MacBook Pros sported universal USB-C connectors that could power displays and peripherals, a “butterfly” keyboard that allowed the devices to become even thinner, and a long, narrow touchscreen at the top of the keyboard called “Touch Bar,” in a device powered by an Intel processor.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro models, announced on Monday, conspicuously lack all of those features.
Apple unveils new MacBooks and its next-generation AirPods
(CNN Business)Apple showed off its second batch of new products ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season.At a virtual event on Monday, the company showed off two high-end MacBook Pro laptops powered by its next-generation silicon chip. It also unveiled AirPods 3, its entry-level wireless earbuds that borrow a few features from its higher-end AirPods Pro line.Apple (AAPL)’s event came amid ongoing concerns about global component shortages and logistics issues across the tech industry. Still, Google will unveil its Pixel 6 smartphone on Tuesday, and Samsung is hosting a mysterious press event the following day.
Apple Music Voice Plan versus Individual Plan versus Family Plan
With the introduction of the Voice Plan, there are now three different Apple Music subscription tiers. Here are the differences between them.
Apple on Monday unveiled a new Apple Music Voice Plan for $4.99 a month. The cheaper subscription tier offers access to the full Apple Music catalog to anyone — with the one caveat being that the catalog can only be accessed via Siri voice commands