Apple's just-refreshed MacBook Air with the new Apple M1 laptop chip that was announced yesterday features an updated media key layout in the function row, with the new shortcuts for Dictation, Spotlight and Do Not Disturb functions replacing the previous keys for adjusting brightness and invoking the Launchpad feature. Also, there's now a dedicated Emoji key.
Earlier this week, Apple announced a trio of new computers featuring the M1 processor. It's the first batch of Apple Silicon Macs for the market, and they're already available to buy.
The new Mac mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models powered by the new Apple M1 laptop chip bring support for Wi-Fi 6 aka 802.11ax to the Mac platform for the first time.
With its new M1 laptop chip and related hardware updates to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini, Apple has now stopped selling MacBook Air configurations with Intel processors in order to focus exclusively on the new models that are powered by the M1 chip. As for the Mac mini and MacBook Pro, some Intel-based configurations continue to be offered by Apple.
The new M1 laptop chip in Apple's refreshed Mac mini, as well as in the 13-inch MacBook Air and Pro models, maxes out at 32 gigabytes of RAM. Also, it doesn't support external GPUs (eGPU) via Thunderbolt like its Intel-based counterpart does. Here's what's going on...
Back in September, it was confirmed that some Roku-branded streaming devices would be getting an update to support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. Now, more than a month later, that update is finally rolling out.
Apple Watch models with cellular connectivity will soon hit Belgium, an 11.5 million people market in Europe, for the first time since the wearable gained LTE connectivity three years ago.
If you don't have optional AppleCare+ extended warranty for the HomePod mini, Apple will charge you a fee of $79 per an out-of-warranty repair of the new $99 Siri-powered speaker — which is only $20 cheaper vs. buying a new one. Apple announced the new HomePod mini a month ago in an effort to widen the addressable market for its smart speakers. The full-size HomePod wasn't updated last month and continues to retail for $299.
Apple has expanded the number of colors available with the newly introduced Solo Loop and the traditional Sport bands for the Apple Watch with a trio of new color options.
The baseline $999 model of Apple's refreshed MacBook Air notebook, powered by its new M1 laptop chip, comes with seven graphics cores instead of eight. That's because Apple is salvaging some weaker chips by disabling one core, a process known as binning.
Following yesterday's "One more thing" event, Apple's informed registered developers it's now accepting Mac app updates with macOS Big Sur compatibility. In addition, universal binaries with both Intel and Apple Silicon code are now accepted for inclusion in the Mac App Store.
Following yesterday's Apple Silicon Macs special event, Apple has now released the second Release Candidate of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 to its registered developers. The update will most likely come pre-installed on the new M1-powered Mac computers. Apple has also confirmed that the macOS 11.0 Big Sur software will release publicly Thursday, November 12.