By: Nick Gambino
Apple held its “Unleashed” event on Monday and while the moniker slapped on this special event could easily be regarded as hyperbole, we did get some solid reveals.
This of course is right on the heels of another event in September where they unveiled the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, and the new iPad and iPad mini. In the world of Apple, it’s kind of hard to beat that, so the Unleashed event was never going to even try.
Here’s what Tim Cook and his cohorts unveiled on Monday at the virtual event.
MacBook Pro
As predicted, the newest iteration of the MacBook Pro was released featuring the newest Apple-produced processor chips – the M1 Pro and the M1 Max. They are both major upgrades on previous MacBook chips, but the M1 Max is being touted as the most powerful chip to ever fit into a notebook.
You’ll have the option to choose which chip and which size (14-inch or 16-inch) you want. They got rid of the cool but unnecessary Touch Bar that never really caught on. When you get rid of something you have to add something, so we’re seeing the return of the HDMI port as well as an SD card slot and a MagSafe connector.
Price: The 14-inch starts at $1,999 and the 16-inch starts at $2,499.
AirPods 3
They’ve finally dropped the newest version of the AirPods after rumors of an unveiling at the last couple of events. The AirPods 3 are a hybrid of the traditional AirPods and the AirPods Pro. They sport shorter stems and sensor controls.
The wireless earbuds’ battery life gets a boost with six hours of continuous listening time and 30 hours with recharging from a fully juiced case. The case features a more squat design, similar to the Pros, and has wireless charging capability.
Price: The AirPods 3 are $179.99.
HomePod mini
The HomePod mini is exactly the same but now has color options outside of gray and white. You can now get the smart speaker in blue, orange, and yellow. Other than that, it doesn’t look like they’ve added any new features.
Price: The HomePod mini is still $99
Apple Music Voice
If you’re looking for a limited streaming music experience, Apple Music Voice might be for you. It’s essentially a plan that allows you to access all of Apple Music solely through Siri. In other words, this Voice plan is literally that, you can only access music using your voice. There are hundreds of new mood-based playlists to accompany the launch.
Price: $4.99 a month, available in 17 countries
So there you have it. We shouldn’t expect any new reveals before the end of the year. Time to start paying attention to the iPhone 14 rumors.
