Apple’s ‘Unleashed’ Fall 2021 Mac Event: rumors, news, and announcements – The Verge

PSA: the MacBook Pro 14-inch’s $20 power brick upsell is probably worth it

2021-10-19T19:20:04-04:00

If you're looking at buying the $1,999 base model MacBook Pro 14-inch, there's one upgrade that you may really want to make - the $20 one that gets you the 96W power adapter instead of the 67W included power adapter. That's because, according to some wording on Apple's MacBook Pro configuration page (spotted by MacRumors), you'll need the more powerful charger if you want to take advantage of the computer's fast charging feature, which can charge the laptop up to 50 percent in half an hour.

Is it ridiculous that Apple is basically taxing the people who want to buy its least expensive (but still very pricey!) new MacBook Pro? Yes, absolutely …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The new MacBook Pros have one big question mark: battery life

2021-10-19T12:22:36-04:00

Apple's new MacBook Pros are here, and they may actually live up to the "Pro" moniker. But there's one big question that comes with the new sizes and processors: how's the battery life? To hear Apple tell it, it's going to be great - the company even said onstage that the 16-inch had the best battery life ever, besting last year's M1 Macs (which it also boasted would have the longest-lived batteries). But the metric Apple used to back up that claim is a bit suspect, and its other numbers tell a very different story.

In its keynote and press release, Apple says the 14-inch MacBook Pro will provide 17 hours of video playback and estimates tha …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple botched the MacBook Pro notch

2021-10-19T11:57:47-04:00

The day that many have been dreading has finally arrived. Apple has added a notch to its new MacBook Pros. And somehow, Apple - notch pros at this point - managed to utterly botch the notch. Because the new MacBook Pros completely missed out on the most important part of the notch: adding Face ID.

I've been on the record of being extremely pro-MacBook notch: back in 2018, I argued that Apple should do exactly what it's done here: add a notch to its MacBook laptops, taking up the exact width of the persistent menu bar that already permanently lives on the top of its macOS software (barring the occasional dip into a full-screen app).

And t …

Read the full story at The Verge.

What is the new Apple Music Voice plan, and who is it for?

2021-10-19T11:12:42-04:00

Apple Music Voice relies entirely on your dulcet tones to play music from any Siri-enabled device | Image: Apple

The new Apple Music Voice plan that Apple announced at its "Unleashed" event on Monday is causing some confusion. I'm here to help you understand this new, cheaper option, which capitalizes on the power of Apple's smart voice assistant, Siri (don't laugh).

Put simply, the Apple Music Voice plan is a voice control-only access to the service's catalog of 90 million songs. It arrives later this year, and with it, you can play everything - full albums, individual songs, Apple's playlists; it's all-you-can-eat Apple Music. The caveat is you have to use your voice to control it, and you have to play it through a Siri-enabled device, such as a Hom …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple’s new 140W charger can fast charge a lot more than just your MacBook Pro

2021-10-19T08:27:49-04:00

Apple’s new 140W charger. | Image: Apple

Apple's new 140W charging brick, which works with a new MagSafe charging cable to power the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, uses the USB-C Power Delivery 3.1 standard, Apple has confirmed to The Verge. As well as being included with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, the brick is available separately for $99 (not including the USB-C-to-MagSafe cable, which costs an extra $49). Meanwhile, the new 14-inch MacBook Pros come with 67W and 96W chargers, depending on the exact model.

Using the USB-C PD 3.1 standard means Apple's new charging brick will be cross compatible with other devices that use the same power delivery standard, which was announced earlier …

Read the full story at The Verge.

macOS Monterey will have the old Safari tab design

2021-10-18T19:07:00-04:00

If you squint, you can see the old tab design. | Image: Apple

Apple debuted a controversial new Safari tab design this summer at WWDC 2021, and since then, it has tweaked that look and even let you turn off many of the changes. With macOS Monterey, however, the company is going back to the way tabs looked before. On Apple's official page for the upcoming software update, if you scroll down to the section titled "Access Tab Groups anywhere," you can just barely see Safari's older (and arguably better) design in the example screenshots on both a Mac and on an iPad (via Daring Fireball).

Perhaps even more surprising is that the old design is now the default, according to MacRumors, which observed the re …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Want a fully specced-out MacBook Pro? You’ll have to pay more than $6,000

2021-10-18T18:54:00-04:00

Apple’s most expensive laptop is, well, expensive. | Image: Apple

Apple announced new M1-equipped MacBook Pros on Monday, and they look like very good upgrades, with powerful chips, adaptive refresh rate displays, the return of some beloved ports, and more. They don't come cheap, though, with the 14-inch MBP starting at $1,999 and the 16-inch one starting at $2,499.

And if you want to buy the absolute highest-end model, with 64GB of unified memory, 8TB of SSD storage, a 140W USB-C power adapter, and the M1 Max chip, that will cost you a cool $6,099, according to Apple's online store.

Here's the cost and specs of the most expensive MacBook Pro. | Image: Apple" data-portal-copyright="Image: Apple">

That hefty price is the tally before you buy any software for the machine, by the way; Apple helpfully recommends Final Cu …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Where to get the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros

2021-10-18T18:28:36-04:00

Apple’s latest MacBook Pros tout new silicon, a Mini LED display, and a MagSafe 3 connector. | Image: Apple

As expected, Apple's "Unleashed" event brought a number of new additions to Apple's lineup, including a pair of new laptops in the form of new versions of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, as well as a third-generation of AirPods.

Both versions of the 2021 MacBook Pro are configurable with the newly announced M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs, which build greatly on the improvements made by the M1 CPU that debuted last year. Besides the beefier processor, the new versions of the MacBook Pro have enhanced GPU performance, battery life, and a host of new connectivity options, including a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI output, and an SD card reader in …

Read the full story at The Verge.

How to preorder Apple’s third-gen AirPods

2021-10-18T18:03:09-04:00

Apple’s third generation of AirPods will be available on October 26th for $179. | Apple

The tech world may be abuzz regarding the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, but the new AirPods - announced during Apple's "Unleashed" event today - have also conjured up a storm. Apple has finally announced a new pair of true wireless earbuds set to launch on October 26th for $179, while lowering the price of the entry-level AirPods 2 to $129.

As expected, the third-generation AirPods mirror their sleeker sibling, the AirPods Pro, mostly in its new design and in some functionality, barring the active noise cancellation. For the first time since 2016, the AirPods include a wider, Pro-like charging case and shorter steams. They also boast Pro fe …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple announces new 14-inch MacBook Pro with a notch

2021-10-18T17:49:06-04:00

Apple has announced a redesigned MacBook Pro, which now includes a 14-inch screen, Apple's new M1 Pro and Max chips, a notch, squared-off design, and a wider selection of ports in addition to the standard Thunderbolt ones - it brings back the HDMI port and SD card reader and adds a MagSafe 3 connector for charging (though you can also charge it with the Thunderbolt ports if your house is littered with USB-C power bricks). It starts at $1,999 and can be ordered "today."

It has a 14.2-inch 120Hz ProMotion Mini LED display, which Apple is branding as "Liquid Retina Pro XDR." It has slimmer bezels than the previous generation but also includes …

Read the full story at The Verge.