Apple Unveils New MacBook Pro, M1 Chip, and More During 'One More Thing' Event

In October, Tim Cook and the Apple team came through with a look at the new iPhone 12 family. Now, fans can expect a new collection of MacBooks.

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With the unveiling of the iPhone 12 family now a month deep in the rear-view, Apple is back at it with another special event for the quarantine era.

The event dubbed "One More Thing," as a befitting nod to the late Steve Jobs, as widely expected, saw Tim Cook and company moving the focus to a new generation of the Mac.

Catch an archive of Tuesday's livestream up top. Below, enjoy a number of updated-in-real-time highlights from the event. As always, anyone from Apple who's reading this has my full permission to send me free copies of anything and everything.

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Cook kicked things off on Tuesday with a friendly greeting and summary of what 2020 has meant for the Apple crew so far.

"I'm really excited for today and the news we have to share with you," he teased. "It's amazing to think that this is our third major event in just the last two months." Cook also acknowledged how fortunate he and the team felt to be able to pull this all off while so many have experienced unparalleled difficulties during the pandemic era.

Cook introduced a brief clip showing the history of innovation made possible by the Mac. Donald Glover, Lady Gaga, Pharrell, and more were featured in the montage. From there, the latest leap forward for the Mac was detailed.

The new M1 chip is designed and optimized exclusively for the Mac and will usher in a whole new era for the device. The M1 boasts four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, with the added overall brag of being the highest-performance CPU the team has ever created. Furthermore, this equates to the world's fastest integrated graphics and industry-leading performance per watt.

With macOS Big Sur, meanwhile, M1-backed Macs will be able to instantly awake from sleep. Apps will launch instantaneously, with improved speeds and responsiveness for Safari and JavaScript. Every app made for Apple has been updated to take advantage of the M1's capabilities.

We also have Universal Apps to look forward to, which—as the name suggests—could prove to be a massive leap.

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The first Mac with M1 will be the new MacBook Air, which puts to use the strengths of the chip by way of graphics that are five times faster. Overall, for comparison’s sake, the laptop is three times faster than the best-selling comparable Windows laptop. Users can also expect a fan-free experience and greatly boosted battery life, allowing for up to 18 hours of video playback (which is notably the longest ever for an Air).

The new MacBook Air starts at $999.

For the new M1-backed Mac mini, users of the ultra-compact desktop can expect a "seismic shift" in overall performance. If you compare the new Mac mini to the top-selling PC desktop in its price range, the mini is just one-tenth the size but a whopping five times faster. Connectivity has also been given an overhaul.

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The new Mac mini starts at $699.

As expected, Apple also treated devotees to a look at the new 13-inch MacBook Pro. With graphics that are five times faster and as much as 20 hours of video playback made possible by the battery-boosting qualities of the M1, the new 13-inch Pro is truly a brag-worthy evolution for the creatives-favored laptop. By comparison, the new 13-inch Pro is three times faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in its class.

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The new MacBook Pro starts at $1,299. Orders for all three new devices begin Tuesday. Peep this for more.

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