Apple launched the new MacBook Pro 13-inch, and its third Mac was announced, powered by its customized Apple Silicon chip, M1.
The first Apple silicone to 13-inch MacBook Pro replaces a 13-inch low-end Intel model, but the Apple M1 chip has a more powerful 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, which is up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation when it is coupled with Apple’s active cooling systems, making it up to 3 times faster than Windows’ best-seller laptop.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is the world’s quickest compact pro notebook for on-site Machine Learning tasks that use the Neural Engine, said Apple. It also features up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 20 hours of video playback, which is up to twice the battery life of the previous generation, making it the longest battery life on the Mac ever.
“There has never been a chip like M1, our breakthrough SoC for the Mac. It builds on more than a decade of designing industry-leading chips for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, and ushers in a whole new era for the Mac,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “When it comes to low-power silicon, M1 has the world’s fastest CPU core, the world’s fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and the amazing machine learning performance of the Apple Neural Engine. With its unique combination of remarkable performance, powerful features, and incredible efficiency, M1 is by far the best chip we’ve ever created.”
802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and studio-quality microphones are other new features in the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, while the latest Apple camera ISP on the M1 chip allows sharper images and more detail in shadows and video call highlights. Apple’s Secure Enclave in the M1 and Touch ID are also included in the new MacBook Pro and feature two Thunderbolt ports with USB 4 support. The 3-pound laptop has a magic keyboard and retina display.
The basic configuration starting with $1299 is provided with 8 GB of a unified memory that can be configured to 16 GB, and 256 GB of solid-state storage up to 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. The mid-tier model also comes with 8 GB of unified memory that can be configured up to 16 GB from $1499, but has 512 GB of solid-state storage as standard, up to 1 TB or 2 TB configurable. Pre-orders are now available at the Apple online store, with deliveries scheduled to start on 17 November.
