MacLife February 2021

The old saying that “history repeats itself” never felt more poignant than when Apple announced at its November 2020 “One More Thing” event that it would be ending its 15–year partnership with Intel, in favor of its own silicon within all future Macs. It’s the third time Apple has changed its processor platform, the last being from PowerPC to Intelx86. Let’s not get too disheartened though — Intel had a pretty good run. But time moves on and so does technology, and Apple’s new M1 chip promises great things. Apple has gone full steam ahead and brought the M1 to market in no less than three Macs: The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. Though they look the same, internally they’re very different. Rumors say that Apple will be releasing…

APPLE IS SHIPPING the first Macs powered by Apple silicon, a new generation of chips designed by Apple itself, in place of the Intel processors that have been inside the Mac line for the past 15 years. The new MacBook Air, 13–inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini are built around the Apple M1 chip, which Apple describes as “by far the most powerful chip Apple has ever made.” Apple is pointedly not quoting clock speeds, instead emphasizing performance: “With its industry–leading performance per watt, together with macOS Big Sur, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU, up to 6x faster GPU, up to 15x faster machine learning (ML) capabilities, and battery life up to 2x longer than before.” Impressive for entry–level machines! iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch have all used Apple–designed chips for…

ACCORDING TO APPLE, MacBook Air is the most popular Mac model and the world’s best–selling 13–inch notebook. Starting at the same price as before, Apple says the new generation offers significantly better performance and “extraordinary battery life, with up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 18 hours of video playback — the longest battery life ever on a MacBook Air.” The $999 base model has the Apple M1 chip with 8–core CPU and 7–core GPU, 8GB unified memory, 256GB SSD storage, and two Thunderbolt (USB 4) ports. The $1,249 model adds an 8–core GPU and 512GB SSD storage, and there are limited build–to–order options. For an extra $200 you can increase the memory to 16GB (the maximum for M1–based Macs), you can upgrade the storage from 512GB…

ALTHOUGH APPLE LAST revised its pro notebook line in May, it has introduced a new 13–inch MacBook Pro, starting at $1,299 — the same price as before — for a model with an M1 chip with 8–core CPU and 8–core GPU, 8GB unified memory, and 256GB SSD storage. A configuration with 512GB SSD storage is $1,499, and the same build–to–order options are available at the same prices as for MacBook Air. The 8–core CPU is up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation, Apple says, delivering game–changing performance when compiling code, transcoding video, editing high–res photos, and more. The 8–core GPU is up to 5x faster, promising super -smooth graphics performance. Machine learning (ML) is up to 11x faster. With up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and up to…

WITH THE SAME iconic 7.7–inch square design, the M1–based Mac mini now starts at $699, $100 less than the previous–generation quad–core model. The existing 3GHz Intel Core i5 model with 8GB memory and 512GB SSD storage remains in the line-up, for $1,099. The M1’s 8–core CPU delivers up to 3x faster performance than the previous generation, Apple says, and the 8–core GPU up to a 6x increase in graphics performance, enabling Mac mini to tackle intensive tasks like complex 3D rendering with ease. ML workloads run up to 15x faster than on the previous generation. In addition to Wi–Fi 6 for faster wireless performance, Mac mini offers more connectivity than notebook Macs, with two Thunderbolt (USB 4) ports plus HDMI 2.0, two USB–A ports (up to 5GB/s), and Gigabit Ethernet. It also…

1 DJI Mini 2 dji.com $449 >>> DJI’s new small drone is even smaller than its predecessor at just five inches long when folded, and weighs 0.5lb — it really is tiny. And its upgraded camera now takes up to 4K video at 30fps, though if you go with 1080p you also get a 4x zoom option. For stills it shoots JPEG + RAW, meaning you can do more with the shots when you get them back to your Mac. DJI’s new OccuSync 2.0 wireless tech gives it a six–mile control range, with 31 minutes of flight time at speeds of up to 36mph. You can send it on auto flight paths with just a tap in the app, too. 2 B&O Beosound 2 Gold Tone bang-olufsen.com $2,250 >>> To celebrate the 95th anniversary of Denmark’s favorite…