Apple launch with a difference
Apple’s new devices don’t disappoint, writes David Court.
Usually, when Apple launches any major new product, it does so in a big Californian theatre packed out with media and Apple super fans. Executives then appear on stage and deliver polished, albeit closely-scripted, presentations that outline what makes their new toy so amazing.
That wasn’t the case this week. Coronavirus has forced Apple to keep its big wigs at home and battle with a global launch via conference calls instead.
Fortunately, this week’s launch wasn’t a hard sell. Apple has continued its recent trend of giving us consumers exactly what we want: an updated MacBook Pro and a new iPad Pro that features LiDAR and trackpad support (hoorah!)
Let’s start with the MacBook, as that’s probably the more modest and easier-to-understand launch of the two.
The big news here is that, as expected, it followed last year’s MacBook Pro and dumped the unreliable butterfly keyboard.
In its place is the very reliable (so far) ‘‘magic keyboard’’ – the very same as the MacBook Pro has. There’s no touch bar here though, which I’d argue is no bad thing. Other than that, it’s the same thing.
The Air also gets either dualcore or quad-core Intel 10th-Gen Core processors, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 8GB of 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory and either 256GB or 512GB of SSD storage.
Apple says this gives the MacBook Air two-times faster CPU performance and 80 per cent faster graphics performance on the previous model(s).
The all-day battery remains as competitive as ever. With Apple claiming the new laptop can support 11-hour or wireless web browsing or 12-hours of video playback.
This MacBook Air fixes the previous generation’s biggest flaw (the keyboard) and boosts all other major specs to 2020’s standards.
The 2020 MacBook air has a recommended retail price of NZ$1799.
iPad Pro
The features of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, on the other hand, are almost unrecognisable from its previous generations.
It boasts an updated camera setup, eight-core GPU in the new A12Z Bionic processor, LiDAR, and best of all, trackpad support.
Apple has spent years trying to convince us that the iPad is a device that can replace your traditional computer.
And while that was technically true, it was never a device that could do so without a fair amount of pain. The inclusion of trackpad support – a feature I’ve been crying out for – changes that.
iPad Pro users can now connect an Apple Mouse, Apple Trackpad, or even a third-party Bluetooth device and use a mouse.
Better still, trackpad support will be backwards compatible – available on previous 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros when they update to iPadOS 13.4 (available March 24).
Apple also debuted its impressive, and really expensive, new magic keyboard for iPad. Not only does it come with trackpad support, but it also has USB-C passthrough charging, and its ‘‘cantilevered hinges’’ allow smooth adjustments of the viewing angle up to 130 degrees.
Sadly, we have to wait until May before this accessory ships. The 11-inch Magic Keyboard will cost NZ$549, and the 12.9-inch will cost NZ$639 inc GST.
The addition of LiDAR – that measures the distance to surrounding objects up to 5 metres away – also turns the iPad Pro into a pretty compelling AR (augmented reality) device.
Apple demoed a visually impressive scenario where users scanned their living rooms (in a couple of seconds) and used AR to virtually decorate and furnish their homes.
AR on the iPad Pro is helped with the device’s improved camera system: a 12MP Wide camera that can capture 4K video, and a secondary 10MP Ultra-Wide camera that zooms out two times to attract a wider field of view.
The final features of note are the industry-leading 120 Hz
The addition of LiDAR – that measures the distance to surrounding objects up to 5 metres away – also turns the iPad Pro into a pretty compelling AR device.
Liquid Retina display and the inclusion of five studio-quality microphones.
The microphone setup is similar to the one we also saw a few months ago in the 16-inch iPad Pro. The benefit here, however, is that the iPad Pro has no internal fan to distort the audio – making it a better device for on-the-go podcasting or broadcasting perhaps?
The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at a recommended retail price of NZ$1499 for the Wi-Fi model and NZ$1779 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at NZ$1849 for the Wi-Fi model and NZ$2129 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.