The Apple April 2021 keynote aired yesterday, April 21st in Philippine Standard Time. As promised, we’re going to give you key summaries to what the event is about!
Purple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini
Not much is mentioned about the iPhone 12, other than the redesigned podcasts app and a fresh new colour: Purple! This colour will join the iPhone 12 family this second half of May and is ready for preorders on April 30th! The Podcasts app is now redesigned and also gives you the opportunity to subscribe to your favourite podcasts directly through the app
Apple Card Family
Apple also introduced Apple Card Family, where family members (specifically spouses) and those who are aged 13 above can equally share credits as well as merge their separate account into one. Basically, it’s similar to a Family Savings bank account. The Apple Card Family also includes parental controls to help prevent children from overspending, or accidentally spending in-app.
AirTag
The long-awaited AirTags have finally arrived! These tiny locks have sensors in them to help you keep track of any item, including luggage, your keys or any item which they may fit. They are controlled directly via Apple’s FindMy app. They can be designed at custom.
According to Apple, any iPhone with U1 Chip like the iPhone 11 and 12, can precisely find the item to which the AirTag is attached to. To achieve this, the iPhone inputs data taken from the camera, accelerometer and gyroscope to accurately track the AirTag. Apple straightforwardly calls this feature “Precision Finding”
We all know Apple is really serious about their privacy. They don’t get hacked nor get viruses. Unlike a PC with a window to the future.
With that being said, the AirTags feature numerous privacy features, including Unwanted Tag Detection, Ringtone Alerts and Rotating Identifiers. They also returned the anti-stalking feature of the AirTags during the iOS 14.5 beta.
The Apple AirTags cost $29 (~1.4K php) a piece, or $99 (~4.7K php) for four pieces. All of which will be available second half of May and are ready for pre-orders April 30th
Apple TV
Apple announced a newly improved Apple TV called Apple TV 4K in which the biggest improvement is of course, the ability to watch and play 4K video as well as the TV now running Apple’s A12 bionic chip. It runs Apple’s proprietary TV OS and has access to Apple Arcade, a gaming-based subscription service, Apple Fitness+, a fitness app and is also capable of AirPlay which casts your iPhone to your Apple TV. The TV is also Wi-Fi 6 capable.
The Apple TV 4K also comes with a brand new Siri Remote, where the button is located on the side (unlike most Google Assistant remotes which are located on top of the remote). The remote also includes various gesture controls and a fully rotatable wheel that can serve as a seek control to find that perfect scene. Oh yeah, it can now mute or power off your TV, like a regular $2 remote.
In addition to these features, you can now use your iPhone to help in with the colour balance and bring vivid and bright colours for a more optimal viewing experience. To achieve the colour balance, the iPhone must be facing forward, to its front camera, to the TV. The TV will use the iPhone’s light sensor to determine the perfect colour measurement to achieve the perfect colour balance.
Have a better comparison above:
Coming in two storage categories, the new Apple TV 4K is available starting at $179 (~8.7K php) for the 32GB version and $199 (~9.6K php) for the 64GB version. They are available this coming second-half of May.
iMac
Stunning, beautiful and colourful. Those are the new macs. Also, it looks like a really big iPad on a stand than a Mac now so…
The new iMac is powereed by Apple’s M1 chip, the first SoC made by the company. It also marks a transition away from depending on Intel’s chipsets. The new M1 chipsets are made specifically to rival Intel’s Core series of chipsets. Unlike Intel, which seems to be stuck on 14nm process, the M1 is built on a 5nm process, making it less prone to heating.
The new M1 chipsets are also ARM-based instead of x86 architecture which Intel uses. This makes M1 much more efficient and processes things faster because ARM-based chipsets are RISCs (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) that uses fixed-length instructions that each perform only one operation, while x86 architecture is a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) which is more accurate but is slower and much more power-consuming.
The new Mac is also larger than its predecessor, and is 85% faster as well, according to Apple. The new Mac has a 24in. 4.5K retina display with a resolution of 4480×2520 pixels. This is also “the best display ever put on a Mac”. The display also supports Dolby Vision HDR.
In addition to the display, the iMac also supports TrueTone, which help in provide the best colours no matter how dark or bright the conditions are
For the first time in a Mac, the camera is now 1080p “Facetime HD” for better video calls and interviews. The camera also uses AI algorithms, and, coupled with the powerful processor, adjusts the colours around you automatically, making video calls more vivid.
The new iMac comes with Apple’s Big Sur loaded with many features including AirPlay, that lets you seamlessly cast and mirror your iPhone or iPad to your Mac. The new Mac also has a new gimmick called “magic clipboard” in which items you copied from an iPhone or iPad can be automatically pasted on a Mac.
It also has a new six-speaker system consisting of two force-cancelling woofers coupled with powerful tweeters to help bring the balance in bass, vibration and loudness, as well as provide crystal clear sound. In addition, the new iMac has a three-microphone array, making it the “best ever” put in a Mac
For connectivity, the iMac has four USB-C ports, including two thunderbolt ports that help transfer files much faster. The new iMac also comes with a magnetic power connector for easy hookups.
iMac Accessories
The new iMac also has a handful of accessories, the most prominent being a keyboard with TouchID enabled. There is also a numpad with TouchID as well as a regular keyboard but without either gimmicks. The new iMac has an array of colourful mice as well as trackpads
The iMac and its accessories are available for preorders within the end of the month and will be available in Apple stores around second half of May. The prices differ mostly with its GPU and accessories
iPad Pro (2021)
The artists’ choice has a big upgrade from its predecessor! The new iPad Pro is essentially a Mac but portable. In fact it uses the same M1 chip seen on the iMac, making the iPad Pro amazing for rendering heavy 3D graphics, 4K video as well as any demanding apps and games. According to Apple, it should provide “console-level” gameplay performance, like we believe you Apple.
What we like about Apple is that they essentially compete against themselves, especially during their presentations, unlike other brands, making them self-centric but not essentially “salty”. It is no different here. The new iPad Pro is 50% faster than its predecessor in terms of CPU performance
Apple is committed to a better, greener future as if they are not removing their chargers on their phones, which cost more plastic and paper because it is now on a separate packaging (if ever you wanted to buy one) and now have to be transported separately. Gotta love Apple reasoning and how everyone is following them. (Samsung, you’re guilty of this)
That’s besides the point though, as the iPad Pro is made of “recycled” aluminium and rare earth metals, and like the iPhone, comes with a sleeker, thinner packaging, as a sign of Apple’s commitment to a greener future, like we believe them.
For the display, it comes with a Liquid Retina XDR display (that’s a funny way of saying “Samsung E4 AMOLED”) with a high peak brightness of 1600 nits and 120Hz touch rate
Unlike the previous iPad Pro which came with 75 LEDs, the new iPad Pro comes with 10,000 tiny LEDs that help achieve that 1600nits peak brightness, as well as thin optical films with 2,500 dimming zones that helps achieve the 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. With these amazing features and gimmicks, it’s surprising how the iPad Pro remained light weighing only 1.5kg and measuring at a thin 6.4mm
Also, unlike other tablets, the iPad Pro has two, consisting of an ultrawide and a wide camera, including flash
The regular 11in. iPad Pro is the filler coming in at $799 (~38.7K php) and the actual one, the 12.9in with all the features mentioned comes in at $1099 (~53.2K php) and will be available for pre-orders starting end of April, and will be available for purchase in Apple Stores worldwide by May
Source: Apple 2021 Keynotes Event (has ended)
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