The Next Generation of Mac
Apple Silicon M1 Chip
- First System on Chip (SOC) for the Mac
- Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) – High bandwidth, low latency Apple-designed package accessible to the entire SOC.
- 5-nanometer tech
- 16 Billion Transistors
- 8-core CPU
- 4 high-speed cores. Worlds Fastest CPU cores
- 4 high-Efficiency cores. Best CPU performance per watt
- 3x performance per watt
- Integrated 8-core GPU
- Worlds fastest graphics
- 16-core neural engine
- 11 trillion operations per second
- Machine learning accelerators
- Secure Enclave
- Hardware-verified secure boot
- Automatic high-performance encryption
- macOS run-time protections
- Activation lock
- Image Signal Processor (ISP)
- Video noise reduction
- Greater dynamic range
- Improved auto white balance
- ML – enhanced face detection
- Media encode and decode engines
- Thunderbolt/USB 4 controller
MacBook Pro 13″ M1
Performance
- Up to 2.8x faster CPU performance over the previous generation.
- Up to 5x faster GPU graphics performance.
- Edit 8K ProRes video in DaVinci Resolve without dropping frames.
- Up to 11x faster machine learning (ML) performance.
- Up to 2x faster SSD performance.
- Up to 3x faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in its class.
- Battery performance
- Active cooling system (a fan) for increased performance.
- Up to 17 hours of wireless internet browsing.
- Up to 20 hours of video playback. Six hours longer than before.
- Longest battery life ever in a Mac.
Specifications
- Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- 8GB unified memory
- 256 or 512GB SSD storage
- 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
- Magic Keyboard
- Touch Bar and Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
- Enhanced camera ISP
- Studio quality mics
Price: 256GB – $1,299.00 or 512GB – $1,499.00
Available from Apple today, November 10, 2020. Ships next week.
MacBook Air M1
Performance
- Up to 3x faster CPU performance over the previous generation.
- Up to 5x faster GPU graphics performance.
- Edit multiple streams of 4K ProRes video at the same time without dropping frames.
- Up to 9x faster machine learning (ML) performance.
- Up to 2x faster SSD performance.
- Up to 3x faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in its class.
- Battery performance
- Silent fanless design
- Up to 15 hours of wireless internet browsing.
- Up to 18 hours of video playback. Ten hours longer than before.
- 2x Battery life on video calls.
- Longest battery life ever in a MacBook Air.
Specifications
- Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 7‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine on the MacBook Air with 256 GB SSD
- Apple M1 chip with 8‑core CPU, 8‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine on the MacBook Air with 512 GB SSD
- 8GB unified memory
- 256 or 512 GB SSD storage
- Retina display with True Tone
- Magic Keyboard
- Touch ID
- Force Touch trackpad
- Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Price: 256GB – $999.00 or 512GB – $1,249.00
Available from Apple today, November 10, 2020. Ships next week.
Mac mini M1
Performance
- Up to 3x faster CPU performance over the previous generation.
- Up to 6x faster graphics performance
- Up to 15x faster machine learning (ML) performance
- Up to 5x faster than the top-selling PC desktop
Specifications
- Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine
- 8GB unified memory
- 256 or 512GB SSD storage
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
- Two USB-A ports
- HDMI 2.0 port
- 3.5 mm headphone
Price: 256GB – $699.00 or 512GB – $899.00
Available from Apple today, November 10, 2020. Ships next week.
macOS Big Sur will be released on Tuesday, November 12, 2020
My Thoughts
Problem: Both the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air only have Active two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports.
The slide in the MacBook Pro presentation says that there is up to 16GB of RAM and up to a 2TB SSD but they are currently not for sale on Apple.com.
The entry level MacBook Air has a 7-core GPU rather than an 8-Core GPU.
The entire motherboard of these computers is about the same size as a desktop DRAM module. It is like someone stuffed a high-end workstation into a board not much bigger than a stick of chewing gum. Apple eliminated more than they added. Basically, the whole computer is on one chip. The other chips on the motherboard are for communications and power delivery.
Apple eliminated many of its biggest vendors and brought all the value that they brought to the table in-house. Communications chips are the only major value add in these computers that Apple doesn’t control.
