Apple launches MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini with custom M1 chipset

2020 has been an eventful year for Apple. The Cupertino based giant unveiled a slew of devices including a budget iPhone SE 2020, new iPad and MacBook models, HomePod, Watch Series 6 and Watch SE and lastly the flagship iPhone 12 series. In India, Apple also launched its first online store. 

At Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event, the company took off the wraps of its first ARM-powered MacBooks. Alongside the laptops, the brand also announced Mac Mini. Apple had first detailed its plans of transitioning from Intel to its own silicon chipsets at WWDC. Let’s take a look at the newly launched devices below. 

Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro specifications and features

Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are offered in 13.3-inch Retina display. The machines retain the same design as its Intel counterpart. The former comes with an updated FaceTime camera with noise reduction while the latter features a TouchID.

Apple’s first custom chipset is called as Apple M1 and are based on 5nm architecture. It has four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. Apple claims that the M1 is designed to excel at machine learning with a 16-core neural engine. Both the MacBook Air and Pro are said to offer 3.5x more performance. Apple also highlighted the macOS Big Sur that is designed for the M1 chip. It is expected to have a similar design as the iPadOS and iOS and also support existing apps as well as universal apps.

Unlike the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is equipped with a fan for heat dissipation. Both the machines pack up to 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD storage. The MacBook Air is claimed to offer 18 hours of battery life compared to 12 hours on the existing model. 

Apple Mac Mini specifications and features

Apple has equipped the Mac mini with its custom M1 processor as well. Compared to the previous quad-core mini, the latest offering is claimed to offer 3x performance and a 6 fold increase in graphics performance. Apple also says that the device is capable of offering 5x performance compared to a top-selling desktop PC in its price range. 

The Mac mini is offered in 8GB or 16GB RAM option and comes in four SSD storage options of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB. 

Apple MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini price in India

The MacBook Air base configuration starts at Rs 92,900 and goes up to Rs 1,92,900. The MacBook Pro is priced at Rs 1,22,900 for the base variant and costs a whopping Rs 2,22,900 for the top-end model. The Mac mini will retail from Rs 64,900 to Rs 1,64,900