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Apple's new MacBooks and Mac Mini could change PCs as we know them – CNET

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Typically, people talk about the way Apple’s devices look. But this time what matters most is under the hood.


Sarah Tew/CNET

This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.

On Tuesday, Apple announced its first personal computers powered using chips that are more like those in an iPhone than those in a typical PC. The machines are the $999 13-inch MacBook Air, the $699 Mac Mini and the $1,299 MacBook Pro. That alone is exciting to tech fans, but it’s also a sign of what’s possibly to come, whether you buy a Mac or not. Apple has said it’s going to change the brains of its computers over the next couple of years. Starting with the just-unveiled machines, Apple is going to throw its weight behind its self-made chips.

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Most people may not care about a change to a small chip in their Mac computers, but it could mean big changes for Apple and the tech industry, too. For the past 14 years, Apple has relied on Intel-made chips to power its laptop and desktop computers. Apple has spent more than a decade on research and development, and at least $1 billion buying more than half a dozen companies, to create the M1, a chip similar to those in iPhones and iPads and that takes on Intel. Now Apple’s first computers powered by the M1 have been made available for preorder and will start shipping next week. 

Apple says the M1 is more powerful and energy efficient, allowing for potentially smaller and slimmer designs, longer battery life and new technologies as well.

“Advancements of this magnitude only come from making bold changes,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during Apple’s event Tuesday. He added that Apple’s own chips will usher in new technologies and “extraordinary battery life” from the computers. “This is exactly why we are transitioning to Mac Apple silicon at Apple,” Cook said.

For Apple, this moment has been more than a decade in the making. The question that’s nagged the company since co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011 is, What comes next? Jobs ushered in the Mac computer, the iMac all-in-one desktop, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Since his death, Apple’s biggest new product has been the Apple Watch, which has turned into an enormous business. Last year it outsold, by a huge margin, the entire Swiss watch industry. Still, it’s not an iPhone-like dent in the universe.

By combining all its devices under the same chips and common code, Apple will be able to offer an experience that truly spans its desktops, laptops, phones and watches. The company has already said app developers will be able to create one app and send it to all devices, with adjustments for keyboard and mouse versus finger touch and gestures.

The result may be a further blurring of the lines between what a computer is, and what it’s meant to do.

The changes are already beginning with Apple’s newest computer software, MacOS 11 Big Sur, which brings to PCs even more of the icons, sounds and general look of the iOS software that powers iPhones. Big Sur will be made available on Thursday for free for recently made Macs.

“With the current Mac — it’s the Mac versus the PC,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies. “Now, if it behaves like an iPhone, I can manage it like an extension of my iOS devices.”

Apple's iPad Air uses the new A14 Bionic chip. It's got 11.8 billion transistors.Apple's iPad Air uses the new A14 Bionic chip. It's got 11.8 billion transistors.

Apple’s iPad Air and iPhone 12 use the company’s A14 Bionic chip. The new Macs might too.


Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

What may come

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The difference between computers and phones is becoming a matter of screen size.


Angela Lang/CNET

Apple says its transition to new chips may be a little bumpy, as app developers change the way their apps are coded to work with this new machinery. In the meantime, Apple promises most of the software we all use, including web browsers; photo and movie editors from all sorts of companies; and even Microsoft’s popular Office suite of programs, will work on the new machines on day one.

What’s likely to change more than anything involves a component other than the chip for the laptop and desktop. Apple’s iPhones and iPads don’t have fans to keep their chips cool. So far, the company has pulled off that same trick with its MacBook Air laptops, though its new Mac Mini and MacBook Pro do have fans.

But aside from those changes, and what-if speculation about detachable laptop-iPad hybrids, Apple watchers seem hard pressed to come up with design-change ideas. (Writer’s note: Apple, please bring back the MagSafe magnetic charging cables to the laptops. Pretty please.)

Another longer term play may be the integration of cellular service into these types of mobile chips. Computers with built-in cellular radios have been niche products at best, but these kinds of processors are designed to work with cellular radios. People buy connected iPads all the time — a connected MacBook Air isn’t a huge leap. 

Though that’s not likely to come out any time soon, the carriers will probably be eager to get 5G into a future generation of Apple’s silicon-based MacBooks.


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Apple’s credit card may be the company’s secret weapon when it comes to getting more people to consider Mac computers.


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By switching to its own chips and away from ones made by Intel, Apple will get more than the expected performance and power efficiency boost. It’ll be able to more closely tune its software to work with its specialized chips, for example. And the company will also be able to manage manufacturing.

“When you control your own destiny and control your own parts, you can save money,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research.

Generally, O’Donnell said, chip prices make up at least 20% of a laptop’s costs. If Apple were to turn those savings into lower prices, it could attract new people who now just won’t pay or can’t afford the company’s laptops, which start at $999.

It may also spark consumer interest and spur competition from other PC makers, who’ve so far only toyed with using mobile-phone chips in computers (though with just under 7% market share in 2019, according to IDC).

But the Apple credit card could be the company’s true ace up its sleeve, analysts say. Putting Macs on a two-year, interest-free installment plan could get people hooked on the idea of buying a computer for about $42 a month.

“Getting the Mac into a larger population could be huge,” O’Donnell said.

Regardless, Apple’s move is bound to make waves, both by showing us how powerful its iPhone chips are, and potentially spurring the industry to change their devices to keep up.

“This is the biggest announcement in ‘computers’ in a long time,” tweeted Steven Sinofsky, a venture capitalist who oversaw Microsoft’s Windows software division more than a decade ago. “The real impact is the direction this takes things.”

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Apple announces Worldwide Developers Conference dates, in-person event – CityNews Toronto

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Apple has announced their annual developers conference will take place June 10 through June 14.

The big summer event will be live-streamed, but some select developers have been invited to attend in-person events at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California, on June 10.

The company typically showcases their latest software and product updates — including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AppleTV and Vision Pro headset — during a keynote address on the first day.

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Contributing to a drop in Apple’s stock price this year is concern it lags behind Microsoft and Google in the push to develop products powered by artificial intelligence technology. While Apple tends to keep its product development close to the vest, CEO Tim Cook signaled at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in February that it has been making big investments in generative AI and plans to disclose more later this year.

The week-long conference will have opportunities for developers to connect with Apple designers and engineers to gain insight into new tools, frameworks and features, according to the company’s announcement.

The Associated Press

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iPhone 16 Rumors Point to Action Button and New, Vertical Camera Layout – CNET

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The upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are still months away from their expected launch this fall, but a new set of images published online may give us a better sense of their potential features. Among the revelations, the iPhone 16 may include an action button, similar to the one on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, and it may have redesigned cameras in a vertical stack.

AppleInsider published a series of photos it says show dummy 3D prints of the upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro from an unnamed leaker. Aside from the action button and reworked cameras on the iPhone 16, AppleInsider also said its source found the iPhone 16 Pro to be “slightly larger” than its predecessor. Analysts had earlier said they expect the Pro model screens will grow somewhat.

Read more: iPhone 16: All the Major Rumors on Apple’s Next iPhone

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The new details suggest that a series of expected hardware updates are likely for this year’s new iPhones. Apple typically announces new iPhones around September, and the company tends to offer incremental upgrades to each new phone, introducing, over the period of several years, better cameras, screens and battery life, features that end up seeming like major upgrades when people get around to buying a new phone

Last year, Apple added a new titanium frame, action button and USB-C charging to its iPhone 15 Pro, which starts at $999. For its entry-level iPhone, Apple followed its well-worn strategy of trickling pro features down to the mainstream, adding the iPhone 14 Pro’s well-received Dynamic Island to the $799 iPhone 15, along with USB-C charging.

AppleInsider didn’t indicate whether its leaker had divined a reason for the iPhone 16’s shifted camera placements, but the two lenses will now reportedly be stacked one on top of the other, instead of diagonally. Apple has previously said it uses stacked lenses on the iPhone 15 Pro for spatial video capture, a key new technology the company highlighted as part of its $3,499 Apple Vision Pro headset, released in February.

Though AppleInsider’s leaks appear to confirm many previous rumors, not all renders and 3D prints are accurate, something the rumor blog notes itself in its report. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the veracity of the leaks.

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I Took 600+ Photos With the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Look at My Favorites

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Leaked iPhone 16 dummy units hint at larger sizes and new buttons

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The iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a 6.7-inch screen
(Image credit: Future)

We’re already counting down to the arrival of the iPhone 16 series – most probably sometime in September – and a leak showing dummy units of the upcoming phones has revealed a few of the changes we can expect to see later this year.

These dummy units are usually based on supply chain information, and have various business uses – like helping case manufacturers get their wares ready for new phones before they’re launched, for example. In this case, the images were posted to Chinese social network Weibo, as spotted by MacRumors.

Perhaps the most interesting reveal from these blocks of plastic and metal is that they show the previously rumored increase in size for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max displays – up to 6.3 inches (from 6.1 inches) and 6.9 inches (from 6.7 inches) respectively.

That’s not a huge jump of course, but it does mean more screen space for apps and media. The bezels are apparently shrinking down to accommodate the larger screens, which means the increase in the physical size of these handsets is only a slight one.

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On the button

iPhone 16 dummy units leak

The next iPhones might look a bit like this, but less blue (Image credit: Weibo)

Further reveals from this leak match up with what we’ve heard before: that all four models are going to get the Action button that replaced the Ring/Silent switch on the 2023 Pro models, as well as a brand-new Capture button for getting more creative with photos.

Also of note is the redesigned rear camera module that we think is coming to the back of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The new vertical, pill-shaped look has been leaked already, but this is more evidence that it’s on the way – taking us back to a design that’s more reminiscent of the iPhone 12, which came out in 2020.

As always with such rumors, be somewhat cautious about reading too much into the look of these dummy units. That said, as more and more similar leaks pile up, it becomes more likely that they’re based on accurate information.

The next big Apple date for your calendar is WWDC 2024 – its Worldwide Developers Conference starts on June 10, at which time we should hear much more about what’s coming this year with iOS 18 and Apple’s other software platforms.

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Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

Leaked iPhone 16 dummy units hint at larger sizes and new buttons

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