Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ event: rumors, news, and announcements

It turns out Apple has one more major hardware announcement before 2020 comes to a close: after many months of rumors, Apple today unveiled its own over-ear noise-canceling headphones. They’re called the AirPods Max, and they come with the premium design that’s expected from flagship Apple headphones. They also come with an extremely premium $549 price and are set to go on sale on December 15th. Preorders start today.

The AirPods Max come in five colors: space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink. They feature what Apple calls a “custom acoustic design” with a 40mm driver system “that provides rich, deep bass, accurate mid-ranges, and crisp, clean high-frequency extension so every note can be heard.” Apple has brought over a number of features that first debuted in the AirPods line, like adaptive EQ, transparency mode, spatial audio, and audio sharing. There’s even an element from the Apple Watch — the Digital Crown — that has made its way to these headphones. Apple says it “offers precise volume control and the ability to play or pause audio, skip tracks, answer or end phone calls, and activate Siri.” There’s also a separate “noise control” button for switching between noise-canceling and transparency modes.

The new MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 chip is a triumph.

In a week of testing, I have pushed this computer and its new Apple-made processor to its limits and found that those limits exceeded my expectations on nearly every level. 

Apple has released the first of its new Macs with the company’s custom-designed M1 Arm processor. But you’d never know it by looking at the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac mini, which all look virtually identical to their Intel-based predecessors. 

And that decision feels like a deliberate one. Apple made some big internal changes here, including a new logic board and a fully integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) that replaces most of the discrete components within these new Macs. It would have been relatively easy to introduce more substantial external changes along with it. 

It’s been a little bit weird that Apple would sell both a 13-inch MacBook Air and a 13-inch MacBook Pro simultaneously, but perhaps never more than today — because Apple’s new $999 and $1,299 laptops seem nearly identical if you look beyond the differently curved frames. They’ve got the same M1 processor, the same memory and storage options, the same ports, and very similar screens.

I’m not joking when I say: the biggest difference is a fan.

Apple’s MacBook Air is one of a collection of the company’s computers to receive the newly announced M1 chip today. The beloved laptop appears almost identical from the outside, but if you open it up you’ll notice the familiar keyboard has changed. Apple’s traded out some of the function keys on its new MacBook Air, adding in new ones for Spotlight, Do Not Disturb, and Dictation.

The last time the functionality of the MacBook Air keyboard changed was to add Touch ID for securing passwords and payment details. This change goes further, removing the brightness keys for the keyboard along with the Launchpad key that pulled up macOS’s SpringBoard-inspired app launcher.

Apple announced three new Mac computers on Tuesday powered by its all-new M1 chip, a custom Arm-based system-on-a-chip. But despite the performance and efficiency gains the M1 chip allows, there is one notable constraint: memory. According to Apple, customers interested in buying a new Mac with more than 16GB of RAM will need to purchase an older, Intel-based model. Right now, the M1 cannot support more memory.

That may be disappointing to some professional users interested in switching over to the Arm-based laptops or the new Mac mini, considering older Intel-based models can carry as much as 32GB of RAM. It echoes complaints against the MacBook Pro refresh of four years ago, too, when Apple said limitations on memory options were to conserve battery life.

Following the “One More Thing” hardware event, Apple has announced its new line of Arm-based Macs powered by Apple’s own processors, replacing Intel, which has been used in Mac laptops and desktops since 2005. Currently, the first three Apple computers to have Apple’s custom M1 chip are the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini.

The new Arm-based Macs are available to order now, and Apple says the computers will ship starting November 17th. But if you are ready to preorder one of the new models now, we have compiled a list of retailers currently offering the new computers.

Apple just wrapped up its “One More Thing” hardware live stream, where it announced new versions of the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini, each with its newly announced, promising M1 silicon. Apple first detailed its transition from Intel to its own processors earlier this year — but this event was all about diving deep into what that reality now looks like and when you’ll be able to get your hands on a computer featuring the just-announced M1 chip.

If you missed out on the stream, I highly recommend taking the purist route of rewatching it alongside our live blog coverage to get the moment-to-moment commentary on each announcement. Otherwise, if you just want the headlines and major details, that’s what I’m here for! Here are all of the biggest announcements.

Apple’s big Arm-based M1 Mac announcements brought the company’s first Apple silicon-powered laptops in the form of the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. But the event also had a surprising guest star: actor John Hodgman reprising his role as the PC guy from Apple’s “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercials that it ran in the mid-2000s.

In the short video, Hodgman’s put-upon PC reacts to the announcement of Apple’s new M1-powered Macs, complaining about the improved performance and battery life that the new chip purportedly offers on the updated Macs, compared to what PCs can do. (Absent is Justin Long’s Mac character, who made up the other half of the ad spots.)

Apple says it’ll release macOS 11.0, dubbed Big Sur, on November 12th. The company first announced the new OS at its developer’s conference in June and released it as a public beta in August. This will be the first macOS to support Apple’s new M1 laptop chip. Once you download the new, free update, you’ll most likely immediately note the design and aesthetic changes, many taken from iOS.

For one, Big Sur comes with a customizable Control Center where you can toggle brightness, Do Not Disturb, and other settings of your choice. It also includes a new notification center that’ll keep all of your notifications and widgets (also redesigned and available in the App Store) in one column, sort alerts by which are most recent, and group related notifications together. Both interfaces are translucent, just like iOS. Other changes include taller menu bars, font color changes based on the desktop background, and more translucent windows.

Apple has announced its first MacBook Pro laptop that will run on an Apple-designed processor at its “One More Thing” event, ushering in a new era of Mac computers.

It’s not just that Apple is making an Arm-based Mac; it’s that Apple is specifically making an Arm-based MacBook Pro, products it has emphasized as core parts of its lineup for both creative and technical professionals.

Apple on Tuesday announced a new Mac mini, the first since 2018, featuring its new custom-designed Arm-based M1 chip, joining the new MacBook Air as the second Apple Silicon device announced at the company’s “One More Thing” event. The new desktop machine will start at $699, $100 cheaper than the previously released Mac mini from two years ago.

Apple claims the new Mac mini is up to 60 percent more energy-efficient, thanks to the M1 chip. The company also claims the device has a “3x faster CPU” and “6x faster graphics,” with options for up to 16GB of RAM — the limit for the M1 chip, according to Apple — and up to 2TB of solid-state storage. Apple says the machine can support up to two external displays as well as a 6K display, with DisplayPort options including Thunderbolt and USB 4. Although the new Mac mini notably features two fewer Thunderbolt ports than the 2018 Intel-based model.

Apple has announced some of the first apps and games coming to Arm-based Macs, and it includes more than a few familiar names: Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, Cinema 4D, and more.

Other titles teased during Apple’s event today — where it detailed the first computers to use its Apple Silicon chips — include the code editor Nova, the kids’ coding app Hopscotch, the video calling app Mmhmm, the design app Shapr3D, all of the productivity apps from the Omni Group (such as OmniPlan and OmniGraffle), the publishing tool Affinity Publisher, the genealogy app MacFamilyTree, and the vector graphics app Vectornator. Apple previously said that Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are being updated for these new Macs, too.

Apple has announced the launch of its 2020 MacBook Air. It’s powered by Apple’s new M1 processor. This is the first MacBook Air, and one of the first laptops, to feature Apple’s own Arm-based CPUs, designed specifically for Macs.

The new MacBook Air starts at $999, the same price as the previous MacBook Air released in March. (That model appears to have been discontinued on Apple’s website.) It’s available November 17th, but you can order it today.

Apple has introduced the new M1 chip that will power its new generation of Arm-based Macs. It’s a 5nm processor, just like the A14 Bionic powering its latest iPhones, but it’s the first that Apple has designed specifically for the Mac. The new chip will power Apple’s new MacBook Air, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro, the latter of which offers the “longest battery life ever in a Mac” according to Apple.

Apple says the new processor will focus on combining power efficiency with performance. It has an eight-core CPU, which Apple says offers the world’s best performance per watt of a CPU. Apple says it delivers the same peak performance as a typical laptop CPU at a quarter of the power draw. It says this has four fast CPU cores, paired with four high-efficiency cores which by themselves offer comparable performance to an existing dual-core MacBook Air.

At WWDC in June, Apple announced it would begin a two-year transition to using its own processors on Macs this year. True to its word, it has one last event in 2020, titled “One More Thing” after Steve Jobs’ famous catchphrase.

We are absolutely expecting Arm-based processors for Macs. Specifically, Bloomberg has reported that the first ones to arrive will be a new MacBook Air and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro. Releasing a MacBook Pro, in particular, seems to imply that Apple has a high degree of confidence in how powerful its new chips will be.

Apple is hosting its last big hardware event of 2020 on November 10th at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. The prompt for this one is “One More Thing,” the line that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously used to cap the company’s events with a special surprise announcement. So what’s in store for this event? We expect Apple to go deep on its Arm-based Mac computers, with the unveiling of a new MacBook Air and two MacBook Pro models, according to a report from Bloomberg.

For the unaware, after several years of using Intel CPUs exclusively in its laptops and desktops, Apple is shifting to using its own silicon instead — like the company does for the iPhone and iPad. There will still be some Intel-based Mac computers available, but Apple is switching things up in a major way. Check out our live blog for all of the latest updates.

Apple is on the verge of making one of the biggest platform changes in the company’s history. On Tuesday, it’s expected to announce the first Macs that will run off Apple-designed processors and graphics cards instead of the Intel chips it’s used since 2005. 

It’s a strategy that Apple has employed to great success with its iPhone and iPad devices over the past decade, but the coming transition for its laptops and desktops will represent a whole new challenge. 

Apple is expected to officially unveil its first computers powered by custom Arm-based silicon chips at its “One More Thing” event on Tuesday. The company is promising the new chips will deliver improved performance with less power consumption, and the switch also means Apple computers will support native iOS apps due to Apple’s A-series mobile and tablet chips sharing 64-bit Arm architecture.

The fact that Apple silicon-based computers are likely launching on Tuesday isn’t exactly a surprise; Apple said at WWDC in June it expected to ship the first Mac with an Apple-designed CPU by the end of the year. But naming the event after Steve Jobs’ iconic phrase indicates Apple thinks this will be a significant moment for the company — and hopefully these computers will be worth the wait.

Apple’s upcoming “One More Thing” event, announced this morning and scheduled for November 10th, will be a major break with tradition in more ways than one: it will be the first time the company unveils an Apple laptop featuring its own custom Arm-based CPUs. Apple plans to debut three new laptops next week, one 13-inch MacBook Air and two different-sized MacBook Pro models (13-inches and 16-inches) that ditch Intel processors, according to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

We had a strong inkling that this event — coming on the heels of an iPhone-specific one last month and one dedicated to the latest Apple Watch and iPads back in September — would be when Apple debuts its Arm-based Macs, which the company confirmed after years of swirling rumors back at WWDC this past summer. But it wasn’t clear, at least until Bloomberg’s report, what models might get the custom CPUs first. According to Gurman, a redesigned iMac, a new Mac mini, and a half-sized Mac Pro, all powered by Apple chip architecture, are also in the works.

Apple has announced a “One More Thing” event for November 10th, which will presumably see the company announce its first Arm-based Macs that run on Apple Silicon chips instead of the Intel processors the company has used since 2005.

The language here is particularly notable: the “One More Thing” phrase has long been used by Apple — particularly by former CEO Steve Jobs — in keynotes for significant product announcements. The last time Apple used the phrase was for the announcement of the iPhone X in 2017.

Apple made waves at WWDC this year when it announced that it’d be making its own Mac chips, switching away from the Intel processors the company has used across its laptops and desktops since 2005.

While Apple may be new to computer chips, it’s been making its own processors ever since the original iPad and the iPhone 4. In fact, it’s one of the biggest advantages to Apple’s approach to design: Apple builds the chips, Apple makes the software, and Apple designs the hardware — every part of the process is under Apple’s control. Now, Apple is potentially poised to bring those same benefits to its Macs. 

Apple’s first Macs based on its own ARM-based silicon will include a new MacBook Air, as well as MacBook Pros with 13.3-, 14-, and 16-inch screen sizes, according to a new report from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The research note was reported by 9to5Mac and MacRumors. Apple officially confirmed the long-standing rumors of a switch to its own processors at WWDC last month, which will see it move away from the Intel chips it’s been using for over a decade.

Reiterating his prediction from last month, Kuo says that he expects a new ARM-based 13.3-inch MacBook Pro to enter mass production in the fourth quarter of this year, but he now also says that it could be joined by an ARM-based MacBook Air. Kuo says the new Air could start shipping at the end of this year or the first quarter of next year. 

Apple is moving away from Intel’s chipsets in favor of its new, custom-designed ARM chips — but the company is promising that it’ll still support Intel’s Thunderbolt USB-C connectivity standard on new Apple silicon computers, despite the lack of Intel processors.

“Over a decade ago, Apple partnered with Intel to design and develop Thunderbolt, and today our customers enjoy the speed and flexibility it brings to every Mac. We remain committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will support it in Macs with Apple silicon,” commented an Apple spokesperson, in a statement to The Verge.