Apple Event

Apple unveils an All-new MacBook Air, iPad Pro, Mac mini

Apple launched the 2018 iPhones in September aka the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. If you thought, that was all Apple had in store for its fans, well, you were surely mistaken. 

Apple has finally unveiled a brand new MacBook Air, an all new completely redesigned iPad Pro and Mac mini. All these brand new products were announced on 30th October, 2018 event in Brooklyn, New York at 10am Eastern (7:30pm IST).

MacBook Air(2018)

Apple MacBook Air

Apple MacBook Air is one of the most selling and a budget friendly MacBook ever which is thin and light. At the event, Apple announced an all new MacBook Air with an all new look, design and many more features.

The 2018 MacBook Air consist of a 13.3" Retina Display aka Liquid Renita Display ( which is basically an LCD display with a higher resolution having 4 million pixels), an 8th-gen dual core i5 processor, a faster 8GB memory (configurable upto 16GB), a 128GB SSDs (configurable upto 1.5TB), Stereo speakers with more base , a second generation Apple T2 security chip, two thunderbolt 3 port, latest Force Touch trackpad, and last but not the least Touch ID to unlock your mac and protected by a sapphire glass. And all these features comes under a baseline price tag of $1199.

iPad Pro(2018)

With an "all screen" design, TrueDepth with Face ID, A12X Bionic processor, next-generation Apple Pencil and more, Apple's newly unveiled iPad Pro is more revolution than evolution.

Apple iPad Pro (2018)

The new 2018 iPad Pros are completely redesigned and comes in 11- and 12.9-inch variants, with flat edges around the sides, sitting front and center, wrapped in a thin bezel, is the new Liquid Retina display with rounded corners and tap-to-wake functionality.

On the back, iPad Pro gets the same 12-megapixel camera as the iPhone XR, complete with Smart HDR, 4K video recording at 60 frames per second. The only thing it's lacking is optical image stabilization. 

Both iPad Pro models come in at a mere 5.9mm thick not counting the rear camera bump, making them thinner than any iPad or iPhone ever made.

For the first time in an iOS device, Apple opted to use a USB-C port instead of its proprietary Lightning connector. This means users can connect an external 5K display, extra storage or even charge their iPhone with a USB-C to Lightning cable.

The baseline iPad Pro comes with 64GB of internal storage (upto 1TB),  A12X Bionic chip with 64-bit architecture, Neural Engine, Embedded M12 coprocessor, a 12MP iSight camera and 7Mp TrueDepth front facing camera, and comes as a Wifi model as well as Wifi+Cellular model.

The price of 64GB variant of 11-inch and 12-inch iPad Pro is $799 (around Rs 58,800 INR) and $999 (around Rs73,500 INR) respectively and goes all the way upto $1899 (around Rs 1,40,000 INR) for 1TB variant depending on the type of connectivity you are purchasing.

Mac mini (2018)

Mac mini (2018)

The last product that unveiled during the event was Apple Mac mini which was not updated for the last 4 years. This is what users very much wanted to be updated for so long and here it is.

Mac mini highest configurations and performance

This year Mac mini comes in Space Grey finish only. On the back are a variety of ports, including HDMI 2.0, two USB 3 ports, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, a headphone jack and — for an extra $100 — a 10-gigabit ethernet port.

With the Thunderbolt 3 ports, users can transfer data at blazing fast speeds, connect an eGPU or even run up to two 4K displays. 

The Mac mini comes with a T2 security chip, which handles different system functions including automatic storage encryption. The machine sports SSDs with up to 3.4GHz sequential read speeds, and users can configure their mini with up to 2TB of storage.

This year's machine gets the same base 8GB of RAM that was offered with the 2014 model, except the memory is now much faster. The Intel processor powering the desktop can address up to 64GB of RAM, which users can configure at purchase or add on later.

Compared to the previous Mac mini, Apple claims the 2018 model boasts 60 percent faster integrated graphics. Those numbers are based on a Mac mini with a 3.2GHz 6-core 12-thread Core i7 processor that turbo-boosts up to 4.6GHz.

The base $799 model gets buyers a 3.6Ghz quad-core Core i3, which interestingly lacks support for Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading. A 6-core processor with those options is available as a $300 upgrade. The entry level mini comes with 128GB of storage, with an options to upgrade to 256GB for $200. A step-up model which comes with a 6-core processor and 256GB of storage also lacks Hyperthreading.

Overall, the Mac mini is the cheapest way to get a Mac, and this year performance is up matching with the rest of Apple's lineup.

Apple's new 2018 Mac Mini is available to order now starting at $799.