If you want to know all the news for creative users from the Apple Event in April 2021 then check out our coverage here. Apple announces new M1 iMacs, An iPad Pro with M1 processors and HDR screen, as well as new Apple TV 4K and Airtags. Check out this article for all we know so far.
New iMacs Announced
As we predicted in our recent article, Apple has announced the line-up of 2021 iMac, powered by the M1 chip and in new colour versions too.
Apple say the new iMac 2021 is more personal and more capable and come in 7 colours. One sheet of glass covers the entire front surface. The rear has bold, saturated shades that bring ‘a sense of joy’.
The new M1 iMac 2021 has two fans which are whisper quiet and expected to be less than 10dBA. The display is 24” offering nearly 11.4 million pixels in its 4K display with also has Truetone to offer accurate colour display.
The M1 iMac features, the camera, mic and speakers that have been upgraded, with a 1080p camera , designed to perform in low light. It adjusts the image on the fly using an M1 image processor.
When it comes to sound the mics, the M1 iMac features a Studio-quality three-mic, ‘studio-quality’ three-mic array with a high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming to reduce the background noise.
The speakers have more power there are 6 of them in the new iMac. in their words “It has the best sound system ever in an iMac”. Apple has increased speaker power with two pairs of force-cancelling woofers, designed to produce an excellent bass response with minimal vibration.
What’s more, the new iMac 2021 supports spatial audio when playing video with Dolby Atmos.
Apple 2021 iMac Performance
Apple claims that the CPU performance is up to 85% faster than the previous 21.5-inch iMac. With GPU performance up to 2x faster, even up to 50% than fastest discrete graphics available in 21.5-inch model.
Machine learning in the iMac 2021 is up to 3x faster with the 16-core neural engine. As with other M1 Macs, you can run iPhone and iPad apps right on your iMac.
With iCloud and Continuity, it's easier than ever to use your iMac and your iPhone together with handoff, universal clipboard, etc.
2021 iMac Connectivity
With the iMac 2021, there is a colour-coded magnetic connector with an Ethernet network connection that travels through the power lead to reduce cable clutter.
All M1 iMacs come with Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with support for:
DisplayPort
Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s)
USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI, and VGA supported using adapters (sold separately)
3.5 mm headphone jack
Configurable with Gigabit Ethernet
The higher models come with Gigabit Ethernet as standard and 2 additional USB 3 ports (up to 10Gb/s)
When it comes to wireless connectivity the new iMac 2021 comes with 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 wireless networking, which is IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible as well as Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology.
The Apple Magic Keyboard and mouse come in matching colours and the keyboard on the higher 2 models is the first Mac to come with Touch ID
2021 iMac Pricing
It comes in four colours, blue, green, pink or silver
8-core CPU
7-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB of RAM
24-inch 4.5K Retina display
4480-by-2520 resolution at 218 pixels per inch with support for 1 billion colors
500 nits brightness
Wide color (P3)
True Tone technology
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
256GB SSD, 512 GB or 1TB options available
Magic Keyboard
Magic Mouse
Price $1299
It comes in seven colours, blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange or purple
8-core CPU
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB of RAM
24-inch 4.5K Retina display
4480-by-2520 resolution at 218 pixels per inch with support for 1 billion colors
500 nits brightness
Wide color (P3)
True Tone technology
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Two USB 3 ports
256GB SSD, 1TB or 2TB options available
Gigabit Ethernet
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Magic Mouse
Price $1499
It comes in seven colours, blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange or purple
8-core CPU
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB of RAM
24-inch 4.5K Retina display
4480-by-2520 resolution at 218 pixels per inch with support for 1 billion colors
500 nits brightness
Wide color (P3)
True Tone technology
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
Two USB 3 ports
512GB SSD, 1TB or 2TB options available
Gigabit Ethernet
Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Magic Mouse
Price $1699
You can order your new M1 iMac from April 30 2021, available second half of May.
New M1 Powered iPad Pro
The ARM-based Apple Silicon M1 chip comes to the iPad Pro, offering a big jump in performance.
Apple claims that the 8-core CPU has 50% improved performance compared to the previous generation iPad and the performance of the M1 iPad Pro now a massive 75x compared to the original iPad.
When it comes to the 8-core GPU Apple claims that it offers up to 40% faster graphics than the previous generation, and 1500x faster than the original iPad
Other features with the new M1 iPad Pro are a ProMotion display, four speakers and support for the latest gaming controllers.
Apple says that the New iPad Pro is the fastest device of its kind with the neural engine, image signal processor, and more making it more powerful than ever.
The USB-C port on the M1 iPad Pro now supports Thunderbolt and USB4, offering 4x bandwidth for wired connections.
There are over 11 million pixels on the M1 12.9” iPad Pro. Pro Display performance to the new iPad Pro, offering 1000 nits full-screen brightness and up to 1600 nits peak brightness with a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio
To achieve this Apple had to develop a mini LED, which is 120th the size of a normal LED in a screen. There are 10,000 of these Mini-LEDs with over 2,500 local dimming zones. All of this is great news for video editors on the go.
Not only is the built-in display an HDR display the new iPad Pro will drive the Pro Display XDR at full 6K resolution.
The M1 iPad Pro now comes with 5G cellular support with download speeds up to 3.5 Gbps, depending on your mobile provider. With mmWave, you can get up to 4 Gbps.
The M1 iPad Pro now comes with a 12MP camera with 122 deg view. The iPad uses AI technology to make sure you are always in the centre of the frame with Center Stage.
On the sound side, there is now Dolby Atmos support on the 12.9” iPad Pro.
Even with the new M1 chip, the 11-inch iPad Pro still starts at $799. The 12.9-inch model starts at $1099.
M1 iPad Pro 11‑inch
Apple M1 chip
8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB RAM on models with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage
16GB RAM on models with 1TB or 2TB storage
Liquid Retina display
11-inch (diagonal) LED backlit Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology
2388-by-1668-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
ProMotion technology
Wide color display (P3)
True Tone display
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Fully laminated display
Antireflective coating
1.8% reflectivity
600 nits max brightness
Supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
Colours - Silver or Space Gray
Storage Capacity Options - 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Pricing from $799
M1 iPad Pro 12.9‑inch
Apple M1 chip
8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
8-core GPU
16-core Neural Engine
8GB RAM on models with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage
16GB RAM on models with 1TB or 2TB storage
Liquid Retina XDR display
12.9-inch (diagonal) mini-LED backlit Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology
2D backlighting system with 2596 full‑array local dimming zones
2732-by-2048-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi)
ProMotion technology
Wide color display (P3)
True Tone display
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Fully laminated display
Antireflective coating
1.8% reflectivity
600 nits max brightness
1000 nits max full-screen brightness; 1600 nits peak brightness (HDR)
1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
Supports Apple Pencil (2nd generation)
Colours - Silver or Space Gray
Storage Capacity Options - 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Pricing from $1,099
The iPad Pro comes with 4 speakers and 5 studio-quality microphones for calls, video recording, and audio recording.
Camera
Pro camera system: Wide and Ultra Wide cameras
Wide: 12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture
Ultra Wide: 10MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture, and 125° field of view
2x optical zoom out
Digital zoom up to 5x
Five‑element lens (Wide and Ultra Wide)
Brighter True Tone flash
Panorama (up to 63MP)
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Autofocus with Focus Pixels (Wide)
Smart HDR 3
Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
Lens correction (Ultra Wide)
Advanced red-eye correction
Photo geotagging
Auto image stabilization
Burst mode
Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG
Video Recording
4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps (Wide)
1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
720p HD video recording at 30 fps
2x optical zoom out
Audio zoom
Brighter True Tone flash
Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
Time‑lapse video with stabilization
Extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps
Cinematic video stabilization (4K, 1080p, and 720p)
Continuous autofocus video
Playback zoom
Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
Stereo recording
You can start to order the new M1 iPad Pro from April 30th 2021 and they will be available to ship in the second half of May 2021.