Apple Inc. today announced a raft of new products during its “Spring Loaded” event, including a new M1-powered iMac, a new iPad Pro, a new Apple TV and AirTags.

Two of the new products are powered by Apple’s powerhouse M1 chip. It features an eight-core CPU and is by far the highest-performance CPU Apple has built so far and represents a “system on chip” design. The M1 is featured in the new 24-inch iMac, as well as the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

The new Apple TV features a brand-new Siri remote, numerous apps and Apple device integration. And AirTags are an accessory connected to Apple’s Find My network, which helps people locate lost items, such as keys and handbags, using their iPhones.

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New iMac with M1

The all-new iMac features a much more compact and thin design permitted by Apple’s powerful M1 all-in-one chip.

The new iMac boasts a 24-inch, 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness and more than a billion colors, capable of delivering a brilliant and vivid viewing experience. The iMac is also a single panel, remarkably thin and almost invisible from a side-profile, yet still colorful – as many current Apple products are.

“With its striking design in seven stunning colors, its immersive 4.5K Retina display, the best camera, mics and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID, combined with the amazing performance of M1 and the power of macOS Big Sur, the new iMac takes everything people love about iMac to an entirely new level,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in a statement.

All of this is enabled by the powerful M1 chip, which greatly reduces the footprint of the logic board and thermal system. According to Apple this has reduced the total volume of the iMac by 50% compared with its previous generation.

The iMac’s eight-core CPU in M1 and eight-core GPU delivers 85% faster CPU performance and up to two times faster GPU performance than the previous generation. Users can export favorite video projects in iMovie faster than ever, easily work with 100-megapixel photos in apps such as Lightroom and compile new apps in Xcode in a fraction of the time.

Every iMac now features two Thunderbolt ports for faster data transfers and two USB-C ports on the back. On the opposite side, the power cable attaches magnetically with a braided cable, with a very small power adapter that keeps the space as clear as possible. Ethernet connects through the power adapter, which keeps the number of cables running to the iMac as minimal as possible, decluttering the area.

The iMac with seven-core GPU starts at $1,299 and the iMac with eight-core GPU starts at $1,499, available to order April 30 and will begin arriving in the second half of May.

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New iPad Pro with M1

The new iPad Pro will feature the eight-core CPU and eight-core GPU M1 chip plus a new Thunderbolt connector – for both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro versions – with the larger 12.9-inch model, which Apple says features a new Liquid Retina XDR display.

The M1 chip delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance than the A12Z Bionic and up to 40% faster GPU performance. This combination of CPU and graphics performance on the iPad Pro makes the device one of the most powerful of its kind, the company said.

Custom technologies, such as the next-generation 16-core Apple Neural Engine, high bandwidth memory architecture with up to 16 gigabytes of memory, two times faster storage and up to 2 terabytes capacity, make the iPad Pro more capable than ever.

The new Liquid Retina XDR display, featured on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, uses more than 10,000 light-emitting diodes across the entire back of the display to generate 1000 nits of full-screen brightness and 1-million-to-1 contrast ratio, which makes it ideal for creative work. The result is a brilliant visual experience for creative professionals such as photographers, videographers and filmmakers.

Apple has also made 5G available on iPad Pro for customers on the go. That means that users will always be productive even when away from Wi-Fi hotspots and have access to higher-quality video streaming, real-time collaboration or FaceTime in high definition.

The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 for the Wi-Fi model and $999 for 5G, 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,099 for the Wi-Fi model and $1,299 for the 5G model.

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New Apple TV 4K

The next generation of Apple TV 4K will have high frame rate, high dynamic range with Dolby Vision delivered by the A12 Bionic chip providing a significant boost to graphics performance. The Apple TV 4K also works seamlessly with Apple devices and boasts tvOS, Apple’s smart TV operating system.

“Apple TV 4K is in a category of its own, leveraging a deep integration of Apple hardware, software, and services that delivers a massive upgrade to any TV for the very best cinematic experience,” Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement.

The new Apple TV 4K comes with a brand-new Siri remote that features an all-aluminum design. It also offers a five-way navigation clickpad for better accuracy and is touch-enabled for fast directional swipes. In addition, the outer ring of the clickpad supports circular gestures for scene selection in movies and television shows.

Apple TV works with iPhone and its camera to allow it to calibrate its color balance to improve the television’s picture quality. Apple TV uses the light sensor in the iPhone to tailor the video output to display more accurate colors and improved contrast. As a result, users needn’t manually adjust television settings, which can be a giant pain.

“With the A12 Bionic and the all-new Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K lets customers enjoy their favorite shows, movies, and more in the highest quality, with simple and intuitive controls,” said Borchers. “And of course, Apple TV 4K offers easy access to Apple services, along with thousands of apps on the App Store for even more entertainment options.”

The new Apple TV 4K will be available starting at $179 and can be ordered April 30, becoming available beginning in the second half of May.

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AirTags and the Find My network

AirTags are a new accessory introduced today by Apple that allows users to find lost items more easily using their iPhone and Apple’s Find My app and its global network.

The tags are a small, round accessory that can be attached to handbags, keys, backpacks and other items while keeping the location private and anonymous with end-to-end encryption.

“With its design, unparalleled finding experience, and built-in privacy and security features, AirTag will provide customers with another way to leverage the power of the Apple ecosystem and enhance the versatility of iPhone,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing.

AirTags provide a comprehensive “finding experience.” That means that once set up, the item it’s attached to can be found wherever it might be misplaced. Each tag is equipped with an Apple-designed U1 chip using Ultra Wideband technology which enables Precision Finding in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12, which allows for accurate determination of distance and direction when in range. Lose the item – say, keys or a backpack – inside the house and an arrow and the number of feet away will appear on the face of the iPhone and point the way.

When the item is out of Bluetooth range, the Find My network will help track the item down. The network is supported by an estimated billion Apple devices and can detect Bluetooth signals from the lost AirTag. Then it relays the location back to its owner, all using end-to-end encryption, anonymously and privately.

Each tag also has a built-in speaker enabling it to emit a chirping ring so that its owner can locate it once within earshot.

AirTag will be available beginning Friday, April 30, for $29 individually or in packs of four for $99.

Image: Apple