Comment: Apple's Spring Loaded Event – The Good the Bad... And Almost No Ugly

The Apple event also had something to offer Mac fans, because Apple took the next step on its way to say goodbye to Intel and install its own M1 processors. We present what this means for the iMac.

After the uneventful first Apple quarter, we can only hope that Apple will soon come up with hardware innovations again. According to a leaker, there will be major innovations for the iMac, among others - literally, because the display will grow.

Despite Intel's best advertising efforts, the company is having a rough time convincing customers of the supposed superiority of its x86-based laptops in comparison to Apple's M1-equipped notebooks. Intel has even gone so far as to release more than questionable benchmarks comparing M1 and Intel chip performance, however, a new set of benchmarks reveal the truth.

There wasn't much time between the announcement of the iMac Pro's end as a product and the last model's sale. Now, just two weeks after the announcement, the product is history – with Apple ceasing sales internationally.

There are even more signs of the iMac being the next-in-line for the M1 treatment. Two customization options, the 512GB and 1TB drives, for the 21.5" iMac have been removed from Apple's Online Store. The current 21.5" iMac is now only available with a 256 GB SSD, or 1TB fusion drive.

If Ming-Chi Kuo and Nikkei are to believe, the 16" MacBook Pro's transition to M1 has been delayed until the second half of this year. Those looking to get their hands on either a 14 or 16" M1 MacBook Pro will simply have to wait a little longer.

In this report, we'll give a timeline for the release of the remaining M1 Macs. So far, the iMac, MacBook Pro 16", and Mac Pro have yet to receive Apple's new M1 chip. One thing's for sure, this year is going to be quite exciting.

The iMac Pro was introduced during the summer of 2017 only for Apple to now cease production 3 years later. Apple made changes to the Apple Online Store, raising questions concerning the iMac Pro's end as a product, which has now been confirmed. Only one version of the iMac Pro is still available for purchase and only, "While supplies still last".

Currently, the MacBook Air is only available with a 13" display. However, reports of a potentially larger variant have been circulating for some time now. According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on such a model now – though it may take some time to hit the market.

Apple just released a system update for macOS Big Sur. The update should fix an error that could cause hardware defects in certain laptops (2019 MacBook Pro users and 2020 MacBook Air).

The upcoming iMac won't only have a considerably different looking interior. The all-in-one computer from Apple is likely to come with new housing to accompany the processor change – and according to leaker Jon Prosser, lots of color.

The new MacBook Pro 16" with Apple's in-house M1 chip could be met with even more applause than expected – several reports state that Apple plans to walk back on controversial design decisions made with previous models in recent years.

External display users have been encountering a few difficulties of late: Mac minis with M1 chips have been showing pink rectangles and pixels on some external displays. Apple is now leading an investigation into this matter and has named several steps to circulate the problem.

A look at current market shares over the course of the last 12 months reveals that Windows has taken a big hit and ChromeOS has clearly overtaken macOS. However, these values only represent half the truth – a direct comparison is difficult for multiple reasons.

For some MacBook Pro, the recently encountered battery problems, which should have been fixed with the last software update, still occur. To combat this, Apple launched a free repair program at the same time as the release of macOS 11.2.1.

Intel recently published a set of claims along with "proof" in the form of what can only be called a "very interesting" set of benchmarks. To Intel's credit, not all of their claims are outrageous, but there are others that don't quite stand up to the scrutiny – leading to quite the discussion in the tech world.

The DTK (Developer Transition Kit) for the only ARM-based Mac has been available for several months now – but only to developers and against payment of US$500 on loan. Now Apple is contacting participants and requesting the kit's returnal, showing themselves to be lenient in the process.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is already working on Face ID for Mac. Even though we're likely to see a newly designed iMac this year, it's unlikely to come with Face ID.

The hardware defect known as "staingate" that has afflicted several versions of the MacBook Pro is still circling. Apple has already extended the period of the free repair program for affected devices multiple times. Although it'll stay this way, the company is now changing its approach.

Ming Chi-Kuo, and Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, present their predictions for the 2021 MacBook Pro, which – if correct, mean that the MacBook Pro is in for a significant upgrade as well as an abundance of new features and changes.

The road to the “new new” Mac Pro was a long one indeed, Apple had already announced the the start of work on a new “high-end system” more than 2 years before the start of the “new” Mac Pro’s sales. Exactly 1 year ago a new Mac, highly awaited by professional users, was released. The new “modular” Mac Pro was available for the first time, ending a long drought — and in the coming year, 2021, a revolution could be forming.