Welcome back!🍎
Here’s the latest with Apple.

• Apple announced multiple new Macs

• Apple Intelligence confuses many

• & more!

📊 Poll

Last week, we asked: Do you see yourself using Apple Intelligence on a daily basis?

Here were my favorite replies:

This week: 16GB is now the minimum RAM configuration on the Mac. Do you think this is a big deal, or was 8GB enough? More on this later.

🗞️ The Latest

💻 Week of the Macs

This week, Apple announced 3 new Macs! They’re all available to pre-order now with a November 8th release date. Here’s what you need to know.

M4 iMac

Apple kicked off the week with the launch of the all-new iMac! Here are the key details:

• 24" 4.5K Retina display with Nano-texture glass option ($200)

• 16GB RAM (up to 32GB), 256GB storage (up to 2TB)

• 1.7x faster than M1 for daily tasks & 2.1x faster for heavy workflows.

• 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View

• Color-matched accessories that include USB-C

• Starts at $1299

• Here’s Apple’s announcement video.

M4 Mac mini

The new Mac mini was undoubtedly the star of the show this week. Here’s why:

• Redesign! It’s less than half the size of the previous model (now 5×5”)

• M4 & M4 Pro chip

• 2x USB-C ports in the front, 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports in the back (M4 Pro has Thunderbolt 5 ports)

• The power button is on the bottom of the Mac but you don’t need to pick it up to power on/off (plus, what crazy person turns their Mac off!?)

• 16GB RAM (up to 64GB), 256GB storage (up to 8TB) for M4, 24GB RAM, 512GB for M4 Pro.

• 1.8x faster CPU & 2.2x faster GPU performance (versus M1)

• Redesigned thermal architecture for better cooling

• M4 starts at $599, M4 Pro at $1399

• Here’s Apple’s announcement video for the Mac mini

• Here’s perhaps the best Mac ad I’ve ever seen from Apple.

M4 MacBook Pro

Apple’s final announcement of the week was the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max MacBook Pros.

• 14" MacBook Pro with M4, 14" & 16" with M4 Pro & M4 Max.

• Base 16GB RAM (M4), 24GB (M4 Pro), 36GB (M4 Max)

• 1000 nits standard brightness, compared to 600 nits on M3.

• Nano-texture display option ($150)

• 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports (Thunderbolt 5 for M4 Pro/Max)

• 16-24 hours of battery life (web browsing, video streaming)

• M4: 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, M4 Pro: 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, M4 Max: 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU.

• Space Black for all (not exclusive to Pro/Max)

• 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View

• Prices remain the same as last year. M4: $1599, M4 Pro: $1999, M4 Max: $3199

• Here’s Apple’s announcement video for the MacBook Pro.

My take: Although the Mac mini stood out for its redesign & incredible size-to-power ratio, I was also impressed with the M4 Pro MacBook Pro. I think the nano-texture display on a MacBook is a huge deal, especially given the bump in brightness.

The base 16GB of RAM is long overdue and it’s great to see that it came to all new M4 Macs, along with the M2/M3 MacBook Air. All for the same price!

As for the M4 chips as a whole: this is the first time since 2020 that I feel strongly about everyone on Intel Macs upgrading. The performance & efficiency are incredible and it’s a no-brainer upgrade if you use that computer even once a week.

🍎 Apple Intelligence Confusion

On Monday, Apple finally launched Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1/macOS 15.1 and it led to a lot of confusion.

• After installing iOS 18.1, you’re required to join a waitlist before enabling Apple Intelligence on your device.

• And since we’ve never seen this before with Apple software, the reaction was extremely negative.

• But it’s because most didn’t understand why it was happening, so here’s some insight on why the waitlist was a strategic part of the launch:

• A common misconception is that Apple’s Private Cloud Compute is “not active,” yet some Writing Tools requires an internet connection to work, likely indicating that PCC is being used in iOS 18.1 and will be ramped up with iOS 18.2 (ChatGPT, Image Playground, etc).

• Here’s my breakdown of everything new with Apple Intelligence on iPhone, and also on the Mac.

My take: Apple Intelligence has been a near flawless rollout, as I didn’t see or hear of anybody having issues after the launch of iOS 18.1.

iOS 18.2 is going to be the real test, given that many Beta testers are still unable to access Genmoji/Image Playground after over a week of waiting on the [separate] waitlist. Regardless, exciting times ahead!

📰 Quick Bites

• GitHub Brings Copilot to Xcode

• Apple sales rise 6%, company seeing early iPhone 16 demand

• M4 Pro Chip Benchmark Results Reveal an Extremely Impressive Performance Feat

• Apple is challenging hackers to break into its servers

• Final Cut Pro to Gain 'Transcribe to Caption' AI Feature

• Apple's Smart Home Display to Resemble Iconic iMac G4 Design With Small Square Display

• Apple to Start Providing Summaries of User Reviews in App Store

• Apple Blocked From Selling iPhone 16’s in Indonesia

• New Entry-Level iPad Now Expected to Arrive in Spring 2025

• Apple Tests Blood-Sugar App in Sign of Its Health Ambitions

• Apple Launching Vision Pro in Two More Countries on Nov 15

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