Farewell to Intel Chips... Apple Unveils Self-Designed Mac Chipset 'M1'
Battery Life Up to Twice as Long, CPU and GPU Significantly Enhanced
MacBook Air, Pro, Mac Mini Released... Big Sur Available from the 13th
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Apple has unveiled its newly designed chipset 'M1' for Mac. By introducing new products such as the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air with significantly improved battery efficiency and processing speed, Apple has opened a new era for Mac.
On the 10th (local time), Apple held an online event at Apple Park in California, USA, and unveiled the M1 chipset along with three new Mac models equipped with the new chipset.
Apple has partnered with ARM to release a self-designed Mac chipset in the PC chipset market, which had been dominated by Intel. While Apple has used its own chipsets for iPhones and iPads, it had used Intel semiconductors for PCs such as MacBooks and iMacs. This time, Apple launched new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini models equipped with chipsets optimized for Mac products. Pre-orders started in the US on the same day, but the release date in Korea is yet to be determined.
The M1 chipset is a system-on-chip made with a 5-nanometer process. It integrates the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. The M1 consists of 4 high-performance cores, 4 high-efficiency cores, an 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Compared to previous Macs, the CPU is 3.5 times faster, the GPU is 6 times faster, and machine learning computations are 15 times faster. Battery life has also increased by up to twice as long. It can run iPhone and iPad apps directly on Mac without any separate process.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said, "With the launch of the new Mac series equipped with Apple's M1 chipset, we are witnessing a huge change, and today is a truly historic day for Mac and Apple." He introduced the M1 as "the most powerful chipset we have ever made, offering amazing performance, battery life, and access to more software and apps than ever before."
The new MacBook Air maintains the advantages of a thin and light 13-inch display while significantly improving performance. The CPU delivers 3.5 times faster performance than the previous generation, and the graphics are 5 times faster using up to an 8-core GPU. Machine learning speed has also improved, enabling tasks such as facial recognition and object detection to be performed in a shorter time.
Battery life is the longest ever for a MacBook Air. It supports up to 15 hours of web browsing and up to 18 hours of video playback. Compared to previous models with Intel chipsets, it can play and edit 4K videos in Final Cut Pro without frame loss. The built-in camera quality has also been improved. The domestic price starts at 1,290,000 KRW.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro has also seen a significant performance improvement over its predecessor. The 8-core CPU is 2.8 times faster than the previous MacBook Pro. The GPU is 5 times faster, and machine learning tasks are 11 times faster. Efficiency has improved, allowing up to 20 hours of video playback and 17 hours of wireless web browsing on a single charge?double the previous usage time.
Apple introduced the 13-inch MacBook Pro as having three times better performance than existing Windows laptops. It is equipped with studio-quality microphones and an improved built-in camera. It also features two USB-C ports supporting USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4. The price for the 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at 1,690,000 KRW.
Apple also unveiled the new Mac Mini, a compact desktop computer. The design remains the same as the previous model, but the chipset has been upgraded to the M1, significantly improving performance. It offers 3 times faster CPU performance and 6 times enhanced GPU compared to the previous Mac Mini. Apple stated it is "5 times faster than a typical PC desktop." The price starts at 890,000 KRW.
Apple's specialty of integrating hardware and software has also evolved to the next level. Apple will distribute the latest Mac OS, 'Big Sur,' starting from the 13th. Big Sur is designed to maximize the functions and performance of the M1, enhancing battery life and performance. It will be applied to MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models from 2013 onward, and iMac models from 2014 onward. Safari's website loading speed has improved by up to 50%, and battery efficiency is 1.5 hours longer compared to Chrome.
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