MacRumors

As the first Macs containing Apple Silicon processors began arriving to customers today, reviewers have shared their first impressions of the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. In particular, reviewers praised the M1 chip's ability to deliver excellent performance, thermals, and battery life.

MacBook Air

The Verge's Dieter Bohn remarked that "The MacBook Air with the M1 chip is the most impressive laptop I've used in years."

Forbes's David Phelan described the experience as similar to "every time you switch to a new iPhone with the latest processor - everything seems preposterously fast and responsive."

Bohn noted how well the ‌M1‌ performs, even when using demanding "pro" apps or using multiple apps at a time:

The MacBook Air performs like a pro-level laptop. It never groans under multiple apps. (I've run well over a dozen at a time.) It handles intensive apps like Photoshop and even video editing apps like Adobe Premiere without complaint. It has never made me think twice about loading up another browser tab or 10 — even in Chrome.

Phelan also noticed a considerable improvement in speed when starting-up the ‌MacBook Air‌:

One small thing is the way the computer is instant-on, something we're used to from phones and tablets but not so much from computers. This works brilliantly. In fact, I'm mostly just waiting for the Apple Watch or Touch ID to unlock it if I've been away from the laptop for long enough for it to lock.

Bohn found that the ‌MacBook Air‌ appeared to have very good thermals, despite having a passive cooling system with no fan.

The other differences are all on the inside. There's no fan anymore, for one thing, just an aluminum heat spreader. But even when pushing this machine to its absolute limit, I never felt it get more than a little warm.

Bohn said that while the ‌M1‌ in the ‌MacBook Air‌ did deliver much better battery life, it was not as good as Apple claimed, and did not perform as well as the new MacBook Pro.

I'm getting between eight and 10 hours of real, sustained work depending on how hard I am pushing it. That's not quite 50 percent better than the last MacBook Air, but it's very close... the Pro is consistently getting a couple more hours on a charge

The area most criticized by reviewers was the ‌MacBook Air‌'s camera, which Bohn said was barely improved:

Unfortunately, that similarity extends to the webcam, which is still 720p resolution and still terrible. Apple has tried to borrow some of its real-time image processing from the iPhone to try to spruce up the image — and I do find that it does a better job evenly lighting my face — but mostly what I notice is that it looks bad (only now it's a more processed version of bad).

MacBook Pro

TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino said that "the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ runs smoothly, launching apps so quickly that they're often open before your cursor leaves your dock... Every click is more responsive. Every interaction is immediate." Much like Phelan, he described it as feeling "like an iOS device in all the best ways."

The Verge's Nilay Patel discussed the better thermal design of the ‌MacBook Pro‌, since it uses an active cooling system with a fan. However, Patel did not notice much of an improvement over the ‌MacBook Air‌:

The Pro seems to have a better, more effective thermal design than the Air overall: we ran our standard 4K export test in Adobe Premiere Pro several times, and the fan never came on, but export times stayed flat...

It's actually hard to get the fan to turn on in general. Things that instantly light up the fan on an Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro, like Google Meet in Chrome, barely register on the M1 MacBook Pro. Unless you are routinely pushing heavy sustained workloads on your laptop, the performance difference between the Air and Pro is really not noticeable.

Patel said that he "easily" got "10 hours on a charge and had to really push things to drain the battery in eight hours". Moreover, much like the ‌MacBook Air‌, Patel chastised the camera:

We really considered giving these machines 10 out of 10 review scores, but this camera is bad enough to keep that from happening, especially on a pro laptop that costs more than the Air.

Mac mini

The Verge's Chris Welch indicated that ‌M1‌ chip in the Mac mini was able to perform better due to its improved thermal design:

And since Apple doesn’t have to account for the tight confines of a laptop enclosure with the Mac mini, the M1 chip can hit the very best speeds it’s capable of and sustain them without throttling. Heck, I never even heard the fan spin up during repeated 30-minute Cinebench tests or when transcoding several 4K Blu-ray rips back to back. The mini has stayed silent no matter how hard I work it.

PCMag's John Burek had a similar experience, commenting:

In the course of testing, one big thing we noticed: Through all these benchmarks, pressing the CPU and GPU to their presumptive limits, the Mac mini was whisper quiet... It didn't rev up noticeably at even the peak of a Handbrake conversion grind, or after a series of six consecutive GPU game benchmarks. And the chassis stays remarkably cool throughout. There was no point in external thermal testing because the chassis was barely warm to the touch, anywhere on the surface, even at peak activity.

Burek found that the ‌Mac mini‌ performed better than the ‌MacBook Air‌ and ‌MacBook Pro‌, but not by a wide margin:

The Mac mini, with its more liberal cooling scheme and extra GPU core, outpaced them both, but all three are in the same rough ballpark.

Yet Welch was disappointed that, in spite of the fact that it is more power-efficient, the ‌M1‌ chip does not yield a reduction in power usage:

Battery life isn't a factor on the Mac mini, of course, and the M1 mini uses the same 150W power supply as the Intel model, so if there are power efficiency gains, they're not obvious.

He was also downcast about the ‌Mac mini‌'s loss of two Thunderbolt 3 ports:

Apple has gone from four USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 ports to just two — plus the pair of USB-A ports that are still present. Technically, the USB-C ports are more advanced (USB 4), and you can daisy-chain Thunderbolt devices to your heart's content. But there's nothing more convenient than built-in ports, and looking at this objectively, it's a downgrade for the mini's expandability.

Burek downplayed the loss of the two additional Thunderbolt 3 ports on the ‌Mac mini‌, however:

Is fewer Thunderbolt ports than before a major issue? For most casual users, not really. We'd be hard-pressed to drum up four Thunderbolt 3 peripherals in PC Labs at one time, never mind on our individual desks. If you’re using an HDMI-connected monitor, you have two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports to play with. Also, some Thunderbolt 3-compatible peripherals support daisy chaining, so you aren't necessarily going to feel the pinch if you have more than two devices, depending on what they are.

Welch rebuked the ‌Mac mini‌'s internal speaker, saying that "it's the kind of speaker you'll never, ever want to use."

It's tinny, hollow, and just plain bad; even the macOS Big Sur startup chime sounds embarrassing compared to my thunderous 16-inch MacBook Pro. Considering the speaker advancements Apple has made with its laptops, I wish it would put in some more effort here.

More Reviews

MacBook Air

• Engadget's Devindra Harawar
• The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern
• Wired's Julian Chokkattu

MacBook Pro

• TechRadar's Matt Hanson
• Pocket-lint's Stuart Miles

Mac mini

• TechRadar's Matt Hanson
• AnandTech's Andrei Frumusanu
  

For early unboxings and first impressions, check out our summary, which compiles over a dozen of the latest videos reviews.

‌The ‌‌‌MacBook Air‌, ‌MacBook Pro‌, and ‌Mac mini‌ with ‌Apple Silicon‌ are now available for order and in-store pickup.

Apple's Beats by Dre brand is today announcing a new collaboration with Tokyo-based design label AMBUSH to launch glow-in-the-dark Powerbeats earphones.

The special-edition Powerbeats, conceived by AMBUSH co-founder and creative director Yoon Ahn, are pale green with a prominent red Beats "b" logo and smaller "AMBUSH" branding. In the dark, the main bodies of the earphones and the cable linking them glow green.

Yoon Ahn, the co-founder and creative director for Tokyo-based label AMBUSH®, is known for her non-traditional, unisex designs that elevate every-day objects and merge together unexpected elements of streetwear, jewelry, luxury fashion and the local subcultures of her city. With this partnership, Yoon was inspired by the creative spark that can come from your nocturnal side -- especially when living in a city like Tokyo, which comes to life at night with a particular energy.

Aside from the glow-in-the-dark capabilities, the AMBUSH Powerbeats themselves are otherwise identical to standard Powerbeats, offering 15 hours of battery life, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, an Apple H1 chip for faster setup, pairing, and switching, Fast Fuel charging that gives one hour of playback with just five minutes of charging, and more.

As with other Powerbeats models, a short USB-A to Lightning cable is included, but the AMBUSH model also includes a unique Beats and AMBUSH co-branded ripstop pouch for storing and carrying the earphones.

Alongside the launch of AMBUSH Powerbeats, Beats is launching a new ad campaign featuring Afro-fusion artist Burna Boy and his song "Way Too Big."

AMBUSH special edition Powerbeats will be available starting tomorrow at apple.com, Dover Street Market, select Nordstrom stores, and nordstrom.com. They will be priced at $199.95, a $50 premium over the standard Powerbeats.

Shazam, the music recognition app that Apple purchased in 2018, has surpassed 200 million monthly active users worldwide. Shazam is available as a standalone app and as a built-in feature on the iPhone and iPad, accessible through Siri and through a new Music Recognition toggle added to the Control Center in iOS 14.

Oliver Schusser, Apple's vice president of Apple Music, Beats, and International Content, commented on the milestone and said that Apple and Shazam offer a "seamless experience" for music fans.

"Apple Music and Shazam offer a seamless experience to music fans around the world, from Shazam's ubiquitous discovery platform to Apple Music's unparalleled content, global live radio stations and human curation. Looking back at our long history together, we can only see how close our missions have been: bringing the best home for music lovers and creators everywhere."

To celebrate, Shazam has shared a list of the 100 most Shazamed tracks ever across the globe, with the list available on Apple Music. The number one song on the list is Tones and I's pop single "Dance Monkey" with more than 36.6 million Shazams since its May 2019 release. Tones and I said that Shazam has had a major impact in terms of reaching new listeners.

"Shazam has been a huge platform for me in terms of reaching people. I didn't have a following when I released 'Dance monkey,' but it gave me the opportunity to reach more people and elevate my fan-base, which has all let to creating a career for myself. Shazam is definitely an app designed to help more unknown artists, and everyone knows Tones loves an up-and-comer!"

The second most Shazamed song was Lilly Wood & The Prick & Robin Schulz's "Prayer in C," while the number three most Shazamed song was Passenger's "Let Her Go."

Along with the top song list, those interested in finding more new music can do so through the Shazam Discovery Top 50, which offers up new songs from breaking artists around the world. Shazam also offers global, country, and city-specific top charts both in the app and on the Shazam website.

Shazam can be downloaded from the App Store for free, and it can be accessed through the Control Center on ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, through ‌Siri‌ commands, or on the Mac. Shazam is also available on Android devices and select features can be accessed on the web.

Apple's embargo has lifted on reviews of the first Apple Silicon Macs with the M1 chip, including the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. In addition to our review roundup, we've gathered up some videos below.

The introduction of the M1 chip marks the beginning of Apple's transition away from Intel processors in Macs. Back in June, Apple revealed its plans to begin using its own custom Apple Silicon processors in Macs, promising industry-leading performance per watt. Apple expects the transition to take about two years to be completed.

We've already seen several benchmarks that prove the M1 chip delivers breakthrough performance, including the new MacBook Air outperforming the high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro in multi-core Geekbench 5 results. The M1 chip's integrated graphics also outperform some desktop GPUs, including Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and AMD's Radeon RX 560.

The new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini are already beginning to arrive to customers after pre-orders commenced last week.

Videos

The Verge:

Marques Brownlee (MKBHD):

Justine Ezarik (iJustine):

Jenna Ezarik:

Karl Conrad:

Dave Lee:

CNET:

Judner Aura (UrAvgConsumer):

Andru Edwards:

Rene Ritchie:

Lance Ulanoff:

Lizzie Peirce:

Gary (The Everyday Dad):

AppleInsider:

Created Labs:

Belkin today announced the Boost Charge TrueFreedom Pro Wireless Charger and the Boost Charge UV Sanitizer and Wireless Charger.

The Boost Charge TrueFreedom Pro Wireless Charger is the latest addition to Belkin's portfolio of Qi-certified wireless charging solutions. The TrueFreedom Pro offers full-surface charging, allowing users to place up to two Qi-enabled devices anywhere on the charging pad to receive 10W of power for each device simultaneously.

The charger contains 16 individual charging coils to intelligently provide consistent power to devices anywhere on the pad. This means that users need not align the devices exactly, as with many other wireless chargers, to begin charging. It also has two LED lights to indicate charging status, silver chrome accents, and a leather-like finish.

Belkin also unveiled the Boost Charge UV Sanitizer and Wireless Charger, which it claims reduces up to 99.99% of bacteria with two internal UV-C LED lights. Phones and other small, nonporous items can be safely sanitized by placing them inside the compact device. Belkin has also added a 10W wireless charger on the top of the UV sanitizer to power devices.

The TrueFreedom Pro appears to be Belkin's answer to other full-surface wireless chargers such as the Nomad Base Station, while the Boost Charge UV Sanitizer seems to be positioned as a rival to the PhoneSoap sanitizer.

The Belkin Boost Charge TrueFreedom Pro Wireless Charger is now available for purchase at select retailers and coming soon to Belkin's online store for $129.99. The Boost Charge UV Sanitizer and Wireless Charger is available now at select retailers and Belkin's online store for $79.99.

Google Maps gained three new features today to help users stay safe amid the coronavirus pandemic, including an expansion of its live transit "crowdedness" status information.

Crowdedness data shows the real-time state of transit lines when users look up directions. The information is crowdsourced and relies on in-app feedback from users. Before today, Google Maps only showed the data for stations, but that has now been expanded to buses, trains, and subways.

Avoiding holiday crowds might have always been your thing, but this year, we’re making it especially easy for everyone. If you need to take transit, Google Maps can help you more easily social distance with live crowdedness information. On Android and iOS globally, you’ll start seeing how crowded your bus, train, or subway line is right now based on real-time feedback from Google Maps users around the world (wherever data is available).

In September, Google Maps rolled out a COVID-19 overlay that can show how cases are trending in areas so users can make informed decisions about traveling. The overlay showed the seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people and whether cases are rising and falling. From today, the overlay also shows the all-time number of confirmed cases and deaths, with links to local resources.

Finally, Google now shows the live status of takeout and delivery in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia, Brazil and India when users book or order from Google Maps. As well as seeing expected wait times and delivery fees, users can reorder favorites right from within the app.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple has published an article on its website celebrating 40 years of community at its Cork campus in Ireland.

The story of Apple in Ireland began in 1980 with a single manufacturing facility and 60 employees. Fast-forward to today, and Ireland is home to more than 6,000 Apple employees and a sprawling campus in the city of Cork. As Apple celebrates its 40th anniversary in Ireland, the original manufacturing facility has expanded and is now part of a campus that includes AppleCare, Operations, Logistics, and a variety of other teams staffed by a diverse group of employees representing over 90 nationalities. Cork also serves as Apple’s European headquarters, supporting customers across the continent and beyond.

The newsroom article includes interviews with staff, including some members who have worked at the campus for over 30 years, and highlights employee initiatives such as Cork's LGBTQ Diversity Network Association (DNA) and the soon-to-be launched Cork Accessibility DNA, two of Apple's many DNAs that connect employees with shared interests, backgrounds, and values.

In addition, the report highlights Apple's Giving program in Cork, which has supported more than 400 registered charities in Ireland. For every hour a Cork employee volunteers, Apple matches their time with a monetary donation to the same charity. So far in 2020, 43 percent of all Cork employees have participated in volunteering activities.

The piece also mentions efforts around environmental responsibility. The Cork campus, like all Apple facilities, runs on 100 percent clean energy, has more than 200 solar thermal panels, and rainwater is harvested from the roof to supply restrooms across the campus. It has also achieved Zero Waste to Landfill, including for its manufacturing facility.

Today is the official launch day of Apple's new M1-powered Macs, and as customers who pre-ordered await their devices, Apple has also started in-store sales for the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

Customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and other regions can now place an order on Apple's website or in the Apple Store app and arrange for in-store pickup at a local retail location.

For example, a quick spot check on the U.K. Apple online store suggests that most stores in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have available stock for customers today or tomorrow. The same goes for other stores in the United States, Canada, and European countries where in-store pickup is available, including Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

In many cases, orders placed today for shipping to the home won't arrive until November 25 at the earliest, although there are likely to be exceptions depending on location. In-store pickup at U.S. stores is expected to become available later today.

Initial reports suggest Apple's M1 Macs are significantly faster than the models they replace, and faster than many Intel Macs with the "Pro" moniker. In fact, Apple's ‌M1‌ Macs are faster in single-core performance than any other Mac that Apple makes, and when it comes to multi-core performance, are faster than the high-end 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

The ‌M1‌ Macs are even faster in single-core performance when emulating x86 under Rosetta 2, and as for GPU performance, the integrated graphics outperform the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 560.

This article has been updated to reflect that ‌Apple Store‌ pickup has expanded to more countries, including the United States and Canada.

Adobe announced the release of Photoshop Beta for Apple Silicon this morning. The Photoshop Beta requires an ‌Apple Silicon‌ device and Creative Cloud desktop version 5.3.1.470 or later.

We are excited to announce the first Beta release of Photoshop running natively on Apple Silicon hardware!

This early version of Photoshop for Apple Silicon offers many of the core Photoshop features that you've come to rely on for your day to day editing needs, and we'll be adding more features in the weeks to come. Note that Beta software is not officially supported yet by Adobe, but we want to hear from you, and this is the place to let us know how it's going.

Adobe notes there are a number of limitations in the beta version. They report that "many features" are not available and some features may experience slow performance. Also notable is that running Adobe Photoshop under Rosetta emulation is also not officially supported by Adobe, so if Photoshop is important to your workflow, running it on an ‌Apple Silicon‌ Mac may not be the best option at this time.

Apple's new M1 CPU Macs have already started arriving in customers hands. Further discussion is available in our Apple Silicon forum.

As customers are receiving their new Apple Silicon Macs, we're starting to see more benchmarks and testing being posted in our Apple Silicon forum. One forum user (abbotsford1980) shared SSD Benchmarks for their new M1 MacBook Air with 256GB storage:

The benchmarks confirm that the new ‌MacBook Air‌ SSD is approximately twice as fast as the previous model with 2190 MB/s writes and 2675 MB/s reads. Apple did announce this performance boost when launching the new machine, and attributed the improved speed to the ‌M1‌'s storage controller as well as new flash technology:

The M1 chip’s storage controller and latest flash technology deliver up to 2x faster SSD performance, so previewing massive images or importing large files is faster than ever.

The 2019/2020 Intel ‌MacBook Air‌ was criticized for actually offering a slower SSD than the 2018 model. The 2019/2020 ‌MacBook Air‌ SSD speeds were 1319 MB/s reads and 1007 MB/s writes.

American Express today launched a new Instant Card Number Apple Pay feature that's designed to allow new Amex users to add their cards to ‌Apple Pay‌ immediately after approval, without the need to wait for the physical card.

This will allow customers who have been approved for a card to begin using it on compatible devices right away while the physical card is shipped from American Express.

The card can be added right to Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch and can be used in apps, on the web, and in stores where ‌Apple Pay‌ is accepted. The feature is available to American Express Card Members from AmericanExpress.com when approved for a new U.S. Consumer Card.

American Express says that new customers will be able to use the benefits of an American Express Membership, such as earning rewards on purchases, as soon as card approval happens with no need to wait.

The new M1 Macs are now arriving to customers, and one of the first people to get the new ‌M1‌ 13-inch MacBook Pro with 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 8GB unified memory has run a much anticipated R23 Cinebench benchmark on the 8GB 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with 512GB of storage to give us a better idea of performance.

Cinebench is a more intensive multi-thread test than Geekbench 5, testing performance over a longer period of time, and it can provide a clearer overview of how a machine will work in the real world.

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ earned a multi-core Cinebench score of 7508, and a single-core score of 1498, which is similar in performance to some of Intel's 11th-generation chips.

Comparatively, a 2019 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with 2.3GHz Core i9 chip earned a multi-core score of 8818, according to a MacRumors reader who benchmarked his machine with the new R23 update that came out last week. The 2.6GHz low-end 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ earned a single-core score of 1113 and a multi-core score of 6912 on the same test, and the high-end prior-generation MacBook Air earned a single-core score of 1119 and a multi-core score of 4329.

Other Cinebench R23 scores can be found on the CPU Monkey website for both multi-core and single-core performance.

It's worth noting that the new ‌M1‌ Macs are lower performance machines that aren't meant for heavy duty rendering tasks. The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ replaces the low-end machine, while the ‌MacBook Air‌ has always been more of a consumer machine than a Pro machine.

Apple does have plans for higher-end Pro machines with Apple Silicon chips, but the company has said that it will take around two years to transition the entire Mac lineup to Arm-based chips. The Cinebench scores for the ‌MacBook Air‌ bode well for future Macs that are expected to get even higher performance M-series chips.

Apple last week announced the first Macs that use the new M1 Apple Silicon chips, debuting new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models.

The first ‌M1‌ Macs were supposed to be arriving to customers on November 17, but a few people have been receiving their orders today and ‌M1‌ machines are now in the hands of customers.

Several users on Twitter and the MacRumors forum have shared photos and videos of their new ‌M1‌ Macs, and many more users will be receiving their devices tomorrow.

Apple has even been shipping custom configuration ‌M1‌ Macs earlier than expected, and some of these Macs that originally had delivery dates right around November 24 are arriving a full week early on the launch date for the standard configuration machines.

Apple's ‌M1‌ Macs are faster in single-core performance than any other Mac that Apple makes, and when it comes to multi-core performance, are faster than the high-end 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

The ‌M1‌ Macs are even faster in single-core performance when emulating x86 under Rosetta 2, and as for GPU performance, the integrated graphics outperform the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and AMD Radeon RX 560.

We'll be getting each of the new Macs for unboxing and testing purposes this week, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors to see our initial impressions and hands-on overview if you're considering purchasing one of these machines.

Starting today, Apple is making an Apple Podcasts web player that can be embedded on webpages available to everyone through the Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools website or through ‌Apple Podcasts‌ Preview pages.

As TechCrunch points out, this tool will let creators, marketers, and podcast fans create embed codes for any of the podcasts that are available on the Podcasts service.

The Podcasts Marketing Tools website can be used to search for any podcast, with the results providing embed code. On a Preview page for either a show or an individual episode, there's a new embed button under the "Share" icon that can be used to generate code.

The web player allows podcasts to start playing right on the website where it is embedded, and it also provides an option to open the Podcasts app on iOS, iPadOS, or macOS. The ‌Apple Podcasts‌ web embed is available to everyone as of now.

Today is the HomePod mini's official launch day, and as customers who pre-ordered await their devices, Apple has also started in-store sales. Customers who weren't able to pre-order can place an order on Apple's website or in the Apple Store app and arrange for in-store pickup at a local retail location.

A quick spot check suggests that most stores around the United States have available stock for customers, and in-store pickup may be one of the only ways to get a ‌HomePod mini‌ ahead of the holidays if you're looking for a specific color.

Orders placed today for shipping to the home won't arrive until at least December. For the white ‌HomePod mini‌, orders will come between December 2 and December 10, and for the black ‌HomePod mini‌, orders won't arrive until December 16 to December 24.

The ‌HomePod mini‌, priced at $99, is Apple's new, smaller and more affordable version of the HomePod. Reviews and first impressions from customers have been largely positive, and most people have praised the sound quality and the small size.

Today is HomePod mini launch day in the United States and nine other countries, and as orders begin arriving to customers, first impressions of the speaker are beginning to surface on the web. While we've already seen HomePod mini reviews from media outlets and YouTubers, customer opinions provide additional perspective.

MacRumors forum member "boultonn" said the HomePod mini "really is mini," yet delivers "great" sound for a study room. They also complimented the HomePod mini's simple setup process, which involves plugging in the speaker, holding an iPhone or iPad near the speaker, and following the onscreen instructions on the iPhone or iPad.

UK-based developer Matt Cheetham said "the sound quality is great," a sentiment shared by Tokyo-based developer Enrico Pangan.

Of course, not everyone has been as impressed. UK-based writer and PR director Max Tatton-Brown said that he was "deeply underwhelmed" by his HomePod mini.

UK-based designer and photographer Oliur had a mixed opinion. He said that the HomePod mini has "amazing" sound quality that "can get loud," but he added that it "lacks bass," which he said "makes sense" since it's a small speaker.

Last week, KTLA tech reporter Rich DeMuro tested the sound quality of the HomePod mini and Google's Nest Audio speakers, both priced at $99. While the video is a rather trivial way of comparing audio, many users who commented on the video believed the HomePod mini was the better sounding of the two.

HomePod mini offers many features of the full-size HomePod, including Siri, HomeKit, Apple Music, Intercom voice messaging, and stereo pairing, but a few customers have been surprised to learn that HomePod minis cannot be set as the Apple TV's default audio output, something that is only possible with the full-size HomePod.

HomePod mini pre-orders began November 6 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The speaker will also be available in China, Mexico, and Taiwan later this year.

Apple retained its position as the fourth-largest global notebook PC vendor in the third quarter of 2020, shipping six million units in total, according to a new report by Strategy Analytics.

Apple shipped 1.7 million more notebook PC units in the third quarter of this year compared to last year, achieving growth of 39 percent. This is in line with significant increases across the industry, which has seen an average 34 percent growth. HP surpassed Lenovo for the first time in years by a slim margin to regain leadership in the notebook PC market. Dell kept its position as the third-largest notebook PC vendor, followed by Apple.

The market saw 34 percent year-on-year shipment growth as a whole, and was actually constrained by limited supply in the face of record demand.

"The third quarter would have been even more productive for some vendors if they were able to deliver more devices to meet high demand. Supply will remain a key concern as demand is expected to stay high... consumers have started their purchases before the holiday season to prepare for the new 'normal' of working and studying from home," Strategy Analytics Senior Research Analyst Chirag Upadhyay said.

Apple has been contending with higher than expected demand and a range of component shortages. As a result, the company is now facing supply constraints across multiple devices, leading to long wait times for orders. At the end of last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that the company is "working really, really hard" to remedy the ongoing supply issues. Going into the fourth quarter, vendors' ability to meet increasing demand will reportedly be a key factor in the extent of growth.