MacRumors

Update: It's Out Now

Apple has officially announced that macOS Big Sur is now available, although it is still rolling out so it may take a few minutes to show up on your Macs.

• Apple Releases macOS Big Sur With Fresh Design, Control Center, Safari Privacy Report, Messages Updates, Maps Overhaul and More
• macOS Big Sur Features: Everything New in Today's Release
  

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Apple's official public release of macOS Big Sur is finally set to drop on Thursday, November 12, just two days after the company released the second release candidate to developers following its "One More Thing" event.

Developers are busy putting the finishing touches on their apps to take advantage of new features in macOS Big Sur, support the new Macs with Apple's own M1 chip coming next week, and complement the refreshed macOS design, and many users will be looking to update their Macs as soon as Big Sur is available.

Although Apple has not shared an exact time for the release of macOS Big Sur, we can make some educated guesses based on Apple's localized sites for various countries and past releases.

While Apple lists the release date as November 12 in much of the world, localized sites for some countries in the Eastern Hemisphere list the launch date as November 13, as the launch time will come after midnight in those countries.

Notably, Apple lists a release date of November 12 on its Indian site, while its Thai site lists a November 13 release date.

Given that those two countries are 90 minutes apart by time zones, that pins things down relatively closely, suggesting a window between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The most likely release time in that window would be 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, which is a common release time for Apple. A release at that time would correspond to 11:30 p.m. on November 12 in India and 1:00 a.m. on November 13 in Thailand. This same method also accurately pinpointed when iOS 14 was released.

It's worth noting, however, that major macOS releases over the past several years have typically come closer to 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, so it's certainly possible it could be a bit later than our prediction of 10:00 a.m.

There are no guarantees Apple will stick to its usual release timing, but given our best of guess of 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time release, here's a breakdown of what that corresponds to in other time zones in the United States and around the world:

• Honolulu, Hawaii -- 8:00 a.m. HST
• Anchorage, Alaska -- 9:00 a.m. AKST
• Cupertino, California -- 10:00 a.m. PST
• Vancouver, Canada -- 10:00 a.m. PST
• Phoenix, Arizona -- 11:00 a.m. MST
• Denver, Colorado -- 11:00 a.m. MST
• Chicago, Illinois -- 12:00 noon. CST
• New York, New York -- 1:00 p.m. EST
• Toronto, Canada -- 1:00 p.m. EST
• Halifax, Canada -- 2:00 p.m. AST
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- 3:00 p.m. BRT
• London, United Kingdom -- 6:00 p.m. GMT
• Berlin, Germany -- 7:00 p.m. CET
• Paris, France -- 7:00 p.m. CET
• Cape Town, South Africa -- 8:00 p.m. SAST
• Helsinki, Finland -- 8:00 p.m. EET
• Moscow, Russia -- 9:00 p.m. MSK
• Istanbul, Turkey -- 9:00 p.m. TRT
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- 10:00 p.m. GST
• Delhi, India -- 11:30 p.m. IST
• Jakarta, Indonesia -- 1:00 a.m. WIB next day
• Shanghai, China -- 2:00 a.m. CST next day
• Singapore -- 2:00 a.m. SGT next day
• Perth, Australia -- 2:00 a.m. AWST next day
• Hong Kong -- 2:00 a.m. HKT next day
• Seoul, South Korea -- 3:00 a.m. KST next day
• Tokyo, Japan -- 3:00 a.m. JST next day
• Brisbane, Australia - 4:00 a.m. AEST next day
• Adelaide, Australia -- 4:30 a.m. ACDT next day
• Sydney, Australia -- 5:00 a.m. AEDT next day
• Auckland, New Zealand -- 7:00 a.m. NZDT next day

macOS Big Sur is compatible with most 2013 and later machines, outlined below:

• 2015 and later MacBook
• 2013 and later MacBook Air
• Late 2013 and later MacBook Pro
• 2014 and later iMac
• 2017 and later ‌iMac‌ Pro
• 2014 and later Mac mini
• 2013 and later Mac Pro

The operating system update does not support the following Macs that were capable of running macOS Catalina:

• 2012 and Early 2013 ‌MacBook Pro‌
• 2012 ‌MacBook Air‌
• 2012 and 2013 ‌iMac‌
• 2012 ‌Mac mini‌

For all of the details on what's new in macOS Big Sur, make sure to check out our roundup which offers a thorough look at the refreshed design, updates to key apps, and other new features.

Apple introduced the first MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini with M1 Apple Silicon chips yesterday, and as of today, the first benchmark of the new chip appears to be showing up on the Geekbench site.

The ‌M1‌ chip, which belongs to a ‌MacBook Air‌ with 8GB RAM, features a single-core score of 1687 and a multi-core score of 7433. According to the benchmark, the ‌M1‌ has a 3.2GHz base frequency.

When compared to existing devices, the ‌M1‌ chip in the ‌MacBook Air‌ outperforms all iOS devices. For comparison's sake, the iPhone 12 Pro earned a single-core score of 1584 and a multi-core score of 3898, while the highest ranked iOS device on Geekbench's charts, the A14 iPad Air, earned a single-core score of 1585 and a multi-core score of 4647.

In comparison to Macs, the single-core performance is better than any other available Mac, and the multi-core performance beats out all of the 2019 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models, including the 10th-generation high-end 2.4GHz Intel Core i9 model. That high-end 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ earned a single-core score of 1096 and a multi-core score of 6870.

Though the ‌M1‌ chip is outperforming the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models when it comes to raw CPU benchmarks, the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ likely offers better performance in other areas such as the GPU as those models have high-power discrete GPUs.

It's worth noting that there are likely to be some performance differences between the ‌MacBook Pro‌ and the ‌MacBook Air‌ even though they're using the same ‌M1‌ chip because the ‌MacBook Air‌ has a fanless design and the ‌MacBook Pro‌ has an new Apple-designed cooling system. There's also a benchmark for the Mac mini, though, and it has about the same scores.

The ‌Mac mini‌ with ‌M1‌ chip that was benchmarked earned a single-core score of 1682 and a multi-core score of 7067.

Update: There's also a benchmark for the 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with ‌M1‌ chip and 16GB RAM that has a single-core score of 1714 and a multi-core score of 6802. Like the ‌MacBook Air‌, it has a 3.2GHz base frequency. A few other ‌MacBook Air‌ benchmarks have surfaced too with similar scores, and the full list is available on Geekbench.

App developer Guilherme Rambo last year released AirBuddy, an app that's designed to bring iOS-like AirPods integration to the Mac, and today, Rambo is releasing an updated version of the app, AirBuddy 2.

Compared to the original version of AirBuddy, the updated app features a redesigned user interface, reliability improvements, and several new features like historical usage data and custom connection modes.

AirBuddy 2 is meant to make connecting AirPods and Beats headphones to a Mac as seamless as connecting to an iOS device. When AirPods are near a Mac with AirBuddy 2 installed, a window pops up that lets you click to connect. Battery life is displayed in the menu bar or in the Today center, and a swipe lets you change to a new listening mode.

You can connect iPhones, iPads, and other Macs running AirBuddy 2 to your main Mac to monitor battery life, and in addition to making it easy to swap devices with headphones, it's also designed to make it simple to transfer a Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, or Magic Keyboard between Macs with a click.

Custom connection modes are available to set listening mode, volume, and microphone access when AirPods connect to a Mac, and the app offers up historical data about headphone usage such as listening time, call time, and battery life for 12 hours, 24 hours, or the prior day.

AirBuddy 2 can be purchased from the AirBuddy website for $9.99. AirBuddy users who purchased the AirBuddy app in 2019 can upgrade for $4.99 in the app, and AirBuddy users who purchased the original app in 2020 will get a free upgrade to AirBuddy 2.

Apple today updated the TestFlight app for iOS devices to version 3.0.0, introducing a new automatic update feature that's designed to update apps that are being tested through the app automatically when a developer pushes a new release.

Prior to the update, or with the feature disabled, TestFlight software had to be installed manually with each new release, so for those who test quite a few apps, this will be a welcome change that will make it easier to keep apps updated to the latest build.

Apple says that today's update also includes unspecified stability improvements and bug fixes, with the new software coming three months after Apple last updated TestFlight with a new app icon.

For those unfamiliar with TestFlight, it is Apple's app that developers use to provide beta versions of apps to media, testers, and others ahead of an app's release.

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

In November 2020, Apple updated its popular 13-inch MacBook lineup with the first Apple Silicon chip for the Mac, the M1 chip. Both the 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro received updates with the M1 chip.

The M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro appear to be very similar owing to their shared processor, form factor, and keyboard, so should you consider purchasing the lower-cost MacBook Air, which starts at $999, to save money, or do you need the higher-end MacBook Pro, which costs at least $300 more? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two Apple Silicon MacBooks is best for you.

Comparing the M1 MacBook Pro and the M1 MacBook Air

The Macbook Air and MacBook Pro share a large number of important features such as processor, display size, and ports. Apple lists these same features of the two devices:

Similarities

• 13.3-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology
• Wide Color (P3) and True Tone technology
• Eight-core M1 chip with up to eight-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine
• Up to 16GB of unified memory
• Up to 2TB of storage
• Wide stereo sound and support for Dolby Atmos playback
• 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Magic Keyboard
• Touch ID
• Two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports
• Available in Silver and Space Gray

Apple's breakdown shows that the two MacBooks share a large number of key features. Even so, there are some meaningful differences between the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro that are worth highlighting, including design, battery life, and display brightness.

Differences

Read on for a closer look at each of these aspects, and see exactly what Apple's first MacBooks with Apple Silicon processors have to offer.

Design

Both the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro share the same designs as their Intel-based predecessors. This means that the MacBook Air retains its iconic wedge-shaped design, while the MacBook Pro still has its more uniform, slab-style design. Although the MacBook Air is actually thicker than the MacBook Pro at its thickest point, the wedge shape of the MacBook Air makes it look much thinner overall. The MacBook Air is also 0.2 pounds lighter than the MacBook Pro and is available in Gold.

If you will be traveling with your MacBook frequently and portability is a priority, then the MacBook Air is the more appropriate device. However, it is worth noting that the MacBook Pro is only slightly heavier than the MacBook Air, so both models will be very similar in terms of portability.

Performance

The two machines share the same Apple Silicon M1 processor, but with a key difference in cooling systems. Since Apple didn't provide any specific benchmark comparisons between the two models, it is difficult to speculate exactly how well the two machines will perform until benchmarks can be compared. However, there are a number of assumptions that can be made.

The MacBook Air certainly has more thermal constraints than the MacBook Pro since it is passively cooled and thus has no fans or active ventilation. Unlike the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro has ventilation and fans. The MacBook Pro can therefore run faster, pushing the M1 harder for longer and achieving better performance from the same chip. This is because the MacBook Pro runs the M1 at higher temperatures since it can cool it more effectively using its active cooling system than the MacBook Air.

The cooling systems of both machines strongly indicate that the MacBook Pro performs better than the MacBook Air, but the margin of difference is not major. The MacBook Pro will still be better for users who need the best performance. However, since the two devices share the same M1 processor, the MacBook Air could perform similarly enough for some tasks or tasks that don't require sustained processing power.

The cheapest $999 MacBook Air configuration also has a seven-core GPU. The $1,249 higher-tier configuration of the MacBook Air, however, comes with an eight-core GPU. The MacBook Pro comes with the eight-core GPU as standard. The difference between 7 and 8 cores isn't expected to be dramatic, but users who will be setting about a lot of graphics-based work should opt for the MacBook Pro, as it is only $50 more than the eight-core GPU MacBook Air.

Display

The MacBook Pro and MacBook Air share the same 13.3-inch LED-backlit display with IPS technology, True Tone, and P3 Wide Color. Content and colors will look exactly the same on both devices.

However, the MacBook Pro's display can reach 500 nits of brightness compared to the MacBook Air's 400 nits. This means that it can get up to 20 percent brighter. You may prefer the MacBook Pro's brighter display, particularly if you often use your machine outdoors, but the brightness of the MacBook Air's display will likely not disappoint most users.

Battery Life

The M1 MacBook Pro has a battery life two hours better than the MacBook Air, according to Apple's estimates. This is likely due to smaller batteries in the MacBook Air due to its slimmer, wedge-shaped profile.

Both machines have excellent battery life at up to 20 hours on the MacBook Pro and 18 hours on the MacBook Air, thanks to the power-efficient M1 chip. While the battery life of both machines is outstanding, if you need to prioritize battery life for long periods of time away from a power source, the MacBook Pro is clearly the better option.

Microphones and Speakers

The MacBook Air has stereo speakers and a three-mic array with directional beamforming. The MacBook Pro pushes these features into the "pro" market with stereo speakers that support high dynamic range, as well as a "studio-quality" three-mic array with directional beamforming.

If you consume a lot of video content or music using the built-in speakers, or frequently use the built-in microphones for video calls or podcasting, for example, the MacBook Pro is the better device.

Touch Bar

While both machines come with Touch ID, only the MacBook Pro gets Apple's Touch Bar. The Touch Bar replaces the traditional row of function keys with a "Retina-quality" Multi-Touch display.

Controls on the Touch Bar change when using different apps. For example, the Touch Bar can show Tabs and Favorites in Safari, enable easy access to emoji in Messages, and provide a simple way to edit images or scrub through videos.

If you are particularly keen on having the Touch Bar, you will have to get the MacBook Pro, but not all users will appreciate the feature, and it does not directly add any new functionality that is not possible on the MacBook Air.

Other Mac Options

In addition to the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the 24-inch iMac and Mac mini also contain the M1 chip, but these are desktop machines. Apple also offers considerably more powerful 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, but these start at $1,999.

Final Thoughts

The Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are very similar in terms of specifications. Both devices sport the same M1 processor, 13.3-inch display, Touch ID, and ports, as well as most other hardware features.

The main differences are the display brightness, Touch Bar, microphone and speaker quality, two extra hours of battery life, and active cooling system that set the machines apart in favor of the MacBook Pro. For casual users, this means that the additional $300 to upgrade to a MacBook Pro may be difficult to justify, especially without knowing the exact performance benefits at this time.

If you do want the best performance, battery life, display brightness, and speaker and microphone quality, the MacBook Pro is the better option. The MacBook Pro is therefore the best current option for those who want the most out of their M1-based laptop.

Likewise, users who intend to perform a lot of graphics-based tasks should skip the MacBook Air entirely and buy the MacBook Pro because the eight-core GPU MacBook Air configuration is only $50 less than the MacBook Pro. However, this is only the case if you don't need more than 256GB of storage, because a storage upgrade would further push up the MacBook Pro's price.

While there is a small performance difference between the devices, the MacBook Air appears to be the best option for most users. The MacBook Air offers a compelling feature set at a more affordable $999 price. The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are available to order now.

Apple's transition away from Intel processors in Macs is officially underway with this week's introduction of new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini models with Apple's custom-designed M1 chip, and these three systems are just the beginning.

Following its virtual event on Tuesday, Apple reiterated that the transition to Apple Silicon will take about two years to be completed. Apple did not reveal which Macs will be getting M-series chips next, but here's what has been rumored so far:

• 14-inch MacBook Pro: In July, reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted that new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with Apple Silicon and an all-new design will launch in the late second quarter or third quarter of 2021. Kuo has previously suggested that these notebooks may feature Mini-LED displays.
• 16-inch MacBook Pro: Earlier this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu reported that a new 16-inch MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon is in development, but the report did not provide a release timeframe. As mentioned above, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects a new 16-inch MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon and an all-new design to launch in the late second quarter or third quarter of 2021.
• 24-inch iMac: In June, reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted that Apple would launch a 24-inch iMac with an all-new design in the late fourth quarter of 2020 or early first quarter of 2021 at the earliest.
• A smaller Mac Pro: Earlier this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu reported that Apple is developing a new Mac Pro that looks like the current design at about half the size. The report said it's unclear if that Mac will replace the current Mac Pro or be released as an additional model.

With an 8-core CPU, up to an 8-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, unified memory architecture, and more, Apple says the M1 chip delivers up to 3.5x faster system performance, up to 6x faster graphics performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini are available to order on Apple.com and through the Apple Store app, with the first deliveries to customers and in-store availability set to begin November 17. Pricing starts at $1,299 for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, $999 for the new MacBook Air, and $699 for the new Mac mini.

Roku today announced that AirPlay 2 and HomeKit are now rolling out to select streaming players, including the Roku Ultra, Roku Streambar, Roku Smart Soundbar, Roku Streaming Stick+, and Roku Premiere, as part of a free Roku OS 9.4 update. The software update is also in the process of rolling out to select Roku-based 4K TVs from brands like TCL.

AirPlay 2 enables users to stream videos, music, podcasts, and more directly from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a Roku-connected TV, with no Apple TV box necessary. And with HomeKit support, users can control the TV's power and and more using the Home app and Siri on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, or HomePod.

The software update began rolling out earlier this month for some users and should be available on all supported Roku devices within the coming days.

Yesterday Apple announced the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini, all of which are now available to order on Apple.com and at retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. Additionally, Expercom has introduced a slate of the first markdowns on these Mac devices.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Expercom. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You'll find discounts reaching up to $77 off the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, up to $63 off the new MacBook Air, and up to $46 off the new Mac mini. We've listed all of the base configurations below, but you can also customize each model on Expercom to add more storage, memory, or AppleCare+.

The caveat to Expercom's sale is that you'll see delayed shipping estimates for many of the Macs. As of writing, all of the MacBook Air models won't ship for another 2-3 weeks, although some MacBook Pro models do have shorter estimates, depending on how you configure each device.

13-Inch MacBook Pro

• 256GB - $1,232.65, down from $1,299.00 ($66 off)
• 512GB - $1,422.45, down from $1,499.00 ($77 off)

MacBook Air

• 256GB - $947.96, down from $999.00 ($51 off)
• 512GB - $1,185.71, down from $1,249.00 ($63 off)

Mac mini

• 256GB - $663.27, down from $699.00 ($36 off)
• 512GB - $853.07, down from $899.00 ($46 off)

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.

Apple today shared a press release highlighting its various Veterans Day initiatives, including a new Activity Challenge on the Apple Watch and an extended four-month Apple Music trial for veterans in the United States.

Today, Apple Watch users in the United States can earn a limited edition Activity award and animated iMessage stickers in honor of Veterans Day. To participate, users must record any workout of 11 minutes or more.

Veterans who sign up for Apple Music for the first time throughout the month of November will receive an extended four-month free trial in the United States. Apple Music typically offers a three-month free trial for new subscribers.

Apple is also highlighting veterans-related content in the App Store, Apple TV app, and Apple Books app, and made a donation to Team Rubicon.

A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed some of Apple's counterclaims against Epic Games in its ongoing antitrust battle over Apple's App Store fees (via Bloomberg).

Apple and Epic have been in a legal fight since August, when Apple removed Fortnite from the ‌App Store‌ after ‌Epic Games‌ introduced a direct payment option in the app, defying the ‌App Store‌ rules. ‌Epic Games‌ promptly filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of anti-competitive actions.

In September, Apple filed a counter suit to stop the game maker from using its own payment system for Fortnite. Apple also accused Epic of theft and sought extra monetary damages beyond breach of contract.

In October, Epic filed a motion ahead of Tuesday's hearing seeking the dismissal of Apple's counterclaims of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and conversion, along with its punitive damages bid.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers granted ‌Epic Games‌' motion for judgement, throwing out Apple's two claims for lost ‌App Store‌ fees and other monetary damages.

"This is a high-stakes breach of contract case and an antitrust case and that's all in my view," Gonzalez told Apple's lawyers, according to Bloomberg. "You can't just say it's independently wrongful. You actually have to have facts," the judge said, adding that the rest of the breach-of-contract case moves forward.

Apple told Bloomberg that it disagreed with the judge's decision, adding that it was clear that Epic breached its contract with the company. Epic in October had a preliminary injunction dismissed by the same judge, meaning Fortnite will remain unavailable on the ‌App Store‌ for the duration of the lawsuit, assuming that the app remains in violation of the ‌App Store‌ Review Guidelines. The case continues.

Apple has begun selling the Apple Watch models with cellular connectivity in Belgium for the first time, reports iCulture.

Only the aluminum and stainless steel versions are available in cellular variants on Apple's regional online store – the titanium model currently remains unavailable.

Belgian provider Telenet will be the first provider to support 4G connectivity on Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE models. Pre-orders for the models from Telenet opened on November 10 and the cellular service launches on November 13. Prices start at 349 euros.

The network operator made the announcement in a press release, which revealed that it will also allow customers to share the same number between their iPhone SIM and the Apple Watch eSIM, under its Telenet One Number package.

Ahead of the HomePod mini launching next week, Apple has revealed that it will charge a fee of $79 to service the speaker for customers without AppleCare+ coverage. This is only $20 cheaper than buying an entirely new HomePod mini for $99.

By comparison, AppleCare+ for the HomePod mini involves a $15 upfront cost and an additional $15 per-incident fee for up to two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months. Ultimately, if you damage your HomePod mini and need it serviced, it will cost you $30 with AppleCare+ or $79 without in the United States.

While many customers may find AppleCare+ unnecessary for the HomePod mini, those with pets or young children may want to consider purchasing coverage.

HomePod mini pre-orders began November 6, and the speaker launches Monday, November 16.

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, making up the first wave of Macs powered by Apple Silicon, and AnandTech has since published a deep dive into Apple's brand new M1 custom chip at the heart of the new machines.

The article begins by picking through the admittedly scant details that Apple's event offered about the ‌M1‌ chip's design, yet manages to extrapolate some interesting tidbits regarding the processor's packaging and architecture.

Beginning with the ‌M1‌'s unified memory architecture, AnandTech notes that the packaging style keeps the embedded memory off to the side of the compute die rather on top of it, ensuring the chips can be efficiently cooled, which suggests Apple is using a 128-bit DRAM bus similar to that found in previous A-X chips.

Apple says the ‌M1‌ features four high-performance "Firestorm" CPU cores and four efficiency "Icestorm" cores. Examining an actual die shot shown in Apple's ‌M1‌ unveiling, Anandtech explains that the chip appears to have a 12MB cache – up from the 8MB of L2 cache featured in the A14 – which makes sense given that it's now being used by four high-performance cores instead of two.

The article later goes on to compare the ‌M1‌ performance to existing Intel and AMD processors and takes the A14 as a benchmark guide, while noting that with its additional cache, "we expect the Firestorm cores used in the ‌M1‌ to be even faster," suggesting "Apple's claim of having the fastest CPU core in the world seems extremely plausible."

Running the A14 through a series of benchmarks against a Rizen 9 5950X and an Intel i7-1185G7, AnandTech calls the results "mind-boggling," noting that "the fact the A14 currently competes with the very best top-performance designs that the x86 vendors have on the market today is just an astonishing feat." Taking into account a graph of single-thread performance gains over the last five years, AnandTech suggests that Intel has increased its chips' performance by about 28%, while Apple has managed closer to 198% in the same period.

Apple's performance trajectory and unquestioned execution over these years is what has made Apple Silicon a reality today. Anybody looking at the absurdness of that graph will realize that there simply was no other choice but for Apple to ditch Intel and x86 in favor of their own in-house microarchitecture – staying par for the course would have meant stagnation and worse consumer products.

The performance analyses conclude by noting Apple's enormous power efficiency advantage, which is why the new ‌M1‌ chip will be able to offer either vastly increased battery life, and/or vastly increased performance compared to the current Intel MacBook line-up. Apple has said it will take at least two years to transition its entire Mac lineup to ‌Apple Silicon‌. Going on its current performance trajectory, Apple's forthcoming desktop-class chip designs are likely to look "extremely impressive," AnandTech concludes.

The five-page deep dive contains far more details than we've summarized above, and is well worth a read. You can check out the complete article here.

Apple today added new Solo Loop and Sport Apple Watch bands to its online store, expanding the number of colors available for the two band options.

Both the Solo Loop and the Sport Band now come in an orange shade called Kumquat, a lighter blue that Apple is calling Northern Blue, and a deeper purple red called Plum. Plum and Kumquat match iPhone 12 Silicone cases available in the same shades.

Apple last introduced new band colors in September with the launch of the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE, which is also when the new Solo Loop bands were debuted.

The Solo Loop has a clasp-free design and comes in nine different sizes, which can make finding the right fit difficult. For those interested in purchasing a Solo Loop, we have a fit guide available.

(Thanks, Leonard!)

Nanoleaf, the company that makes wall-mounted modular light panels in various shapes, today announced the launch of a line of "Essentials," which includes a new light bulb and lightstrip.

The Smart Color Changing LED Bulb and LED Lightstrip are simpler, everyday lighting options that are meant to be used alongside the light panels. Compatible with HomeKit, both the bulb and the lightstrip have support for ‌HomeKit‌ Adaptive Lighting, which allows them to shift color temperatures during the day.

Cooler lighting temperatures that better match daylight are used during the day, and at night, the lights will cut down on blue lighting to allow for better sleep. The Essentials Bulb, which has a unique shape, supports color temperatures from 2,700 to 6,500K and feature an average brightness of 806 lumens with a max brightness of 1,100 lumens.

The Lightstrip has four white LEDs per LED set, two warm and two cool, and there are 21 LED sets per meter. The Lightstrip measures in at 80 inches and can be augmented with 40 inch expansion strips. Lightstrips can be cut as needed and can reach a maximum of 10 meters with brightness between 2,000 and 2,200 lumens.

According to Nanoleaf, the Essentials are the first smart lighting product to work with Thread, which is a low latency and low power mesh network. With Thread support, users can count on improved connectivity, a wider control range, and an option for setting custom schedules.

Nanoleaf plans to add smart features and integrations in future updates such as Color Scenes, Screen Mirror, and Rhythm Music Sync, which will be made available through the Thread support. No hub is required for Nanoleaf's products, which will connect to ‌HomeKit‌ over Bluetooth.

Nanoleaf's Essentials are launching exclusively in Apple retail stores and the Apple online store. The Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Bulb is priced at $20 and the Nanoleaf Essentials Lightstrip is priced at $50.

Apple's new Mac mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro models with the custom-designed M1 chip are compatible with up to a 6K display, including Apple's Pro Display XDR. By comparison, the previous-generation Intel-based Mac mini and Intel-based entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt 3 ports support up to a 5K display.

The new MacBook Air with the M1 chip can also drive a 6K display, but so can the previous Intel-based MacBook Air released earlier this year.

6K display support is becoming widespread across the Mac lineup, with other capable models including the 2018 and newer 15-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro, 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro with four Thunderbolt ports, 2019 or newer iMac models, and 2019 Mac Pro. Apple's Pro Display XDR is also compatible with any Mac model with Thunderbolt 3 ports that is capable of being paired with a Blackmagic eGPU.

The new Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air mark the beginning of Apple's transition away from Intel processors in Macs. In June, Apple revealed its plans to begin using its own custom chips in Macs, promising industry-leading performance per watt. At the time, Apple said that the transition would take about two years to be completed.

Apple says the M1 chip delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs.