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Apple’s October Mac event has delivered the powerful new MacBook many have been waiting for. The 2021 version of the MacBook Pro 16-inch was announced Monday during the company’s livestreamed Unleashed event (alongside a 14-inch model), hot on the heels of September’s iPhone launch. The new MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 (£2,399, AU$3,749).

Key among the new additions to the company’s bigger laptop are updated versions of Apple’s homegrown M1 processor. We’ve already seen Apple’s silicon added to smaller MacBooks and iPads, but the 16-inch MacBook is getting a more powerful version that should meet the needs of people who require high-performance machines — in particular those who do intensive photo and video editing.

Read more: Whoa, a MacBook Pro with all the upgrades will cost you how much?

Now the company is equipping its most advanced laptop with the newly announced M1 Pro and M1 Max processors. The addition of the M1 Max will give a 4x graphics performance boost to the 16-inch MacBook Pro over its predecessor, and the M1 Pro will be 2.5x better than the previous generation, according to Apple. Both chips provide a 2x CPU boost over the 2019 MacBook Pro.

The new silicon will also reportedly make the MacBook more power-efficient, providing more battery life on a single charge. Apple rarely discloses detailed battery specs, but it promises the battery can last twice as long in Lightroom and four times as long in Xcode, as well as allowing for 21 hours of video playback.

“The performance of the M1 chip in MacBook products released to date is a major endorsement of Apple’s investment in custom silicon,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, in a statement. “The M1 Pro and the M1 Max chips take this to new levels with further improvements in performance and battery life.”

Power users will also benefit from the new Mini-LED backlight-based display used in the iPad Pro, which supports HDR at a higher brightness and allows for better local dimming. The screen has 1,000 nits of sustained brightness, allowing for deeper and more dramatic colors. The Liquid Retina XDR display “is uncompromising in its performance,” said Kate Bergerson, Apple’s vice president of product design.

Other features include six-speaker sound that supports spatial audio, along with in-built studio-quality mics. At the top of the display, a notch now houses a 1080p front-facing web camera to support all your videoconferencing needs with 2x better low-light performance.

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When Apple unveiled the 16-inch MacBook Pro back in 2019, CNET’s Dan Ackerman described it as “something of a greatest-hits compilation of MacBook features.” His main criticisms of the device were the inclusion of the Touch Bar, the lack of ports other than USB-C and its high starting price.

With this updated MacBook Pro, Apple has gotten rid of the unpopular Touch Bar and reinstated additional connection options, including HDMI, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe and an SD card slot. But the affordability of this new machine may remain a sticking point, given that $2,499 starting price. Orders are live today, and availability begins next week.  

See at Apple

Alongside the MacBook Pro, Apple unveiled the AirPods 3, an Apple Music “Voice” Plan and new HomePod Mini colors. You can check out everything that was announced at Apple’s “Unleashed” launch here

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Update, Oct. 25: Read CNET’s review of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro and 14-inch MacBook Pro. Original story follows.


Apple revealed its latest MacBook Pros during the company’s hardware event on Monday. It also showed off the new M1 Max chip powering these new laptops, which offers a lot of power for a fraction of the power of other processors. The new MacBook Pros start shipping in two weeks, but those wanting to get the top-of-line models, they’ll have to wait until December. 

When ordering a new MacBook Pro on Apple’s site, selecting a 16-inch laptop with the M1 Max with a 24- or 32-core GPU will push the delivery window from early November to early December. Choosing to go with a MacBook Pro with 64GB of RAM will move the date even further to Dec. 10 to Dec. 23. 

The delivery date for the MacBook Pro 16" with M1 Max chip and 64GB RAMThe delivery date for the MacBook Pro 16" with M1 Max chip and 64GB RAM

The delivery date for the MacBook Pro 16″ with M1 Max chip and 64GB RAM.


Apple

Apple didn’t immediately respond to questions about the delay and whether this is tied to the current global chip shortage


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New MacBook Pro: MagSafe returns

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Buying a decked-out MacBook Pro won’t be cheap. Getting one with all the bells and whistles will cost more than $6,000. Even without all the upgrades, the new laptops have some big changes including the return of the MagSafe charger, the departure of the Touch Bar, a 1080p webcam and 120Hz display

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Meet the 16-year-old world drone-racing champion

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Drone racers hope their sport could go mainstream. Hit play on the video above to get an inside look at how first-person view (FPV) drone racing works, and what its star pilots hope the future has in store.

“I really think the sport’s just going to keep growing and growing and growing,” says drone racing world champion Luke Bannister, who back in March nabbed first prize in a global drone racing contest in Dubai.

Drone racing gets serious

“Considering how far it’s gone in about a year, from people flying around their local park or whatever, to flying inside stadiums. I think it’s just going to keep growing, and hopefully it becomes a professional sport.”

Drone racing is best described as a cross between Formula 1 and Star Wars’ fictional sport of podracing. Quick reactions are a must as pilots zip their machines around a defined course, all the time wearing headsets that deliver a live feed from the nose of their drone. There are even pit stops to change batteries.

One obstacle that could stand in the way of drone racing’s mainstream appeal is that, on a practical level, it’s not that easy to follow. It can be hard to tell which tiny drone is in the lead when they’re on the other side of the course, illuminated only by a few coloured LEDs. Tech could alleviate this — for instance racing drones have cameras strapped to them, so spectators could follow a stream of what the drones are seeing on a smartphone or tablet.

Hit play on the video above to see drone racing in action.

These are the drones landing in spring 2016

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