Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2022 saw a couple bombshell hardware announcements , including news of a 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air both featuring the M2 chip, the company’s latest generation of silicon.
The developers Conference also featured more expected news about the company’s operating systems upgrades for its desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
That the Cupertino-based tech icon would announce a flagship MacBook offering was unexpected.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook normally saves major hardware announcement for the northen hemisphere springs and autumns.
The new MacBook Pro machine features 20-hour battery, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, up to 24 GB of memory, and up to 2 TB of storage, starting at NZ$2,299 including GST.
Apple has added a new active cooling system Apple to ensure the M2 MacBook Pro doesn't throttle down due to heat, and maintains performance..
A 13-inch MacBook Air, also with the M2 chip will be released next month with a starting price of NZ$2,149 including GST.
The M2 MacBook Air will come in four colors: space grey, starlight, midnight, and silver with an aluminium uni-body chassis.
Apple touted the slimness of the new 13.6-inch MacBook Air, saying it takes up a quarter less volume than its predecessor while weighing just 1.24 kilo, sporting MagSafe charging, two Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5 millmetre audio jack.
The new Air will is said to have 18-hour battery life and can be configured with up to 24 gigabytes of fast memory.
Apple's new M2 chip has 25 per cent more transistors and 50 per cent more of unified memory bandwidth than the M1 predecessor, at 100 gigabytes per second.
The M2 chip’s ARM-based architecture focuses on power-efficiency and maximised speed performance, Apple said.
New macOS 13 Ventura, iOS and iPadOS 16, watchOS 9 announced
Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief, announced the new mobile iOS 16 operating system that features new intelligence, sharing and communications features, including a new lock screen, more personalisation, widget integration on the lock screen, and new dictation features.
The Messages app has received an overhaul, allowing users to edit iMessages, recall messages sent by mistake and snooze texts so users can handle them later.
The company says these changes will change the way nearly one billion people send texts.
“Hundreds of millions of people rely on Messages every single day,” Federighi said.
A Safety Check centre allowing users to revoke location access to others. which Apple says will help victims of domestic violence has been added along with better organised smart home controls.
Apple has also updated its Carplay infotainment system for vehicles, allowing drivers to control the air conditioning, radio and more,
The new Carplay will be integrated by several carmakers next year;
New Apple Watch software - watchOS 9 - includes better sleep tracking, a revamped workout app with heart rate zones and new running metrics for tracking, a medicine management feature, and a new Siri interface will also be released in the coming months.
The company will include new watch faces, including an astronomy face and the lunar calendar for watchOS 9.
Apple enters BNPL market.
The built-in Apple Pay payments system will also new features rolled out.
This includes Apple's ‘buy now, pay later’ program called Apple Pay Later, which allows customers to buy using Apple Pay and then pay for it over four payments over six weeks.
The company said there are no fees to use the service, which will initially be available in the United States only.
Apple Pay also gets merchant tokens to securely retain customer information, and the ability to pay several vendors with a single transaction.
