Apple Brings M1 Chip To iMac, iPad Pro For First Time
As Apple’s transition away from Intel continues, the company announces that its in-house processor will be extended to two new products.
Apple is extending its in-house M1 chip to two more products, bringing the high-performance processor to the iMac and the iPad Pro for the first time.
The expansion of the M1 rollout comes as Apple has done a full redesign on the iMac all-in-one desktop and made a number of updates on the iPad Pro 2-in-1 tablet.
[Related: 5 Things To Know About Apple’s M1 Processor For Mac]
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is now offering five products with the M1, including the previously announced MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Mini models with the processor.
Apple is in the midst of transitioning away from Intel processors in favor of its own Arm-based chips, starting with the M1, which debuted in November.
The company touted major performance gains for the new iMac and iPad Pro models featuring the M1 chip, with up to 85-percent faster CPU performance on the new iMac and up to 50-percent faster CPU performance on the new iPad Pro.
The announcements came during Apple’s virtual product event Tuesday, the company’s first announcement event in 2021.
During the pre-recorded event, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that M1-powered Mac models already constitute the “majority” of the company’s Mac sales.
“Our Mac business has never been stronger. Our M1 products have continued to fuel the Mac’s incredible growth,” Cook said.
On Tuesday, Apple unveiled a redesign for the iMac that includes a new form factor and 24-inch display, versus the previous iMac display sizes of 21.5 inches and 27 inches.
The new iMac features a thinner display of 11.5 mm and smaller bezels around the display--allowing for an overall size that is only slightly larger than the 21.5-inch iMac, Apple said. The use of the power-efficient M1 chip helped to enable the more-compact iMac design, according to the company. The new iMac is also being offered in seven colors.
Additional updates on the new iMac include a 1080p webcam and improved mics and speakers for helping to meet collaboration needs, Apple said.
The 24-inch iMac features resolution of 4.5K (4,480 x 2,520) on its Retina display and will have two options for its M1 configuration—with either a seven-core or eight-core GPU. Both models will include an eight-core CPU.
The new iMac will have a starting price of $1,299, and will be available to order on April 30 with shipping in the second half of May, Apple said.
For the new iPad Pro, the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models will both continue to be offered but the tablets will feature a display upgrade using technology from Apple’s high-end Pro Display XDR. The new “Liquid Retina XDR” display on the iPad Pro models will offer up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness and resolution of 264 pixels per inch on both models.
Other major upgrades on the new iPad Pro models include the addition of support for 5G for the first time. In the U.S., that will include support for the higher-speed version of 5G, known as mmWave.
The new 11-inch iPad Pro will have a starting price of $799, while the new 12.9-inch model will start at $1,099. Like with the new iMac, the new iPad Pro models will be available to order on April 30 with shipping in the second half of May.