It's been one day since Apple’s first big product announcement event of 2021, "Spring Loaded." Editor Eric Limer and Staff Writer Tucker Bowe talk us through their very fresh and very detailed reactions to Apple Podcasts updates, a new purple iPhone, the all-new AirTags, the next-gen Apple TV 4K, the colorful new iMacs, and the new iPad Pro.
Reactions to the biggest announcements from Apple Spring Loaded.
Show Notes
AirTags, iMac and More: The Biggest News From Apple's Spring Event
The iPhones That AirTags Will (and Won't) Work With
You Don't Need to Buy a New Apple TV to Get Its Best Feature
All the AirTag Accessories You Need to Know About
New Apple Products:
The All-New Apple AirTags (from $29; pre-order April)
The All-New iMac 24-Inch (from $1,299; pre-order April 30)
The New iPad Pro (from $799; pre-order April)
iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini, now in purple (from $699; pre-order April 23)
Apple TV 4K (from $179; pre-order April 30)
Nick Caruso:
This is The Gear Patrol Podcast. In this episode, it's one day after Apple's first big product announcement of 2021, which they called Spring Loaded. Editor Eric Limer and Senior Staff Writer Tucker Bowe talk us through their very fresh and very detailed reactions. We cover updates to Apple Podcasts, a new purple iPhone, the all new AirTags, the next generation Apple TV 4K, the colorful new iMacs, and the new iPad Pro. It's a lot of Apple. So, I hope you've got an appetite. Thanks for joining us. I'm glad you're here. Let's get started.
Nick Caruso:
Hey, everybody. I'm Nick Caruso, and you are listening to The Gear Patrol Podcast. I am here with Eric and Tucker from our tech team. This episode, we are dedicated entirely to talking about announcements and takeaways from yesterday's big Apple event. So, Eric and Tucker, hello.
Eric Limer:
Hello.
Tucker Bowe:
Hey, hey.
Nick Caruso:
Hey, hey. So, yesterday, another in a long series of these big important Apple events and it was called Spring Loaded. Guys, is that a good name for this event or what?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, I mean, as far as the Apple event names go, this one was probably the least punny. I mean, it has to do with the spring the season obviously, but I don't think any of the announcements involved physical springs, which is the thing you would usually expect from that. Yeah, I think this was their, at this point, third or fourth of these events that is all virtual. So, the production level of them has gotten pretty high, pretty corny as well, but that's-
Nick Caruso:
Corny is good.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I think Spring Loaded was a good fit, just because this is the first exciting Apple event of the year and they announced a bunch of new products. Spring, you associate it with colors. We got colorful iMacs for the first time in forever.
Nick Caruso:
Tucker, tying it back to the products, I like that. So, overall impressions, you guys are satisfied. I'm satisfied. What do you think?
Tucker Bowe:
I think you have to be satisfied because you got a bunch of new products. A bunch of them are fun, especially the new iMacs and the AirTags. AirTags are an entirely new product line, one that we've been expecting for a while. Yeah, I mean, we got some new iPad Pros too. I think a lot of people were expecting a lot of subscription updates to Apple One bundle and a lot of software updates coming and a lot of less exciting things for people who just want to get their hands on new gadgets. Yeah, we got that this time.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, we got some hardware. Eric, you feel satisfied?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, I think, yeah, there was definitely a world where this event could have been boring, but it was short and it was full of the culmination of a lot of long term rumors. We'll get into it with the iPad Pro, which was a spec bump. A lot of it was either new stuff or stuff that's meaningfully different than it has been in the past, which always makes it more interesting than just it's the new chip. Yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So, let's get into it then. I want to get through a couple much smaller announcements and then we'll go into the big four, I guess. The first, there was this somewhat vague update to Apple Podcasts, which is obviously relevant to what we're doing now. Eric, can I-
Eric Limer:
Yeah. At the beginning of these events, there were usually a couple of really small announcements. They're glossed over. This was one that we didn't get a ton of detail about, but basically, it looks like a redesign of the Apple Podcast apps. It looks like increased functionality around Discovery, right? So, trying to find and interact with new podcasts. I believe there was a line in the presentation that was about subscribing to podcast to support your favorite ones or whatever. It sounded like Patreon, but there were no specifics around what support means, whether it's support your favorite team or whatever. That was the first time the idea occurred to me that it was like, "Oh, yeah, I guess Apple could do Patreon, but for podcasts in the Podcast app."
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, it's like a subscription model, it seems like. So, obviously, creators will have to pay a little bit to be part of this, but then people who subscribe to the podcast can also pay a little fee and get extra content and no ads and that thing. Tucker, any thoughts on Podcasts?
Tucker Bowe:
Well, yeah, I mean, this is going to be a pretty big change for Apple in that it seems like they're taking podcasts more seriously and they're going to have some exclusive podcast and offer creators, I guess, more incentive to put the podcasts out exclusively with Apple. Yeah, it's one of the things we have to wait and see how it shapes up. Yeah, as someone who listens to a lot of podcasts, yeah, I'm interested.
Nick Caruso:
You listen to this one, right?
Tucker Bowe:
Oh, yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Okay, good. Next one, iPhone. This is a super, super brief, little tidbit we were tossed, but there is a purple iPhone now, first time.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, it's a light purple, but it's just for the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Mini. So, not the Pro models. But it looks very eastery, I would say.
Eric Limer:
Yeah, it definitely looks nice and a great way for Apple to try and spike the sales of two of its iPhone models. What is this? Six months after the release, halfway through the product cycle, because we're going to be expecting the new ones in the fall. So, if you like purple a lot, maybe that's worth it for you. Yeah, just a little thing to observe there.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, for sure. No, that's a good insight. Let's move on to a big announcement. This is the big new product of the event, AirTags. They're finally here. Tucker, you're grinning. So, I'm going to ask you what you think about the AirTags first. Can you give us a little rundown?
Tucker Bowe:
It's more grinning on just your reaction, but yeah. So, AirTags are these Tile-like trackers that use Apple's Find My Network. So, in the same way, if you misplaced your AirPods or your iPhone or your other Mac or iPad, you can use the Find My Network to track any gadget with these AirTags. They're 29 bucks a pop, or you can get a four pack for 99 bucks. Yeah, I mean, these things have been rumored for two and a half years or maybe longer than that.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, they're finally here. It's one of those weird products that it's cool because it's something completely new for Apple. I think I'm one of the least excited about it, because I have very little things that I want to actually track. I use Apple's Find My app maybe two or three times a year. I could be in the minority. I haven't used the Tile in years. But I mean, people are really excited about this.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, here we are. I got you into a rant before we even got to describe the things. Eric, I'm going to ask you to do that while Tucker cools off a little bit. Can you just tell me what these are physically?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, so it looks like Mentos. It is a little disc, right? I actually don't totally know the scale. I think it's probably a little bit smaller than a quarter. It's Apple smooth and white on the one side. On the other side, it's metal and it has the Apple logo. You can get it engraved with an emoji on the top or some letters and stuff for free if you order from Apple, but that's it. It's like this little pocket fidget stone or whatever. It's got Apple's U1 chip inside of it, which is a ultraband radio, so similar to some of the 5G stuff, right? So, it's a close range thing.
Eric Limer:
So, like Tucker was saying, it works with the Find My Network, which means that if you open the Find My app on your iPhone, it will show a map and show the location of the last known location of various objects, including trackers. But also, because of this U1 chip, it enables a feature called precision finding. I believe that's what it's called. So, this is available with phones that also have the U1 chip, so they can see each other.
Tucker Bowe:
Which is just the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 12.
Eric Limer:
Yes. So, if you have one of those, Find My Apple actually act like a dowsing rod. It'll show an arrow pointing directly towards the tracker and it'll vibrate and stuff. So, this is, I think, to me clearly some beta stuff for... There have been rumors about the Apple glasses, augmented reality glasses for ages. You can see how this would dovetail with that, where it's like, "Oh, if you're wearing your Apple glasses in 2025 or whatever, all your little AirTags light up in your field of vision," but for now, you have to use a phone for that.
Nick Caruso:
Precision finding, I thought it was so interesting the way it uses that chip. From what I understand, it coordinates a few different parts in the phone. The camera and the accelerometer give you the haptic feedback. It doesn't look, like you said, like a dowsing rod. It looks like the tracking chip that you'd see it in some knockoff spy movie, right? You throw it on the guy's collar. You put your phone on your dashboard. It's like a blip in the city, right?
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I think it's one of those things that's super helpful. If you use the Find My Network, it'll guide you to a certain location. But once you get into Bluetooth range, that's when this precision tracking kicks in. You could actually find exactly where your AirTag is. If it's underneath this cushion or behind this object, you can actually pinpoint exactly where it is. I think that's a neat thing that takes the fine line network to another level.
Nick Caruso:
Sure. Eric?
Eric Limer:
So, worth noting a couple of things at this point, which is that we haven't had the chance to play with any of these yet. So, our impressions of how it works are based basically just on what the spec sheet says, briefings, and whatever. So, it's a little bit hard to give the exact experience. Another thing to mention is that, especially in regards to what you were saying about the tracking device, Nick, Apple says that there are various features with this, designed to make them impossible to use as unwanted tracking devices, because this is an issue that people had brought up when the idea of this was just being rumored, right?
Eric Limer:
Apple doesn't want to be in the business of making a device that an abuser could slip into somebody's bag in order to keep track of them when they try to leave the house or whatever. This is the stuff that we'll want to test out, but it appears that part of the way that this works is that Find My has some way of recognizing unconfirmed trackers in the vicinity. So, it'll be interesting to see how that stuff plays out, but it's definitely worth noting that fighting against that use case was definitely something that was in mind in the design process for this device.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, this has been part of the conversation around this for a long time. But when it popped up on the event after years, my brain was still like, "Oh, they're going to be tracking me." So, it's an interesting time to be introducing more tracking devices basically.
Eric Limer:
The other thing to say there is that the way this system works is that everything is anonymized. This is how a lot of Apple's privacy infrastructure works in general, but essentially, everything is anonymized. So, the specific identity of specific trackers and specific people should be obscure to everyone, including Apple, but that also doesn't change the fact that, you're right, these are literally tracking devices.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. So, we posted an image of the AirTags on Instagram yesterday. Gear Patrol did. A lot of people commented. People are really interested in this. We asked what people will use them for. My favorite is probably a 10-millimeter socket. As someone who works on a car, that's the one you always lose. Some people said their kids. Some people said, "My bicycle," or saying that it's just a rip off of Tile. What are you guys going to track with AirTags that aren't your Apple devices? That's what I'm curious about. What do you use this for?
Eric Limer:
My thought would be to put it on my keys, which is the main thing, which brings up one other note here. The design of these is very clever in that it is just a circle. So, Tile and Samsung's thing, I forget what that's called off top my head, but these devices had a little hole in them. So, that you could attach them with just a normal key ring thing. But Apple's devices are just a little smooth stone, which is nice and minimalist in the one sense, but in the other sense, it means that you need accessories to attach them to things. So, there's going to be this whole big secondary market about key chains or whatever. I mean, I assume you could also duct tape it to something.
Nick Caruso:
Right, yeah, that's something I was going to ask. They're not sticky, right?
Eric Limer:
No.
Nick Caruso:
You have to drop it into something or have a dedicated accessory like a key chain probably sold by Apple or whomever.
Eric Limer:
Right, yeah. We'll have a story on the site about this. There are a number of accessories out there already from key chains, but then also, slightly more interesting things. What are they called for glasses, the old lady thing?
Nick Caruso:
The Croakie?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, okay. That is what they're called. There's an AirTags Croakie and stuff like that. So, it'll be interesting to see. It'll definitely be fun to see what weird use cases people get up to. Hopefully, not that many of them are nefarious.
Nick Caruso:
My last question for this is how thick it is. It looks like it's about the size of a quarter, but is it super thin like a watch battery or is it like an ice cream sandwich? I can't really tell.
Tucker Bowe:
I was going to mention that. It actually uses those little circular... Whatever you call those, it has a battery. So, it doesn't charge via lightning or USB or wireless. The battery, I think, lasts about a year. It uses those things. I think it's actually thicker than you might think. I think, like Eric said, in the beginning, Mentos is a good sized object to compare it with.
Nick Caruso:
I just dropped a watch battery that I was going to hold up and show to people who can't see me.
Eric Limer:
It's interesting, because again, this is one of the things, especially with these events all being virtual or whatever, none of us have actually held one of these yet. Seeing these in real life, I think, will give some greater shape as it were to what they actually are. I think they're fun in that one of the rare things that you get from a tech release these days is a product that has non-obvious use cases. So, that's what I'm interested in. I'm interested to see who finds a way to break these, use them in an unexpected way that maybe Apple will shut down and maybe Apple will allow.
Nick Caruso:
To hack them.
Eric Limer:
Yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Next product on my list is the Apple TV 4K, which has existed, but this is a new version. There's a lot of new stuff going on here, including the addition of the A12 Bionic chip and a new remote with all sorts of features.
Tucker Bowe:
It's not a huge new product. It's just an upgrade of the previous Apple TV 4K, which I don't think has been updated in several years. They essentially updated it with a better processor, compatibility with HDMI 2.1, instead of 2.0. They gave it a fancy new remote, which people have been asking for forever. I think, again, another polarizing topic, I think I was one of the few people in the world that actually liked the old remote, the Siri remote.
Tucker Bowe:
The new one looks similar, but instead of the trackpad, it has actual directional buttons that has a dedicated button for Siri and dedicated button for turning on and off your TV. It's a little thicker and got a little more ergonomic design. I mean, I think one of the biggest complaints with the Siri remote has been that it slides between your cushions, difficult to find. This one's [inaudible 00:18:29]. People like it.
Eric Limer:
I think the other common complaint about the old Siri remote and I never used it that much myself, but that it's essentially symmetrical. So, that it's hard to tell which side is up if you're not looking at it, which is not great for remote, especially in the dark. So, a note about the new remote that Tucker just described is that obviously it comes with the new Apple TV 4K, which starts at $179, but you can just also buy it on its own for $59. So, if you want to just upgrade your old Apple TV with a new remote, that is an option that is on the table for you for less than half the cost of the new one.
Nick Caruso:
Right. Maybe I'm off base. This is just my personal perception, but one of the issues with Apple TV, even though it's a great product and functions extraordinarily well, is that it's much more costly than other streaming sticks for instance, like the Fire Stick from Amazon. So, first of all, just getting the remote, maybe the price barrier isn't there so much, but is this a big enough upgrade overall to win over more people from inexpensive Fire Sticks and such?
Tucker Bowe:
I think it depends. I think the big upgrade is that again, the processor and then the support for the HDMI 2.1. Meaning that it's just going to work better and supports higher frame rates and just going to look and work a lot better if you bought a TV within the last two or three years. If you already have an Apple TV 4K, it's probably incremental update, I would say.
Nick Caruso:
Eric, is that true up with what you think?
Eric Limer:
Yeah. I mean you're talking to a Chromecast guy. I've been using a Chromecast for eight years now, however long it existed.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, a long time.
Eric Limer:
I've never felt the need for anything beyond that. The new Apple TV 4K, if you want to play Apple Arcade games on your TV with it, then yeah, sure, especially that new chip will work wonders for you. There's also a feature on there that allows you to color calibrate your screen by using an iPhone, which is very cool. I mean, I don't know how useful that is for the normal people. I do suspect that this is a feature that may make its way into Apple's displays, their Pro Displays. That would be super cool as somebody who has tried to color calibrate a display and then given up after five minutes, because it's hopelessly complicated.
Nick Caruso:
Right. So, let's explain that real quick for anyone who hasn't color calibrated a monitor or display before. You're talking about getting the truest color representation on your display, like true to life, right? You can calibrate that using the phone how? How does that work?
Eric Limer:
It's using the iPhone's cameras as the calibrator. Prior to this, color calibrating a screen, at least in my understanding, like I said, I never actually did it. But generally, if you want to do it right, it requires actually acquiring a piece of hardware, which is a camera that you point at the screen and then the screen shows you a color. The camera checks, "Is this the color it's supposed to be?" And then they work together.
Nick Caruso:
Right, I believe the display itself shows a color. Your camera on your iPhone detects it and checks it against real life and then changes your settings. It's confusing to me though. Tucker, maybe you know this. Will that work on any TV? Will it just color calibrate my four-year-old HDTV, or do I have to have some hardware in there?
Tucker Bowe:
Again, I don't exactly know off the top of my head. I think generally, if you have a newer TV, it's going to be able to tell the TV settings or get that and then just make it look the best. Again, I am not 100% sure about that.
Nick Caruso:
Well, a lot of this remains to be seen. That's a big part of an Apple event is that this is just an announcement and we have to get our hands on it to see the details. I'm not sure we mentioned price, but there are two storage sizes for the Apple TV. One is 32 gigs. That's 179 bucks. And then twice that, 64 gigs for 199 bucks. And then Eric, you said the remote, you can get separately for $59?
Eric Limer:
Correct.
Nick Caruso:
Correct. Okay, okay. Next, this is a big announcement. I didn't mean to be outsized about the AirTags, the iMac, hearkens to the past a little bit with some colors and stuff. So, who wants to take this? I've got all the specs in front of me but I want to challenge one of you to do it.
Tucker Bowe:
So, the big update is that well, obviously, they have the new M1 chips which Apple introduced at the end of last year to entry level MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and Mac Mini lines. So, this thing is going to have all the efficiency and performance upgrades that those computers were able to do. So, that's exciting. Yeah, the big thing is that Apple has reintroduced colors. These new iMacs come in seven different colors, everything from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white actually too. It doesn't come in space gray or silver. Those are the two colors that traditionally it has. So, it comes in colorful colors, not the not the original ones.
Nick Caruso:
It's a lot of the colors from that original Apple logo, the jewel tone rainbow.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, exactly. So, it's a 24-inch display, rather than the 21.5-inch entry level iMac. So, this is effectively taking place, replacing that entry level iMac. Yeah, in addition to upgrading the with the M1 chip, they gave it a bunch of new internals, new microphones, new speakers. It's got a better 1080P webcam. So, everything you'd want in a work from home desktop computer. It also has some nerdy things too. The way the power cord connects to the back of it, it magnetically connects like MagSafe. It's not MagSafe, but it magnetically connects. It's got a new power adapter that's integrated with an ethernet port.
Nick Caruso:
Right. So, you've run through the whole list there. Let's break it down a little bit. So, first of all, the form of the computer has changed quite a bit. There's a new stand. The display itself is much thinner.
Eric Limer:
It's so thin. I think that is really one of the most notable things about it. Well, it's funny, right? Because it's one of the most notable things about it in that it is the thing that you notice when you look at it. It's like, "Oh, this is a giant iPad Air on a stand," right? But it's also like a desktop computer. So, it doesn't matter how thin it is.
Nick Caruso:
Twelve millimeters then, right?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, a fun little fact about the thinness is that the 3.5 millimeter jack for headphones is on the side, because it couldn't be on the front or the back, because the display actually isn't thin enough to accommodate the full length of a headphone plug.
Nick Caruso:
That's a great length for Apple to go to to get rid of a headphone jack, right?
Eric Limer:
It's still there, but it's on the side. So, the other thing, like I was saying, is it does look like a giant iPad. It still has the chin on the bottom.
Nick Caruso:
Meaning what?
Eric Limer:
So, there is bezels, the plastic part that goes around the screen. The bezel on the bottom of the screen is extra thick, right? So, there's this big band of colored plastic now at the bottom. And then the rest of it is screen.
Nick Caruso:
That houses some specific stuff. Tucker, you mentioned fans, I think, or maybe I just made that up. You didn't?
Tucker Bowe:
No, no.
Nick Caruso:
Speakers is what you mentioned. I pictured round things and then I thought about fans.
Tucker Bowe:
Both things, to be fair.
Nick Caruso:
Yes, but the fans are a significant part of this, right? As I understand it, two fans in place of however many before in a different place to allow for that super thin form.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I think they integrated all the hardware at the bottom, like Eric was saying, at the chin. So, you get this edge to edge display, which is really nice except for the bottom of it. Yeah, it should be interesting too, because one of the great things about the M1 chip is it allows for more powerful performance without having to kick into these fans to actually take advantage of them. So, this computer should be very, very quiet for most people, depending on what you're doing and doing a high end photo editing or something like that. Yeah, it's exciting.
Nick Caruso:
What do we have? Up to four USB-C ports, two of them could be Thunderbolt. That's huge. I mean for creators and people who just want all the ports and the access and the peripherals and all the stuff.
Tucker Bowe:
Big for companies that make docks from USB-C to all of the other ports that you might need.
Nick Caruso:
Right. And then you mentioned earlier, Tucker, a 1080P FaceTime camera, so a higher resolution camera, correct?
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, it's still not 4K webcam, which I think a lot of people are craving for, but it should be a big improvement over the webcams that have been in previous iMacs. Again, everyone's working from home. So, Apple beefed this up with everything you'd need, better speakers, better mics, better webcam.
Nick Caruso:
The speakers support spatial audio.
Tucker Bowe:
Yes, they're Dolby Atmos.
Nick Caruso:
Can you explain what that is for anybody who doesn't know?
Tucker Bowe:
Dolby Atmos, it's an immersive sound technology that creates virtual heightened side channels so that you feel like you're in a movie or you feel like things are flying over you and around you. So, it's just an immersive sound technology. I mean this is diving in the weeds. If you want to get a home theater setup and you have dedicated speakers for heightened side channels, it's going to sound better, but yeah, a lot of speakers and headphones support Dolby Atmos.
Nick Caruso:
Eric, can you tell me about the power adapter and the magnetic situation there?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, it's neat. Well, so it's similar to MagSafe, the old MagSafe where you used to have the power adapters that would attach magnetically to the old MacBooks. This one is circular. It plugs into the back of the iMac and then locks in there magnetically. I won't lie, it looks incredibly satisfying. It seems like plugging the fuel hose into a F1 car or something. It seems pretty sweet.
Nick Caruso:
I was going to say it's like the neural shunt in The Matrix or something, right?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, that's exactly it. That's a way better touch to it. Yeah. So, the other thing that is nice about quality of life thing is that this big power wire also carries your ethernet. So, if you're plugging into ethernet, you plug that into the power brick beneath your desk or whatever. And then there's just this one big... By big, I mean, little bit thicker than a big Slim Jim. I don't know.
Eric Limer:
But the power cable is the one thing that will come up from the top of your desk and plug into the back. So, you don't have to worry about having multiple cables come in from your wall if you're connected by Ethernet, which if you have a desktop, you probably should be connected by ethernet if it's possible, because it will make your life a little bit better.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I mean, not even super hard fanboying right here. This is a beautiful piece of hardware, the braided cable, the magnetic satisfying attachment and all that.
Eric Limer:
Yeah, the fact that it doesn't come in neutral colors, though, is a little bit off putting to me.
Nick Caruso:
Oh, that's right. It's color matched to the casing.
Eric Limer:
Yeah, the fact that's Tucker highlighted before of it comes in colors, but it does not come in silver and it does not come in black, at least not yet. I mean, it's cool, I guess, but that would make me panic if I was trying to fit something in my home office and it had to have a strong color. I don't know.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, lavender doesn't work. Tucker, let's let you rip about the keyboards. We have three keyboards and a couple other peripherals. Is that correct?
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I mean, so Apple announced a new keyboard, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse and wireless trackpad that come bundled with the new iMacs and they are color to match. So, if you get a red iMac, you're going to get a red keyboard and red wireless mouse or trackpad depending on what you get. Yeah, with the entry level models, there's a dedicated button for an emoji, whatever. But the cooler thing is if you get an upgraded iMac bundled, they come with a wireless keyboard with Touch ID. So, you can unlock your computer just with your fingerprint.
Nick Caruso:
User switching too, right?
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. So, it can identify whose finger it is and open to that profile. Yeah, I mean, I think when it comes in three different designs as you can get with or without the Touch ID. And then obviously, you can get it configured with the number pad, additional number pad, just like you would enforce it. I mean the design, it looks almost exactly aside from the colors and the Touch ID. It doesn't look any different from the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad that Apple has previously been offering. Yeah, it's just a welcome upgrade that-
Nick Caruso:
It just moves us into the modern era. Got to get that 100 emoji at our fingertips.
Tucker Bowe:
I think people were hoping for maybe face ID or something on these iMacs. They didn't get that, but they got Touch ID, which is great.
Eric Limer:
Yeah, I think that's actually an interesting thing to note, too, I think the fact that we got Touch ID on these iMacs as opposed to Face ID. The rumors are that in the next iPhone or at least future iPhones, the Touch ID is going to be coming back and the touch sensor is going to be through the screen, which is almost definitely going to happen. Other companies already provide this. Sometimes the experience isn't so great.
Eric Limer:
Speculation here, obviously, but I think that the fact that this iMac has Touch ID instead of Face ID working through the webcam is a bit of an indication that Apple is getting ready to move back to Touch ID. Looking back on it years from now, it may be clear that Face ID was a bridge for the gap for those few iPhones that didn't have a button, but also couldn't do fingerprints under the screen yet.
Nick Caruso:
The other thing I'm not totally clear on is the huge complaint with Apple peripheral users and the Magic Mouse. Is this thing still flipped to charge where the charging port's on the bottom?
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, it still doesn't solve that issue of you have to turn it over, plug the lightning cable in.
Nick Caruso:
That's so annoying.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, it'd be nice if it's wirelessly charged or something like that.
Nick Caruso:
Or just move the charging port.
Eric Limer:
They're just doubling down on it at this point of being it was never a mistake and it's not a problem. If it's a problem for you, then you're using it wrong. Just remember to charge your mouse when you're not using it. It's not a design flaw.
Nick Caruso:
Exactly. Yeah. If anybody hasn't had the pleasure of using one of the newer Magic Mouses, mice, I don't know what you guys say, the charging port is literally on the bottom. So, you cannot use the mouse while you're charging it. You have to flip it over like a dead beetle.
Eric Limer:
It's a great excuse if you don't want to do things for a while though.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, right. Sorry, I'm charging my terribly designed... Okay. In addition to those things, much faster CPU, the graphics card is way, way faster, up to two times faster.
Tucker Bowe:
We're at the point in the nostalgia cycle, where I will admit it, I wish that these new iMacs were translucent. I think that that would be cool.
Nick Caruso:
CC Tim on that one. Let's tag him on the social media. Let's tag him on the Twitter. Let's AirTag him. That's a bad riff. Okay. So, the iMac starts at $1,299, also, going to be available in the coming weeks. So, URL down below. Last product, last product, big product, the iPad Pro, big updates here. We've got the M1 chip. We've got humongous jump in performance, like 50%, they're quoting. There's game controller support. There's huge storage options. Eric, do you have an overview of the new iPad Pro you want to give us?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, I think the interesting thing with the new iPad Pro with the M1 chip... If you watch the promos, you'll see it in this stand with a keyboard. An interesting question to ask at this point is, "What precisely is the difference between the iPad Pro and a MacBook?" Now, obviously, there are differences or fewer differences than ever. This new iPad Pro is one step towards the thing that... I mean if you've been following Apple products for any amount of time, people have been talking about the iOS-macOS convergence for ages. But with the M1 chip stuff, we're really getting there. More than ever, the iPad Pro is a form factor of a MacBook, which I think is really interesting.
Nick Caruso:
I must insist that no one tries to fold their iPad Pro like they would with their MacBook. That would not go well. Honestly, I mean, like you said earlier, the iMac is a big iPad, is a MacBook without a keyboard, is an iPhone.
Eric Limer:
With the exception of the iPhone, those other products are all operating on the same chip. The iMac, the iPad Pro, and the M1 MacBooks all have the same M1 chip, right? So that's the silicon brain. Obviously, the degree to which that chip can do its business depends on the amount of RAM you have available and the amount of cooling that's available, et cetera. So, there's variation between these devices. From the outside, but also, on the inside, these things are extremely similar. Yeah, one of the talking points with the iMac stuff to just hop back there for a second was because the M1 chip is functionally pretty similar to the chips on iPhones, you can pass your applications back and forth. These M1 chips can run iOS applications natively. So, a lot of stuff's really coming together here.
Nick Caruso:
Yes. Well, there's a joke in the car community about putting an LS into a modded car. An LS is really common V8 engine from back in the day. People were like, "Oh, you got a Miata? Put an LS in it, LS swap it." It sounds like what Apple is doing with the M1 chips. We got a device, put the M1 in it. Okay, I want to make sure we cover any top level specs here. We got the M1 chip, big jump in performance as a result. Up to two terabytes, creatives are going to love this, up to two terabytes of storage in an iPad, which I think is wild. The Thunderbolt port, that's a big one.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I would just jump in and say that the big changes aside from the M1 chip and the display, which we'll get into in a second, are the support for Thunderbolt USB-C and then support for 5G. So, basically, you can put a 5G chip in this thing and take it anywhere, which is the world we live in right now. It's cool. And then the support for Thunderbolt just essentially means that you can connect it to higher SSDs and even actually connect it to your Pro XDR Display.
Tucker Bowe:
Apple's like $5,000, really nice displays, and use this as a secondary screen. This thing is a beast. Yeah. I know there's two different models. There's the 11-inch and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Both got all these updates. They look pretty much identical to previous generations. So, it's not a drastic redesign, but they have these performance bumps. And then the 12.9-inch model has the much improved screen, which I'm sure we'll talk about.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, we're going to talk about it right now. Why don't you tell us about that display?
Tucker Bowe:
So yeah, this is one of the things that have been long rumored about, but Apple integrated the 12.9-inch model with what it's calling Liquid Retina XDR display. It has 10,000 mini-LEDs. Essentially, what this means is that this thing is going to be able to produce really, really nice blacks and get really bright and have really good contrast. If you're a creative doing a lot of photo or video editing, it's going to be great. If you're just someone who watches movies on your iPad, this thing is going to or promises to look spectacular.
Nick Caruso:
Boy, you got a lot.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, it takes a lot of technology that was in, like we said, Apple's Pro XDR Display $5,000 or I think it's like a little more than that actually. Took a lot of that technology, integrated it into a smaller form factor in this iPad Pro, which is actually really interesting, because if you don't want to spend big on this Pro XDR, you can get a lot of these the same benefits with just this significantly. Because the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, I think, it costs $1,099.
Nick Caruso:
Ninety-nine, yeah.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, yeah that's what it starts at. So, you can get a wonderful, wonderful screen that's obviously not as big as the Pro XDR or nowhere near as big.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, but still really amazing. Also, on the front of the iPad Pro is a camera.
Eric Limer:
Yeah, so there is the ultra-wide camera on the front. So, the iPad Pro has been the leading edge of where Apple is putting some of its more advanced camera technology. So, it's been we've got this ultra-wide angle on there. It's one of those things where I mentioned the specter floating off in the distance of Google Glasses, AR stuff. This is again a situation where you can see how the iPad Pro continues to be a device that can be used to start filling around in that space, which is going to be important for developers to play around with having ideas and stuff to work with on that front. So, that when the AR goggles inevitably come, that there's stuff to go for.
Nick Caruso:
And then there's also the tech in the camera called center stage, which is a neat trick.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah, I will touch on this. So, yeah, center stage utilizes the ultra-wide camera on the iPad Pro to enhance, I guess, video calls. It's specifically for FaceTime. So, if you are on a phone call, it will zoom in on you or zoom out if you move around the picture. If someone else jumps into your FaceTime, the camera will pan back out. So, both of you guys are in frame. I mean, it's not just for FaceTime. It'll work with a bunch of conferencing apps like Zoom.
Nick Caruso:
Oh, cool.
Tucker Bowe:
I'm pretty sure it's an open API. So, I think anyone can make apps take advantage of this feature that's called center stage. I mean other companies have done things like this that track you around and expand the frame of the video to make sure that you're in focus and other people are in focus that they're in the video, but yeah, it's nice that Apple is making these-
Nick Caruso:
Jump it on the board.
Tucker Bowe:
Yeah.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah. I want to actually just spend a second on this, because it's not just like if your iPad's on your desk and you lean one way or another... In the demo at the event, the scenario was the iPad's on the kitchen counter. I think a dad is cooking, and he's standing in front of it. And then he walks several feet over to the stove. Because it's an ultra-wide camera, the thing can pan digitally all the way over and keep him right in the middle. It's really an impressive parlor trick. Not just a parlor trick, I don't mean to demean it, but a lot of people who use these devices are using them for this purpose. So, that's probably quite appealing.
Tucker Bowe:
Yes, you see that Facebook and Amazon, especially Amazon with the Echo Show 10 have these devices that rotate around and track you that way and keep you in focus. This isn't going to track you obviously, because the iPad isn't going to move itself. Yeah, the ultra-wide camera is going to make sure that you're always in focus and in frame.
Nick Caruso:
Okay, so that's the iPad Pro. I think the prices are the same, or at least, they started the same, $799 for the 11-inch, and then $1,099 for the 12.9-inch. That launches about the same time. Links are below.
Eric Limer:
One thing to note about the 12-inch is that it comes with two loadouts for RAM, which I believe is 8 and 16. It's the most RAM that they've put in an iPad Pro, but you need to buy the big storage if you want the RAM.
Nick Caruso:
That's the two terabyte thing?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, you'll be in for at least a terabyte. There's more RAM in the one and two terabytes.
Nick Caruso:
Okay, that's everything. Yeah, there's six products we covered. That's a lot of information. Do you have any final thoughts or personal favorites or disappointments in the overall event? Tucker?
Tucker Bowe:
I wouldn't say there's any disappointments. I think we got more hardware than we were expecting. Yeah, it's exciting. So, I'm specifically excited to see the new iMacs and play with them in person. The AirTags are something that intrigues me, but like I said at the top of the show, I don't know, I've never been one to really crave tracking a lot of my gadgets, but we'll see.
Nick Caruso:
You respect your gadgets' sovereignty. Eric, what about you?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, I mean, I think it was interesting. I mean, just like a counterpoint to that, I think that the AirTags are the most interesting thing to happen in a while. I do misplace my stuff all the time. But the thing about the AirTags that is appealing to me is that it is... I said this before about things that are unique in tech releases. That's unique in the tech release in that I can actually see it improving my day-to-day life in a meaningful way. Being able to pull up an app and press a button that will make my keys whistle so that I can find them when I'm trying to leave the house is marked quality of life improvement that is far beyond any amount of joy or use I could get out of a chip that makes stuff load 50% faster. So, that's really appealing to me and just a base use case.
Eric Limer:
Of course, I mean, like we said before, this isn't new. There have been other items that do this. Apple just has the ability to really force things through essentially with its huge install base. So, you can be sure that this stuff will get taken up and reasonably sure that it won't be left behind, right? If you buy some little third-party tracker, it's like, "Well, I don't know. Is this company still going to exist in two years when Apple releases the thing that puts them out of business?" That's a real concern, but it's less of a concern when Apple's putting out the thing for better or for worse.
Nick Caruso:
Yeah, that's a great point about quality of life over faster chip, sound bite of the year. Well, that's all we're going to have time for today for The Gear Patrol Podcast. Eric and Tucker, thank you for being here. Listeners, everything we talked about today is going to be linked in the show notes. We have several posts on gearpatrol.com, which will also be linked down there. So, check them out to your heart's content. Subscribe to the podcast, maybe on Apple Podcasts, so that you don't miss more episodes.
Nick Caruso:
Speaking of that, did you know that five-star reviews help jog the old algorithm and get more people to find us and join the conversation? Well, they do. Take my word for it. Leave us a five-star review, please. If you do, ask for a product recommendation and we'll see about getting you some purchasing advice from our editors on a future episode. And then questions, comments, anything else can be sent to me at podcast@gearpatrol.com. Thank you again, Eric and Tucker. Did you have a good time today?
Eric Limer:
Yeah, it's a pleasure. It's always fun to unpack this stuff. Especially, I enjoy having a space to noodle about the broader implications of what's happening.
Nick Caruso:
Good. There's going to be a lot more noodling. So, buckle up. Everybody, I'm Nick Caruso. Thank you for joining us. I hope you're well and until next time. Take care.