Going to try something new for this event and just update this blog post as it goes along.
08:57 AM: Cooked some turkey bacon and scrambled a couple of eggs. These morning Apple events are a nice change.
08:59 AM: I’ve gotten my original Mac mini off the shelf and have it here on my desk, as a good luck charm.
09:02 AM: I don’t do drugs, but if I did, this event intro with the morphing Apple logos would be less jarring.
09:05 AM: Oh yeah, starting with the Mac. “The first computer designed for creativity!”
09:07 AM: Apple says 51% of Mac customers are new to the Mac, with 76% in China. 100 million Macs in active use. I have roughly 3% of those here in my studio.
09:08 AM: Mojave getting a review by Tim, complete with all the Finder features. BE STILL MY HEART.
09:10 AM: Starting with the MacBook Air. “When Steve pulled it out of that envelope, nothing would ever be the same again.” Tim says it is the most beloved notebook ever, and the most popular Mac.
09:11 AM: NEW MACBOOK AIR. Two USB-C ports, with a 13.3-inch Retina display.
09:12 AM: Edge-to-edge cover glass, with much thinner black bezels. 48% more colors than before.
09:14 AM: New MacBook Air has a Touch ID sensor, but no Touch Bar. T2 chip is present for security and SSD controls.
09:17 AM: Those two ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports. Can push a 5K display and use eGPUs. Force Touch Trackpad and much better speakers also highlighted.
09:17 AM: Up to 16 GB of RAM, coupled with an 8th-gen Core i5. This is a real computer.
09:18 AM: New air is smaller and thinner than previous Air. 2.75 pounds. The MacBook is probably feeling nervous.
New MacBook Air on top of old MacBook Air. Same screen size, less bezel. pic.twitter.com/4ledmTmrP5
— Jeremy Burge 🐥 (@jeremyburge) October 30, 2018
09:20 AM: Every new MacBook Air is made of 100% recycled aluminum, not new material extracted from the planet. That is very cool.
09:23 AM: New MacBook Air can be purchased in silver, space gray and gold. Starts at $1199, “the most affordable Retina Mac ever offered.” Orders go up today, will ship next week. Still $200 more than the old MacBook Air, but it is a shockingly better computer.
09:25 AM: OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI. OMG THE MAC MINI.
09:26 AM: Comes in Space Gray, and every SKU starts with 4 cores. There is also a 6-core option. Using desktop-class 8th-generation Intel chips. Up to 5x faster than the old machines. Old Mac mini went to 16 GB; new machines can handle up to 64 GB of RAM. I AM FREAKING OUT AFTER 1,475 DAYS OF FEELING NOTHING.
09:28 AM: Every Mac mini is pure SSD, with capacity up to 2 TB. Super fast with the T2 onboard.
09:29 AM: The Mac mini has gotten the iMac Pro treatment with an all-new thermal system.
09:29 AM: Gigabit Ethernet, 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI and 2 USB A ports. Can do 10-gig Ethernet if you custom order it.
09:31 AM: New Mac mini starts at $799. I’ll be ordering at least one later today.
09:32 AM: Was cool to see my friends at MacStadium get some stage time. I waved to the Relay FM live streaming server.
09:33 AM: “Today at Apple” has never gotten the cheers it just got. Apple loaded the decks with Retail fans, I guess.
09:34 AM: He’s not wrong:
MacBook Air: $999 -> $1199
Mac mini: $499 -> $799© Apple 2018
— Simon Buckmaster (@forgottentowel) October 30, 2018
09:37 AM: Some press releases are up:
09:41 AM: Something something something Apple Retail.
09:42 AM: The MacBook Pro is about to get a big GPU bump, as noted in the MacBook Air release:
Apple also today announced new MacBook Pro graphics options that will bring powerful Radeon Pro Vega graphics to MacBook Pro for the first time. These new graphics options deliver up to 60 percent faster graphics performance for the most demanding video editing, 3D design and rendering workloads.
09:43 AM: iPad time! Tim says iPad has outsold every other PC maker’s entire lines over the last year. Wowzers.
09:43 AM: The iPad mini has been mentioned. WHAT IS HAPPENING?
09:44 AM: New iPad Pro. Squared-off edges, no home button, smaller bezels, new Pencil and more shown off in video.
09:45 AM: My iPad Pro looks ancient.
09:46 AM: New iPad Pro packs an LCD, using the tricks from the iPhone XR to round it off in the corners.
09:47 AM: New sizes! 10.5-inch iPad Pro now has an 11-inch display in the same footprint. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro keeps the same screen size, with much smaller bezels for a more compact device. That means the 12.9-inch has 25% less volume.
09:49 AM: Face ID is here, as expected. No notch; the hardware all fits into the bezel. Works in portrait and landscape, seemingly in all four orientations. iPhone X-like gestures are all here.
09:51 AM: Someone check on Federico for me, please.
09:51 AM: Powered by an A12X processor. Based on what is in the iPhone XS, but more powerful to drive all those pixels. 8 core CPU (4 fast, 4 efficient) with a 7 core CPU. Multicore workloads are up to 90% faster than before. “Faster than 92% of all portable computers sold last year, including those powered by the i7.” Ouch.
09:53 AM: Apple says the iPad has the GPU grunt of the Xbox One S.
09:54 AM: It really feels like Intel Macs are on thinner and thinner ice, performance wise.
09:54 AM: Up to 1 TB of storage, and moving to USB-C. Can use the iPad to charge your iPhone on the go, haha.
09:55 AM: No word on Files.app learning about external storage devices, which is pretty critical to how I need to work.
09:56 AM: New Apple Pencil. Pairs and charges via new magnetic mount on the iPad itself. Can tap on the Pencil to switch modes. Up to developers to customize.
09:56 AM: New Smart Keyboard folio, with two angles for typing.
09:57 AM: Talking about AR, so if you need a snack, now is the time to get one.
09:58 AM: 10 hour battery life, but it comes with an 18 watt charger in the box, which is nice.
09:59 AM: Really enjoying see so many Apple employees take the stage today. Gender diversity is better than some previous events, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
10:00 AM: One hour in. Really giving MarsEdit a workout on my MacBook Pro today.
10:03 AM: Unrelated, but I can’t stop sneezing this morning. It’s annoying.
10:05 AM: Adobe is on stage, showing off Photoshop for iPad, as well as its AR authoring tool, Project Arrow. The new Apple Pencil really seems like a huge improvement, with shortcuts for zooming just a tap away.
10:10 AM: I could not be more impressed with what I’ve seen from Photoshop in the two events it has been shown off. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
10:11 AM: Third party apps are great, but where are Logic and Final Cut Pro for the iPad, Apple?
10:12 AM: iPad video has a great Phil Schiller voice over. He’s so good at this.
10:14 AM: The new iPad Pro has 102 magnets in it for the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil. Wild. There’s a camera bump, too.
10:15 AM: The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 for the 64 GB version. The big one starts at $999 for the same amount of storage. Orders go up today, ship on the 7th of November. The 10.5 Pro is still for sale, as is the iPad mini 4.
10:17 AM: iOS 12.1 is out with group FaceTime, new emoji and dual SIM support for XS and XR users. iPad Pro press release is up.
10:18 AM: Tim is going over all of today’s news and talking about Apple’s belief that creativity is what “drives the human race forward.”
10:19 AM: Musical guest: Lana del Rey, who walked out to thunderous cheers.
10:22 AM: Apple’s site has been updated:
10:24 AM: No headphone jack on the iPad Pro. No USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor in the box, either.
10:25 AM: The $799 Mac mini has an i3 processor. Blerg.
10:26 AM: The old MacBook Air is still for sale at $999. Blerg.
10:30 AM: I think that’s it for the liveblog. It was like tweeting the event, but on a platform with no Nazis. Let me know what you think about it.