Christmas has come early for Apple fans. The brand unveiled a couple of new launches earlier this week, and more are expected at the time of writing. Let’s explore the new devices and features announced.

iMac with M4

The new iMac boasts a powerful M4 chip and Apple Intelligence and comes in a new ultra-thin design. With M4, iMac is said to be much faster with daily productivity, including demanding workflows such as photo editing and gaming. The device also supports Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system designed to improve how users work, play and communicate, while protecting their privacy. The new iMac is available in an array of beautiful new colours including purple, pink, orange, and yellow. There are two variants - 8-core CPU and 10-core CPU, with the base variant of both options featuring 16 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. You can opt for 24 GB RAM and up to 1 TB storage options.

The 24-inch 4.5K Retina display offers a new nano-texture glass option, that reduces reflections and glare

The 24-inch 4.5K Retina display offers a new nano-texture glass option, that reduces reflections and glare

The 24-inch 4.5K Retina display offers a new nano-texture glass option, that reduces reflections and glare while maintaining crisp image quality. The iMac features a new 12 MP Center Stage camera with Desk View which makes use of the wide-angle lens to simultaneously show the user as well as a top-down view of their desk - particularly useful for educators presenting lessons, creators showing off their latest DIY project or product demos. The device includes up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports for superfast data transfers. Users can connect even more accessories like external storage, docks, and up to two 6K external displays.

Starting at ₹1,34,900 and going up to ₹1,94,900, the devices are available for pre-order, with the product being available November 8, 2024.

Apple Mac mini

The new Mac mini is also powered by the M4 and new M4 Pro chips and redesigned around Apple silicon to pack in more performance. It’s a super compact device, measuring only 5 x 5 inches now.

With M4 Pro, it takes the advanced technologies in M4 and scales them up to tackle more demanding workloads. For more convenient connectivity, it features front and back ports, and for the first time includes Thunderbolt 5 for faster data transfer speeds (only the M4 Pro). It is also built for Apple Intelligence which means you can have AI assist you soon on your writing and media creation tasks. Running on macOS Sequoia, the Mac mini features iPhone Mirroring, allowing users to wirelessly interact with their iPhone, its apps, and notifications directly from their Mac. Starting at just ₹59,900 with 16 GB of memory, the new Mac mini is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning November 8, 2024.

Apple Intelligence

While Apple first announced this during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2024, the actual features have just arrived on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. These features are available through a free software update with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Here is a quick glimpse of what’s new. Writing Tools helps you rewrite, proofread, and summarise text. With Rewrite, users can pick from different versions of what they have written, and adjust the tone — professional, concise, or friendly — to suit the audience and task at hand. ‘Proofread’ checks grammar, word choice, and sentence structure while also suggesting edits — along with explanations of the edits — that users can review or quickly accept.

Apple intelligence features are available through a free software update with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1

Apple intelligence features are available through a free software update with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1

With the newly redesigned Siri, users can move fluidly between spoken and typed requests to accelerate tasks throughout their day.

The Photos app is even more intelligent with many new capabilities. You can just say “Banana boat in Thailand”, and the device should be able to pick up the right set of photos from your library.

Search also offers smart completion suggestions to help users quickly complete a search. For those times when an unwanted object or person ends up in the frame of a photo, the Clean Up tool gives users a way to remove distracting elements while staying true to the moment as they intended to capture it.

A new Memories feature now gives users the ability to create the movies they want to see by simply typing a description. Apple Intelligence will pick out the best photos and videos based on a user’s description, craft a storyline with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and arrange them into a movie.

In the Notes and Phone apps, users can now record, transcribe, and summarise audio. When a recording is initiated while on a call in the Phone app, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, you get a summary with key points.

There are more features hitting devices in December. These include Image Playground, which gives users a new way to create fun original images, and Genmoji to create custom emojis in seconds. In December, ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri and Writing Tools, allowing users to access its expertise without needing to jump between tools.

The company says that Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing, thus keeping personal information and requests private and secure.