In case you missed it, tech giant Apple held their first hardware announcement of 2021 on April 20th! Join us as we give you the highlights from this huge event.
New iPad Pro - M1 Chip Finds Another Home
The new iPad Pro‘s CPU is reported to be 50% faster than the previous year’s; also with 40% faster graphics. The iPad Pro will come in an 11-inch and 12.9-inch models, the latter featuring Liquid Retina XDR which “brings extreme dynamic range … offering a stunning visual experience with more true-to-life details to the most demanding HDR workflows.” Both models will support Thunderbolt via their USB-C ports so you can leverage even faster data transfer rates. Likewise, you can now tap into 5G for great internet speeds while on-the-go.
- Price: From $799 for the 11-inch model. From $1,099 for the 12.9-inch model.
- Available: Preorders April 30, 2021. Shipping to start in May, 2021.
New iMac - Fast, Slimmed Down, Colorfully Redesigned
The standouts for the fresh, sleek new iMac are clearly the new colors — 7 of them — the 24-inch, 4.5K display, 1080p camera, new microphone, new stand, -50% slimmer than its predecessor, 6 speakers supporting spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. Apple claims it’s 85% faster than the previous iMac. I’ll take one in… silver!
- Price: From $1,299
- Colors: Silver, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, green.
- Available: Now
Apple TV 4K Gets Speed Mega-Boost
If you didn’t think Apple TV 4K could get any better, you were mistaken! Now, you can be excited about the awesome boost in speed from the newest A12 bionic chip which lets Apple TV 4K pump out high-frame-rate HDR and a treat for those who want to shoot at 5K / 60fps on iPhone 12 Pro. What’s more, ingenious color-calibration controls that couples your Apple TV 4K with an iPhone, making sure your TV is calibrated to what you see on the screen.
- Price: $179 for 32GB of internal storage / $199 for 64GB.
- Available: Preorder April 30th, 2021. Expected ship date: Late May. *Remote available separately for $59.
AirTags - Track 'n' Find
AirTags — just what are these little things? Well, simply put, clip an AirTag onto your handbag, luggage case, keychain or similar and you’ve got yourself a findable, trackable piece of technology should you ever lose it (or worse… have it stolen). Apple’s Find My app for iPhone works in conjunction the AirTag’s UWB (ultra-wideband) signal to help you pinpoint the tagged object’s location.
- Price: $29 for one; $99 for a 4-pack.
- Available: April 30, 2021
Purple iPhone & iPhone Mini
And last but not least, the iPhone 12 and iPhone mini now come in in soft purple. Aside from this new color, there are no other updates to the internals — they are the same as the existing iPhone 12s.
- Available: Now
Hassle-Free IT Procurement in Japan
That sure is quite the update from Apple! Do you have a favorite you can’t wait to get your hands on? Let us know through the contact form below!
Also, stay tuned to our B2B Procurement Shop for new hardware/software releases. We take the hassle out of procuring the gear you need with our bilingual staff and years of building strong relationships with Japan’s top distributors!