Since we’re close to WWDC, B&H is running an event sale on Apple products that you should take advantage of. Of course, today’s official news begins with deals, with the usual disclaimer that you can skip them in the time codes. Last year’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro, available for 150 dollars off, leaves half a terabyte storage variant for 1150 in Silver. The AirPods Pro is also 50 bucks off, leaving them at 200. If you’re into Intel Macs, the Mac mini is 200 dollars off for whatever reason, going the Core i3 base model for 600 bucks.
I know, even that is not a good deal. Moving on to Amazon, the new iPad Air is 50 dollars off, which starts at 549. To conclude with Apple, the regular iPad is 30 bucks off, leaving the base model for 299. If you’re looking for a gaming laptop, the Alienware m17 R3 is 370 dollars off, going with he Core i7 variant with an RTX 2070 for 1880… I know still expensive, but pretty capable. We have more deals on gaming monitors, AirPods, other Intel Macs, and more in the description.
Moving on, let’s stick to official news but shift focus to Google, as we just got some new hardware. The company just released the Pixel Buds A Series, a more affordable variant of the Pixel Buds. They bring the same 12mm audio drivers, the more expensive pair, the same pressure relief vent, and beamforming mics. What we’re not getting here is noise cancellation, like in the case of most affordable Earbuds.
Google claims that these can last up to 5 hours on a single charge, and it goes up to 24 hours with the charging case, which aives you 3 hours of playback in a 15-minute order when connected to a USB-C cable. We’re also getting a new chip that enables Fast Pairing and Adaptive Sound Technology. Finally, you get an IPX4 rating, and these offer real-time translation in over 40 languages. You know, Google. With all that being said, these are just 99 bucks and come in 2 color variants; they are currently up for pre-orders in the US and Canada and will go on sale on June 17. Pretty neat package for 99 dollars if you ask me.
Let’s move the spotlight onto Samsung and foldable as things finally intensify. We have a new tweet from Ice Universe that gives us some details on ttheUnder Panel Camera we can expect from the Z Fold 3. According to the tweet, Z Fold 3’s UPC light transmittance is as high as 40% +, higher than any other UPC solution you have ever seen for other brands. And actually, the only other solution in the market is ZTE’s Axon 20, which wasn’t good at all, but that was a 400-dollar phone and not a Samsung flagship with a 40% increase in performance, so we’re expecting some decent results for the price.
We hope UPC will be a 16MP Sony IMX 471 hidden under the main 7.55-inch AMOLED display. Speaking of that display, a tweet from Ice Universe also claims that Samsung has made significant progress in solving the crease problem for their foldable; he goes as far as claiming that you can’t see the creases. And yes, the smaller external display will stick to a 10MP selfie shooter in the punch hole. We’re still a couple of months away from August, so we should be getting a detailed list of specs and more renders… Right?
Incoming: iPad Pro wireless charging, thinner iPad, redesigned iPad mini
Let’s move on to Cupertino for the rest of the show, starting with iPads, even if we just got new iPad Pros a little over a month ago. According to a new port from Bloomberg, we’re getting some significant changes to iPads as soon as next year. Apple plans to switch to a glass back from the current aluminum enclosure on the iPad Pros, allowing the iPad to charge wirelessly for the first time. It’s also tipped that Apple is testing MagSafe for the iPad Pro for this wireless charging to take place but not affect the Thunderbolt port we just got, as this will still be a central part of the design next year.
Moving on, Cupertino is reportedly testing a redesign for the iPad mini, with smaller bezels and removing its home button. The report mentions that this would bring iPads closer to iPhones thanks to the change in materials, and one of the reasons might be to enable reverse wireless charging to your phone by laying it on the iPad. Apple is also allegedly working on a thinner version of the entry-level iPad, focusing on students. The redesigned iPad mini could launch by the end of this year, which I am looking forward to. And, as for the cherry on top of this report, Cupertino might be exploring a future wireless charger that would charge your iPhone, Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. Cause AirPower doesn’t seem to die, even if everyone else figured it out first. I’m excited about that iPad mini, so let’s see what we get later this year.
Finally, for today’s hottest news, let’s talk about Apple again and focus on those MacBook Pro refreshes we expect for WWDC. Yesterday we covered a report from Wedbush that mentioned we should expect these at the event, along with a few details. Shortly after we wrote that script, the guys over at MacRumors discovered what could be the new MacBook Pros in a Chinese regulatory Database. The listing was made back on April 14 by one of Apple’s suppliers, and the larger model brings an 8,693 mAh battery. The second model was listed on March 30, with a 6.068 mAh battery with a different model number, and by the way, that’s a larger battery than what we get on the current 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro; this is an upgrade, after all.
We also have a separate report from DigiTimes that claims that Cupertino has been struggling with getting mini-LED displays, which is why delivery times for the M1 iPad go aut to July. Well, Apple just got a new supplier with a name that I won’t try to pronounce that has signed to help push the release of the new MacBook Pros in the second half of 2021. And since WWDC is on Monday, let’s jog your memory one last time. These new MacBook Pros will reportedly run on Apple’s M1X or M2 chip, bringing redesigned mini-LED displays with no Touch Bar and more ports than we currently get. These include MagSafe, HDMI, an SD card reader, and multiple USB-C ports. I’m excited, and I hope Apple releases these on Monday.
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