Apple Announces New MacBook Air, iPad Pro, Mac mini and Apple Pencil 2

At this week’s “There’s more in the making” event, Apple announced a redesigned MacBook Air, an all-screen iPad Pro, a faster Mac mini and a new magnetic Apple Pencil.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air finally gets the redesign it’s needed for years. It comes in Gold, Silver and Space Grey, and for the first time includes a Retina display. It keeps the Air’s signature all-day battery life, rated at up to 12 hours of wireless web browsing, while ditching the old model’s thick silver bezels.

Under the hood it adds Touch ID, an updated butterfly keyboard, a larger Force Touch trackpad, faster SSD storage, wide stereo sound, the Apple T2 Security Chip, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports. The enclosure is now made from 100% recycled aluminium, making it Apple’s greenest Mac yet.

The 128GB model starts at A$1,849¹ (1.6GHz dual-core, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz), with 256GB adding A$300¹, 512GB adding A$600¹, and 1.5TB adding A$1,800¹. The 256GB model starts at A$2,149¹, with 512GB adding A$300¹ and 1.5TB adding A$1,500¹. Both models can be upgraded to 16GB of memory for an extra A$320¹. Orders are open now, shipping from 6 November.

iPad Pro

The new iPad Pro moves to an all-screen design with Face ID, available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch Liquid Retina displays, and works from any orientation. Apple says the A12X Bionic chip, which includes a dedicated Neural Engine for machine-learning tasks, outperforms most PC laptops.

It’s the first iPad Pro to drop the Lightning connector in favour of USB-C, which also means it can now charge other devices, including your iPhone. USB-C brings Gigabit-class LTE, storage up to 1TB, and support for driving an external display up to 5K at up to twice the data transfer speed of the old connector.

The 11-inch model starts at A$1,229¹ for Wi-Fi (or A$1,449¹ with cellular), and the 12.9-inch model starts at A$1,529¹ for Wi-Fi (or A$1,749¹ with cellular).

Mac mini

The Mac mini hasn’t had a meaningful update since 2014, and this one makes up for lost time: Apple says it’s up to five times faster than before. It’s also switched colour, now finished in Space Grey, with a 100% recycled aluminium enclosure like the new MacBook Air.

It’s available with 4-core or 6-core processors, up to 64GB of faster memory, and storage that’s up to four times faster than before, with up to 2TB of flash storage available. Connectivity gets a serious boost too: four Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI 2, two USB-A ports, the Apple T2 Security Chip, and an optional 10Gb Ethernet.

The 4-core model (3.6GHz, 128GB storage) starts at A$1,249¹, while the 6-core model (3.0GHz, Turbo Boost to 4.1GHz, 256GB storage) starts at A$1,699¹. Both can be configured up to A$6,659¹. Orders are open now, shipping from 6 November.

Apple Pencil (2nd generation)

Apple also unveiled a new Apple Pencil that attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad Pro, charging wirelessly and pairing automatically the moment it’s attached, no more fiddly Lightning-port charging. It’s available to order now for A$199¹, shipping 6 November.

Smart Keyboard Folio

Rounding out the announcements, the new Smart Keyboard Folio protects both the front and back of the iPad Pro and includes a full-size keyboard, charging and pairing through the same magnetic connector as the new Pencil. It’s available now: A$269¹ for the 11-inch model, A$299¹ for the 12.9-inch model, both shipping 6 November.

What’s next

All of today’s new hardware ships from 6 November. If you’re upgrading from an older Mac or iPad, now’s a good time to check your backups are current before the new gear arrives.

1. Prices were current at launch in November 2018.