We’re almost nearing the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean that the tech releases have slowed down. In fact, October has been pretty busy as far as new hardware is concerned, and this week it was Apple that made headlines. The company finally announced a new lineup of computers powered by its M4-series chips, but that’s not all – Xiaomi also showed off some of its latest hardware releases, although we’re yet to see them for international markets. Let’s see what’s happened this week!
Apple’s New Mac Hardware is Here
Apple definitely made this week its own – the Cupertino tech giant announced its new M4 series chipsets, which power a number of new computers. There’s the 2024 iMac which packs a familiar design with more capable internals, as well as the new MacBook Pro models, which use the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, and pack 120Hz Liquid Retina XDR displays, Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe charging, and even 12MP cameras. They all feature Mac OS Sequoia, and support Apple’s new AI features (more on this later).
For a more compact desktop solution, Apple also announced the new Mac Mini – it sports an even more compact design with improved thermal management, and is also powered by the new M4 chips. Don’t let the small size fool you though – onboard is a wide range of ports, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-C, HDMI, and and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
Apple Intelligence Starts Rolling Out
In other Apple news, users are finally starting to see Apple Intelligence features arrive on their devices – this includes a newer version of Siri with updated visuals as well as conversational capabilities and ChatGPT integration, updates to the Photos app with smarter search functionality, email summaries, as well as system-wide writing tools that’s available across all Apple apps like Messages, Mail, Notes and more.
Meet Nothing’s Glow-in-the-Dark Phone
Nothing recently unveiled the Phone 2a Plus Community Edition, which now comes with a glow-in-the-dark look. The special edition phone was designed in collaboration with fans Astrid Vanhuyse and Kenta Akasaki. In addition to the glyph setup on the rear panel (which itself already lights up with the LED system), the phone now maintains a bit of illumination whenever it’s in the dark. Adding to its branding as a Community Edition device, this special variant also comes preloaded with wallpapers designed by users Andres_123, packaging by Ian Simmonds, and a marketing campaign via Palmix Art.
One important consideration however is that only a thousand units of the Phone 2a Plus Community Edition will be manufactured, and will be available in select regions with the exception of countries like the United States, US, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and Korea, priced at £399.
The Xiaomi 15 Launches for Chinese Markets
Finally, we have the Xiaomi 15 – recently announced for Chinese markets, it’s running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm’s most impressive mobile chipset to date. Xiaomi is also offering a “custom edition” which gives buyers the option of choosing from 20 different colours. As for its display, the Xiaomi 15 comes with a 6.36-inch OLED panel, which gets super bright at up to 3,200 nits of peak brightness. For its cameras, the Xiaomi 15 comes with a triple camera system that packs all 50-megapixel sensors, and was co-developed with veteran camera brand Leica. The phone is priced starting at around £515 (when converted).
