Top Stories: iPad Pro with Thunderbolt ?, Intel Mocks M1 Macs, iMac Pro officially discontinued

We’re past the halfway point of March with no sign of an Apple media event, but that does not mean we will not see an event or just a few launches via press release in the coming weeks, as rumors of upcoming products. continues to circulate.

Perhaps the biggest news topic this week is Justin Long of Apple’s Get a Mac ‘advertising campaign from more than a decade ago, with a new Intel campaign promoting Windows machines based on the company’s processors as better than Apple’s new M1-based Macs. Watch our video above and read on for more information on these stories and more!

iPad Pro with Thunderbolt port and Mini-LED screen coming ‘early April’

Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported this week that Apple plans to announce new iPads as early as April, including new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models.

Notably, Gurman claims that the new iPad Pro models may include a Thunderbolt port. This rumor certainly sounds plausible, as the new iPad Pro models are expected to be equipped with a faster A14X chip based on the M1 chip in the latest Macs, and the M1 disk supports Thunderbolt. Since Thunderbolt uses the USB-C connector design, the new iPad Pro models will continue to work with existing USB-C chargers and accessories.

Gurman said that Apple, as far and wide as possible, is generally talking about minimizing Mini-LED backlighting on the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, suggesting that display technology can be exclusive to the larger model. be.

Well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has trusted this timeframe, claiming that mass production of Mini-LED iPads will begin mid to late April. Kuo expects a new MacBook Air with a Mini-LED screen and possibly a new iPad Air with an OLED screen to follow in 2022.

Apple event in April? Recognize the latest rumors from iPad Pro, AirPods and AirTags

It was a whirlwind of a month for Apple rumors. First, we heard from leaker Jon Prosser that an Apple Event is scheduled for March 16, but that was later ruled out Bloombergsee Mark Gurman. Once the date is over, Prosser and other sweets suggest that there will be an Apple event on March 23, which apparently does not happen either.

With the attention now shifting to April for potential Apple announcements, we’ve put together a summary of the latest iPad Pro, AirPods and AirTags rumors from sources like Gurman and renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In addition to new iPad models, new products rumored to be Apple’s prospects include its long-awaited AirTags article trackers, a new Apple TV with a stronger game focus, new AirPods and AirPods Pro and more Apple silicone Macs, but some of these products are only expected in the second half of 2021.

Former ‘I’m a Mac’ actor Justin Long Throws Shade on M1 Macs in New Intel Advertising Campaign

Justin Long, who starred in Apple’s iconic ‘Get a Mac’ advertising campaign in the mid-2000s, turned to the Mac in a new Intel advertising campaign.

Intel’s advertising campaign seeks to punch holes in Apple’s new M1 Macs, including their official support for only one external monitor (DisplayLink adapters can be used as a solution), support for a limited number of games, lack of a complete touch screen, and more.

Intel’s campaign so far has included a series of videos featuring Long, a website comparing the M1 chip to Intel processors, and content on social media, including a photo of Long holding several dongles in his hand.

The first M1 Macs received excellent reviews, with the M1 MacBook Air outperforming a maximum 16-inch MacBook Pro with Intel’s Core i9 processor with Geekbench standard scores.

iMac Pro officially discontinued, removed from Apple’s website and no longer available for purchase

Two weeks after Apple announced it was discontinuing the iMac Pro and noted that orders would only be available while stocks last, it appears the all-in-one desktop has reached the end of the line. Apple this week stopped taking orders for the machine and removing it from the Mac section of the company’s website.

Apple recommends that users looking for a high-end Mac choose the 27-inch iMac, which was last refreshed in August 2020. The current 27-inch ‌iMac‌ set up with a 10-core Core i9 processor is faster and cheaper than the standard ‌iMac Pro‌ with a 10-core Xeon W processor. Apple is also expected to launch a redesigned iMac based on Apple silicone chips later this year.

Practical: Kensington’s new $ 400 StudioDock for iPad Pro

Kensington began accepting pre-orders for the StudioDock docking station it released for the iPad Pro in February, and now the StudioDock orders have begun arriving at customers. We picked up one of the new StudioDocks to see if it’s worth the high purchase price for an iPad workflow.

The StudioDock is available for the 11-inch ‌iPad Pro, 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro 10 and 10.9-inch iPad Air and has a magnetic base to which a ‌iPad‌ can attach, and it can in landscape or portrait mode used. We have the version for the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌, and it looks like Apple’s Pro Display XDR standard. Watch our practical video for our full impressions.

iPhone 13 models are likely to have ‘Touch ID’ below the screen

According to iPhone Gardine analyst Andrew Gardiner and three of his colleagues, the iPhone 13 models will also include a fingerprint scanner later this year that will be identified for verification.

There have been rumors several times over the past few years about the “Touch ID” for iPhones. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg and Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal also claimed that Apple is at least testing a fingerprint scanner for the iPhone 13 models, so time will tell whether the feature makes the cut.

Apple has filed various fingerprint scanner patents under the screen as part of its research and development of the feature.

MacRumors Newsletter

Every week we publish an email like this highlighting the best Apple stories, which is a great way to get a concise summary of the week that discusses all the major topics and puts together the related stories for a big picture view.

So if you want top stories like the above summary delivered to your inbox every week, Subscribe to our newsletter!