A few weeks ago, Apple held a special event at the Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. At the event, Apple released updates to three major products that have been begged for by Apple customers for quite a long time: the MacBook Air, the iPad Pro, and Mac mini. It may not have been as special as some of their other events, like September’s event where they released three new iPhones (iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR), but it unquestionably was an event that left many Apple consumers satisfied, including me. I went to the Apple Store recently to test out the latest products from the Cupertino company, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.
MacBook Air
After years of complaints about the MacBook Air’s non-retina screen, old design (according to consumers), and slow processors, Apple finally answered the prayers and released a new model of the computer. Although a majority of Apple customers are satisfied with the release of this new model, you cannot please everyone. With the new version of the laptop, Apple removed all of the ports (except for the 3.5mm headphone jack) and replaced them with two USB-C ports. The previous MacBook Air had two USB-A ports, a MagSafe charging port, a headphone jack, and a Thunderbolt 2 port that were evenly distributed on both sides of the computer. Apple has been removing ports and replacing them with USB-C since the 2016 MacBook Pro, and fans of older Macs with lots of different ports like not having to purchase multiple dongles to connect peripherals without USB-C plugs.
As an owner of the 2017 model of the MacBook Air (the previous model), I 100% agree with the customers dissatisfied by Apple’s design choices with the latest version of the laptop. Apple has taken its best and most affordable laptop and absolutely ruined it with the butterfly keys, high pricing, and the need for dongles. People complained about the butterfly keys because dust and sand would often get stuck in the keys and can make it hard to type. For those of you who do not know what butterfly keys are, they are essentially the extremely thin black keys that you see on computers like the MacBook and MacBook Pro. I love Apple, but I would say that this new model is a mistake by them.
iPad Pro
This amazing and brilliant iPad echoes a similar style Apple introduced with the iPhone X in 2017—foregoing the home button and adding a screen that covers nearly the entire front of the device. This device can also be transformed into a computer with an attachable keyboard, or paired with the updated Apple Pencil to draw on the screen with more precision than your finger affords. Unlike the previous model of the iPad Pro, this iPad also has Face ID, something that was expected, but still somehow left me in awe at its futuristic feeling. Another big change to this product was the update to the Apple Pencil, an on-the-go device for drawing, note-taking, and sketching. One substantial change with the new version of the pencil is that it now charges with your iPad by magnetically attaching to the side. Although there are small updates to the iPad Pro, it is still an amazing and phenomenal device nonetheless.
Mac mini
Out of the three new releases, this might be the one that got the least attention, but was most in-demand. The Mac mini has been Apple’s cheapest computer for years, and has been able to keep that price point since it is essentially a standalone computer that plugs into a monitor. This year’s updates included a new space grey finish, and a new eighth-generation six-core and quad-core processors and up to two terabytes of storage. This is two times faster than the previous model and one of the fastest processors on the market. Out of all of the products in this list, this might have been the most demanded product, since Apple has not updated the Mac mini in almost four years.
