Apple’s new MacBook Air and iPad Pro: New floating Instance, trackpad support and lidar

Apple’s new MacBook Air and iPad Pro: New floating Instance, trackpad support and lidar

The iPad Pro adds augmented reality updates and a true trackpad, while the MacBook Air gets that keyboard we have wanted.

Apple’s new iPad Pro has multiple back cameras and a brand new keyboard and trackpad accessory.

Apple stores out of China might be closed, while workers work from home within self-distancing efforts to stem the coronavirus pandemic, but that has not stopped the world’s biggest consumer electronics company from releasing new products. On Wednesday, Apple introduced an updated iPad Pro tablet and a MacBook Air notebook, both of which are available to purchase online beginning now and transport next week.

Apple’s new MacBook Air.

The newest 11-inch and 13-inch iPads add support for a keyboard and trackpad via a new variant of this iPad software, iPadOS 13.4. Also on board are numerous back cameras, an A12Z Bionic chip and a lidar detector for augmented reality applications. The Wi-Fi-only 11-inch version will start at $799 (#769, AU$1,329), while the 12.9-inch Wi-Fi version will start at $999 (#969, AU$1,649). Mobile versions with 4G LTE can be found beginning at $949 (#919, AU$1,579) for the 11-inch and $1,149 (#1,119, AU$1,899) for the 12.9-inch.

The MacBook Air, which features 256GB as standard storage, runs on Intel’s 10th-generation processors. It uses Apple’s scissor-based Magic Keyboard — instead of its former, controversial butterfly keyboard. It’s the exact same keyboard the 16-inch MacBook Pro introduced last year (it is good). The new MacBook Air starts at $999 (#999, AU$1,599), but that is for a Core i3 Intel CPU. The more familiar and strong Core i5 variant adds $100 to the cost.

The MacBook Air, which features 256GB as standard storage, runs on Intel’s 10th-generation processors. It uses Apple’s scissor-based Magic Keyboard — instead of its former, controversial butterfly keyboard. It’s the exact same keyboard the 16-inch MacBook Pro introduced last year (it is good). The new MacBook Air starts at $999 (#999, AU$1,599), but that is for a Core i3 Intel CPU. The more familiar and strong Core i5 variant adds $100 to the cost.