Apple Scary Fast event: iMac, MacBook Pro, M3 chipsets and more Launched

Apple decided to shake things up for its final 2023 event and decided to enter primetime television in the US. The event aired on the eve of Halloween, rather than in the morning when the events usually take place from Apple, highlighting that Apple can capture the audience's attention, no matter the time of day or night. The Apple Scary Fast event focused entirely on the company's Mac line and the new Apple silicon for its Mac products. The event was a pre-recorded online-only presentation, which lasted about 30 minutes. In case you missed it, these are the ten highlights you should know.

Apple Scary Fast event: 10 highlights about the Apple Event

1. Halloween-themed online-only event: It was foggy at Apple Park; everyone was dressed in black, the sets had a spooky theme, and the product image's background was black. The final title card also focused on a Moon with dark clouds; only the moon was the Apple logo. Apple's dedication to even the most minor details was outstanding.

2. Apple CEO Tim Cook started the event: The event began with Tim Cook taking the stage with the lines, "We're doing something special to celebrate a product we all love." He explained the importance of Apple silicon and the need to innovate with technology to deliver robust systems. Kicking off the event, he said, "Tonight, we're introducing a new family of breakthrough chips and bringing them to the world's best laptop: the MacBook Pro."

3. Three chipsets announced: M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chipsets were announced. These are the first personal computer chips built using industry-leading 3-nanometer process technology, allowing more transistors to be packed into a smaller space and improving speed and efficiency. Apple says the M3 architecture is twice as fast as the M1 CPU and GPU. And that's just the base M3 variant.

4. M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chipsets: M3 contains 25 billion transistors, M3 Pro has 37 billion transistors, while M3 Max comes with 92 billion transistors. For gamers, this chipset supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing and hardware-enabled mesh removal.

5. MacBook Pro devices: Next were the MacBook Pro devices being upgraded from last year's M1 chipsets to the recently released M3 chipsets. Apple says the 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M3 chip is 60 per cent faster than the 13-inch MacBook Pro powered by M1. Likewise, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro is 40 per cent faster than its predecessor.

6. MacBook Pro devices specs: All MacBook Pro models support up to 128GB of unified memory, a Liquid Retina XDR display, an integrated 1080p camera, a six-speaker surround sound system, and a wide range of connectivity options. The company also claims that it has a battery life of 22 hours. It also comes in a new Space Black colourway.

7. MacBook Pro devices cost: The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 starts at $1,599. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro starts at $1,999, while the 16-inch starts at $2,499. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max costs $3,199, while the 16-inch starts at $3,499.

8. iMac devices: The main event of the show was the announcement of the new 24-inch iMac, which is powered by the M3 chipset. The iMac is updated after more than 900 days. By the way, it's also the 25th anniversary of Mac devices, the first product Apple made.

9. iMac specs: The iMac is identical to its predecessor in design and overall appearance, but it's getting a significant boost in terms of performance. It is available in 7 different colours, but only four are available in the basic variant. The iMac features a 24-inch Retina 4.5K display, a six-speaker sound system, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, up to 24GB of unified memory, and up to 2TB of storage. The iMac runs MacOS Sonoma.

10. iMac cost: The 256GB storage variant with the Magic Keyboard without Touch ID costs $1,299. The 10-core 256GB storage variant with Magic Keyboard and Touch ID is priced at $1,499. The 8-core, 512GB variant is priced at $1,699.