The New Apple iPad Pro
Apple’s newest iPad Pro is a mature, iterative update of the best iPad you can buy. It’s almost 18 months since Apple updated its iPad Pro (the last release was in May 2021), and clearly, Apple saw no reason to change its design—the new version looks identical to the last one, even down to the colours. The biggest news around the latest iPad Pro is the fresh, competent Apple M2 processor that powers it. This is the same M2 chip released earlier this year in the latest MacBook Pro 13-inch and new-design MacBook Air. Unsurprisingly, it promises excellent performance, which Apple says is faster than any chip in any other tablet, including its own. Since the Pro iPads are here to ensure the most demanding users have a stutter-free, smooth experience, it makes sense that Apple would install its latest and most effective chip.
Apple upgraded both iPad Pro models for 2022, with the 11-inch iPad Pro starting at $799 and the 12.9-inch version starting at $1,099 (this review focuses on the latter). Both have the same story—the same design as their predecessors, with an updated chip inside.
The other fundamental change to the iPad Pro lineup is that Apple has introduced its Apple Pencil Hover experience. The feature allows you to hold the tip of the Apple Pencil 12 mm above the surface without touching the display. The iPad will then sense the position and angle of the pencil and — maybe — do something relevant. Its work was supported across the UI, with app icons swelling as the Apple Pencil crosses over the top of them.
This may require more developer buy-in to become ubiquitous.
Google Pixel Watch
The Google Pixel Watch is Google’s first Pixel wearable offering, promising a smooth, polished experience and hoping to be regarded as “the Apple Watch of Androids”. The Pixel Watch also carries the future of Wear OS as a platform, and many will be watching to see whether it will advance the operating system. The Pixel Watch introduced features that Wear OS had already had before Wear OS 3.5. The operating system has been fully redesigned with more polish and better attention to detail in animations and sounds. The Watch is made to be comfortable to wear all day and to appear inviting and helpful. The Google Pixel Watch starts at a $349 ($399 for the LTE model), which makes it $50 cheaper than the Apple Watch, which starts at $399. Still, at its price point, Google is setting up its customers with high expectations from the Watch
For the Pixel Watch, Google went for an understated and minimalist look. The Watch is round, with its protective layer of glass formed into a dome that elegantly wraps around the circumference of the Pixel Watch. Meanwhile, the watch case is made of stainless steel, comprised of 80% recycled material.
Gigabyte G5 series gaming laptop
The Gigabyte G5 is proof that the best gaming laptops don’t necessarily have to break the bank: it’s one of the most affordable gaming machines on the market, yet it’ll still play the best games out there at 1080p quite comfortably.
As gaming laptops go, the Gigabyte G5 is towards the plainer and more understated end of the spectrum, but that’s not necessarily a complaint – it depends on how many colourful accents and flashing lights you like on your gaming machine. It’s a reasonably bulky slab of black plastic, and only the thickness and the oversized grilles at the side give away the power underneath the hood here: even the Gigabyte lettering on the lid is subtle and straightforward.
If you’re measuring out some room on your desk, you need to know that the laptop has 361 x 256 x 31.8mm dimensions and weighs in at 2.1kgs. Gigabyte has been generous with the ports, too: you get HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, and Mini DisplayPort 1.2, so you can, in theory, hook up three external displays. On top of that, you get three USB-A ports, an SD card reader, a 3.5mm microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone port. You’ve got plenty of options for peripherals. As far as build quality goes, the laptop feels very well put together, from the display hinge to the power button. The 15.6-inch screen runs at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and offers a refresh rate of 144Hz or 240Hz, depending on the model specification you pick and pay for, for super-fluid motion.
Apple mixed-reality headset
In recent months, there have been numerous speculations regarding Apple working on a top-secret headset project. But at the same time, the rumours are getting more complicated, with claims that Apple will use mixed reality (MR) somewhat of only augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR).
Next year will see the release of Apple Inc.’s following significant product, a mixed-reality headset that the company hopes will catapult into a new computing era. However, the company’s job postings and personnel changes provide a sneak peek at some of the device’s capabilities.
The headset will probably cost between $2,000 and $3,000 because it is a high-end product with the highest-resolution displays ever included in a mass-market headset, a Mac-level M2 chip, and more than ten cameras inside and outside the device.
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