With all the news reports and blog entries being written today you might be forgiven for thinking that yesterday's Apple launch event had the sole purpose of unveiling the new iPad mini. This is not the case at all because there were actually many interesting Mac announcements made too. Let's ignore the iPad hype for a moment and take a look at the new Mac product range - the 13" Macbook Pro with Retina Display, the new iMac and the exciting new Mac Mini.
What can we expect from these new Mac products?
The first thing you notice with these new Mac products is that they are unbelievably stylish and sleek. Apple seems to be on a mission to make all their products as streamlined and uncomplicated as possible and this can be seen with the iMac, Macbook and Mac Mini. Clearly the Macbook is meant to be a smaller version of the 15" Pro with retina display but you cannot help but marvel at the depth of the machine. The iMac meanwhile has discarded all unnecessary wires and dead space behind the screen for the most space-saving and attractive model yet, however it is the Mac Mini that is the biggest surprise. Perfectly square, with dimensions of 7.7x7.7x1.4 inches and the power supply built-in, this little white box would have even more of a mysterious quality if it wasn't for the big black apple on the top.
Clearly these design features would be pointless without a good performance to back them up and these Mac products deliver here too. The processors, memory and storage of these new devices show an improvement, such as the Intel i7 processor of the Macbook and 1TB storage of the Mac Mini, but one of the interesting upgrades is the intelligent controls of the Mini and the Macbook that monitors fan noise for a much quieter experience.
When it comes to the features there are a few new additions across the range that are perhaps not a huge surprise, such as the use of Thunderbolt technology and the new Mountain Lion operating system, but there are some others that are quite impressive. The display on the new Macbook really does make it stand out against previous models - with double the resolution of the 13" pro - and there are some nice user-friendly aspects to the iMac and Mac Mini. The mini can be used with any existing accessory and plugged into the TV while the iMac uses in-plane switching to improve the visual experience for multiple viewers.
This new range of Macs does not deserve to be buried in the iPad Mini hype.
It was inevitable that the new iPad would take centre stage this week because Apple had designed the unveiling event that way, everything from the invites to the presentation structure was setting up for this big, final product announcement. The trouble with having multiple devices launched on the same day is that the lesser ones get buried, however it is debatable whether these Mac products are lesser products - they certainly offer a lot more in terms of innovation and style. The iPad Mini was the one we all wanted to see but it might not end up being the one we all rush out and buy.
Walter Kistler writes for SuperDomainHosting.com and about anything exciting in the tech world.