The apple conference that just ended revealed something that is not easy to discover - Apple's secrecy work has actually become better.
A few years ago, Apple's conference has not yet opened, and it is very common for new products to be exposed by Various Forecasters such as Guo Mingqi, Tianfeng International Analyst Guo Mingqi, Bloomberg Mark Gurman and so on. But this year's M2 chip, which exists in various forecasts, did not come, but the M1 Ultra refreshed the upper limit of Apple's self-developed chip performance.
The new iPad Air did not use the A15 as predicted, but directly on the M1, which was called the victory of the "wait party" by many people.
This also brings a rather strange phenomenon, looking at Apple's official website can easily find that there seem to be too many devices equipped with M1 chips now, the new iPad Air, iPad Pro, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac 24 inches, a full six models.
▲ Six different forms of equipment, all equipped with M1 chips
From entry-level to high-end, from desktop-level to mobile-level, different forms, different prices, different positioning of products, all use the same chip, Apple is not afraid of consumers to produce false guidance, affect sales?
This seems counterintuitive, but in fact, the same thing Apple has done many times, in the final analysis, it is to make the product look more cost-effective, so that you and I, as consumers, more actively open the wallet.
The frequent appearance of M1 chips, what does it bring
As the underlying foundation of computing devices, chips are the core of a product and one of the best ways to attract consumers.
As apple's first product to switch to the ARM architecture, M1's performance is needless to say, since its release a year ago, its performance and power consumption have been recognized, and even increased the competitive pressure of other chip manufacturers.
One of the reasons why M1 chips are used on a variety of products with different positioning and morphology is that the consistency of the software experience is reflected in the places that are extremely easy to perceive in our daily use experience - system fluency and common functions.
Looking at the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch sold on Apple's official website, whether it is an entry,terminal, or a high-end positioning product, Apple will basically choose to let them carry the same flagship chip or a chip with similar performance to ensure that they can run the latest systems and functions smoothly.
The handwriting recognition function on the high-end iPad Pro on the same product line can also be used by the entry-level ninth-generation iPad, and even the versatility of the functions is cross-platform, such as the portrait mode function, which can be used by the iPad Pro and the iPhone.
▲ Portrait mode is inseparable from the gradual increase in AI computing power of A series chips
Entry-level, mid-tier and high-end products are consistent in terms of basic software experience, which makes entry-level or mid-tier products appear more "cost-effective".
When using Intel chips in the Mac product line, it is almost impossible for desktop-grade devices and mobile-grade devices to use the same chip, iMac uses desktop-grade chips, while MacBook Air uses mobile-grade chips.
After the Mac switched to the ARM architecture, things changed.
Desktop iMac and entry-level MacBook Air both use M1 chips, both of which can run smoothly on the latest macOS system, and the live text and portrait mode functions on the mobile iPhone have also come to these devices in different forms.
▲ Video portrait mode on macOS, automatically bokeh background, making people more prominent
In addition to the excellent performance and power consumption control of the M1 series chips, it is also inseparable from the promotion of the AI core unit.
In addition, the use of M1 chips in different models and forms of equipment is also conducive to increasing shipments and increasing Apple's share in the chip market.
The more people use it, the more they can prove the value of the chip, which is conducive to M1 standing firm, further enhancing Apple's image in the public mind, and possibly even raising the value of the stock.
The changes caused by the Mac conversion architecture have not yet been fully released, and Apple's pursuit of performance and better power consumption not only affects the shape of the Mac, but even blurs the relationship between product form and performance.
Both the 24-inch iMac and the 13-inch MacBook Pro use the M1 chip, both of which are entry-level products, and both the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch version can use the top-of-the-line M1 Max.
First according to the needs of the choice of computer form, and then choose the practice of the chip, to the Mac here may be the opposite, should first look at the chip performance requirements, and then look at the use of the scene, and finally select the computer form.
iMac, MacBook Air, Mac mini, everyone uses M1 chips, it seems that entry-level products are more cost-effective, and each product in the Mac product line naturally has different forms, corresponding to different use scenarios, even if the same chip is used, it will not affect sales.
Typical Apple-style "value for money"
Compared with apple's affordability strategy on iPhone, Apple Watch and other products in the past, the reuse of M1 chips has gone further and achieved cross-product, not only mac product lines can be used, iPad product lines can also be used.
This is actually a direct application of the "anchoring effect", before iMac has always been a desktop product, the use of higher performance desktop-level chips, now M1 chips came to the iPad Pro and iPad Air, it is easy to establish in people's minds these two products have higher performance, can do desktop-level work psychological expectations.
▲These three devices have models equipped with M1 chips
On the other hand, the introduction of the M1 chip in the iPad product line is actually a reservation of performance space, providing infrastructure for developers who want to create large productivity applications in the iPad application ecosystem.
The fifth generation of iPad Air is equipped with M1 chip instead of A15 chip is indeed unexpected, coupled with a price reduction of 400 yuan compared to the previous generation, it can be called a price reduction and an increase in quantity, which will naturally make people feel very cost-effective, and even make people feel that the iPad Pro is somewhat embarrassing.
If you look closely at the differences between the two, you can quickly see that this is another accurate "configuration shrinkage", and outside the chip, Apple still sets enough differences.
Only from the front, the fifth-generation iPad Air and the official website on sale iPad Pro are almost the same shape, the difference between the two is reflected in the unlock method, screen refresh rate, camera, storage space and other places that are not carefully compared and not easy to detect.
With the M1 chip, the iPad Air can really do a lot of things that the original iPad Pro can do, such as SketchUp making 3D modeling and editing videos more smoothly with lumaFusion.
If you really want to use iPad Air as a long-term creative tool, iPad Air's maximum storage of 256GB has a feeling of not going up and down, now enough, what about the future?
As before, even with the M1 chip, the positioning of the iPad Air is still mid-to-high-end, which can complete a certain creative work, but features such as storage limit its further development.
At this time, look at the price of iPad Pro, you will find that the price of the iPad Air 256GB (5499 yuan) storage configuration is only 700 yuan from the iPad Pro 128GB (6199 yuan), which seems to be a price that can be reached with a little effort.
Once you bite your teeth and plan to add money, you will find that the iPad Pro with 256GB storage configuration, the difference is 700 yuan, this time to add it.
▲ The price of the new iPad Air and the iPad Pro 11-inch price comparison
This can actually be seen as a matryoshka "anchoring effect", iPad Pro as a high-end product in the series, is a benchmark-like existence, and you only need to spend a relatively small price, you can jump from the mid-range product to get a Pro-level experience.
In the end, you may not even realize that the initial need is just entertainment plus light creative work.
Nowadays, Apple's product line has been very rich, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, each product line has entry-level, mid-range, high-end three different positioning products, flagship chips are downgraded to entry-level products, so that it looks more cost-effective.
▲ Apple's official website provides intuitive model comparison functions, from high-end to entry-level
High-end products in the process structure, storage, camera modules and other basic experience of components that have little impact, maintain higher specifications, establish the uniqueness of high-end experience, and finally Apple can subdivide the product line and match the gradient price for each product.
The M1's high-performance and low-power features allow it to adapt to more devices, and entering more devices not only boosts the basic experience and market share, but also makes entry-level products more cost-effective.