Apple MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max Now Available For Malaysia

Aside from the 3rd generation AirPods, the new MacBook Pro (MBP) with M1 Pro and M1 Max processors are now available from Apple Malaysia’s website as well. All these products were first introduced during the company’s Unleashed event last month.

For those who missed the launch, the M1 Pro and M1 Max processors are available for both MBP 14 and 16. In terms of CPU, the M1 Pro is available with 8 and 10-core options which is also inclusive of 14 and 16-core GPU respectively, alongside up to 32GB of unified memory.

On another hand, the M1 Max comes with a 10-core CPU as standard while you can choose to obtain it with either 24 or 32-core GPU together with up to 64GB unified memory. In addition to that, the chip also has double the memory bandwidth of M1 Pro at 4000GB/s.

Meanwhile, other new elements that Apple has introduced through the latest MBP 14 and 16 are thinner screen bezels as well as a notch on their ProMotion 120Hz displays which houses the new 1080p FaceTime HD. These new models also marked the return of MagSafe charging, SDXC reader, and HDMI 2.0 port although the company has also decided to remove the Touch Bar.

Depending on the exact specs that you choose, the price of M1 Pro-based MBP starts at RM8,799 and can go all the way to RM21,999. As for the M1 Max variants, the price ranges from RM12,399 to RM25,199 and all of them can be obtained through Apple Malaysia’s website right away.

Apple Slapped With Lawsuit Over Cracked M1 MacBook Displays

Apple has found itself in another legal wrangle, yet again, in the US. Earlier this week, Bursor and Fisher, a law firm based in California, filed a class-action lawsuit against the company from Cupertino, over reports of cracking M1 MacBook displays.

The law firm is specifically suing Apple for selling its M1 Macbooks even it knew that their product was being fitted with unreliable displays that could crack even under the most normal use cases. The lawsuit also takes its accusation further by suggesting that Apple used defective displays on purpose, as a means of getting unfortunate consumers to head over to its stores. Where it could charge them as much as US$850 (~RM3545), just to repair their affected M1 MacBooks.

Issues brought on by the cracked displays reportedly include blacking out, a light show of magenta, purple, and blue lines, or simply “ceasing to function” altogether. Moreover, it seems that replacing the cracked displays of the affected M1 MacBooks do not guarantee that the issue will not occur again, as some consumers who did repair their machines reportedly suffer repeat performance.

At the time of writing, Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

Apple iMac M1 Now Available In Malaysia; Full Blown Specs Goes For RM 11,048

Following the arrival of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini with purple colourway as well as the M1-powered iPad Pro, here comes yet another new product from Apple’s Spring Loaded event into Malaysia. This time around, it is the all-new 2021 iMac which features not only an ultra-thin profile but is also equipped with the M1 chip.

As per previously released M1-based products, the variants available for the new iMac is generally based on the chip itself. For example, the M1 chip for the base model carries a 7-core GPU while the higher-end options come with 8-core GPU instead.

With a starting price of RM 5,599, the base model comes with 8GB unified memory, 256GB solid state drive, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse. It doesn’t come with Gigabit Ethernet as standard though, so customers need to fork out an additional RM 110 if they want this feature for their iMac.

On another hand, the price of the iMac M1 with an 8-core GPU starts at RM 6,449 which also includes 8GB memory, 256GB SSD, and Magic Mouse just like the base model with a 7-core GPU. However, it does come with extra features including two additional USB 3 ports as well as Gigabit Ethernet support and Magic Keyboard with Touch ID as standard.

If you’re curious on how much an iMac M1 with full specs would cost in Malaysia, that would be RM 11,048. For that price, it covers 16GB of memory, 2TB SSD, Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard with Touch ID & Numeric Keypad.

Given the availability of the new iMac M1 through Apple Malaysia’s online store, expect it to pop up at local Apple Authorised Resellers very soon in case you prefer to take a look at the actual machine first before committing to it

2021 iPad Pro M1 Now Available From Apple Malaysia; Price Maxed Out At RM 10,399

Following the release of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini in purple colourway earlier this month, Malaysian consumers are now able to purchase yet another new product that was announced during Apple’s Spring Loaded event last month. This time around, it comes in the form of the 2021 iPad Pro tablets.

As you may have heard, one of the biggest attractions of the new iPad Pro is the fact that it is powered by Apple’s own M1 chip and Apple has chosen to utilise the variant with an 8-core GPU for the tablet. The 12.9-inch model is also equipped with the new Liquid Retina XDR display while the 11.9-inch variant still comes with a Liquid Retina display just like its predecessor.

In case you missed it, here is the full price list for the 2021 iPad Pro M1 in Malaysia:

11-inch 2021 iPad Pro M1

128GB: RM 3,499 (Wi-Fi) / RM 4,149 (5G)

256GB: RM 3,949 / RM 4,599

512GB: RM 4,849 / RM 5,499

1TB: RM 6,649 / RM 7,299

2TB: RM 8,449 / RM 9,099

12.9-inch 2021 iPad Pro M1

128GB: RM 4,799 (Wi-Fi) / RM 5,449 (5G)

256GB: RM 5,249 / RM 5,899

512GB: RM 6,149 / RM 6,799

1TB: RM 7,949 / RM 8,599

2TB: RM 9,749 / RM 10,399

Aside from Apple Malaysia’s own online store, you can also order the 2021 iPad Pro M1 through local Apple Authorized Resellers such as Lazada, Machines, and Switch.

All three AAR have noted that the tablet will be making its way to Malaysia within the second half of this month in case you want to check them out in real life first but with the MCO 3.0 now in place, that may not be the best option for the time being.

Apple Gives New iPad Pro The M1 Chip; Starts From RM3499

Apple is expected to announce a new iPad Pro during its very recent event. And indeed the company did just that. But the new tablet packs something new, the M1 chip. The very same one that it packed in its latest Macs and Macbooks.

The powerful chip allows the iPad Pro to do things you’d usually only associate with desktop systems. And Apple also claims that it can do all that while still maintaining all-day battery life.

But that’s not all, as the iPad Pro has another trick up its sleeve, or rather in its front-facing camera. Apple says this is its new 12MP wide angle camera. And with it, the feature that the company calls Center Stage.

Together, not only can you fit more things into frame, the camera intelligently detects if you are moving out of frame, and tries to pan towards your direction. Or, if someone else comes into frame, it automatically zooms out to fit everyone.

Other improvements Apple has given to the new iPad Pro include Thunderbolt support for the USB-C port, and even an optional 5G variant. And if you go for the larger 12.9-inch variant, you’ll also get it with a miniaturised Pro Display XDR, called the Liquid Retina XDR.

Both iPad Pro sizes come in five storage configurations, which are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and a whopping 2TB of storage space. For the 11-inch model, these are priced at RM3499, RM3949, RM4849, RM6649 and RM8449, respectively. If you want the 5G model, it will be a RM650 premium on top.

As for the 12.9-inch model, the prices are RM4799, RM5249, RM6149, RM7949 and RM9749, respectively. The same RM650 premium applies here for the 5G models. While Apple Malaysia has announced the prices of the iPad Pro, the company has not announced its availability date just yet.

Apple M1 Chip Capable of Mining Ethereum, But Far From Ideal

While the current cryptocurrency boom has given some individuals an unexpected windfall, the resurgence has also led to GPU miners grabbing every graphics cards and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series laptop they can from an already starving global supply.

Of course, there are other ways to mine for cryptocurrency – specifically, Ethereum – and with that said, it should come as no surprise that Apple’s M1 chip was recently confirmed as a “potential” mining option.

The M1’s mining potential as an Ethereum miner was discovered by Yifan Gu, a software engineer for Zensors, through a MacBook Air, and you would expect, there is a bit of fiddling about with some software. For the record, this isn’t the first time the M1 has been used for mining; prior to this, developers at XMRig had tried to mine Monero with it.

The end results of the experiment are…well, less than ideal. At best, the M1 is also able to mine Ethereum at a rate of 2MH/s at most. In terms of monetary gain, that’s approximately RM0.57 per day. Bear in mind, the mining procedure is only using the M1’s GPU, between 17W and 20W.

Needless to say, the M1’s mining performance is abysmal, especially when you compare it to the prowess of other full-fledged GPUs from NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series and newly announced CMPs, as well AMD’s old and currently existing GPUs.

Once again, this was all just an experiment and we highly doubt anyone would recommend turning the Apple M1 into a daily GPU miner.

Apple M1 Malware Has Appeared In The Wild

The Apple M1 chip is still a pretty new chip, being officially announced only three months ago. But that doesn’t stop malware from being made for it. In fact, the new malware may have been made pretty much immediately after the chip became available in the market.

Security researcher Patrick Wardle published a blog post detailing the new Apple M1 malware. It’s called GoSearch22, and it’s a Safari browser extension that’s been reworked for the new Apple Silicon chip. The malware itself isn’t exactly new, as it’s a variant of the Pirrit adware family that’s already infected prior Macs.

But the strange thing about this new variant is that it was signed with an Apple developer ID on 23 November 2020. That’s barely two weeks after the Apple M1 was officially unveiled. And being signed with a developer ID means that it won’t trigger macOS Gatekeeper. The certificate for it has since been revoked, but it may have been too late. Wardle claims that macOS users were already infected.

In the blog, Wardle also notes that malware for ARM64 chips, which the Apple M1 is, has about a 15% lower detection rate compared to malware written for Intel’s x86 architecture. While this is not entirely unexpected, it does show that those making malware are having an easier time adapting to the new platform than those protecting users from it.