New Apple Devices Fall 19: Better CPUs and Lower Prices

For this Neptun Wave, we were able to negotiate a higher discount for Apple devices than last year at 16%. Depending on the device you choose, this increase in the discount buys you anything from a few coffees to a nice dinner. On the hardware side of things, Apple has updated all their MacBooks, as well as the iPad Mini and Air. Like in previous Neptun Waves, we selected five recommended configurations of the MacBook Air, Pro 13, and Pro 15 which all come with a 3-year DQ CarePlan warranty extension. These configurations are set at sensible price points with different users in mind. However, if you want to configure your own MacBook, you can do so with the same discount of 16%. All hardware configurations, case colors, and keyboard layouts are available. Keep in mind that you have to add warranty extensions manually with custom configurations.

Apple’s desktop computers are also available at a 14% discount, and the iPad Pro series and Apple’s other iPads are available at 10% and 7% discount, respectively.

MacBook Air and Pro 13

The MacBook Air received a small update with a new Retina screen that now supports True Tone, just like the MacBook Pros. Additionally, Apple lowered the price by about CHF 100.-.

The MacBook Pro 13 without Touchbar is no more. It was replaced by the new MacBook Pro 13 with two Thunderbolt 3 ports. This MacBook Pro 13 now features an Intel i5 or i7 CPU with almost twice the performance of the previous model. 

The MacBook Pro 13 with four Thunderbolt 3 ports also received a small update to Intel’s current CPU generation, while the rest of the device remained untouched. The CPUs in this machine are allowed to draw more power than the ones in the MacBook Pro 13 with two TB3 ports, which gives it about 20% more performance when comparing the same CPU series.

MacBook Pro 15

The MacBook Pro 15 now features Intel’s latest 9^th generation i7 and i9 CPUs and thanks to much improved cooling, the i9 CPUs can deliver about 30% more performance than the ones in the previous model. Additionally, you can expect about twice the power in the new AMD Radeon Vega graphics cards than in the previous generation Radeon Pro 500 series chips. The configurations with more than 1 TB storage are now also slightly more affordable, since Apple lowered the prices for large storage upgrades.

iPads

The iPad Air and the iPad Mini were overhauled with current hardware, which now makes them good choices again in Apple’s iPad lineup. The Air, the Mini as well as the regular iPad now all support the first-generation Apple Pencil, making them great secondary devices for notetaking in the lecture hall. The iPad Pro supports the second-generation Apple Pencil which charges wirelessly, and these iPads will soon receive a software update to iPadOS which will make them more useful as laptop replacements.

Demo Days

At our Demo Days at universities all over Switzerland, you will be able to get some hands-on experience with all the new devices. Neptun staff and staff from the manufacturers will be there to help you find the right device: https://projektneptun.ch/en/demodays/