Vratislav Holub Last year brought with it a number of interesting products and advances in the world of technology. In this regard, you only need to look at Apple itself, which with its family of Apple Silicon chips practically changes the established rules and, as a "newcomer", demolishes its competition. However, it is far from over for the Cupertino giant. The competition also brings interesting news, and Xiaomi deserves the imaginary crown this time. So let's take a look at the most interesting tech products of last year.
iPad Pro
Let's start first with Apple, which introduced the iPad Pro in spring 2021. This piece was practically nothing interesting at first glance, as it retains an old-fashioned design. But the same cannot be said about what is hidden inside his body. Apple inserted the M1 chip in its professional tablet, which is found, for example, in the 13″ MacBook Pro, thereby significantly increasing the performance of the device itself. Another great novelty was the arrival of the so-called Mini LED display. This technology approaches the popular OLED panels in terms of quality, but does not suffer from their typical shortcomings in the form of burning pixels and higher prices. Unfortunately, only the 12,9″ model received this change.
24″ iMac
As we already outlined in the introduction, in the case of the apple company, we can observe huge changes in Macs, which are currently going through the transition from Intel processors to their own solutions in the form of Apple Silicon. And we have to honestly admit that this transformation is a great step forward. In the spring, the redesigned 24″ iMac with the M1 chip arrived, which brought a significantly fresher design combined with high performance. At the same time, we received several color versions.
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Flying around the world with Apple iPhone 13 Pro
The world of mobile phones has not been idle either. The current flagship from Apple is the iPhone 13 Pro, with which the Cupertino giant this time bet on better performance in combination with a significantly better screen. Again, it is an OLED panel, but this time of the LTPO type with ProMotion technology, thanks to which it offers a variable refresh rate in the range from 10 to 120 Hz. The image is therefore significantly more lively, the animation is more lively and the display in general looks significantly better. At the same time, this model brought better battery life, even better cameras and camera, and a slightly smaller top cutout.
iPhone 13 Pro
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3
But success cannot be denied even to Apple's competition. This time we mean Samsung with its Galaxy Z Flip3, the third generation of a flexible smartphone with a lot of options. The South Korean giant Samsung has been interested in the world of so-called flexible smartphones for a long time, thanks to which no one can deny that it is currently the king of its field. This phone offers amazing features. While in a moment you can have it folded in your pocket in small dimensions, a second later you can simply unfold it and use the entire screen area for work and multimedia.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3
The great news is that the user is not deprived of contact with the world even when the Galaxy Z Flip3 is closed. On the back, next to the lenses, there is another smaller display that can display notifications, weather or music control in addition to the time and dates.
MacBook Pro 14 ″
With the arrival of the redesigned 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pros, the world of portable computers saw a slight revolution. Apple has literally learned from its past mistakes and has now abandoned virtually all previous "innovations". That's exactly why we got a slightly thicker laptop, which saw the return of some ports. Professionals finally have an SD card reader, an HDMI port and a magnetic MagSafe 3 connector for fast device charging. But that's not the best we got from last year's "Proček".
Macbook Pro (2021)
The user will only discover the best after opening the laptop lid. Even in the case of the MacBook Pro (2021), Apple opted for a Mini LED display with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, which is perfect for all kinds of professionals. By the aforementioned revolution, we meant the arrival of the new professional Apple Silicon chips labeled M1 Pro and M1 Max. The M1 Max chip even surpasses the capabilities of some high-end Mac Pro configurations with its performance.
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Pavel Jelic Air Tag
For those who often lose their keys, for example, or simply want to keep track of the location of their accessories, the AirTag location tag is perfect. This little round Apple locator works in conjunction with the Find Network, so it can notify its owner of its location every time another Apple-seeker with a compatible device (and the right settings) passes by. In combination with a key ring or a loop, you just need to attach the product to practically anything and you're done. You can hide the AirTag, for example, in your car, backpack, attach it to your keys, hide it in your wallet, etc. Although Apple claims that this locator is not intended for tracking people and animals, collars with cutouts for AirTag and similar accessories have even appeared on the market.
What the AirTag presentation looked like
Nintendo OLED Switch
The world of game consoles also received interesting news last year. Although the players' attention is still mainly focused on the insufficient Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles, the slightly improved version of the Nintendo Switch also applied for a say. The Japanese company Nintendo has released its popular portable model with a 7″ OLED screen, which significantly increases the quality of the image and thus the overall enjoyment of the game itself. The original variant with an LCD panel also has a slightly smaller display with a diagonal of 6,2".
Despite the fact that it is a portable game console, it certainly cannot be said that it is noticeably lacking in comparison to its competition. The Nintendo Switch offers several ways to play, where you can play, for example, directly on the go on the aforementioned 7″ display, or simply connect to a TV and enjoy the gameplay itself in significantly larger dimensions. In addition, the Nintendo Switch OLED version costs just over 1 crowns more, which is definitely worth it.
Picture frame with Symfonisk Wi-Fi speaker
In the world of technology, the world-famous retail chain with furniture and home furnishings IKEA has not been idle either, which has been working with the American company Sonos for a long time on non-traditional speakers called Symfonisk. A slightly more interesting piece was added to the speaker shelf and speaker lamp this year in the form of a picture frame, which also functions as a Wi-Fi speaker. Of course, the best part is the design. The product does not even remind you that it should be some type of audio system, thanks to which it fits perfectly into practically every home, in which it also plays the role of a great decoration.
Xiaomi Mi Air Charge
All the above-mentioned tech news are nothing compared to this. The Chinese giant Xiaomi, which is often the target of criticism and ridicule for copying its competition, has outlined a possible revolution in charging. In recent years, we have been getting rid of annoying cables more and more often. Wireless headphones, speakers, mice, keyboards and other accessories are great examples. Of course, even wireless charging is no longer science fiction today, thanks to the Qi standard, when you just need to place your phone (or other compatible device) on the charging pad. But there is one catch - the phone still has to touch the pad. However, Xiaomi offers a solution.
During last year, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Air Charge technology, thanks to which it will be possible to charge phones even several meters away, when it is enough to be within range of the charger (for example, in a room). In that case, the Chinese giant will use waves for charging. The currently known problem is only the transmitter, which is responsible for recharging the device. According to current information, it is of larger dimensions and you probably won't put it on the table, for example. At the same time, in order for these devices to be able to receive energy from the waves at all, they will have to be equipped with an appropriate antenna and circuit. Unfortunately, Xiaomi Mi Air Charge is not yet available in the market. The technology was revealed during last year and it will probably be a while before we see its launch.
