Canva announces severance package including six months' salary and entrepreneurial aid

Canva has announced large-scale staff reductions. These changes are driven by rising artificial intelligence (AI) costs and automation processes. As a result of the cuts, about 22 percent of employees are at risk of being laid off, leading to approximately 1271 job losses.

Canva CEO Melanie Perkins sent an internal email to employees expressing regret over the difficulties and hardships people will face due to this situation, acknowledging that the company is going through a challenging period.

Currently, the company employs around 5700 people in 37 countries, including staff from India. However, there is no data yet on how many people were laid off in each specific country.

Although many tech companies have recently conducted layoffs, Canva's approach is different. The company provides departing employees with a free MacBook, six months' salary, and a one-year subscription to LinkedIn Premium.

Typically, upon termination, an employee receives severance pay, which includes payment for several months of work. However, Canva's policy is unique: all 1271 employees facing redundancy are allowed to keep their MacBook. According to the CEO, the purpose of providing the laptop is to ensure the employee has a device even after leaving the company, as the company knows that many people do not have their own personal laptop. The specific model of the laptop to be provided has not been disclosed.

In addition to the MacBook, laid-off employees will receive a LinkedIn Premium annual subscription. This will allow them to prepare for interviews and undergo career development coaching. The company also plans to engage its talent acquisition team to assist employees with resume writing and interview skill practice, which will facilitate their search for new employment.

Canva will also provide financial assistance to those who lose their jobs. The CEO stated that affected employees will receive at least six months' salary, including all legally mandated benefits. This service will be available to all employees regardless of their country of residence.

Furthermore, Canva is launching a collective fund. Through this fund, laid-off employees will be given a grant of ten thousand US dollars (equivalent to approximately 8.9 lakh rupees), enabling those who wish to start their own business to realize their plans.

Discussions surrounding Apple's MacBook Pro laptop have reignited. This time, the interest is not only driven by the new processor or improved display but also by the Apple logo displayed on the device's back panel. A teaser video from Apple CEO John Ternus has raised user questions about the possible return of the old glowing logo.

Apple previously used a glowing logo on its MacBooks, which set them apart from other laptops. However, the company later abandoned this feature and began using a standard logo. Despite this, many Apple fans continue to discuss the glowing logo and wish for its return to the MacBook.

Currently, the company has not officially confirmed the return of the glowing logo; these discussions are based on assumptions made after watching the teaser video. The main question is what innovations Apple plans to introduce in future MacBook Pro models and whether the way these laptops are used might change.

The video published by John Ternus demonstrates a surface resembling a lit area and a laptop. This has led to speculation about potential significant changes in the MacBook Pro design. Simultaneously, discussions have begun regarding the possible return of the glowing Apple logo to the back panel of older MacBooks.

In the past, the logo on older MacBooks glowed due to the light from the laptop screen, serving as a recognizable brand element for a long time. Later, Apple replaced this design with a standard logo on the rear of the casing. This is why the return of the glowing logo has become a topic of interest for Mac users, although the teaser contains no explicit signs confirming this feature, and it should currently be viewed as a possibility.

Parallel to the discussion about the glowing logo, hopes have risen for the release of the first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen. According to a report by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the company may present new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that could support OLED displays and touchscreens.

If this happens, the way users interact with the MacBook Pro could change drastically. Currently, users mainly rely on the keyboard and trackpad to work with the screen. With the introduction of a touchscreen, they will be able to perform some tasks by touching the screen itself. For example, when editing photos, it will be easier to select specific areas, use interface elements on the screen, or quickly zoom in. However, this will depend on how Apple integrates the touchscreen with macOS.

Reports suggest that Apple may introduce touch input not as a replacement for the keyboard and trackpad, but as an additional method of operation, allowing users to work as on a regular laptop.

There is also discussion about the possibility of equipping new MacBook Pros with OLED displays. Some existing MacBook Pro models use the Liquid Retina XDR display. OLED technology generates its own light in each pixel, providing deeper black colors and better contrast. This could be useful when watching movies, editing photos, and creating videos, although the actual experience will depend on the display quality and Apple's settings.

Some reports also claim that instead of the old notch above the screen on new MacBook Pros, there might be a Dynamic Island similar to the one on the iPhone. This could change how notifications and other information around the camera are displayed.

It is important to note that Apple already presented the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip on October 27th. Its starting price in India is set at 2,39,900 rupees. Pre-orders will begin on October 28th, and sales start on November 6th.

Apple has unveiled the new 14-inch MacBook Pro model, equipped with the M6 chip. This new notebook promises significant advancements in both graphics performance and artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities. Furthermore, it incorporates technologies such as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and offers a battery life that can reach up to 24 hours.

Pre-orders for this device will begin on October 28th, with general availability expected on November 6th. In the United States, the starting price is set at US$ 1,999, which is equivalent to approximately R$ 10,495.

The M6 chip features a 12-core CPU, a 12-core GPU, and two groups of 16 cores in the Neural Engine. According to Apple itself, this processor holds the fastest CPU core on the planet, delivering up to 30% more graphics power and improving AI task processing by up to 25% compared to the M5.

The GPU has also been enhanced with third-generation ray tracing, a technology that optimizes the visualization of reflections and light in three-dimensional graphics. For users running local language models, the AI accelerators integrated into the chip enable the processing of these tasks without needing to rely on external servers.

When compared to the 13-inch MacBook Pro using the M1, Apple highlights several improvements. The new notebook features 16 GB of unified memory, configurable up to 32 GB, and supports a bandwidth of up to 170 GB/s. Shelly Goldberg, Apple's Vice President of Hardware Engineering, stated in a note that the M6 chip elevates performance to a new level, increasing CPU and graphics speed, while offering more robust features for AI executed directly on the device.

The Liquid Retina XDR display boasts a maximum brightness of 1,600 nits in HDR content and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. In very bright environments, there is an alternative with a nano-textured finish designed to reduce reflections and glare.

The device allows simultaneous connection to up to two external monitors. Connectivity options include three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, MagSafe 3, an SDXC card reader, and a headphone jack. The audio system consists of six speakers with Spatial Audio and a 12 MP camera with Center Stage functionality, which helps keep the user centered during video conferences, complemented by three microphones.

The battery life of up to 24 hours, according to Apple, represents a gain of up to four hours compared to M1 models and up to 14 extra hours for those transitioning from Intel processors. With a compatible USB-C adapter, such as the 96W one, the battery can reach 50% charge in just 30 minutes.

The MacBook Pro runs on macOS 27, which integrates Siri AI and Apple Intelligence tools. This assistant will have the capability to use data from emails, messages, and photos to assist with tasks, answer questions, and perform actions across various applications. Additionally, Safari has received features to organize tabs by theme and monitor changes on websites, while Shortcuts will allow the creation of automations based on natural language descriptions, and the Photos app will gain intelligent editing tools.

In terms of sustainability, Apple reported that the notebook contains 45% recycled materials overall. The casing is built with fully recycled aluminum, the battery uses recycled cobalt, and several capacitors utilize recycled tantalum. The manufacturing process also uses 60% energy generated from renewable sources.

Available in silver and space black, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 starts at US$ 1,999 (about R$ 10,495). There is an educational discount option for US$ 1,899 (approximately R$ 9,970), with these prices valid for the United States.