Content contribution from Tishin Donkersley
The world has been patiently waiting for technology giant Apple to unveil new products, and they certainly did not disappoint. Tim Cook and his team unleashed a variety of updates to existing products like the Apple Watch, iPhone and Apple TV, and revealed a few new products like the iPad Pro and its accompanying stylus, the Apple Pencil. Here’s everything you need to know from today’s Apple Event.
Apple Watch
Tim Cook said that 97 percent of users are satisfied with their Apple Watch. The innovative wrist wearable now comes with new faces as well as third-party complications that users can scroll through with a turn of the digital crown. With over 10,000 apps compatible with the Apple Watch the company announced the integration of Facebook Messenger, use iTranslate with over 90 languages and the ability to control your GoPro all on your wrist. One app, AirStrip, a medical platform for physicians (shown below) was demoed and showed the ability for physicians to review patient information and respond through a Hipaa compliant portal – mothers-to-be can also monitor baby health and even listen to their baby’s heartbeat through the watch.
Apple Watch has a few new bands and finishes. Apple partnered with luxury clothing designer Hermes to create fashionable bands for the techie timepiece.
- There are two new finishes gold and rose gold in the 48 and 32 mm available at the same price as the rest of the sport line: $349 – 399
- The Stainless collection is adding a black sport band
- Product Red band is new and a portion of the proceeds goes to fight AIDS
The updated Apple Watch ships today with watchOS2 available September 16th.
iPad Pro
Apple unveiled a new model in their iPad family, the iPad Pro. At 12.9 inches, it is the largest iOS device and comes with advanced technology.
- Multitasking with split view and the ability to run two iOS apps simultaneously on the split screen
- 6 million pixels – more than a MacBook Pro with retina display
- Custom timing controller to drive pixels quickly
- Oxide TFT – light up the pixels quickly with brightness
- Variable refresh rate – which has the ability to mange the speed of the display to save energy
- A9X chip is the 3rd generation 64 bit chip which comes with doubled bandwidth to memory and has 2x faster storage performance
- Speed of the iPad Pro is faster than 80% portable PCs on the market in the last 6 months
- iMovie, users can now edit three streams of 4K video simultaneously
- 10 hour battery life
- Sound out of both sides and it’s 3x volume of iPad Air 2
- iPad Pro is 6.9mm vs iPad 2’s 6.1mm
- iPad Pro weighs 1.57lb vs the original iPad at 1.54lb
- Smart Keyboard – Apple created a woven fabric that seamlessly attaches to the iPad Pro
- Smart connector – There are three buttons on the side that connects the iPad to the keyboard and carries power and data to the keyboard. $169
Apple Pencil
The next generation of stylus. The Apple Pencil has highly responsive sensors and designed to feel like a drawing or writing instrument.
- Gives the user the ability to touch a single pixel
- System scans twice as often to capture more points in a single stroke
- It has highly responsive sensors to detect position, force and wand tilt
- If drawing, a user can press lightly to get thin stroke and harder to get thicker stroke
- Use simultaneously with your fingers
- Costs $99
Apple teams up with Microsoft to improve the Microsoft Office experience on the iPad Pro. One main feature is the split-view option with the ability to use two applications at once, like Word and Excel (shown below).
Adobe adds a suite of products for iPad Pro
- Comp – create magazine quality file designs on the iPad Pro with the multitask feature- it also has a split screen capability. All work is saved and can be reviewed with a swipe of the finger.
- Photoshop fix is much faster and facial detection built into the engine
- Photoshop Sketch works well with Pencil and has a watercolor tool upgrade.
iPad Pro Spec summary:
- 12.9 inch Retina Display
- 8MP iSight camera
- 11 AC with MIMO
- 150 Mbps
- FaceTime
- Touch ID
- Eco-friendly
- 4 speakers
- Silver, Gold, and Space Gray
- 32gb WiFi ($799), 128gb WiFi ($949), 128gb WIFI + cellular ($1,079)
- Apple Pencil ($99), Smart Keyboard ($169)
Apple TV
Apple gave the enthusiastic audience a first-look at the refreshed Apple TV and emphasized, “the future of TV is apps.” You can now watch TV shows, movies, play games, and even shop all while sitting on your couch. Apple TV’s new remote packs a punch with its Siri-enabled voice commands and long-awaited “Home” button. With a glass touch surface, the user can easily swipe through menus and icons. The updated Apple TV comes with a new user interface that is easy to learn and operate.
tvOS
tvOS already has 11 million registered developers and is available today. Users will be able to play games that are normally exclusive to game consoles like the new Guitar Hero and Shadowmagic. You can also download apps from service companies like AirBnB and Zillow. One of the coolest features coming out of the new Apple TV announcement is the partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB). You can now scroll through a multitude of baseball games, click on your favorite team and stream it. An Apple TV user can scroll through game and player stats and has the ability to watch multiple games simultaneously.
iPhone 6S & iPhone 6S Plus
Apple’s flagship gadget the iPhone underwent its yearly upgrade with no changes to screen size or all-around look, but Apple touted, “the only that’s changed is everything.” Underneath the iPhone’s timeless exterior design is a completely revamped smartphone.
- A9 chip is the 3rd generation 64 bit chip
- M9 motion co-processer in the chip keeps track of fitness data
- 2nd gen Touch ID and up to 2x faster recognition
- Up to 70% faster at CPU tasks
- Up to 90% faster console class GPU
3D Touch
Apple’s most hyped feature for their latest iPhone is 3D Touch. Similar to Force Touch found on the Apple Watch and MacBook trackpads, 3D Touch lets the user “peek” into an app without actually opening it. For example, users are able to place a call from the homescreen without opening the Phone app or update your Facebook status with a tiny tap. Information “pops” because sensors in the display read how hard you are pressing down and react in a smooth linear way.
All-new iSight Camera
- 12MP (iPhone 6/6 Plus 8MP)
- 50% more pixels and focus is faster
- Photosensors – deep trench isolation separates the photo diods and keeps the color separate
- The functionality reduces noise, increases photo quality and increases exposure and accurate color
- There is a bigger panoramic option
- Yes you can film video in 4K!
- 4K videos can be edited on iMovie on your iPhone
- 5MP FaceTime HD camera
Other features:
- LTE advance with 23 LTE bands,
- Worldwide roaming
- 2x WiFi speed
- New accessories for the iPhone including new charging docs and 11 new silicon color cases.
Live Photos
This new feature from Apple is on by default and shoots12MP high-quality still images and extends the capture moment to 1.5 seconds to create “moving pictures” (similar to GIFs). You can watch a Live Photo across all devices. Later this year, Facebook will support Live Photos.
iPhone 6S pricing = 16GB ($199), 32GB ($299), 128GB ($399)
iPhone 6S Plus pricing = 16GB ($299), 64GB ($399), 128GB ($499)
Pre-orders start September 12th. The new iPhones will be available in stores on September 25th.
Important News and Dates:
- iOS 9 releases on September 16th
- Apple Upgrade Program: Upgrade to a new iPhone every year for only $32/month.
- There is a new Apple-made mobile app in the Google Play store that assists Android users in switching from Android to iOS.
Read our coverage of WWDC 2015 here
Graphics courtesy of Apple Event at Apple.com