*It’s that time of the year again; Apple just concluded its fall annual keynote discussing the newest apple products. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook took the stage in San Francisco to let the world know about the latest innovations that continue to set the standard in mobile technology.
The Apple Watch
Apple introduced the Apple Watch in the beginning of 2015 as its contribution to wearables. There are over 10000 watch apps. Apps can display video, access hardware and features. Facebook Messenger, the ever popular messaging app that’s available on all mobile platforms.
Apple has a couple of tricks up their sleeve which differentiates it from its competitors. Airstrip can monitor a baby’s heart beat (while still in the womb). In an effort to make the Apple Watch more fashionable, Apple introduced more colors, Gold and Rose Gold in Aluminum; keeping the pricing the same as the Apple Watch Sport. “Wearables”, of course, are the newest technology trending this year. All the new models will be shipping today. And Watch OS2 (the operating system that the watch uses, will be available September 16th.)
iPad Pro
Next up iPad, Released in 2010, the original iPad was thick and used to view content. This year, the iPad comes iPad now comes in a monster size. The iPad Pro! According to Tim, “it’s the most capable and powerful iPad we’ve ever created” – Tim Cook
Apple showed off some of the features of the new iPad including its larger screen, its ability to multitask and its light weight. It’s basically a bigger version of the company’s ipad Air. They also bumped the specs in the iPad mini 4 and dropped the price a little. I am still a fan of the iPad mini but the iPad Pro does look like it has a lot of promise.
The Specs
– Display- 12.9 Display – 5.6 Million Pixels
– The most advanced display ever built
– Powered by Apple’s new A9X
– It’s Faster than 80% of the portable PC’s
– 10 Hours of Battery Life
– Apple has a 4 speaker Audio System
– 6.9 mm thin
– 1.56 lbs.
New Accessories-
The Magic Keyboard $169- This year Apple introduced its very own keyboard to accompany the iPad Pro. This keyboard works seamlessly with the iPad Pro and mimics a laptop experience.
The Apple Pencil $ 99- The Apple Pencil is basically a stylus for the iPad Pro; bringing functionality to the iPad that was never experienced. Companies like Microsoft (yes, Windows) and Adobe demoed their applications on the new iPad mini to show how easy it is to create and use the iPad Pro with the new software. The question of whether or not the tablet will replace the conventional laptop is still unanswered, but…the iPad Pro is Apple’s attempt to do just that.
The New Apple TV – “The future of television- starting now”- –Tim Cook
Apple introduced the “future of television” this morning with the Apple TV. Due for a refresh, the apple TV makes everything about TV better. Tim Cook made mention of a few things needed to revolutionize the TV experience
– TV through an App
– Powerful Hardware
– Modern OS
– New User Experience
– Developer Tools
– App Store
New Remote- There is a new remote that functions as a remote and game controller and a smart guide. It looks cooler and more high tech than the Apple TV’s original remote.
Siri- Apple’s innovative voice search is now integrated into the Apple TV. Search with just your voice, similar to what you do on your iPhone and iPad. Apple demoed Siri on the apple TV and the results were pretty impressive.
Gaming- You can now play games on your Apple TV- And there’s a whole new way to interact with games using either your iPhone, iPod, touch, iPad or your Apple TV.
You can even play games with other people with multiplayer. Apple demoed this with Crossy Roads, the ever popular iPhone game.
Shopping on the Apple TV- Yes, you can now shop from the apple TV. Guilt, a popular online clothing store is now available for Apple TV. This is only the beginning; I think companies like BestBuy, Amazon and eBay will jump on the bandwagon. Also the potential here is amazing. Think about shopping with your friends online together for outfits! I look forward to the potential.
Pricing and Availability
The 32 GB model will be $149.00
The 64 GB model will be $199.00
The Apple TV will be available at the end of October.
iPhone- “The only thing that’s changed is everything.” – Tim Cook.
The phone that started the revolution in Touch screen technology is, of course due for its annual refresh. Similar to last year’s models, this year’s iPhone models comes in two sizes; a 4.7 and 5.5 inch model: The iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. There is new color as well– Rose Gold—matching the Apple Watch that debuted in March.
So what’s New?
3D Touch- iPhone now recognizes force touch. Meaning you can interact with the iPhone in different ways. This is truly innovative work. It functions similar to having a right click action on the mouse—opening up options that were never available before. Making it, the world’s best iPhone today- until next year’s model (of course)
Camera- Camera has been upgraded. The iPhone camera has always been at the top of its game and this year is no exception. Now the renowned phone has a 5 MP front camera and a 12 MP iSight camera on the back.
Live Photos- 1.5 second of Pictures merged together to give the appearance of a small video viewable on iPhone models and the Apple Watch (utilizing its new 3D touch technology.) Think of these as .gifs directly created for the iPhone.
Internals- The new iPhone has a new screen technology which allows for the 3D Touch as well as an upgraded A9 chip, making it really really fast. It’s amazing what Apple can do when it comes to optimizing hardware and software.
Price- As usual with the iPhone models … The base model starts at $199.00 for a 16GB iPhone, $299.00 for 64 GB of storage and 128 GB for $399.00. If you’re looking for pricing for the phablet; add on an additional $100.00 to the pricing listed above. The original iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are now discounted 100.00 meaning you can grab a 6 for the low price of 99.00 and the 5s model will be free with carrier contracts.
As mentioned in last week’s article, “The Great American Phone Lease,” most carriers are allowing for monthly payments to be made on the phone. Pricing differs depending on the carrier, but Apple also introduced this model allowing a consumer to upgrade their iPhone once a year to the latest and greatest for $31.00 per month, but I can guarantee that this will be for the 16 GB version; the higher the storage capacity, the higher the installment price. One good thing about this though is that it will come with Apple Care +, it the phone will unlocked and will work on any carrier.
So…will you be purchasing the new iPhone? If so, which model? Will you also get an Apple Watch to go along with the purchase? Will you buy or lease the phone? Let me know in the comments below. You can follow me and learn more about the latest and greatest in technology on twitter @gogogadgetguy
If you have some time to kill and want to watch the full keynote, you can watch it here:
https://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2015/
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