This morning at San Francisco, Apple announced a slew of new products that will be coming to stores very soon. Those new products range from iPhones, iPads and even Apple TV.
Before getting into the juicy bits, Apple has announced that the Apple Watch will be get a new band options, with the biggest addition being a wrap-around brown leather Hermes band. The watch will also be debuting new colours such as gold and rose gold (aka pink), and there will be a sports band option as well. The smartwatch will also be getting an upgrade to watchOS2 on September 16.
Now, for the iPhones part. Apple has revealed the new iPhone 6S and the iPhone S6 plus. These phones will be constructed out of 7000 series aluminium, which is an aircraft-grade material, all will come in four colours : silver, gold, space gray and rose gold. The biggest addition to the iPhone 6S would be the 3D touch screen, formerly known as Force Touch, which allows the phone to recognise new gestures such as pressing and holding. The camera on the iPhone 6S has also gotten an upgrade as it now sports a 12MP iSight rear camera while the front-facing camera has been bumped up to 5MP. As for performance, the iPhone 6S will be sporting the new A9 processor, and it will also come with faster fingerprint sensors.
The pricing on the new iPhones will be the same as the previous version, starting at USD 650 for the iPhone 6S and the USD 750 for the iPhone 6S Plus. Apple has also taken the opportunity to announce the new iPhone Upgrade program which allows users to lease an iPhone for USD 32 a month and get the latest version of the company’s smartphone every year. The iPhone S6 will go on pre-sale on September 12, with the official release date marked at September 25. iOS 9 will be available on September 16 for anyone who owns an iPhone as old as the iPhone 4S.
Next, the iPad. Apple’s newest addition the the iPad series of tablets comes in the form of the iPad Pro. Starting at USD 799, the iPad Pro measures at 12.9 inches, making this the largest iPad to date. While the screen of the iPad is bigger than ever, the iPad Pro will still remain as thin as the iPad Air. Inside the iPad Pro is the new A9X 64-bit chip, making this iteration of the iPad 1.8 times faster than the previous iPad’s CPU and allowing it to edit three streams of 4K video at a time Other plus points that come with the iPad Pro is the 10-hour battery life.
For peripherals, Apple will be introducing a new smart keyboard for the iPad Pro, effectively turning the tablet into a pseudo-Microsoft Surface. The company will also be introducing a stylus to the iPad Pro. Dubbed the Apple Pencil, it is a low latency stylus that feels like a real pencil. The iPad Pro wasn’t the only thing announced as Apple reveals the iPad Mini 4 as well, but they didn’t spend much time on it.
Finally, Apple reveals their latest Apple TV to the masses. This new Apple TV features a third-party App Store, a new remote, Siri controls as well as a completely overhauled operating system. The Apple TV now runs on the iOS-based tvOS, which is “built for the living room” according to Apple’s Eddie Cue. Costing USD 149 for the 32GB version and USD 199 for the 64GB version, the new remote control found on the latest Apple TV features a glass touch surface on the top half, allowing the user to navigate the Apple TV with swipes and gestures. The control comes with built-in accelerometer and gyroscope and can last up to three months on a single charge.
If controls are not your thing, you can take command of the Apple TV with your voice. The new Siri control on the Apple TV allows users to control the device with their voice. For example, you can say “Siri, what did she say?” and the episode you’re watching will rewind a few seconds and turn on captions. Apart from that, Siri can make movie and TV suggestions based on things like genre.
By far the most captivating thing about the Apple TV announcement has to be the third-party support the device will be receiving. Apple has decided to open up the Apple TV to third-party developers, giving the Apple TV the potential to be something more than just a standard media player. Some examples that Apple demoed live on stage includes Harmonix’s Beat Sports, a rhythm game, and an MLB app that allows users to watch multiple live games at a time with pop-up notifications and interactive stats.














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