Everything Apple Announced Today That Really Matters
Apple’s big fall event took place over two hours today and was filled with many announcements. If you haven’t spent your morning watching all of this, here’s what they announced that really matters.
The iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch screen, an additional keyboard and stylus.
The recently announced iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch display with a 2732×2048 pixel resolution (that’s more than the MacBook Pro with Retina display). It weighs about 1.5 pounds and is 6.9mm thick. It also features a variable refresh rate to save battery life and the new A9X chip, which Apple claims is 22 times faster than the original iPad. The iPad Pro has a four-speaker sound system that promises to be louder than previous models. In short: … it’s a bigger iPad.
Accessories are what sets this iPad apart from others. They are releasing a Microsoft Surface-style keyboard case for the iPad Pro called the Smart Keyboard ($ 169) and a new pressure-sensitive stylus called the Apple Pencil ($ 99). It starts at $ 799 for the 32GB model, $ 949 for the 128GB model, and $ 1,079 for the 128GB / cellular model. They will be available in November. You can get more information from our friends at Gizmodo .
The new Apple TV has Siri, a new remote, and loads of apps and games
Apple also announced a new version of the Apple TV with tons of improvements. It comes with a new remote control that includes a small touchpad as well as a microphone for voice control. They’ve also improved the software: in addition to the typical video apps, you also get the Apple Music app, the photos app, and access to the App Store via a new operating system called tvOS. With tvOS, developers will be able to create TV apps, including games, web services, and more. Developers will also be able to create universal apps for you to use on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
With Siri, you can search for a movie or TV show and see all the apps in which it is available to stream. Siri also has a variety of commands to help you quickly find and learn about movies and shows. For example, you can search for things like “Play this episode of Modern Family with Edward Norton” or “Show me the action movies.” The new Apple TV launches in October at $ 149 for the 32GB model and $ 199 for the 64GB model. If you’re interested, Gizmodo has more details .
IPhone 6s and 6s Plus
As expected, the iPhone was updated today with the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus . The big new feature this time around is 3D Touch, which recognizes the force you use to create new touch gestures. For example, pressing an app icon hard can bring up a menu where you can quickly view an email, take a photo, or more. There’s also a haptic feedback mechanism that gives you a little vibration feedback as you hit those harder pushes.
As you would expect, there is a slight performance boost with the new a9 chip and the new Touch ID sensor. The camera receives a resolution of up to 12 megapixels and can shoot 4K video. They also released a new Live Photos capture option, which essentially creates short animated photos of every shot you take. IPhones come in silver, gold, space gray, and a new fourth color: rose gold (sic pink).
While iOS 9 launches on September 16, the new iPhone models won’t be available until September 25 at the usual two-year contract price: $ 199 for 16GB, $ 299 for 64GB, and $ 399 for 128GB for the 6s. The 6s Plus costs $ 299 for 16GB, $ 399 for 64GB, and $ 499 for 128GB. Apple also announced its own upgrade plan where you can pay $ 32 a month to rent your phone and upgrade every year (which, as our napkin math shows, is probably a bad idea, because like other upgrade plans you will spend more than you buy your phone). phone immediately and sell ). You can find more information on Gizmodo , including a breakdown of the new plan .
Apple WatchOS 2 with native apps coming September 16
The Apple Watch has gotten a little fancy today, too, with a new update that introduces its own apps. This means the Apple Watch now has standalone apps that don’t require the iPhone app to use. There are also several new models, rose gold and anodized aluminum models, as well as several new straps. Watch OS2 will be released on September 16. You can read more about this here .