Here’s the highlights of today’s announcement from Apple:
- iOS 7: Apple expects this to “become the world’s most popular operating system” says Apple CEO Tim Cook and it will be launching on September 18th. If you’re not familiar with what iOS 7 brings to the table, check it out here. One thing to note, iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iOS will be free. Another note. iOS 7 is a 64-bit OS. More on why that matters in a moment.
- Apple announced the iPhone 5C which will occupy the entry level space. It comes in green, yellow, blue, white and pink/red. The back and sides are made from a single part. Made from hard-coated polycarbonate, with steel-reinforced inside. It has a 4-inch retina display, integrated touch layer, and an A6 processor. It has a slightly larger battery capacity than the iPhone 5. The camera is the same 8MP one in the iPhone 5 but there’s a new front-facing FaceTime camera. You’ll get more LTE bands along with dual-band Wi-Fi ABGN and Bluetooth 4.0. US pricing for the 16GB is $99, 32GB is $199. Both are assuming a two-year contract. Apple will have custom cases for these phones at $29 USD as well.
- Apple also announced the iPhone 5S, It arrives with a A7 64-bit “System-on-a-chip.” The first chip of this type ever on a smartphone. It will come in “space gray”, gold and silver color options. Battery life goes something like this: 10 hours 3G talk time, LTE browsing, Wi-FI browsing, video. 8 hours 3G browsing, 40 hours music, 250 hours standby. What’s news is that it has a new 8 MP camera with a double LED flash and a 10 frame per second burst mode. Not to mention that it has a fingerprint sensor for security using their new Touch ID standard. Expect to pay $199, $299, and $399 for the 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB models respectively with a 2-year contract.
- Also of note, I saw that Apple added a new color to the iPod Touch line up. A space gray color has been added.
- iTunes Radio is “coming soon”
Both new iPhones will go on sale on September 20th. However, pre-orders for the iPhone 5C will start on September 13. However there will be no pre-orders for the iPhone 5S.
I asked Tony Cripps, principal device analyst at Ovum what his thoughts were:
“Even post-Jobs Apple still does great theatre, even if most of what was announced was unusually well-heralded in the blogosphere.
“Clearly there’s little need for gimmicks in the flagship 5S, in a launch replete with significant spec upgrades over and beyond the usual screen improvements. Apple, is certainly offering meaningful innovation here. Moving to a 64-bit architecture means Apple can genuinely claim to have brought something new to the smartphone party. It should certainly help the company further cement its lead as a mobile gaming platform and will give the Android fraternity something to think about in a space whose significance is sometimes downplayed beyond the gaming world.
“Ingratiating itself to the burgeoning community of health and fitness application developers with new sensors is also a good move by Apple at a time when consumer and professional interest in those categories are booming.
“Meanwhile the integrated capacitive fingerprint sensor will build legitimacy for the technology in mainstream consumer electronics, although privacy concerns are bound to raise their heads in these newly paranoid times.
“Anyone expecting Apple to come truly down market with the iPhone 5C was fooling themselves. The day that happens is the day the company signals that it has run out of headroom for expansion. It’s far from ready to concede that yet as it’s greater interest in Japan and China show, although the mooted tie up with China Mobile wasn’t announced as this comment was written.
“It does though indicate an acceptance that the consumers in the upper reaches of the smartphone mid-market are increasingly looking to distinctive devices of their own, and are not happy to accept cast offs or dumbed-down versions of former flagships.
“Colour variations and a clear design of its own is a good way to do this and clearly Apple isn’t too proud to follow its smartphone rivals in using this tactic. This change hasn’t affected Apple too much to date but would have represented a threat if the company hadn’t addressed the problem now – its once a year refresh can sometimes work against it.”
So what did you think of today’s events? Post a comment and share your thoughts. In the meantime, you can see a video of today’s events here.
UPDATE: Telus let me know they’ll have the iPhone 5C and 5S on Friday September 20th and will be taking orders for the 5C on the 13th.
UPDATE #2: I’ve just found out via MacRumors that iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iOS will be free ONLY to those purchasing a new device.
UPDATE #3: I’ve just noted on Apple’s that space grey has made an appearance in the iPod Nano and Shuffle as well.
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This entry was posted on September 10, 2013 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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So, What Did Apple Announce Today? [UPDATED x3]
Here’s the highlights of today’s announcement from Apple:
Both new iPhones will go on sale on September 20th. However, pre-orders for the iPhone 5C will start on September 13. However there will be no pre-orders for the iPhone 5S.
I asked Tony Cripps, principal device analyst at Ovum what his thoughts were:
“Even post-Jobs Apple still does great theatre, even if most of what was announced was unusually well-heralded in the blogosphere.
“Clearly there’s little need for gimmicks in the flagship 5S, in a launch replete with significant spec upgrades over and beyond the usual screen improvements. Apple, is certainly offering meaningful innovation here. Moving to a 64-bit architecture means Apple can genuinely claim to have brought something new to the smartphone party. It should certainly help the company further cement its lead as a mobile gaming platform and will give the Android fraternity something to think about in a space whose significance is sometimes downplayed beyond the gaming world.
“Ingratiating itself to the burgeoning community of health and fitness application developers with new sensors is also a good move by Apple at a time when consumer and professional interest in those categories are booming.
“Meanwhile the integrated capacitive fingerprint sensor will build legitimacy for the technology in mainstream consumer electronics, although privacy concerns are bound to raise their heads in these newly paranoid times.
“Anyone expecting Apple to come truly down market with the iPhone 5C was fooling themselves. The day that happens is the day the company signals that it has run out of headroom for expansion. It’s far from ready to concede that yet as it’s greater interest in Japan and China show, although the mooted tie up with China Mobile wasn’t announced as this comment was written.
“It does though indicate an acceptance that the consumers in the upper reaches of the smartphone mid-market are increasingly looking to distinctive devices of their own, and are not happy to accept cast offs or dumbed-down versions of former flagships.
“Colour variations and a clear design of its own is a good way to do this and clearly Apple isn’t too proud to follow its smartphone rivals in using this tactic. This change hasn’t affected Apple too much to date but would have represented a threat if the company hadn’t addressed the problem now – its once a year refresh can sometimes work against it.”
So what did you think of today’s events? Post a comment and share your thoughts. In the meantime, you can see a video of today’s events here.
UPDATE: Telus let me know they’ll have the iPhone 5C and 5S on Friday September 20th and will be taking orders for the 5C on the 13th.
UPDATE #2: I’ve just found out via MacRumors that iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iOS will be free ONLY to those purchasing a new device.
UPDATE #3: I’ve just noted on Apple’s that space grey has made an appearance in the iPod Nano and Shuffle as well.
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This entry was posted on September 10, 2013 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.