The IT Nerd

Apple today had one of their press events today and I took the time to watch it so that I can report all the details to you. Here’s what was announced and when you can get your hands on it:

• First up was Apple Watch and WatchOS 2. Apple showed off Facebook Messenger, iTranslate, AirStrip, and GoPro for the Apple watch as example of native apps that can do thing like access hardware. Apple also announced new versions of the Apple watch via a partnership with Hermes coming in October. There are new watch models and bands from Apple. Gold and rose gold-colored sport watches, a number of new band colors. There’s space black stainless, added with black sport band. Classic leather updated with two-tone look. There’s two new finishes in anodized aluminum. Gold and Rose Gold. Available at same price as the rest of the sport lineup and they will be available at same price as the rest of the sport lineup. Stainless steel case with Product Red sport band. Portions of the proceeds will go to Global Fund to fight AIDS. These watches are shipping today and WatchOS 2 is shipping on September 16th.
• Next up was the iPad. Apple announced the iPad Pro which has a 12.9″ which has more pixels than a MacBook Pro with Retina display, and a A9X chip which is 1.8x faster than the A8X chip that came before it and Apple claims it faster than most portable PCs. It also has 10 hours of battery life and a 4 speaker audio system that auto balances in a package that is 6.9mm thick. The iPad Air for comparison purposes is 6.1mm thick. You also have the option of getting a Smart Keyboard if you want to use a physical keyboard that also doubles as a case and cover. It connects to Apple’s new Smart Connector that is on the iPad Pro that provides data and power. Apple also announced the Apple Pencil to allow you to draw and the like on the new iPad Pro with pressure sensitivity, low latency and the ability to recharge via Lightning. They showed off a new Microsoft Office for iPad, several apps from Adobe, and 3D4Medical, to illustrate what is possible for the iPad Pro. It will be available in silver, gold and space gray and go for $799 for 32GB, $949 for 128GB , and 128GB and LTE for $1079. Expect to pay $99 for the Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard will go for $169. All USD. Available in November. There’s also a new iPad Mini 4 which is launching today at $399 USD. It will have the power and performance of iPad Air 2 in the Mini enclosure.
• There’s a new AppleTV that comes with a new remote with a touchpad and it can control TV volume so this is the only remote you need. It can turn TV and AV remotes on as well. It comes with an accelerometer and gyroscope and lasts 3 months per charge and it charges via lightning connector. It comes with Siri integration, universal search, and moving screen savers. All with a new OS that has an app store that includes games called TVOS which is based on iOS. It comes with an 64-bit A8 chip and goes for $149 for the 32GB. $199 for 64GB. The existing Apple TV is sticking around for $69. All USD. Shipping in late October.
• Apple announced the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus with the same 4.7″ and 5,5″ displays respectively. It comes with a new glass that Apple claims is the strongest in the industry. Four finishes will ship. Silver, gold, space grey and rose gold. The big news is 3D Touch which is similar to Force Touch that has come with the MacBooks. This basically enables new gestures. Specifically peek and pop which allows you to do different actions on the fly with minimal effort. They demoed a Dropbox client as well as a Facebook client and a Instagram client that leverages this. There’s also a new A9 chip which makes it the fastest iPhone yet, at least for the next year. Ditto for the M9 motion coprocessor. There’s a new Touch ID sensor. the camera has been kicked up a notch to 12MP for the rear camera and 5MP for the front camera with a new image sensor to make sure that image quality stays high. Oh yeah, it will take 4K videos too and the screen will now become a flash for the front cameras for selfies. Apple has a new feature called Live Photos that when combined with 3D Touch give still photos movement and sound for the new iPhones. This feature will be compatible with OS X El Capitan, iOS 9, WatchOS 2, and TVOS. Plus a developer API will be available. It will come with LTE Advanced which will make it fast and compatible. WiFi is twice as fast. Finally, there’s a new app that will allow you to transfer your data from an Android phone, and new accessories available. Oh, there’s one more thing, Apple is now offering the iPhone Upgrade Program which will give you a new iPhone with the carrier of your choice, get an unlocked phone, and it includes AppleCare+ and starts at $32/month. The new iPhone will be same pricing and configurations as iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 5s moves to being a free phone on a 24 month contract. The iPhone 6 starts at $99, 6 Plus starts at $199. The 6s and 6s Plus start at $199 and $299. All USD. You can preorder September 12, and they will start shipping on September 25th.
• If you’re wondering when iOS 9 will ship, it will be available September 16th.
• There’s new iCloud pricing. Now 50GB will go for $0.99/month, 200GB for $2.99/month, and 1TB for $9.99/month.
• Strangely, there’s no mention of OS X El Capitan. Maybe.

I’ll update this post as I get more info and links.

UPDATE: The event video can be found here. I have also added links.

UPDATE #2: El Capitan has a launch date.

This entry was posted on September 9, 2015 at 3:50 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.