Yesterday, September 9th (19:00pm CEST for us at the BCN headquarters) Apple presented it’s second keynote this year introducing the latest range of their amazing products. This time we were expecting major changes to the iOS range, including a new iPhone as well as updates to the Apple Watch, Apple TV and iPad.
The outcome couldn’t have been better, with Apple (once again) introducing revolutionary new products and features that will change the way we use and interact with mobile technologies and TV.
Here at Mobile Jazz, we love these kind of events. It gives us an opportunity to get the team together and spend the evening watching the event while enjoying a drink and a snack! We’ve put together a list of the major and most important news of the keynote and we are happy to share it with you here.
Apple Watch
The Apple Watch has been regarded as a life changing device since its release. It has an astonishing 97% user satisfaction rate and already boasts more than 10,000 apps on it’s App Store. These amazing statistics have inspired Apple to keep pushing boundaries, improving usability and creating new features, resulting in the release of a new operating system: Watch OS 2. Some of these new features include:
Third-party complications
Time Travel
Adding transit to maps
Apps now have video capability and are now permitted to access more hardware components such as the microphone
Facebook Messenger: Text, audio, send location
iTranslate: Speak to translate
GoPro: Control your GoPro
AirStrip: Health data communication with live data
Apple has also introduced new Apple Watch bands (including a (PRODUCT)RED version) and two new color finishes: Space Black and Rose Gold.
The new Apple Watches are available today (September 9th), for more information check out the official Apple Watch page.
iPad
It’s amazing how fast time passes. It has been five years since the first iPad was revealed and now Apple is introducing “The biggest news in iPad since the iPad”. We can confirm that’s exactly what they did.
Apple has introduced the new iPad Pro. It’s the biggest iPad ever build and one of the largest tablets on the market. It has a brilliant display measuring 12.9 inches with the width of an iPad Pro cleverly matching the height of an iPad Air. The Retina screen has an astonishing resolution of 2732 x 2048 pixels which totals 5.6 million pixels. That means there are more pixels in this iPad than in a 15″ Macbook Pro Retina.
The screen however, is not the only amazing feature of this new iPad. The new iPad Pro has an incredible A9X processor that is 1.8x faster than the previous model, and is the first iPad with performance comparable to a desktop computer. This chip is also 22x faster than the first iPad. The graphics performance is also 2x faster the the previous generation and 360x faster than the first. So what does this really mean? Well, the new iPad Pro can execute apps in a way no iPad ever could before. For example – within the iMovie app, the new iPad Pro can play three streams of 4K video simultaneously. For comparison, most laptops struggle to even play a single stream of 4K video.
The new iPad Pro is also equipped with a four speaker audio system. This allows the iPad Pro to play up to three times higher volume than the iPad Air 2. The battery lasts up to 10 hours and mesaures only 6.9 mm thick (iPad Air is 6.1 mm) and 1.57 lb (1.54 lb first iPad). It also supports up to 150 Mbps on LTE connection and 866 Mbps over WiFi.
For the first time, Apple has created a case that incorporates a keyboard: the Smart Keyboard. The case connects through magnets (Smart Connector) located in the side of the iPad. The keyboard contains the seamless technology used on the latest Macbook laptops to provide an excellent feeling while typing.
Apple also created an entirely new way to interact with the device: the Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil not only detects touch, but position and force. It can calculate it’s angle and orientation when held and can be charged directly through the Lightning port of the iPad (15 seconds of charge are equal to 30 minutes of usage). The native Notes app has been updated and now allows drawings, and the best news: developers can now utilize this device for their apps!
You can imagine just how amazing the new iPad Pro must be if Microsoft and Adobe were present to demonstrate their new softwares (Microsoft Office and Photoshop Suite) integration with iOS 9 and usage with the Apple Pencil.
Price? Check it out:
iPad Pro 32GB WiFi: $799
iPad Pro 128GB WiFi: $949
iPad Pro 128GB WiFi + Cellular: $1079
Apple Pencil: $99
Smart Keyboard: $169
iPad Mini 4: from $399
The new iPad Pro will be available in November.
Apple also released an updated version of the iPad Mini: the iPad Mini 4. This version is 18% thinner than the previous generation (only 6.1 mm), has a better CPU (30% faster) and better graphics performance (60% faster). Connectivity-wise, the iPad Mini 4 can reach up to 866 Mbps on WiFi and 150 Mbps on LTE.
The prices for previous generations have been adjusted: $269 for the iPad Mini 2, $399 for the iPad Air and $499 for the iPad Air 2.
Apple TV
Apple did it again! “We believe the future of television is apps!” said Tim Cook before introducing the new and updated Apple TV. The new Apple TV has a new design and a brand new OS and remote control. Let’s start with the hardware:
The new Apple TV has the following hardware specifications:
64-bit A8 processor
32GB or 64GB of storage
2GB of RAM
10/100Mbps Ethernet
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
1080p resolution
New Siri Remote / Apple TV Remote
The Siri Remote is a revolutionary control with a built in touch surface. It permits the user to interact with the Apple TV in a brand new way, giving a new and fresh user experience to a television.
As the name suggests, the remote has a special button to trigger Apple’s voice assistant Siri. The user can talk with Siri to start and stop a movie, search in the movies and shows database and even launch a third party application.
The new remote is also features a gyroscope, accelerometer, Bluetooth and infrared connection. All these characteristics make it the perfect controller for games that you can play on the Apple TV.
As for the software, Apple has introduced the new tvOS. It’s based on iOS and will be the new operating system for Apple TV. The tvOS SDK provides tools and APIs for developers to create amazing experiences for the living room, in the same way they created a global app phenomenon for iPhone and iPad. tvOS supports key iOS technologies including Metal for detailed graphics, complex visual effects and Game Center for sharing and playing with friends. It has a brand new UI redesigned from scratch that is perfectly integrated with the Siri Remote and lets the user navigate through content using voice and touch.
There’s also a new App Store specifically designed for tvOS apps. There are already some apps, many of which are successes from the iOS App Store ported to the new Apple TV. Here’s some examples:
Netflix
Hulu
Games
Rayman
StarWars games
Guitar Hero
Shadowmatic
AirBnB
Crossy Road from Hipster Whale
Beat sports
The prices of the new Apple TV are $149 for the 32GB version and $199 for the 64GB. It is available in the stores in more than 80 country starting October.
The beta version goes out today and developers can register for a preview of the development kit here.
iPhone
As expected, Apple introduced a brand new iPhone model. Despite being an ‘S’ year, the new iPhone lineup was absolutely packed with new and interesting features and improvements. Physically the new models are the same, but there are a lot of changes under the hood.
Apple’s new iPhone lineup is now being built using 7000 series aluminum, a new alloy that is stronger than any previous models. There are four colour variants with the new addition of the Rose Gold finish.
The screen is made with a new dual ion-exchange process, which makes the glass stronger than all previous generations. It also has built in an innovative technology called 3D Touch, which captures and understands precise differences of touch over the screen of the iPhone. 3D Touch has been deeply integrated into the software of iOS 9 on the iPhones 6S. Essentially, it is a new interaction paradigm, allowing users to move ‘in’ as well as the standard up, down, left and right, that have always been a part of multi-touch on iOS. If the user maintains a press of a point on the screen, the new OS will react to the new gesture presenting new and interesting ways to interact. These include shortcut menus, a quick preview of emails and much more.
This new level of interaction has introduced new gestures on iOS9: a long press on an item triggers quick view, on an app icon this shows a shortcut menu and pressing and holding on the side of the screen previews the app switcher. We can imagine many more new gestures and interactions are coming. As with the MacBook’s Force Touch, developers can leverage this new technology to create more fascinating UIs in their application.
The iPhone6S and 6S Plus is powered by the new A9 chip, which has a new transistor architecture and is 70% faster and a 90% better graphic performances than its predecessor, the A8 chip. It has a new built in motion sensor called M9, that continuously monitors user movements and vital data.
Security has been stepped up with the new TouchID, which reads fingerprints twice as fast than its predecessor.
The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus both have a new 12 MP iSight camera (the old one featured a 6 MP). The sensors inside have been upgraded with 50% more Focus Pixels – a new image signal processor, improved local tone mapping and more. The new iSight camera is now also capable of shooting 4K video.
The front-facing FaceTime HD cameras on both devices have also been upgraded to 5 MP. Apple also introduced the new Retina Flash technology, that basically lights up the entire screen of the phone to produce light on the faces of in front of the camera.
The last big new feature of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus camera is Live Photos. This is a very intriguing addition where pictures taken by the camera will actually take a series of shots before and after your taken photo. When viewing you can push and hold the photo to bring it to life and transform it into a Live Photo.
The WiFi and LTE speeds in the new lineup are significantly improved. The LTE connection can reach a speed up to 300 Mbps and WiFi 866 Mbps.
For all Android users, Apple has released a new app called “Move to iOS” that helps users to migrate their existing account information and content over to iCloud.
The new iPhone 6S price’s start at $199 for the 16GB, $299 for 64GB and $399 for 128GB. It’s big brother the iPhone 6S Plus starts at $299 for 16GB, $399 for 64GB and $499 for 128Gb. It’s worth noting that these prices are for contracts in the United States. Availability for this new iPhone lineup starts at September 30th and pre-orders start at September 12th.
The new iOS 9 operating system for iPhone and iPad will be released on September 16th.