Apple have just had their special event – the one the world has been talking about since the last one. The new iPhones (iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR) were announced at the last one, this time the hype has centred around new iPads, new Macs, a new Apple Pencil, and the possibility of a new Mac Mini.
Well lots happened in New York so if you missed the live stream here’s all the announcements and what to expect from Apple in the not too distant future.
First we were welcomed to New York in typical style – as it happens I also happens I like New York!
So what has the Brooklyn Academy of Music got for us today? Kermit made an appearance…
Mac :
MacBook Air :
Apple announce that they have hit the milestone of 100 million active installs of MacOS and we go straight to the most beloved notebook ever… the MacBook Air…
It is time for a new MacBook Air – we are getting one and it is going to have a Retina Display.
We are also getting, 4 million pixels and 48% more colour as well as TouchID and a load of internal updates.
The keyboard will be upgraded and backlit. The trackpad is getting an upgrade too.
Audio hasn’t been forgotten about either. The speakers and mics have been upgraded.
The MacBook Air is getting 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports for connectivity.
The new MacBook Air has 17% less volume and weighs a mere 2.75lbs
There we have it… The new MacBook Air. (Oh and it will start at $1199 / £1199 and you can order one today).
Mac Mini :
Small but mighty!
There is a new Mac Mini on route! Finally!
Space Grey finish and a huge performance upgrade from 6/8 cores, SSD drives up to 2TB and a maximum 64GB of memory all lead to a Mac Mini that is 5 times faster, with 30 times faster video coding and you can string them together, just a few of them or if you fancied it – many thousands of the, for the ultimate data centre.
It starts at $799 / £799, you can order it today and it will be available next week!
Apple Retail:
’Today at Apple’ gets a update now to let everyone catch their breath after the MacBook Air and Mac Mini refreshes, so we welcome Angela to the stage and my goodness does NY love her!
We hear how Apple are helping customers, create and code.
18,000 sessions have been held every week and now all you have to do to get involved is click ‘Sessions’ on your Apple Store app and see what takes your fancy. From the new year a new 60 sessions are being released covering video, photos and design. These sessions will cover all devices, mobile and Mac and go right up to the Pro level.
iPad :
This announcement almost lifted the roof.
400 Million iPads have been sold, then Tim Cook drops the bomb that iPad has outsold every notebook manufacturer on the planet – stating that the iPad is the worlds best selling portable computer!
All New iPad Pro :
The promo video just had too much going on to keep up! But here is the crux of it :
Edge to edge LCD display – a liquid Retina display.
The iPad Pro will come in two sizes.
The old 10.5” is replaced by something the same physical size but the screen size is now 11”.
The 12.9” still has a 12.9” screen but is smaller by 25% volume and almost exactly the size of a sheet of paper.
FaceID has arrived.
A12X Bionic chips powers the new iPad Pro. 35% faster on single core processes, 90% faster on multi core processes.
Faster than 92% of all portable computers sold last year.
Graphic performance is now 1000% faster – the same power as an xBox One X!
Up to 1TB in storage will be available.
The rumours were true and iPad Pro is moving to USB-C (which will support out charging – so you can use your iPad Pro to charge your iPhone).
Autocad / Gaming / DJing are all mentioned as tasks the new iPad Pro excels at and 2K Games show a demo of the newest NBA game and it just looks exceptional, it does seem to be a decent looking console rival – to be honest though for for it to ever be a proper rival a decent game pad needs to come.
Adobe take the stage and the news we all know about – PhotoShop is coming to iPad – full PhotoShop!
The image being demo’d was over a massive 3GB in size, and it seemed to flawlessly works with such massive images.
Project Arrow [AR) then took us on a walk through a 9ft x 9ft image though a forest.
You can order you new iPad Pro today and they will start shipping on 7th November. The new ones start at $799 / £769 and $999 / £969.
The new Apple Pencil :
Connects magnetically, always connected and has a double tap programmable (by the app) feature.
The new Smart Keyboard Folio :
Seems to be pretty similar, just a few minor updates to screen viewing angle and to work in conjunction with USB-C.
iOS12 :
iOS 12 is now on 60% of Apple devices and today 12.1 is released bring the 32 people FaceTime that we have all been waiting for.
That’s it folks, a pretty decent keynote with some really great product releases that seemed to tick most of the boxes that people were looking for.
Lana Del Rey finishes the show with some acoustic delights.
