The internet was buzzing today about the new Apple event. There was a lot of new products announced. We have a new Apple TV, some new Apple Watch bands, we have two new iPhones, and we have a new iPad—that being the iPad Pro. I’m going to recap all the new Apple products that were announced today to see which one you guys are most interested in here on PhoneDog.com.
Apple Watch
The Apple event was off to a somewhat slow start as they announced several new Apple Watch bands. Apple actually teamed up and partnered with French luxury maker, Hermès, to create a hand-stitched band that can actually be paired with a custom Hermès watch face.
There are new sport bands for the Apple Watch Sport including a product red band, which as you guys know all the red products from Apple part of the proceeds go to a HIV/AIDS research which is really cool. We also have some new pastel color bands. We have red, blue, white, black and green. Apple actually describes these bands as ranging from vibrant hues to neutral tones.
Apple also announced a couple of new finishes for the Apple Watch Sport edition. It’s now available in gold and rose gold finishes.
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro made its official debut after several leaks and rumors surfaced before the event. The iPad Pro is the largest iPad Apple has ever created. It’s even the largest iOS device that will hit the market here in the next couple of months.
It features a 12.9-inch display with a 2732x2048 resolution. We have an A8X processor that is a 3rd Gen 64-bit processor featuring two times the memory bandwidth of the A8X chip. It features two times faster storage performance, two times faster console class GPU performance, and it’s faster than 80% of portable PCs on the market. Now get this: the onboard graphics are faster than 90% of the portable PCs on the market. That’s pretty cool right?
Apple didn’t mention the amount of RAM that was in the iPad Pro so we’ll have to find out later. It may be here pretty soon once the website is updated. We do know that there will be about a 10-hour battery life. There’s an 8MP rear camera sensor and a 1.2MP front-facing camera sensor. the device, as a whole, measures in at just 0.27 inches thick and it weighs just 1.5lbs.—a little over 1.5lbs. Apple has even added a Force Speaker audio system built into the iPad Pro. You get speakers on all four quadrants.
The starting price of the iPad Pro comes in at $800 with 32GB of built-in, onboard storage. That does not include the price of the official Apple accessories, which debuted alongside the iPad Pro.
Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil
So the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil are now officially a thing. The Smart Keyboard is covered in a fabric that forms the structure of the keyboard. There are three new circles along the side of the iPad Pro that are used to connect the Smart Keyboard to the device. The keyboard itself is pretty pricey. It comes in at $169.
The Apple Pencil is essentially just a stylus for the tablet. It features a Tilt and Force Control support and it can be recharged by simply plugging in the end of the pencil into the iPad Pro itself as it features a lightning connector on the end. This accessory is priced at $100.
So with all the accessories included, the new iPad Pro could easily cost you over $1000, depending on which model you choose. With that said and knowing that information, do you prefer a monster tablet and keyboard and a stylus or do you prefer a laptop? Let me know.
Apple TV
In addition to the iPad Pro, the Apple TV was announced as Apple says “the future of television is apps”. With the new Apple TV, we have a clean new UI, faster internals, a built-in App Store which is kind of cool and long overdue, and a brand new remote powered by a 64-bit A8 processor which supports 8.0.2.11 AC Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. As for connections, it features a simple AC port, an HDMI port, and Ethernet port for connectivity if you don’t rely on wireless.
The new remote is kind of cool. It features a glass touch surface, which can be used to slide through the UI, swipe through different movies and apps and TV shows and whatnot. And you can actually use Siri to search across a number of apps using universal search, which includes apps like iTunes, Hulu, HBO and ShowTime. The app store will feature apps ranging from games to news apps to weather apps to travel apps like AirBNB. Apple has really put a big emphasis on games though as you can use the controller to actually play mini games from the app store directly on your TV—on your big screen TV, which is kind of cool.
The Apple TV is priced more than the last model. It’s priced at $149 for the 32GB variant or $200 for 64GB of internal storage.
iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
Apple saved the biggest news for last as they announced the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus. Apple didn’t really specify any major differences between the two models besides the obvious fact that the iPhone 6S Plus is larger than the iPhone 6S. We do know that both devices will feature 3D Touch, they’ll feature 12MP camera sensors, and both devices will come in a new Rose Gold color configuration. But let’s get into the specifics.
The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus are crafted with 7000 series aluminum and come in four color configurations—Silver, Gold, Space Gray and Rose Gold. They’re being powered by a 64-bit A9 chip with an M9 motion co-processor that is embedded and always on. Touch ID is two times faster than before, Siri is improved with iOS 9, and there are 23 LTE bands in the new iPhone 6S; which is the most in any smartphone and will improve speed and connectivity as the Wi-Fi and LTE speeds are up to two times faster. Alongside the 12MP rear-facing camera sensor, we also have a 5MP front-facing camera sensor which actually uses the display as a flash.
3D Touch is definitely the biggest selling point of the new iPhone 6S. It allows you to press it on the phone screen to pull up additional menus, activate shortcuts, and just interact with the device in all new ways. It measures the amount of force you press on the display using all new sensors which is kind of cool. It is something that can only be done and only be possible with new hardware and software that are working together.
The iPhone 6S will start at $200 on a 2-year contract for 16GB of internal storage and the iPhone 6S Plus will start at $300 on a 2-year contract with 16GB of internal storage. Since most carriers are doing away with contracts, Apple actually unveiled their own payment plan. With the Apple payment plan, you can actually lease an iPhone and upgrade the latest and greatest iPhone each and every year starting at just $32 a month. You can spread the cost to 24 months and have an option to upgrade to a new iPhone after 12 payments are issued and you can pick your carrier. You have Apple Care Plus which is included in the program. I really think this program is going to be popular for a lot of people. I feel like a lot of people always want the latest and greatest thing. I’m one of those people so for those of you who want the latest and greatest iPhone, you might want to seriously look at this program.
With that said, that was all that was announced at the Apple event. So we have two new iPhones—the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus, we have a new Apple TV, a new iPad Pro and we have new Apple Watch bands with new finishes as well. Which Apple product are you most interested in?
