So I know I said I wasn’t going to post about Apple for a while after five blog posts in September/October! How could I not speak about the new iPad Pro, MacBook Air and other announcements from their October Special Event in New York? I usually watch keynote presentations live (as they’re usually 10am California time which is 6pm in the U.K.) however this one was 10am New York time, which at the moment is only 2pm in the U.K. (our clocks have changed back an hour before the USA’s have). Nevertheless I watched it as soon as I got home from work. I am trying something different this week by posting my notes taken during the presentation! These are copied straight from my Notes app and I’ll add comments underneath speaking about each point made. Hope you enjoy reading!
*The quick notes I took during the presentation are in bold. My additional comments and thoughts about the announcements are in italics.*
Amazing Opening Video – Graphically Beautiful – Loved It!
The opening video was hypnotising for this Apple event. From a graphics and animation point-of-view it was visually stunning. I recommend watching the keynote just to see this opening clip if I’m totally honest!
New MacBook Air – 13.3” Retina Display – Touch ID – New Butterfly Mechanism Keyboard – Force Touch Trackpad – 25% Louder and Improved Audio – 2 x Thunderbolt 3 Ports – Up To 16GB Memory – Larger and Faster SSDs – All Day Battery Life (up to 13hrs iTunes movie playback) – 17% Smaller – 15.6mm Thin – 2.75lbs – Made with 100% Recycled Aluminium 🌍 – Three New Colour Finishes (Space Grey, Silver, Gold).
I am so impressed that Apple have engineered a new type of aluminium for the creation of the new MacBook Air products. It uses 100% recycled aluminium whilst maintaining the excellent quality and strength you would expect from Apple. They also come in a few colours which is great. I am seriously considering this for my next Mac or another one which uses recycled materials (thankfully my MacBook Pro from Early 2011 is still going strong)!
New Mac mini – Space Grey Finish – 4 and 6 Core Processors – 5x Faster Than Before – Up To 32GB and 64GB Memory – All-Flash Storage Up To 2TB – New Thermal System with Double Airflow, Made with 100% Recycled Aluminium 🌍
Mac Mini isn’t something that has interested me before however they have made some serious improvements to this as well. They have changed the colour to space grey as well as packing a lot more processing power and graphics management into the machine. This is another product made with 100% recycled aluminium so again, I’m very impressed.
Apple Retail – Today At Apple – 18,000 Sessions Every Week Worldwide – 60 New Sessions Available 2019 – New Covent Garden Store + Others – All Retail Locations Use 100% Renewable Energy.
My favourite Apple Store used to be Covent Garden in London before they revamped their Regent Street location. Now that they have refurbished Covent Garden I am really looking forward to seeing it! I was in London mid-October but it was all boarded up (see above) and Apple were keeping it under wraps!
New iPad Pro – 11” (Same Enclosure) / 12.9” (Smaller Enclosure) Edge-To-Edge Liquid Retina LCD Display – 15% Thinner – 25% Smaller – Face ID with True Depth Camera (Any Orientation) – No Home Button – A12X Bionic Chip (7 Nanometer Technology, 10 Billion Transistors) – Hugely Faster – 1000x Faster Graphics – All-Day Battery Life – 1TB Storage – USB-C Connection – Charging Out via USB-C (Like Battery Bank) – 2nd Generation Apple Pencil – Wirelessly Charges – Magnetically Connects – Automatically Pairs – Tap-Enabled Controls – Smart Keyboard Folio with Front & Back Protection – AR Capabilities – Full Adobe Photoshop on iPad Pro (Reimagined for Touch) – Arrow (AR) to Experience Art
Apple has really impressed me this year more than ever before… From the new iPhone launch to the Apple Watch improvements alongside their software releases. They’ve gone and done it again with the new iPad Pro! I have been neglecting my iPad Pro which I bought in the USA back in February 2016 as it uses Touch ID (I know it’s advanced technology but it’s such a pain after having Face ID now)! The new screen with a very small border to it, no home button, Face ID and new Apple Pencil are very appealing! I would be conflicted as to which size to get as I am used to a 12.9″ screen. They have dramatically reduced the size of the device with the new iPad Pro whilst keeping the screen that large. In addition to this the smaller device has had the screen size increased to 11″. I am going to start using my iPad Pro more in the coming months and make a decision before heading to the USA this Xmas and a New Year.
iOS 12 – Most Installs in First Month – 12.1 Now Available – Group FaceTime – New Emojis – eSIM
FaceTime for several people is finally here! It wasn’t launched back with iOS 12 due to Apple having some technical problems but it didn’t take them too long to fix this. I am still eagerly awaiting Apple Pay Cash in the U.K. and really want them to launch this soon. The new eSIM feature appeals to me as well as a way to separate work from personal phone lines yet still use the same device. Not something I currently require but I might do in the future and it will be very handy.
Did you watch Apple’s October Special Event? What do you think of the new products? Thanks for reading and have a great day!
Glen Conbeer 