Hope always runs high in the office when an Apple Event is coming. What will be announced? What do you want to see come out? Are you going to get the new ______? As we all know Apple doesn’t tell us or anyone what is coming. Rumor sites continuously post what they believe to be coming out, but even those sites can’t predict everything that will be announced. So the event has happened, new products have been announced, questions have been answered, what do I think?
I won’t go over in detail what came out. But I will share what I thought of some of the updates and new products. The iPad Pro will be a product unlike anything we’ve seen. Its size, screen resolution and Apple’s take on accessories will be far beyond what we’ve seen so far form previous iPads and accessories from third-party manufacturers. I realize talking about accessories may seem odd in regards to the iPad Pro announcement but as always their accessories, like their main products, are groundbreaking. The smart keyboard case utilizes the same breakthrough key cap design that came with the MacBook. If you have used the MacBook keyboard you know what I’m talking about. They also used similar technology to the MagSafe to power the keyboard through the iPad Pro. For me though, the most exciting piece was the Apple Pencil. It will be the most powerful stylus on the market and it utilizes a Lightning connector to recharge from the iPad Pro. Why do I care about something so simple? Because it’s the first time Apple has used the Lighting connector for such a purpose. The Lighting port carries amazing technology within it, so seeing it used like this hopefully points at what will come with Lightning. Maybe the next Beats Headphones will plug in via Lightning.
iPhone 6S: I can’t even begin to describe how happy I was to see these updates. 3D touch now makes the iPhone even more capable of tasks that we’ve come to use daily on our laptops. Think of it as a right click for the iPhone. You can now access more content on the same screen you’re used to seeing with the same tool you’ve always used, your finger. The Camera! Will that just make the Go Pro obsolete? Ok I won’t be mounting the iPhone 6S on my helmet anytime soon but with 4K and 12 megapixels I’m sure people will be using them in place of GoPro, SLRs and video cameras. Fight over the idea of “s” models with your friends but either way this is a huge update for the iPhone 6. I’ve written several times how much I enjoy having an iPhone because of its camera and this has only exemplified that point.
Overall I was impressed with all the new products. Could some things have been better? Always. I would have preferred Apple’s new USB-C standard on the iPad Pro as it’s a pro device. The customer using it will most likely want to use other pro equipment such as hard drives, networking over ethernet, and pro audio equipment. As I said, the Apple TV update lends endless capabilities to come but would have loved to see more TV networks signing on to the HBO and Showtime philosophy of monthly subscriptions to gain access to their content. To be a nerd, I’m most excited to see how the Lightning connecter is being used. It’s an amazing connector and is underutilized by just recharging your iPhone or iPad. With it now on the Apple Pencil and Apple TV remote I’m excited to see what’s next. Will I soon be plugging my new Beats Studio with Lightning connector into my Apple TV Remote for noise canceling audio while the rest of the house is fast asleep? We’ll see…