Apple’s Fall Crop

iPhone 6S, iPad Pro, TV and more

By Anca Gagiuc on Sep 14, 2015 in Technology

Apple’s annual fall product preview featured a colorful array of unprecedented announcements kept 6,000 in-person attendees and thousands more online viewers interested for more for almost two hours.

“To wear it is to love it.”

Everyone knew there would be a new pair of iPhones—the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus—but this is not how the evening started. First came the Apple Watch, now best buddy with high-end fashion house Hermès, in an entirely new collection that features hand-stitched leather straps and a special watch face. The couture device will have a selection of three bands with the stainless steel face: a single leather loop, a double loop, and a cuff. The double loop one comes only with the 38mm face, while the thicker cuff only has the 42mm version. The band leather is available in different colors.

Apple also announced new gold and rose gold colors for the Apple Watch Sport, a take on the pricey Apple Watch Edition series, but in anodized aluminum. Moreover, an expanded range of pastel Sport Band colors were presented under the fall collection. This can only mean that more colors are in the works for next year.

Starting September 16, the wearable software will be updated to Watch OS 2, providing support for native third-party apps named “third-party complications” that bring notification and other third-party app data on to watch faces, as well as some overall performance improvements. More on that when it’s out.

“Thin. Light. Epic.”

Then there was the iPad Pro. This (not so) little (anymore) device grew up into a fabulous 12.9-inch screen, with plenty of surprises. Very comfortable for gaming, entertainment, and serious work tool, the new iPad is accessorized with a full-size keyboard and a multi-tasking tool. And if you thought that MacBook Pro’s Retina display was a thrill for the eyes, you will be amazed by the 2,732 x 2,048 pixels (5.6 million pixels in total) as it’s denser that MacBook’s display.

iPad Pro runs on a new A9X 64-bit chip that the company claims is 1.8 times faster than the previous generation, with a display that features variable refresh rate. Phil Shiller said that “its A9X chip beats most portable PCs in both CPU and graphics tasks, but is thin and light enough to hold all day.” The device runs for 10 hours of battery life per charge, measures 6.9mm thin, weighs around 1.5 pounds and has an 8MP camera.

Unfortunately, the gargantuan iPad doesn’t come with 3D Touch, the marquee feature of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. Perhaps in next year’s model?

The Smart Keyboard attaches to the tablet magnetically through the Smart Connector—three small, circular buttons that supply both data and power. No more Bluetooth connection required. It’s made of a special material and, like other iPad cases, it can wrap around the back and prop the tablet up with a triangular-shaped hinge. It flaunts a full QWERTY layout, but without the numeric keypad. The keys use the butterfly mechanism presented at the launch of the 12-inch MacBook. Bonus, the smart keyboard is spill- and stain-resistant.

Then there is the stylus, named Apple Pencil, which in typical Apple fashion is a simple, minimalist-looking tool with pressure sensitivity—pressing harder will make the strokes thicker and darker—and also tilt sensors for realistic shading. Apple says the tablet’s subsystem scans for Pencil’s signal 240 times per second, recording the input with “lightning-fast responsiveness.” Its internal battery lasts for 12 hours and, for easy charging, its hidden Lightning connector can be plugged directly into the iPad Pro—15 seconds gives another 30 minutes of battery life. The gadget was designed for the iPad Pro only, so don’t try to use it on your iPhone – it won’t work.

The iPad Pro, the Smart Keyboard, and the Pencil will be available in November. The iPad Pro starts at $799 for a Wi-Fi version with 32GB of memory, $949 for Wi-Fi with 128GB, and $1,079 for 128GB with Wi-Fi and cellular data. The Apple Pencil is $99 and the keyboard $169. While presenting the iPad Pro, Shiller sneaked in the $399 iPad mini 4, an updated version of the mini.

“We believe the future of television is apps.”

Tim Cook surprised the auditorium at first, but then it started to make sense. Apple TV comes after a long time of preparation, but it seems that the wait was worth it. The new Apple TV will include the voice control feature as well as a touch-capable remote that can be used as gaming controller, too. Siri can perform a multitude of tasks: find content based on categories, title, or actors, and she can sort results by popularity and where content is available to stream.

Apple Photo and Music can be accessed on the streaming device. Bluetooth 4.0 remote enables users to swipe quickly to scroll past results, or slowly to hover over a title card to learn more. If during a movie you miss what one of the characters said, you can simply ask Siri “what did he say?” and she’ll rewind 15 seconds and temporarily add subtitles. Smooth!

With the new TV also comes a new operating system called tvOS. It allows third-party developers to create apps specifically for the big screen. Early developers include Netflix, HBO, Hulu, ActiVision, Harmonix, Gilt, Zillow, and Airbnb.

Apple TV will sell for $149 for 32GB and $199 for 64GB starting October. It will be available on over 80 countries at launch and 100 by the end of the year.

“The only thing that’s changed is everything.”

The ninth version of the iPhone materialized as the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Design-wise the new handsets look similar to last year’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6Plus; 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches thin, with a depth of 7.1mm and 7.3mm respectively confirm the rumors that the 2015 models will be slightly thicker than the predecessors (6.9mm and 7.1mm). This is mostly due to the new Retina HD displays that are shielded with ion-strengthened glass. The two new iPhones are also slightly heavier—143g and 192g versus the 129g and 172g of last year’s smartphones.

The main difference in design comes with the new rose gold metallic finish. Those who don’t fancy the idea of owning a “pink” phone can opt for the familiar iPhone shades of silver, space gray, and gold, available starting September 25.

The most significant technical advancement in the new models is 3D Touch, an advanced version of Force Touch, the technology that senses the pressure the user is applying to the screen in order to bring up new menus and features. Apple managed to apply clever shortcuts: pressing lightly on the Maps app will display shortcuts including Mark My Location and Direction Home. Applying the same pressure on the email app pulls up the options to start a new message, open the inbox, or start searching. Pressing lightly on an unread email within the inbox pulls up a quick view of the content, yet leaving the message marked as unread. To sum it up, this is a clever way to access the key parts of the apps without having to open it and carry out each step. And since the display has plenty of space, the feature doesn’t over-complicate the process.

The cameras on both phones have been upgraded, hopefully slowing down the exasperation of the users, jealous of the competitors’ smartphone cameras. The front-facing cameras has features inspired from the selfie generation. It’s much larger sensor is capable of recording 1,080p video and 5MP stills. Furthermore, the software that controls it has been revamped as well—it can now take selfie panoramas, slow-motion video, and even use the phone’s screen as flash.

However, wonderful things happen around the back: a new 12-megapixel camera capable to capture 4K video. It’s a not a premiere, but there is hope that integrating 4K into an iPhone will boost the format and make it more popular. Moreover, Apple uses the “deep-trench isolation” technology, a sensor that has been improved to provide better color accuracy, less noise, and superior low-light performance.

There is another new thing called “Live Photos”—still photos that have 3 seconds of video and audio integrated around them. By default, iPhones 6S and 6S Plus, will grab those little moments whenever you take a photo; force-touch on an image in the library and it will ‘come to life.’

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus run on a new A9 processor that is 70 percent faster at CPU tasks, 90 percent faster for GPU, and the motion co-processor is now integrated into the A9 chip. TouchID is twice as fast to boot, and on the network front there are 300Mbps LTE Advanced with 23 LTE bands, and, you guessed it, twice as fast Wi-Fi.

Pre-order for the phones starts on September 12 and shipping will begin on September 25. Off contract, a 16GB iPhone 6S sells at $649, a 64GB at $749, while the 128GB model sells at $849. iPhone 6S Plus with 16GB of storage will be available at $749, the 64GB one at $849, and the 128GB version will be available at $949.