Apple Spring Forward Event Highlights
The Apple Spring Forward event, perhaps one of the very few major announcements without a “One More Thing” moment, appeared to have fulfilled most of our expectations on new products, updates of existing ones, and of course, the Apple Watch.
Apple TV
On the Apple TV front, no major updates there, except for Apple TV reduced pricing, down to $69, and HBO NOW, the upcoming $14.99 monthly streaming service, which, as of this April, will become an Apple exclusive. By that token, it’s unclear of what these terms of exclusivity mean to cable and satellite subscribers, or to subscribers of services like HBO GO.
Apple Pay
Tim Cook introduced the latest stats for Apple Pay, including current support of the mobile payment system by 2500 banks, and 700.000 US locations where Apple Pay is supported. As many as 40.000 Coca Cola vending machines are currently able to take payments using Apple Pay.
CarPlay
Apple’s investment in the automotive industry is increasing, as Tim Cook announced, in a bold statement that “Every major car brand has committed to delivering CarPlay” Cook further announced that more than 40 new car models will be shipping with CarPlay.
ResearchKit
Apple’s new development platform was announced today. ResearchKit is set to provide support for medical research and collection of health data from participating users who wish to contribute to major studies, through 5 new apps, available today:
- mPower - Parkinsons disease
- GlucoSuccess - Diabetes
- MyHeart Counts - Hearth disease
- Asthma Health - Asthma
- Share the Journey - Breast cancer
The MacBook
A new MacBook was finally unveiled today. Apparently this new device does not have qualifiers, like Pro or Air.
Phil Schiller introduced the new laptop as the “lightest MacBook ever”. Weighing at a mere 2 pounds, the new MacBook is 24% thinner than the MacBook Air (13.1 millimeters), featuring a full body enclosure. The rumors about a 12 inch retina display were also spot-on. The new MacBook’s display supports a resolution of 2340x1440 pixels. the LED technology for the new display is also 30% more energy efficient than the MacBook Air.
Among the most impressive innovations, the full-size keyboard has been redesigned with a new “butterfly mechanism”, which replaces previous “scissor” keystroke technology, with a more solid construction and increased accuracy. The trackpad is also revamped, integrating Apple’s proprietary Taptic engine.
The new trackpad also features a new “force click” gesture control, which can be assigned to a number of actions, such as creating calendar entries, or triggering map information from websites.
This MacBook is also the first of its kind, featuring fanless technology, and the densest logic board ever designed for a laptop. The miniaturized logic board is 67% smaller than that of a 13 inches MacBook Air.
Battery life is one of Apple’s biggest priorities, and for this new product, Apple created a special contoured battery cell design, which divides up what would be a central battery, into individual cells, which are a lot thinner than a traditional ultraportable laptop battery, boosting battery life to 9 hours of wireless web surfing, and up to 10 hours of iTunes usage.
The new MacBook integrates the new USB Type-C connector, as its sole wired communication port to devices, as well as charging mechanism. Apple’s focus for this laptop is indeed wireless connectivity. The new MacBook integrates dual AC Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.
Energy efficiency meets Apple’s friendly stance on the environment. The new MacBook is also highly recyclable and free from many of metals and compounds deemed harmful to the environment.
The specs are also impressive, featuring 8GB of memory, 256GB SSD, 12GB of internal memory, and with this new MacBook, Apple has officially began widespread adoption of 5th generation Intel Core M processors. The new MacBook features clock speeds from 1.3Ghz up to 3.9Ghz.
The new device will begin shipping April 10, starting at $1299.
Updates to the existing MacBook lineup
As previously mentioned, updates are coming to the existing MacBook line-up. Both the 11 inches and the 13 inches MacBook Air will be upgraded to a 5th generation Intel Core processor, as well as the new trackpad with integrated Taptic engine. Other upgrades include faster GPU and Thunderbolt 2 support.
Finally, the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch has gotten a fair share of attention, and much of what was introduced on stage today has been public domain for some time. It seems Apple was able to find a way to extend the battery life of the Apple Watch to an impressive 18 hours.
As previously announced, the Apple Watch will be released in three versions, each one featuring at least two sizes to choose from.
The Sport version, in anodized aluminum, will be available in space grey and silver, featuring a wristband in high performance elastomer. This version will retail starting at $349, up to $399 for the larger version.
The Watch version, made of stainless steel, will be available in Space Black and reflective steel, and retail starting at $549 up to $1049, depending on the type of wristband.
The Watch Edition version, the most expensive Apple Watch, cast in 18Kt. gold, will be available in Yellow or Rose, and will retail for $10.000,
With the exception of the Sport edition, which will feature Ion-X glass, the display on the Apple Watch will be available in Sapphire crystal.
The entire line-up will be available for pre-order starting April 10, and available for purchase April 24th.