Today Apple held their "By Innovation Only" event. The event was a mix of information about Apple's services and hardware.
Apple Arcade
One of the areas where Apple is attempting to focus is with services. One of the most anticipated is their all new gaming service, Apple Arcade. Today we got some additional information about the service. Specifically, it will launch on September 19th. It will cost $4.99 per month, but that includes the entire family. This will also come with a one month free trial so you can try all of the games out before committing to purchasing the service.
Apple Arcade will include 100 mobile games that are exclusively available on Apple Arcade.
Apple TV+
The second service that is anticipated is Apple TV+. Apple TV+ is Apple's original programming service. When it was announced in March, not a whole lot of additional information was available. Today Apple unveiled the price of $4.99 per month, for the entire family. Along with this, if you buy an iOS device, Apple TV, or Mac, you will get a year of Apple TV+ for free. Apple TV+ will be available starting November 1st.
iPad
The iPad is an important product in Apple's line up. There is only one iPad that has received an update today, and that is the most popular iPad, the 9.7-inch model.
There is an all new seventh-generation iPad available. This has an all-new form factor and now has a larger screen at 10.2 inches diagonally. It includes the A10 Fusion chip, which is the same as the one that is in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X. This means that it will be fast when it comes to playing games or just using the device in general.
One of the other features is the Smart Connector, which means that you can now use the Smart Keyboard with the 7th generation iPad. It still has the same 10 hours of battery life as well as a Touch ID sensor.
It comes in three colors, Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. It also comes in two storage sizes, 32GB and 128GB. The 32GB model is $329 and the 128GB model is $459. There are cellular versions which are $130 more for each size. You can order the new iPad today and it will begin shipping on September 30th.
Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is one of Apple's forays into health and fitness. Before we dive into what's new, let us look at its other foray, Health Studies.
Health Studies
Apple has done some health studies in the past, most notably a heart study which lead to the EKG sensor on the Series 4 Apple Watch. There are three new studies, the Apple Hearing Study, which will study daily sound exposure. The second new study is the Apple Women’s Health Study, which will study the women's menstrual cycle. The last study is the Apple Heart & Movement Study. This study will use the Apple Watch to look for early warning signs of health issues.
Apple is partnering with the University of Michigan, Harvard School of Public Health, and Brigham & Women's Hospital, respectively, to perform these studies. These will be available for you to participate in, if you so choose, later this year.
Apple Watch Series 5
The Apple Watch Series 5 bring some new features to the Apple Watch. The most requested amongst these is the all new "Always On" display. This means that you can go ahead and check the time whenever need to. But besides the time always being shown, your complications will also be shown.
If you wrist is turned down the display will dim so that it is not at full brightness, however, if you turn your wrist to see the display, it will go back to full brightness.
You might think that this could be a power drain, but that is into the case. This is due to the new power efficiency built into the display. It can adjust its refresh from anywhere 1 hertz to 60 hertz, depending on its need. Because of this, battery life is not impacted and you still get 18 hour battery life.
Besides the new screen, there is a new compass that is built into the Series 5 Apple Watch. The new compass will work within Maps to show you where you are located and which direction you need to go. There is a complication that you can add to your watch faces as well. The compass will show your latitude and longitude as well, so you can see where you are within the world.
Along with this, developers can take advantage of this and utilize the compass within their own applications.
The Series 5 Apple Watch is available in four different case styles; Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Titanium, and Ceramic. The Aluminum ones are the same three colors, Silver, Gold, and Space Gray. The Stainless steel is available in Gold, Space Black, and Polish (Silver). Titanium is available in Natural brush, or Brush Space Black. The Ceramic case is available in white.
All of these models are available in 40 and 44mm varieties. Prices for the 40mm for each of the styles above start at $399, $699, $799, and $1299 respectively. The Cellular models are $100 more.
The Apple Watch is available for ordering today and will be delivered and arrive in stories on September 20th. There are Nike Sport models as well, however these will ship beginning on October 4th. Next let us look at the change around the iPhone.
iPhone
The iPhone is Apple's most important product. While it does not command as much of Apple's revenue as it once did, it is still a majority. This year there are three different models to replace the existing high-end iPhones. Before we delve into each of the replacements, let us look at the commonalities between the devices.
Commonalities
All of the new iPhones have an all new A13 Bionic chip within it. The A13 brings the lead of the iPhone's processor even further ahead of the competition by including a new power efficiency built into each transistor. This means that each of the 8.5 billion transistors can be controlled individually to allow the most efficient experience. This will improve battery life, that will be discussed with each model.
Along with this, there is a third-generation neural engine that will handle a majority fo the machine learning tasks that iOS 13 needs to tackle. While the neural engine is tuned for some tasks, there may be more some instances where it is not the ideal solution. For those cases, the CPU and GPU can be used. Both of these have been improved to accelerate matrix multiplication so computations needed for machine learning will be even faster than before. In fact, the accelerators are now 6x faster.
The Camera app now has a new feature called "Quick Take". Quick Take will allow you to take video quickly, by holding down the shutter button and a video button will show. You can then take a video right in the middle of taking your photos.
Besides Quick Take there is a new feature called "Night Mode". Night Mode is designed to work well in low light situations like at a birthday party or at night. Night Mode will automatically be enabled when necessary and it will make photos in low light look like they were shot in the daytime.
Now, let us look at the new iPhones, starting with the replacement for the iPhone XR.
iPhone 11
The iPhone 11 has the same screen size, of 6.1-inches. However, it has an all new design. The iPhone 11 takes cues from the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max in that it has glass on both the front and back of the phone. However, the back of the iPhone 11 is all a single piece of glass.
The iPhone 11 also has a new improved camera system. Instead of the single camera from the iPhone XR, it now has two cameras, and Ultra Wide and Wide camera. The Ultra Wide camera has a 120 degree field of view, which can result in being able to take larger pictures without losing any information.
The iPhone 11's battery life is an hour longer than the iPhone XR's battery, which is all due to the power efficiencies made with the A13 Bionic chip.
The last new feature specific to the iPhone 11 is the fact that it is water resistant up to 2 meters for 30 minutes, which meets the IP68 specification.
The iPhone 11 comes in 6 different colors, White, Black, Green, Yellow, Purple, and (PRODUCT)RED. There are three different storage capacities, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. These are $699, $749, and $849 respectively. The iPhone 11 will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 13th, at 5a.m. Pacific time.
Next let us look at the "Pro" iPhone models.
iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max
The iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max are the replacements for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. The screen sizes remain the same at 5.8-inches and 6.5-inches respectively. The models the same excluding the size.
The screen is an improved OLED display that still has True Tone, and Haptic Touch, but it now has a 2 million to 1 contrast ratio and can display up to 1200 nits of peak brightness. This means that what you see on the screen will be even brighter. This is called the "Super Retina XDR Display".
To go along with the new Super Retina XDR Display, the iPhone 11 Pros supports spatial audio sound, so the sound will be even more realistic than before. Along with this, HDR 10, Dolby vision, and Dolby Atmos are also supported on the devices.
The iPhone Pros have an all new design that is similar to that of the iPhone 11 in that they are made out of a single piece of glass and the bump around the camera is contoured to fit exactly. The back of the iPhone 11 Pros starts with a surgical grade stainless steel band and the glass ends up having a Matte texture to it.
One of the reasons that users upgrade their iPhone is to be able to take great pictures. The iPhone 11 Pros have an all new camera system. There are three cameras on the Pro models. These are the Telephoto, Wide, and Ultra Wide lenses.
The Ultra Wide camera is an ƒ/2.4 aperture lens with 120-degree field of view. The Wide camera is an ƒ/1.8 aperture lens, and the telephoto lens is an ƒ/2.0 aperture lens.
Due to this configuration you are able to get 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, using the ultra wide camera, and digital zoom up to 10x.
One area where users have been clamoring is in regards to battery life. With the A13 improving power efficiency, the battery life of each model has improved. The iPhone 11 Pro now gets 4 more hours than the iPhone XS, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max will get up to 5 hours more than the iPhone XS Max. This is a significant improvement.
In order to be able to charge these as fast as possible, an 18-watt charger will be included with each iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max come in four colors, Silver, Gold, Space Gray, and Midnight Green. There are three storage sizes, 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB. The iPhone 11 Pro pricing is $999 for 64GB, $1149 for 256GB, and $1349 for 512GB. The iPhone 11 Pro Max is $100 more for each size.
They will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 13th, at 5a.m. Pacific time.
Other Changes
There have been some other changes. The Apple Watch Series 4 is no longer available for purchase, nor are the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone XS, nor the iPhone XS Max.
However, the iPhone XR is still available at a lower price of $599 for the 64GB and $649 for the $128GB model. The iPhone 8 is still available in 64GB and 128GB models, for $449 and $499 respectively. The iPhone 8 Plus is only $100 more for each size, so $549 and $599 respectively.
The last change is with the Series 3 Apple Watch. It is still in the lineup and is at a reduced price of $199. This makes the Series 3 a great purchase if you need to track your health and fitness but do not want to spend a lot.
Closing Thoughts
Apple's "By Innovation Only" event is one that provides a lot of new things to explore and products. Apple Arcade will be available on September 19th for $4.99. Apple TV+ will begin airing on November 1st, and will be $4.99 per month, but you will get 1 year free if you purchase an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
The Apple Watch Series 5 is a great improvement, particularly with the always on display so you can see the time without needing to raise your wrist. The inclusion of a compass should help point you in the right direction.
The iPhone 11 is a great phone with an even better price than before. The dual cameras will be able to produce even better pictures than before. The ultra wide camera will allow you take even wider photos and get more of a scene into a single picture. The variety of colors are a great addition as well.
The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are significant upgrades. The battery life on these models should be even better than before, thanks to the power efficiencies in the A13 processor.
One thing not explicitly stated in the keynote is that iOS 13 will be available on September 19th.
I will have a post about how well I did with my predictions in the coming days.
