Over the past week there have been a couple of changes for Apple Developers. One only affects developers while the second also affects customers.

Apple Small Business Developer applications are now open

Applications for Apple's Small Business developer program began on Thursday, December 3rd. If you enroll by December 18th, 2020 at 10:00 am Pacific time you will receive the benefits of the program. To recap, if you earned less than $1m per year in Apple's App Stores you are eligible to have a reduced commission of 15% instead of 30%. If you go above this amount in a year, Apple will receive a 30% commission for all sales after $1 million, as well as the following year. You can read a full-recap here. There have been a couple of additional details provided.

App transfers are not allowed while participating in the program. If you initiate an app transfer after December 31, 2020, or accept a transfer of an app that was initiated after December 31, 2020, you will no longer be eligible to participate in program.

This makes sense to some degree, because typically indie developers are not transferring apps, but that is not always the case. A second clarification on what happens if you enroll after December 18th, is also outlined.

If you’re already a member of the Apple Developer Program and submit your enrollment for the App Store Small Business Program after December 18, 2020, at 10 a.m. PST, your proceeds will be adjusted fifteen (15) days after the end of the fiscal calendar month in which your enrollment is approved. For example, if your enrollment is approved on February 10, 2021, your proceeds are adjusted starting March 14, 2021.

Again, this aspect of it makes sense, but some time is probably needed to make the actual adjustments. There is further information available on Apple's Developer website, including a link to actually enroll. This change will only affect developers, however the next item will affect both developers and their customers.

Family Sharing enabled on in-app purchases

If you are a developer and you have in-app purchases in your apps, you may be able to enable family-sharing on them; should you choose to do so. It is quite common for one family member to make an in-app purchase and want to share that with their other family members. However, until now this has not been possible. To enable family sharing on your in-app purchases, perform the following steps:

1. Log in to App Store Connect.
2. Click on "My Apps" to bring up a list of your applications.
3. Click on the app where you want to enable family sharing of your in-app purchase.
4. On the left-hand side under "In-App Purchases", click on "Manage". A list of available in-app purchases should be appear when the page loads.
5. Click on the in-app purchase that you want to manage.
6. Under the "Family Sharing" section, click on the "Turn On" link. A popup will appear.
7. The popup states "This in-app purchase will be able to be shared by everyone in a family group. NOTE: Once you confirm, you won't be able turn off this feature." Click on "Confirm" to enable family sharing for the in-app purchase .

There are two things to note. First, and most importantly, once you have enabled family sharing for an in-app purchase, it cannot be turned off. Secondly, not all in-app purchases are eligible for family sharing. Only non-consumable in-app purchases and subscriptions are eligible for family sharing. You can learn more on the App Store Connect help page for Family Sharing of In-App Purchases.

Both of these changes are welcome for developers. Customers will be able to benefit by not being required to make multiple purchases and instead can share existing purchases.

At their 2017 World Wide Developer Conference, Apple announced a whole new product line. It would be a smart speaker that would not only be your smart assistant but would also be an AirPlay speaker. Even though it was announced in June of 2017, it would be seven and a half months, January 26th of 2018 to be exact, before you would be able to pre-order one. They were released on February 9th, and sold out before they went on sale.

One aspect to the original HomePod that a lot of people questioned was the price. It cost $349 when it was released. Apple is known as having a premium product, and this price was definitely a premium.

It was a mere 14 months after it became available, but Apple reduced the price from $349 to $299, while this made it more affordable, but it was still a bit too much for many to be willing to purchase one. When it was released, I did write up about my thoughts on the HomePod. You can read both part 1 and part 2 of my HomePod review for my thoughts on the product.

Not long after the HomePod was released many wondered if, or when, another HomePod would be released. In particular, they were wondering if Apple would release a smaller HomePod. It would take two and a half years, but Apple finally did release a smaller HomePod, they called it the HomePod mini. Apple announced the HomePod mini at their "Hi, Speed" event on October 13th, 2020.

At the time of its announcement, Apple also announced when it would be available for pre-order. Pre-orders for the HomePod mini went live on November 6th, with the devices beginning to arrive during the week of November 17th. I ordered two HomePod minis.

This review will cover some aspects that are similar to my original HomePod review. These topics include the size, how it sounds, and Siri. There will also be an area covered, which I was not able to cover last time, and that is using the HomePod minis as a stereo pair. Before all of that though, let us start with the internals.

Internals

Both the original HomePod and HomePod mini are powered by Apple's system on a chip. The original HomePod has an A8 system on a chip. The A8 was introduced in 2014 with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This processor is more than enough to power the original HomePod.

Th HomePod mini also has an Apple system on a chip within it, but it not the A8. Instead it is the same one that is within the Series 5 Apple Watch, which has an S5 within it. The S5 is a more powerful and yet more power-efficient processor than the A8.

Much like the original HomePod, the HomePod mini has a built-in power cord. The end of the power cord is not the same as the original HomePod. Instead, the end is a USB-C plug. Included with the HomePod is Apple's 20-watt power brick. The HomePod mini needs the 20-watt power brick. Using anything less will not work. I tried plugging in a HomePod mini into the USB-C port on my 2017 iMac and all I got was an orange light on the top of the HomePod mini.

I think the reason for this arrangement is so Apple can produce the same HomePod mini and the only difference needed to ship it anywhere is the USB-C power brick, which Apple already produces for usage with other products.

Size

When I received my HomePod minis, my first thought was that they were much smaller than I thought they would have been. They are definitely a lot smaller than the original HomePod.

The size is not only noticeable in the physical size of the HomePod mini, but also in the box. In fact, the HomePod mini is 3.3-inches high by 3.9-inches wide. If you compare this to the original HomePod, which is 6.8 inches high and 5.5 inches wide, the HomePod minis are absolutely diminutive. Here are a few comparisons.

Even though they are of a small size, they are not are not small on sound, which we will cover in a bit. First though, let us look at the setup of the HomePod mini.

Setup

When you first power on a HomePod mini and if your iOS device is in range, you will get a setup prompt, like the one below.

The next steps are to select which room the HomePod mini is in, from the ones available in your Home app. This is followed by whether or not to allow "Personalized Requests", as is shown in the screenshot below.

Here you can either "Use Personal Requests" or "Don't Use Personal Requests". If you opt to use personalized requests, you will then see another screen. This is the "Siri for Everyone" screen, which indicates that you Siri will be able to personalize requests for everyone in the home.

The next screen is the "Transfer Accounts and Settings" screen. This will use the Apple ID that is logged on your iOS device and use that for the HomePod mini. Once you tap on "Transfer Settings", the HomePod mini will continue setting up. It will look like the screen below.

After you have setup an individual HomePod mini, if you happen to setup a second one, as a stereo pair, you will see something a bit different during the setup of the second HomePod mini.

Setting up a Stereo Pair

If you have a second HomePod mini, and you begin setting it up, you will get a different prompt after the initial setup screen. This screen asks if you want to setup the two HomePod minis as a stereo pair. The screen will look like the one below.

You will then be asked which room, as the second step. The third step will now let you select which side of the room the second HomePod mini is on. The screen will look like the one below.

Once you select left or right, you will be able to tap continue on the "Siri for Everyone" screen and then you will transfer the settings again to the second HomePod mini. At this point the HomePod mini stereo pair will be setup and you will see a screen like the one below.

The final screen is the one where the HomePod mini stereo pair completion screen.

Now that we hav the HomePod minis setup, let us look at how they sound.

Sound

When you look at the HomePod mini, you might think that it would have a tinny sound to it, but it does not. While it does not have a much bass as the larger HomePod, it does not, but it does not sound bad at all.

I use the HomePod minis in a stereo pair, we will cover that in a bit, almost exclusively. For the room that they are in, the two smaller HomePod minis as a stereo pair has worked quite well, most of the time anyway.

There have been instances when I am watching something on the Apple TV and the sound will seem to cut out on one of the HomePod minis. It usually only lasts a few seconds, but has been as long as 30 seconds, and then it gets corrected. It has happened over multiple items that I do not think it is a source issue, but I cannot rule it out.

One thing that I have noticed is that using the HomePod minis in a stereo pair, from the Apple TV, the volume has to be set higher than was needed on the original HomePod, in order to get the same volume out of the HomePod minis. The volume does not need to be significantly higher than the original HomePod, but it is definitely higher.

While I use the HomePod minis in a stereo pair most of the time, I have used just one of the HomePod minis on its own. A single HomePod mini on its own sounds decent when listening to music. Again, a single HomePod on its own will not be able to fill up a room, but if you are using one to listen to music while working, it will work quit well.

I do not use the HomePod to listen to podcasts or audiobooks, just music or as an output for the Apple TV, so I do not have any experience on that front. However, I do have experience using two of them as a stereo pair.

Stereo Pair

One of the features of both the original HomePod and the HomePod mini is the ability to use two of them as a stereo pair. However, you cannot mix and match HomePod models. For instance, you cannot have an original HomePod and make a stereo pair with a HomePod mini. This is just not possible.

You can create a stereo pair for two HomePods or two HomePod minis. In fact, if you have one HomePod mini configured in a room and add another, of the same type, the Home app will ask if you want to create a stereo pair automatically.

As you might expect, using a pair of HomePods in a stereo pair. I would have never done this with the original HomePod. Mostly, because I could never justify purchasing a second HomePod for $300 after paying $350 for the first HomePod.

Siri

The HomePod and HomePod minis are designed to be your virtual assistant. Siri works similarly on the HomePod mini as other Apple devices. The HomePod mini can be used as a HomeKit Hub, so you can use it to control all of your HomeKit-enabled devices.

I have not had any issues with Siri, although I do not use Siri all that often. The only issues that I have had are with its inability to turn off a specific light. However, the Home app has issues contacting that particular light every so often, so I do not think it is an issue with the HomePod itself, instead an issue with the light bulb.

Other Items

There are a couple of other items that need to be covered. These are updates, switching positions, and AirPlay. Let us begin with Updates.

Updates

After I did my initial setup of the HomePods, I knew that there was an update available, to HomePod software 14.2. As is the case with the original HomePod, this is done through the Home app. If there is an update, the Home app should inform you. There may be instances when it does not, so you can go and check for an update in the Home app.

Switching Positions

When you have a set of HomePod minis configured, you may end up moving them while re-arranging them. If you need to identify which HomePod is which, you can by performing the following steps:

1. Open the Home App.
2. Locate the HomePod mini stereo pair.
3. Tap and hold on the HomePod mini stereo pair to bring up the now playing information.
4. Scroll up to bring up the settings.

5. In the first grouping, tap on "Audio Settings". This will bring up the "Audio Settings" screen.
6. Tap on one of the HomePod minis to identify it.
7. If needed, you can tap on the "Swap" button, in the middle of the screen to swap the HomePod minis.

The ability to swap the HomePod minis with the tap of a button can be quite convenient if you need to swap them. Similarly, if you need to identify a HomePod, there is the easy way to identify them.

AirPlay

One thing that you are able to do is just the HomePod mini as an AirPlay destination. If you are using an Apple TV 4K, you can use a HomePod, or a HomePod mini, as the default output for the Apple TV. This is a nice addition that would also be good to have in the Apple TV HD.

Even though you may not be able to set a default audio output on the Apple TV HD, you can still AirPlay from one, as you have been able to in the past. Furthermore, you are able to AirPlay to multiple items simultaneously. While you cannot add a regular HomePod as a stereo pair with a HomePod mini, you are able to AirPlay to both a HomePod mini stereo pair, you can actually use an Apple TV to airplay to both simultaneously. While this is not a true stereo pair, it can be used as pseudo-stereo pair.

Closing Thoughts

Even though they have only been available for approximately two weeks, it is easy to see that the HomePod minis are already super popular. As of this writing the HomePod minis from Apple have a 3 to 4 week shipping range from Apple.

The HomePod mini does not have nearly as much bass as the larger HomePod, but that is to be expected. Even though it is much smaller than the original HomePod, it still has pretty good sound.

If you have multiple HomePod minis you are able to pair them together in a stereo pair. Doing so will provide you with even better sound than a single HomePod mini. This can be beneficial in a larger room. While you can pair multiple HomePod minis together, you cannot put a larger HomePod and a HomePod mini together in a stereo pair.

If you are looking to get a speaker with a virtual assistant in it, you cannot go wrong with the HomePod mini. The $99 price point makes it being 1/3 the cost of the original HomePod, means that you can put them in more rooms throughout your home. With multiple HomePods you can use the new Intercom feature included in the HomePod operating system 14.2.

When I first ordered the HomePod minis, I only ordered two. At the time I thought that would be enough. However, in reality, I should have ordered a third one in order to use while working. This is because my work area is separate from where I use the HomePods as a stereo pair.

If you have been looking to get a HomePod, but have been deterred by the price, I recommend getting the HomePod mini. The price of $99 while not an impulse buy, it more palatable than the original HomePod and although it does not have the same bass and sound as the original HomePod, it is still quite good. Overall, the HomePod mini is well worth the $99 investment, and if you can, get more than one, because using them as a stereo pair is even better than a standalone HomePod mini.

The iPhone 12 line of phone represents the 14th family of iPhones, but it is not the 14th iPhone. In fact, to date there have been 25 different iPhones, across 14 different processor families, introduced prior to this fall's crop of iPhones.

Early in the life of the iPhone, the improvements that one would see from year to year were more significant than they have been lately. However, that is it not to say that any year's iPhone is a dud. There is a segment of users who do upgrade every year, like myself. We are not the norm, and the differences that we see are less pronounced, compared to most iPhone users.

Most people when they get a phone, they will use that phone for multiple years, and sometimes the iPhone that they are using is one that has been used by someone else, prior to them receiving the iPhone. The typical upgrade cycle for most users is around three years. If you were upgrading to one of the iPhone 12 line, your last phone would have possibly been an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or even an iPhone X.

This review is going to cover a few different areas and some accessories. These will include, the form-factor, the cameras, 5G, the Silicone Case with MagSafe, and the MagSafe Charger. Let us turn to something a bit more practical, the form-factor of the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Form Factor

The iPhone has seen a significant change to the way each phone looks. The original iPhone had its own distinct shape, replete with rounded corners and the 3.5-inch screen.

The iPhone 3G and iPhone 3Gs improved upon the original iPhone's design with a more tapered shape. With the release of the iPhone 4 though a whole new design was undertaken, one with squared edges and glass on both the front and back of the phone. The iPhone 4s had the same form factor as the iPhone 4.

The iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s took their cues from the iPhone 4, but instead of a glass back, there was a metal back, but the square corners remained. Furthermore, the iPhone 5 was a slightly taller screen, which was the first change in screen size.

The phones released in 2014 changed everything and was the biggest change to the iPhone. No longer were the older iPhones. The 3.5-inch and 4-inch screen sizes were no more. Now, there were two new sizes, 4.7-inches and 5.5-inches. Along with this screen size differences, the square edges were also gone in favor of rounded edges.

The form-factor of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus remained the same for both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8. The next big change came along with the iPhone 8 with a brand new form factor on a whole new phone, the iPhone X.

The iPhone X introduced a slew of new features, like the removal of the home button and the inclusion of Face ID, in place of Touch ID, and a rounded screen. The rounded screen allowed a whole new interaction mechanism with the home bar at the bottom of the screen and using gestures for navigation instead of relying on the home button.

The entire screen of the iPhone X, through the iPhone 11, had the edges of screen wrap around into the case of the phone. This provided a smooth transition from the screen onto the other portions of the screen. This was particularly useful when you were attempting to use the home bar and sliding up from the bottom of the screen.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max does not follow the same form factor as the other Face ID-enabled devices, insomuch as the outer case is no longer rounded. Instead, it more closely mimics the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5s by using squared edges.

The square edges of the iPhone 12 Pro Max provides a bit more bulk to the iPhone, despite it being 0.7mm or 0.29 inches smaller. The item that adds the bulk is the square corners. This is because with the previous five phones have all had rounded corners.

There is one last item to cover regarding the iPhone 12 Pro Max, The screen size.

Screen Size

I have been fortunate enough to be able to get a new iPhone every year that there has been a new one. At first this was made possible because AT&T was subsidizing the price. I made the decision to no longer be held into a contract and instead starting paying for the phone at its full price. This started with the iPhone 5s.

Having owned an iPhone every year, I have seen a significant number of changes to the iPhone, in particular, the screen size. The first of these was subtle. This was with the iPhone 5, when the screen size went from 3.5-inches to 4-inches. While only a change in the vertical dimension, it was still a noticeable change.

The bigger change came two years later, with the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. I purchased the iPhone 6 Plus and it was a huge jump going from a 4-inch screen to a 5.5-inch screen. This change required a different method of holding the iPhone. The additional screen real estate also allowed for a split view when held in landscape, as well as a new "reachability" feature that would slide the entire screen down so you could reach an element in the upper corner.

Even if you did not get the iPhone 6 Plus, and instead opted for the iPhone 6, you would still get a phone with a 4.7-inch screen. This alone was still a 17.5% increase in diagonal screen size. Still a significant difference.

As mentioned earlier, the next big change came in 2017, with the release of the iPhone X. This was the biggest change with the removal of the home button and Touch ID, the inclusion of Face ID, and the most significant change, edge to edge screen. With the screen going edge-to-edge, the physical size of the screen increased to a 5.8-inch screen. Even though the actual difference is only 5.4% different, the entire iPhone being screen does make the screen feel significantly larger than it actually might be.

In 2018, Apple took the iPhone X, introduced just a year earlier, and added a larger version. This larger model created the largest screen for any iPhone, to that point, with a 6.5-inch screen on the iPhone XS Pro Max. The successor to the iPhone XS Max, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, retained this same screen size.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has now usurped the iPhone XS Max and iPhone 11 Pro Max as the largest iPhone, to date, with a 6.7-inch screen. The screen is now 3% larger. Even though this is the smallest jump from the previous model, it is still a noticeable change.

As has been the case with all of the previous changes in screen size, after a couple of days, picking up the iPhone 11 Pro Max, it now seems a bit small. I am pretty sure that if I had to go back to the smaller phone, I would be able to do so after a few days.

If you are going to go for the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and you have not had a "Max" phone, be prepared for a whole different experience. The larger phone does mean that your thumbs will need to reach even further than before in order to interact with an element on the screen.

Now that we have covered the screen, let us look at an aspect to the phone that is entirely superficial.

Let us start with something that makes no difference in the function of the phone, but is a change, for me anyway.

Pacific Blue

I have purchased an iPhone every year since 2007. While I have not always gotten the phone with the highest amount of storage, I have traditionally gotten the phone which was either space gray, black, or graphite. For the first three iPhones, the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS, the color would not have mattered, as the front glass was black.

Starting with the iPhone 4, through the iPhone 7 Plus, the only way to get the front plate to be a dark color was to get the Space Gray/Black/Graphite iPhone. So, this is what I did. However, since 2017 and the introduction of the iPhone X, there have been no bezels on the front of the phone, so in reality the color would not matter. However, the iPhone X and iPhone XS Max only came in three colors; Gold, Silver, and Space Gray. If I would have ended up with a Silver iPhone X or iPhone XS Max, it probably would not have mattered to me, in the long run. However, I do not like gold, so that would have been a non-starter.

Last year with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple did offer a Midnight Green color. I was tempted to get this color, but I was not sure that the color would be what I wanted. Instead, I went with the Graphite iPhone 11 Pro Max.

This year I did something different. I went with the Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro Max. I opted for this color for two reasons. The first is that it is likely that I will only have the phone for a year, so if I did not like the color, I would not have to have it that long. The second reason I went with the Pacific Blue is that the person who is likely to be getting the phone next year indicated that they like the Pacific Blue. Therefore, I opted to go with the Pacific Blue model.

Having had a Space Gray/Black/Graphite phone for so long, I never even really noticed the color on the phones, most of the time. I did notice that the shade of gray was different, but after looking at it it initially, I would not think about it.

Overall, I like the color. The color is diffused on the back, due to the glass that covers it. The stainless steel edges of the iPhone are a different shade of Pacific Blue. The edges match the Apple logo on the back of the phone, which is a nice touch.

The next topic is something that was initially introduced in 2017 with the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. That feature is wireless charging.

Wireless Charging

When Apple announced the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in 2017, it introduced a new feature, wireless charging. All three of the phones used the standard known as Qi. Any new iPhone that Apple has released since 2017 have all had the ability to charge wirelessly. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is no different. If you have an existing Qi Charger, it will work just as it would with any other Qi-enabled phone.

At the same event where Apple introduced the iPhone X, they also announced another device called AirPower. AirPower was designed to allow you to place your iPhone or Apple Watch anywhere on the AirPower mat and have your device charge. Unfortunately, the product itself was never released. But the idea of charging without wires did not go away.

Even though AirPower never made it to market, you can still use Qi Chargers, however there is a new line of products from Apple called MagSafe.

MagSafe

From time to time Apple has been known to repurpose names of previous products for new products. Sometime the old product and the new product do not have any correlation, as is the case with the original iBook being a laptop, but the name being repurposed for an e-book format, called iBooks.

Apple has done the same thing again, however in this case it is actually a much closer repurposing. At its keynote at MacWorld Expo in January 2006, Apple introduced a new product, the first MacBook Pro with an Intel Processor, specifically the Core Duo. Besides being the first Mac notebook with an Intel processor, it also had a new feature, the MagSafe power connector.

The MagSafe power adapter allowed power to go from a power brick into the MacBook Pro, but the connection was magnetic. This had a significant advantage, if you tripped over the power cord, the power cord would not drag the laptop with the power cord, instead it would separate. This was possible through the magnetic connection between the power cord and the MacBook Pro itself. With the introduction of the MacBook Pro in 2016, the MagSafe power connector was replaced with USB-C connections. This left the ability for Apple to use MagSafe for another product.

Apple has done just that with a new line of accessories, specifically for the iPhone 12. The MagSafe line of accessories is more than just power, but it still uses magnets to connect the accessories to the iPhone.

MagSafe Charger

The line of accessories includes cases, wallets, sleeves, and power adapters. The one that will likely be used by a majority of people is the case, let us look at the Apple Silicone case with MagSafe. One of these is a power adapter specifically designed for cases and sleeves. The MagSafe power adapter takes its cues from its older brethren and uses magnets to secure a connection to case or sleeve and will provide power to the iPhone.

The MagSafe Charger has the MagSafe Charging pad on one end and a USB-C connection on the other. You can use any USB-C power adapter, however, you may not get the fastest charging possible. In order to get this, you will need to use Apple's 20-watt USB-C charger. To provide a way to gauge the size of the MageSafe Charging Pad, here is a comparison of the Mophie Wireless Charging Base, the MagSafe Charging Pad, and the Apple Watch charger.

According to Macworld's testing, when you use the Apple 20-watt charger you will get up to 17 watts of power to charge the phone. During my testing I was never able to get more than 14 watts of charging for my iPhone 12 Pro Max. It is possible that the reporting of my Eve smart switch was not reporting the proper usage.

For most users this is not necessarily a problem, unless you really need to charge quickly. Even when I plugged in directly to the iPhone I only got 18 watts of power to the iPhone. So, that is actually more than Macworld got in their tests.

I also tried using the 18-watt charger. When I used this I only got 14 watts of power, This is approximately 77.7% of the 18-watts that I got with the 20-watt power brick. So this is still quite acceptable.

Just to complete the testing, I also used a 29-watt USB-C charging brick that I have purchased for use with my iPad Pro. The highest it ever got was actually 10-watts, which is most surprising given that it can provide more power.

While the power rating that I saw is less, it makes sense because Apple cannot guarantee the power capabilities of the USB power brick that you use, therefore Apple is capping the amount of power allowed to be pushed to the iPhone. This is designed as a safety measure.

While you may be annoyed that you are not getting the highest throughput, in day to day usage it is not a problem. Any USB-C power adapter that you use will work perfectly well, just at lower speeds. Give that most users charge their phones overnight, this really is not an issue.

I would remiss to not mention that the Apple MagSafe Charger is a standard Qi-compatible charger. This means that you can use it for anything that is compatible with Qi-charging. This includes the AirPods with Wireless Charging Case, any iPhone introduced after 2017, as well as any other Qi-compatible device. This means that even if you do not have an iPhone 12, the MagSafe charger may be a worthwhile investment. Next, let us cover one of the new accessories that works with the MagSafe charger, the silicone case.

Apple Silicone Case with MagSafe

While it likely Apple's intent that people do not use a case on their phones, the fact that a new iPhone is at minimum a few hundred dollars, there are many, myself included, who do not feel comfortable using their iPhone without some sort of case on it.

The success of the iPhone has created a market for third-party cases. It would not surprise anyone if the third-party market for cases vastly outsold Apple's own cases. There are a couple of reasons that this may be the case that come to mind. The first reason being options available. Apple has traditionally only provided a few different types of cases. Typically these have been silicone and leather. There have been Apple cases for each of the iPhone models and sizes.

The second reason that many choose third-party cases is due to price. Apple has not been a company that is afraid of charging a premium for their products, accessories like cases included. Apple has been selling its own cases for almost as long as the iPhone has been around.

I have used a case with each and every iPhone that I have owned. This includes the original, the iPhone 3G, and the iPhone 3GS, which all could have handled not having a case on them. Having spent so much money on them, I wanted to protect them.

Typically Apple releases two different types of cases, leather cases and their silicone cases. Apple has added additional cases over time. Some of these include clear cases, leather folios, and even smart battery cases. Apple has charged $35 or $39 for silicone cases. Meanwhile, they have charged either $45 or $49 for the leather cases.

This year's set of Silicone and Leather cases include a MagSafe charger, therefore the price that Apple is charging has increased. For the silicone cases the new price is $49 and for the leather cases, it is $59.

The case I have purchased has been the official Apple Silicone case, in the same shade as the phone. As mentioned earlier, I have always, until this year, gotten the Space Gray/Black/Graphite case that has gone with the phone. This year Apple has not made a case that exactly matches the color of the Pacific Blue iPhone. Therefore, I got the closest one that I could, and I opted for the Deep Navy Apple Silicone Case with MagSafe. I would have preferred one that matches exactly, but that is not the approach Apple is going with this year. Apple does release new cases quarterly, so maybe they will release one that does match the Pacific Blue color. If they do, I am not sure I would end up buying it, but you never know.

One of the features of the previous iPhone cases, not all of them, but those introduced since the iPhone 6/iPhone 6 Plus, and in particular iPhones with Face ID, is that the Apple cases have not had is a bottom lip on the case. This has been the form-factor on all of Apple's Silicone and Leather cases since they were introduced.

With the iPhone 12 the official Apple Cases have a lip at the bottom. For those who have become acclimated to not having any barrier when swiping up from the bottom of the phone will need to adjust. It is likely that there will be third-party cases which do not have a lip around the entire screen.

I have found that it is strange to have to deal with the lip on the bottom of the case. While it does not affect the functionality, it is a different experience after using cases without the lip.

There are two reasons that I can think of why Apple would make this change. The first is symmetry for the entire case. The second reason may be that having a case cover the entire iPhone will allow the cases to last a bit longer. These are merely speculations, as Apple has not provided a reason for the change.

The Apple Silicone case with MagSafe has, as the name implies, a MageSafe magnet embedded in the case. The MagSafe magnet provides two functions simultaneously. The MagSafe within the case provides a passthrough for charging either via the MagSafe charger or via any Qi-compatible charger.

If you have used any Qi-enabled iPhone at all, undoubtedly you have placed your phone on the charger at night and then when you went to look at it in the morning realized that it had not charged because it was misaligned.

The second function, and the one that is probably most welcome by users, is the fact that the magnets within the case allow you to easily line up the MagSafe Charger with the the case. This will allow optimized charging, which is a common problem when using any Qi-enabled iPhone with a Qi charger.

Given that the third-party case market is a thriving one, Apple is not limiting MagSafe to their own products. Instead, third parties will be able to offer not only their own MagSafe cases, but also their own MagSafe accessories. Companies like Belkin, Otterbox, and Pitaka have already made MagSafe accessories, like cases and chargers. It is only a matter of time before additional companies begin making accessories that will work with MagSafe.

If you plan on using any of the MagSafe accessories by Apple, or third-parties, you will likely want a MagSafe case and while the Apple case does have some tradeoffs, like the increased price and full lip at the bottom of the case, it seems like a pretty good case for use with the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Time will tell if the case holds up or not.

There is another aspect to the MagSafe Charger and Silicone Case that needs to be highlighted. Those items are related to some animations. When you put the iPhone 12 Pro Max into a Silicon MagSafe case, you will see an animation with the color of the case that you have. Similarly, if you place an iPhone 12 Pro Max on a MagSafe charger, you will see an animation of the current battery power, in a circle, that looks a lot the MagSafe charger. While neither of these animations is necessary, it is a nice touch to see both of them work on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

There is one more thing to mention about the case, but that can be done in the next section, which will be about the Camera.

Cameras

One of the major reasons for anyone to upgrade their iPhone, particularly if they are on an every two or three year upgrade cycle, is the improvements that are made to the camera system. Normally, if you upgrade every year the changes in the camera are not that great. They are undoubtedly better cameras, but they may not be noticeable to most people. That is not necessarily the experience if you were to go from the iPhone 11 Pro Max to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, as I have.

The first thing you will notice you the cameras is how large they are. One easy way to compare the increase in size is by putting the iPhone 11 Pro Max into the case of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. You can clearly see the difference in the sizes of the entire camera module.

The size difference brings the last change about the Silicone case to mention. The Apple Silicone case for the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a hard plastic bumper around the cutout of the iPhone 12 Pro Max camera system. The reason for this is likely to protect the lenses when the iPhone is moved around as well as to prevent scratching should someone place the iPhone on its back.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max has a new feature, a LiDAR sensor, although it is not the first device with this sensor. The 4th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and 2nd Generation 11-inch iPad Pro, both introduced earlier in 2020 received this sensor first.

The LiDAR sensor has a few different applications. The first is that the iPhone 12 Pro Max can be used for augmented reality applications. This could be apps like Wizards Unite or Pokemon Go, or even room mapping applications.

While some augmented reality apps are popular, the second application for the LiDAR sensor is one that users will likely encounter more often, taking photos in low-light environments. The LiDAR sensor will allow objects, specifically people and faces, to be more easily recognized when the amount of light might be limited.

One the topic of low-light, let us look at the changes in the actual lenses. The iPhone 12 Pro Max still has three lenses, a wide angle lens, an ultra-wide lens, and a telephoto lens.

The iPhone Pro Max ultra-wide lens is still a 0.5x zoom lens, while the wide angle lens is still 1x, however the zoom lens is a slightly different than previous models. With the iPhone 11 Pro Max, it was a 2x lens. Now, however, it is a 2.5x zoom. It should be mentioned that all of these are optical zoom, meaning that the lenses themselves will be able to have those particular zoom levels.

With the new optical zoom of 2.5, this means that the maximum digital zoom has been increased from 10x to 12x. While this does not sound like a big jump in actual numbers, you have to realize it is a 20% increase in optical zoom. This should allow you to take even better pictures when you zoom in.

Here is a good comparison between what the iPhone 11 Pro Max vs the iPhone 12 Pro Max. These were taken in low light.

The reason that iPhone 12 Pro Max is able to take even better low-light photos is due to the bigger aperture in the lens. When it comes to low-light pictures, the more light that you can let in, the better the image can be. The iPhone 11 Pro Max improved low light photos by leaps and bounds. Still, the iPhone 12 Pro Max improves upon this.

Here is another comparison of some clouds taken with each phone. If you look carefully, you can see that the iPhone 12 Pro Max represents the colors more accurately than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

One of the major reasons that I waited for the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the cameras. I use the iPhone as my exclusive camera. It is always with me, or at least not very far. From what I have seen so far, the improved cameras were worth waiting for. Next, let us look at a feature that is new to the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and that is improved cellular connectivity.

5G

One of the most touted features of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, and the other iPhone 12s, is the inclusion of 5G connectivity on the device. I use AT&T for my service, and I have since before the introduction of the iPhone in 2007.

When the original iPhone was introduced I bought one on the second day and immediately signed up for the unlimited plan. I continued to use the same plan since then. AT&T stopped offering unlimited plans in 2010. However, if you had an existing plan you could continue to use it. I, of course, kept using my unlimited data plan.

Over time AT&T had increased the price of the unlimited plan from $30 to $35 in 2015, and then to $40 in 2017, and to $45 in 2018. I continued to dutifully pay the increase prices. I was on a family plan, so switching to either another carrier or to a different plan was not as simple as you might expect.

I called AT&T about changing my plan and they informed me that it would cost me $15 more to switch two phone lines, even though one of them was a flip phone. I was able to move the second line off of my account and then I was able to switch to one of AT&T's newer unlimited plans. I wanted to make the switch in anticipation of getting an iPhone 12 Pro Max, with 5G. And the older AT&T plan that I had would not have provided me with 5G, nor did it allow me to use the hotspot functionality that has been available on AT&T plans for a while, but those latter two are a different story.

Prior to getting my iPhone 12 Pro Max I did look at the AT&T 5G coverage map to see if I would be able to get 5G in my area, and I am able to get 5G coverage. Here are three different comparisons that I did with the iPhone 12 Pro Max using the SpeedTest app. These compare AT&T's LTE, which they label as "5Ge" (do not get me started on that), and true 5G. These results are in Megabit per second, or Mbps.

These tests were all done about the same time. Each of the servers used for each test are the same. Servers 1 and 3 are located in Chicago, while Server 2 was a local server. As you can see in some cases 5G was significantly faster, but in others, LTE was faster. The biggest difference is the difference in upload speed.

One thing mentioned in the iPhone 12 keynote was that macOS Big Sur has a bit more optimized when connecting to a hotspot on an iPhone. I did some testing to see if this was true.

When tethered wirelessly to LTE and 5G, the same general outcome is shown, where 5G was faster, but particularly so with upload speeds. Your experience with 5G is definitely dependent on many things, including current congestion, usage, number of devices on the same cellular tower, the servers you are using, and many more factors.

I have mixed thoughts on 5G for the iPhone 12. On one hand, it is great to see that 5G is available on the iPhone. At the same time, I do not think that most will notice the difference at this point in time. However, in a few years users may actually notice a difference. If you combine this with the fact that many users will hold onto their phones, it may be worthwhile having 5G in the iPhone 12. Furthermore, even after one person has upgraded, their old phone may go to another person and therefore having 5G would be a nice upgrade for them.

One of the benefits to using a standard like 5G is that should there be any improvements that can be made via software, the iPhone 12 Pro Max will get that benefit, through a firmware update. Should there be an improvement that can only be made with hardware, they will not get it, but the likelihood of a change requiring a hardware change is quite low. The last thing that we will tackle is just some benchmark comparisons for various devices.

Benchmarks

Would it really be a full review without some benchmarks? I do not know if it would be. So here are some benchmarks for comparison. These were all run using the Geekbench 5:

While the iPhone 12 Pro is not the fastest when it comes to Multi-Core performance, it is the fastest when it comes Single Core performance, at least of the devices that I own at this point. The iPhone 12 Pro Max out performs the iPhone 11 Pro Max, quite easily. Benchmarks are only one aspect to overall performance, but they can be useful to give you a comparison to how a particular device might perform, compared to other devices.

Closing Thoughts

The iPhone 12 Pro Max is a large phone. A very large phone. The increased screen size, which is only 0.2 inches or 5.08mm, is still quite noticeable. The width and height have also increased slightly, which accounts for the larger screen. The squared off edges are a nice touch that harkens back to the old iPhone 4, 4s, 5, and 5s form factors. It is good to see the old form factor come back in a new revision of the iPhone.

The Pacific Blue color is a nice color and the fact that stainless steel edges match the Apple Logo on the back is a nice touch. Although, to be honest I probably will not be seeing much of the back or the sides, because I will have a case on the phone. The new Apple Silicone Case with MagSafe is a pretty good case, albeit with an increase in price. The increase in price does include the new MagSafe charging feature.

The MagSafe charger can be used with any Qi-compatible charger, not just the MagSafe Charging pad. However, if you opt to use a standard Qi-compatible charger, you will not get the full fast-charging capabilities that come with the MagSafe charger, but that may be worth the tradeoff. I know for me, I almost always charge overnight, so I do not need the fastest charging possible. Even so, the magnetic aspect of the MagSafe Charging case, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max in general, means that if you do use the MagSafe Charger, you will always have a charged phone. You will no longer need to worry about a misaligned charger and therefore a phone that did not charge overnight.

The addition of 5G, may not make a meaningful difference right now. In the future depending on what applications and use cases arise with having 5G, it may become an absolute necessity at that point. For now though, if you do not have 5G in your area, it is not necessarily a deterrent for not upgrading to the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

As has been the case with previous years. If you have an iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone XS Max, then upgrading to the iPhone 12 Pro Max may not make sense. However, if you have an iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, or older phone, then upgrading to any of the iPhone 12 Pro Max may be a worthwhile upgrade, but be prepared for a significant jump in physical size and screen size. The larger screen real-estate, combined with the improved cameras may make it an easy choice for some users.

Here are a few more examples of some photos taken with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.\

Today Apple announced that beginning January 1st, 2021, developers can apply for a new App Store program specifically designed at small businesses. Here is how it will work:

If you make less than $1m in a calendar year, Apple will take a 15% cut, instead of the usual 30% cut. If you make $1m or more in a calendar year, Apple will continue to take the standard 30% cut. This is across ALL of your apps for a particular developer.

Here is how Apple is defining the rules of the program:

The vast majority of developers on the App Store who sell digital goods and services will qualify for the Small Business Program.

* Existing developers who made up to $1 million in proceeds in 2020 for all their apps, as well as developers new to the App Store, can qualify for the program and the reduced commission.
* If a participating developer surpasses the $1 million threshold, the standard commission rate will apply for the remainder of the year.
* If a developer’s business falls below the $1 million threshold in a future calendar year, they can re-qualify for the 15% commission the year after.

While there will likely only be a small number of developers who will fall into the making of $1m one year and less than that the next, it still can be a significant difference, particularly if you have a spike in sales for one year, but they falter the next. It should be noted that a vast majority of developers will fall into the 15% commission rate, but there will be some that do not.

On the surface, this seems like a good thing. However, I am not entirely sure. I will likely apply for it, because 15% commission is better than a 30% commission, but in the long run it will not likely make a material difference, as my app sales have not been super robust.

I am going to quote John Gruber's post on this, because he sums it up quite nicely

Let’s say a new developer enters the program (and thus qualifies for the 15 percent commission) and their apps are on pace to generate $1.2M in sales. At 15 percent, $1.2M in revenue would generate $1.02M in earnings — putting them over the threshold, so their entire earnings the next year would face a 30 percent commission. If their sales remain flat the next year, the same $1.2M in revenue would earn them only $840K at 30 percent. They’d have to generate $1.5M in revenue to earn the same profit that $1.2M in sales brought them the year before. Basically, if the end of the year draws near and a developer in the Small Business Program has revenue approaching $1.2M, they’re incentivized to pull their apps or reduce their prices to keep from going over the threshold.

We will not know all of the full details until December, but it is good to see Apple is looking to adapt the App Store, but I doubt it is because they wanted to, it is likely due to regulatory pressure coming down the pike.

Source: Apple, DaringFireball

With the release of macOS Big Sur, you are now able to get a book that I have written about the latest operating system for the Mac. You can get the e-book from Apple or Amazon for $3.99 each. There are also paperbacks available in black & white for $14.99 or the color version for $39.99. The Apple e-book and paperbacks are available now, and the Amazon e-book will be available tomorrow.

macOS Big Sur for Users, Administrators, and Developers covers the new features with the latest release. macOS Big Sur brings a slew of new features like new icons, a refined design with updated toolbars, menu, and alerts. The new design is accompanied by Messages and Maps now having feature parity with their iOS versions, which means new features coming to the Mac that were not present before. One of the most used apps on the Mac is Safari, and there is a whole new privacy section to help you see which websites are tracking you and which trackers they are using. Reminders and Notes have seen a couple of updates like assigning reminders and easier access to text styles in notes. The biggest change for the Mac this year is that it is moving to Apple Silicon and a significant portion of the book is dedicated to that, including a history of the Mac.

For administrators we dive into managing Macs running Apple Silicon, scripting language updates, some changes to how updates are handled, and the updates to Profile Manager.

Developers can learn about how Apple Silicon will affect their applications, the changes to Xcode, enhancements to the Swift programming language and SwiftUI. Also discussed are some new Swift Packages, how to implement Widgets using WidgetKit, SF Symbols 2, and Safari extensions.

macOS Big Sur for Users, Administrators, and Developers has something for everyone.

Earlier this week I made my predictions for what we would see at Apple's "One more thing" event. Let us look at how well I did.

New Macs running Apple Silicon – 100%

This one I did get correct. We actually got 3 new Macs running Apple Silicon. The MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and a new Mac mini.

macOS Big Sur release date – 100%

We did get a release date for macOS Big Sur. Which is tomorrow, November 12th, 2020. You can learn all about macOS Big Sur by getting the e-book from Apple or Amazon for $3.99 each. You can also order a paperback in black and white for $14.99 or the color version for $39.99. The Amazon e-book will be available on Friday.

Craig Federighi showing off macOS Big Sur – 95%

I got this one correct because Craig Federighi did indeed show off macOS Big Sur.

Demos of iOS apps and macOS apps working together – 95%

Unfortunately, we did not get to see these apps working together, but we did get a variety of apps that were shown working on Apple Silicon.

New MacBook Air with Apple Silicon – 90%

Yes, we did get a new MacBook Air with Apple Silicon. You can read all about this in my event recap post.

macOS Big Sur released on 11/11 – 75%

I got this one wrong, because the release date is actually November 12th, not November 11th. I did debate on whether this would be the case. Thinking that the version number was 11, it would make sense to release on 11/11, but alas, they did not do this.

Closing Thoughts

I got 4 out of 6 correct. That's not as bad as I have gotten in the past, but I have definitely done better. I do not think we will have any more events this year.

Today Apple announced an event titled "One more thing". This is slated for November 10th, 2020 at 10:00 am Pacific Time. This event will follow the same format as previous events this year and be live streamed. It is expected that this will be the event where Apple unveils the first Apple Silicon Macs, but there may be more.

As is the case with other events, I will have my predictions for what we will see, a recap of what was announced, and well as a predictions results post.

Today Apple sent out invites for their next event titled "Hi, Speed". The event is slated for October 13th, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. It is highly anticipated that Apple will announce the new group of iPhones. Apple indicated at their July shareholder call that the iPhones would be a few weeks late, and this would be the time for the iPhones to be released.

Just like with the September event, if you visit the Apple Events page using your iPhone you will see an Augmented Reality animation with the date of the event.

As has been the case with the previous events, I will be making a predictions post for this event and a recap of the event after the fact.

Apple held its "Time Files" event livestream event today. It was not a live event, but a pre-recorded one. The style of the video was very similar to that of Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. We saw different parts of Apple's campus with different people in each area. Today's event focused on two products, the Apple Watch and the iPad. Let us look at what Apple announced for each.

Apple Watch

Today Apple announced two new Apple Watch models, the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE. These two models are similar, yet still different. Let us cover the aspects that are the same between the two models.

Common Features between Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE

There are a number of common features between the new Apple Watch Series 6 and the new Apple Watch SE. The first of these is the case sizes. Both come in 40mm and 44mm varieties and both have a Retina screen. Next is a feature that was added in the Apple Watch Series 5, fall detection. This is a great feature for those who may be prone to falling and need to be able to contact someone in the event of a fall. This is present in both models.

There is a new feature that is available on both models, a new Always On Altimeter. The Altimeter will be able to inform you, in real time, of your elevation. This is great if you are doing some hiking and want to see how high up you have gone.

One of the ways to personalizes the Apple Watch is by picking the finish for the watch. Both models come in an aluminum finish and are available in Silver, Space Gray, and Rose Gold.

Apple Watch Series 6 Exclusive Features

The biggest area for the Apple Watch is regarding Health. There are a variety of sensors already present on the Apple Watch. Sensors like the ECG, fall detection, heart sensors, and ECG app. There is a new sensor being added to the Apple Watch Series 6, a Blood Oxygen app. This app will be able to inform you of your blood oxygen level, with a simple 15 second test. This is possibly through the use of infrared to analyze the color of your blood and the color can determine the oxygen saturation level.

The Apple Watch Series 6 comes in more than just the three colors mentioned above. It also comes in two additional aluminum finishes, Blue and (PRODUCT)RED. It also comes in Stainless Steel and Titanium versions. The Stainless Steel color choices are Silver, Graphite, and Gold. The Titanium color choices are Titanium (Silver), and Space Black.

New Bands

Besides the finish of the Apple Watch, many also customize their Apple Watch through the use of different bands. To go with the new Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, there are some new bands. A lot of them in fact. There are some new Hermes Fauve Barénia Leather Attelage bands in both single tour and double tour varieties, five new Sport Band colors, seven new Sport Loop colors, three new Nike Sport Band colors, and three new Nike Sport Loop colors. There are also two entirely new types of bands, the Leather Link and Solo Loop.

Leather Link

According to Apple, "The Leather Link features handcrafted Roux Granada leather made in France. The band elegantly wraps around the wrist and magically attaches with flexible molded magnets that gently flex to help maintain a secure, comfortable fit throughout the day.". The magnetic links will allow you to adjust the band to the perfect fit for your wrist.

The Leather Link band comes in four colors, Baltic Blue, California Poppy, Saddle Brown, and Black. These will work with the 38/40mm or the 42/44mm Apple Watches. Each Leather Link band is $99. They have a bit of a wait time, anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the model.

Solo Loop

The Solo Loop is made of a silicone rubber that is designed to stretch. There are no clasps, buckles, or any other item to adjust. Each Sport Loop is designed to be slipped on and off the wrist easily. Because there are no attachment mechanisms, they are designed to fit on your wrist, therefore there is a sizing guide that will allow you to determine the proper band size. The band sizes range from 1 to 9 on the 40mm Apple Watch and 4 to 12 on the 44mm Apple Watch.

There are seven different color options. These options are: Deep Navy, Ginger, Cypress Green, Pink Citrus, White, Black, and (PRODUCT)RED. Each of these is $49 and they will begin arriving on Friday. There is a second type of Solo Loop, the Braided Solo Loop.

To quote Apple, "Each Braided Solo Loop features a unique, stretchable design that’s ultracomfortable and easy to slip on and off your wrist. Made from 100 percent recycled materials, the 16,000 polyester yarn filaments in each band are interwoven with thin silicone threads using advanced braiding machinery then laser cut to an exact length. The 300D construction offers a soft, textured feel and is both sweat-resistant and water-resistant."

The Braided Sport Loop comes in five colors. These colors are: Inverness Green, Black, Pink Punch, Atlantic Blue, and (PRODUCT)RED. The Braided Sport Loop comes in the same size configurations as the silicon Sport Loop, and these are $99 each.

There is one last thing to note about the Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop. These are not compatible with all watches. The Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop bands are only compatible with Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 or newer. Therefore, you will not be able to use these on the Series 3, or earlier models.

Family Setup

There is one new feature for the Apple Watch, which is compatible back to the Apple Watch Series 4 and that is Family Setup. There are many people who would like to be able to get an Apple Watch for the child or an elderly parent. This has not been possible because an Apple Watch has to be paired with an iPhone. That changes.

Family Setup allows you to setup another Apple Watch using your iPhone. When you do this, the Apple Watch will be independent and allow the Apple Watch to function on its own.

Family Setup makes it possible for the entire family to benefit from the important health and safety features of Apple Watch, like Emergency SOS, while Maps, Siri, Alarms, and the App Store provide greater independence without needing an iPhone. In addition, parents will have peace of mind knowing they can reach their child and identify their location, and that all personal data stays securely encrypted. With watchOS 7, the whole family can also take advantage of optimized features that enhance the overall Apple Watch experience.

There are a couple of limitations for the Family Setup. The first is that a cellular version of the Apple Watch is required. This will not work on a GPS model of the Apple Watch. The second restriction is that this only works on the Apple Watch Series 4 or later, including the Apple Watch SE.

Apple Watch Pricing and Availability

The price of the Apple Watch is an important one. The existing Apple Watch Series 3 is still available for the same starting price of $199. The new Apple Watch SE is $279 for the 40mm version, and $309 for the 44mm. There are cellular options for the Apple Watch SE, these are $329 for the 40mm and $359 for the 44mm. The Apple Watch Series 6 starts at the same price as the Series 5, $399 for the 40mm, and $429 for the 44mm. The cellular models are $499 and $529 respectively. The Stainless Steel models starts at $699 and the Titanium models start at $799. All of the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE are available for order today and will start arriving this Friday.

There is one last thing to note about the Apple Watch. the Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 3, and Apple Watch Nike do not include a power adapter. Note, this is not the charger, but the little power brick that the charger plugs into. This is being done as a means of helping the environment. I believe that this is actually the case. It just so happens that it will also help save a bit of money, not just through not having to put a charger in each box, but also by reducing packaging as well as shipping weight. All of this adds up over millions of devices.

iPad

The Apple Watch was not the only item announced during today's keynote. The iPad also saw some updates as well, but not all models of iPad. Only the iPad and the iPad Air were updated today. Let us look at each of these.

iPad

The iPad is Apple's entry-level device, but even though it is entry level, it is full of features. The new iPad features a 10.2-inch LED screen as well as Apple's A12 Bionic chip. This is the same one that is in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max phones. To quote Apple:

The eighth-generation iPad with the A12 Bionic chip delivers a huge leap in performance, with 40 percent faster CPU performance and twice the graphics capability.² This makes the new iPad up to two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop, up to three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet and up to six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook. For the first time on iPad, A12 Bionic introduces the Neural Engine for next-level machine learning capabilities, including people occlusion and motion tracking in augmented reality (AR) apps, enhanced photo editing, Siri performance, and more.

In combination with A12 Bionic, the power of iPadOS, and Apple Pencil (1st generation), the new iPad is perfect for drawing, note-taking, marking up documents, and more. With its thin and light design, iPad is portable and durable with ultra-fast wireless performance, support for gigabit-class LTE connectivity, and all-day battery life, giving customers the freedom to work, learn, and connect at home or on the go. With Touch ID, unlocking iPad is simple and secure using just a finger, to keep important information safe.

The biggest change, besides the processor and graphics, is that the iPad is now USB-C. Included in the box is a USB-C to lightning adapter and a 20 watt USB-C power brick.

The iPad comes in the same three colors as before, Silver, Space Gray, and Rose Gold. It comes with 32GB or 128GB of storage, and there are cellular models as well. The price is still the same at $329 for the 32GB Wifi model, and $459 for the 32GB Wifi + Cellular, and $429 for the 128GB Wifi and $559 for the 128GB Wifi + Cellular models. These are available for order today and will arrive starting this Friday.

iPad Air

The bigger of the announcements is the iPad Air. This is not only because it is changed significantly more, but also because of the size difference. The 4th generation iPad Air is now a 10.9-inch model. This is accomplished by taking cues from the iPad Pro design and incorporating them into the iPad Air. The 4th Generation iPad Air has significantly reduced bezels, which allows the screen size to increase to 10.9 inches. This creates a resolution of 2360 by 1640 pixels. All of this is on a Liquid Retina LED display. The screen has a True Tone display that support the P3 Color Gamut and is fully laminated. This means that it includes the oleophobic coating to help reduce fingerprints.

All of this is driven by the A14 Bionic processor, which, according to Apple

...features a new 6-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance, and a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.² To deliver breakthrough machine learning capabilities, A14 Bionic includes a new 16-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast, and capable of performing up to 11 trillion operations per second, taking machine learning apps to a whole new level. A14 Bionic also includes second-generation machine learning accelerators in the CPU for 10 times faster machine learning calculations. This combination of the new Neural Engine, CPU machine learning accelerators, and high-performance GPU enables powerful on-device experiences for image recognition, natural language learning, analyzing motion, and more.

The iPad Air takes many cues from the iPad Air, most notably, its square edges. The square edges allow for the iPad Air to utilize the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil. The iPad Air supports charging the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil right on the top edge, just like the iPad Pro. These square edges allowed Apple to reduce the bezel size. One thing that was not brought over from the iPad Pro is Face ID. Instead, the iPad Air still has Touch ID. However, the reduced bezel necessitated that the Touch ID sensor to go somewhere else. The Touch ID sensor is now moved to the top button. The Touch ID sensor still operates the same way as before, just in a different spot.

Just like the iPad, and the iPad Pro, the iPad Air now uses a USB-C port and included in the box is a USB-C charging cable and a 20-watt USB power adapter.

The 4th Generation iPad Air comes in five colors: Silver, Space Gray, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue. The iPad Air comes with two storage options, 64GB or 256GB. As with the other iPads there is the Wifi-only model and Wifi + Cellular. The price for the iPad Air is $599 for the 64GB model and $749 for the 256GB Wifi-Only model. The Cellular models will cost $729 for the 64GB model and $879 for the 256GB model. The iPad Air will be available in October.

Services

Apple is pushing services, along with hardware, as their future. Currently, Apple has six different services. These services are:

• iCloud
• Apple Music
• Apple TV+
• Apple Arcade
• Apple News+

There is a new service to go along with these. This is called Apple Fitness+.

Apple Fitness+

Apple Fitness+ is a new subscription service that will provide you the opportunity to perform workouts whenever it works for you, wherever you might be. This could be out in the park, at the gym, traveling, or just at home.

Apple Fitness+ delivers personalized recommendations to help customers quickly get to their next workout, and uses Apple Watch to provide an engaging, immersive experience to help them stay motivated throughout.Using a custom recommendation engine, Fitness+ considers previously completed workouts and intelligently suggests new options that match the workouts users select most often, or something fresh to balance their current routine. Customers can also use an intuitive filtering tool to choose what is most important to them when looking for a workout, whether it’s the workout type, the trainer, the duration, or the music. For Apple Music subscribers, favorite music from Fitness+ workouts can also be easily saved and listened to later, whether in a workout or otherwise.

Apple Fitness+ will be available later this year and it will cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

With all of these services, it might be nice to have them all combined into a single bill. Let us look at one last new item, called Apple One.

Apple One

Today Apple announced a new Services bundle, Apple One. Apple One is a combination of different Apple services at different price points. Apple One has three price tiers, "Individual", "Family", and "Premium". The Individual and Family plans will include Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud Storage. The Individual tier includes 50GB of iCloud Storage, whereas the Family tier includes 200GB.

The Premium tier includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, 2TB of iCloud Storage, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+. The Family and Premium tiers will allow you to share with up to five family members. If you need more iCloud storage than your plan includes, you can pay for that separately, to supplement what comes with your plan.

Closing Thoughts

Today's event was just over an hour, but included a whole lot of new products. This includes the Apple Watch Series 6 with its brighter Always On display, the new Blood Oxygen app, and always on Altimeter. The new Blue and PRODUCT(RED) colors are great additions to the lineup.

The new Apple Watch SE is a great way for bringing many of the features of the Apple Watch in a slightly less expensive price point. You get many of the same features of the Apple Watch Series 6, but with the Series 5 processor.

The new 8th Generation iPad is a huge jump in performance with the A12 Bionic and it has USB-C. It maintains the same base price of $329 for a 32GB Wifi model.

The iPad Air has seen the biggest set of changes with a new larger 10.9-inch screen, flat sides, reduced bezels, and the all new A14 Bionic processor. The iPad Air does not get Face ID, instead the Touch ID sensor is now moved to the top button and still functions the same way as before. The 4th Generation iPad Air also supports USB-C as well as the 2nd generation Apple Pencil.

All of the new products introduced today are available for ordering today, and will be available starting on Friday. The only exception is the iPad Air, which will be available in October.

The last item to note is that iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, an watchOS 7 will all be available tomorrow, September 16th.

Source: Apple Newsroom: Apple One, Apple Fitness+, Family Setup, Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE, 8th Generation iPad, and 4th Generation iPad Air.

Today Apple sent out invites to the press to encourage them to watch a Special Event from Apple Park. The event will start at 10 a.m. Pacific time. There is no indication of what will be announced. It is rumored that it will be iPhones, which is possible. However, at Apple's last earnings call at the end of July, they indicated that this year's phones were "a few weeks behind schedule", due to COVID-19.

If you visit the Apple Events page with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that is capable of performing Augmented Reality, and tap on the image there, you will be able to see the image within Augmented Reality. When you do this, you will see the logo transform from its current shape to the date and back again. Below are the start and end images.

Source: Apple.com