Apple announced a lot of new devices and features yesterday at its September hardware event, but no news on its upcoming iPhones.
In case you missed Apple’s event, here’s everything that was announced.
Apple Watch
One of Apple’s big announcements is the new Apple Watch Series 6, priced at $399. The new wearable comes with a new Apple S6 silicon chip with an always-on energy-saving display. It also lands with a blood oxygen sensor.
Apple also announced a newer low-cost wearable, Apple Watch SE, which is priced at $279.
Family Setup: The new Family Setup option lets families stay connected, even when some members of the family don’t have an iPhone. It also comes with a family tracking feature, which lets parents make sure their kids have checked into school or sports practice, for example.
Fitness+: Apple is launching a new fitness subscription, landing at $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year. The service is available from inside the Activity app and takes aim at in-home fitness services, which have taken off in part because of the ongoing pandemic.
Solo Loop: You can now get a Solo Loop for your Apple Watch, a single band that drops the standard clasp in favour of stretchy silicon. It comes in seven colours and a range of sizes.
The new Apple Watch Series 6 arrives September 18.
Apple iPad
Next is the iPad. Apple said it’s refreshing the iPad line-up with a new 4th-generation iPad Air. The new slimline iPad Air lands with a 10.9-inch 2360×1640 resolution Retina display and replaces the Lightning port with a USB-C cable. The new iPad Air comes with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, and a new 12-megapixel, 4K-capable rear camera.
New A14 Bionic chip: Apple unveiled its new, super-fast five nanometers A14 Bionic chip, landing in the new iPad Air. It’s packed with close to 12 billion transistors, 40% up on the previous iteration of chips, and has a 16-core neural engine for apps that rely on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
New colours: Apple has two new colours on top of the existing silver, space grey and rose gold to now include green and sky blue.
New 8th-generation iPad: The new 8th-generation iPad got a refresh, too, packed with an earlier A12 Bionic chip, giving the iPad a much-needed performance boost.
Apple One
With an Apple subscription for TV, music, games, as well as iCloud storage charges, Apple is rolling its subscriptions into one place under its new Apple One plan. There are three tiers — one for individuals, another for families, and the top-tier include the full package of Apple’s subscription services.
iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 14, and tvOS 14
Apple said its long-awaited software updates will arrive today — September 16. That includes iOS 14 for iPhones, iPadOS 14 for iPads, watchOS 14 for Apple Watch wearables and tvOS14 for Apple TV boxes.
And iOS 14 comes with new privacy and security features, a new and improved Maps, a redesigned Siri and a new in-built translator app.
No word yet on macOS Big Sur, Apple’s next desktop and laptop operating system. A release date is expected out in the next few weeks ahead of the holiday season.
