Apple September 2016 Keynote
Apple had there announcement today and unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. They also announced a few other things to talk about other than the iPhone. We had a new Apple Watch and an update to iWork.
iWork Update
The first thing of significance was an update to iWork. This update will finally allow you to do live collaboration with other people across all platforms. They haven't said when this would be available but I would guess sometime around sierras launch.
Apple Watch series 1 and 2
The Apple Watch got a update today. The new Apple Watch is called the series 2. It looks pretty much like the old apple watch which is now being called the series 1. The upgrade is more on the inside with a better CPU (dual core) and better graphics. The other difference is this apple watch is water proof up to 50 meters, so this will be usable for swimmers. All the old accessories will work with this model. The series 2 will have a better screen and be brighter so it can be better seen in the sun.
Apple also decided to update the first apple watch with the series 2 new dual core processor. You can pre order booth series 1 and 2 on September 16th the series one will cost you around $269 and the series 2 will cost around $369. They also showed off a nike branded apple watch which they say will be good for runners. The Nike + watch will cost the same as the series 2.
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
As you might imagine the whole reason for todays keynote was to show off the iPhone 7. The new iPhone will come in black and jet black. This just means one has a glossy finish and the other has a mat finish. It will come in same colors the iPhone 6s and 6SPlus come in as well. I guess ill rip the bandaid off about the headphone jack and say its gone. I’ll let that sink in for a second. Ok you have had enough time the headphone jack is gone but with booth the 7 and 7 Plus you will get a pair of lightning ear pods and a dongle that goes from lightening to a headphone jack so you can still use your old head phones with it. There reason was basically its time to get rid of it so we can add other things to the phone. They also introduced wireless ear pods that look pretty good and you can still use Siri with now a tap of the ear.
Now that we have that out of the way with they have made changes to the home button. It is now a solid state object and will use 3D touch. This makes me think they might be inching there way to a besalist design maybe next year.
The one thing they harped on the most was the new camera on the iPhone 7 Plus which uses 2 12 MP cameras with 2 different lenses. It seems to work much better in low light than any iPhone before it. The flash has improved, it can do up to 2X physical zoom and up to 10X software zoom. You can shoot in RAW finally and can do deep depth photos with a new camera style called called portrait. Though I will say this feture will not ship with the phone it will come in a iOS 10 update later on maybe iOS 10.1?
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will have the same faster better stronger things going for it. a new A10 fusion chip, which will be 64 bit and a quod core processor. It will have better batterie life for most of us. Apple has also changed the storage for its phones now starting at 32 GB and going up to 256 GB So lets talk about pricing. The iPhone 7 will cost you $649 and the 7 Plus will start at $769.
Wrap up
They did talk about iOS 10 which will be available one September 13th for all supported devices. Apple pay will be coming to japan in October and speaking of japan Mario will be coming to the app store in a new Mario game just for mobile. A lot was talked about today but I still am wondering about iPads and Mac. This might mean they could have an October announcement coming up. For now we will have to wait and see and enjoy our new iPhones with no head phone jack.
Speculations for March 2016 Apple Event
The invites have gone out for next weeks Apple event. Up until today this event was just a rumor but the invites went out for a March 21st event. But what will they be announcing? This is what I want to speculate about. iPhone SE:
First off we have to talk about iPhone. Rumor is that Apple might announce a smaller iPhone one about the size of the iPhone 5 but have the guts of the iPhone 6S. Some of us think even the iPhone 6S is too big of a screen. I still think the 4S screen was the better size but a iPhone 5 screen is pretty good too. I have big hands but I need 2 to use my iPhone a lot. While with my 5c I could pretty much use my iPhone with one hand. Well maybe my next iPhone I will be able to do that again.
iPad Mini Pro:
Back in October the iPad Pro was announced and some people liked it and some didn't. Mostly cause of the size. But most people agree that the best part of it is the Apple Pencil. Well what if you could have the power of a iPad Pro and the ability to use the Apple Pencil in a iPad mini? Well if that's what you wanted you might have won! The iPad mini pro might be a thing being announce in a few weeks.
Apple Watch 2 (1.5):
Almost a year ago the Apple Watch came out and it seems to be a success. Well we might just see the Apple Watch 2. I doubt it will be much different from the original, it will probably be faster and have longer battery life. They might have some surprises in software with watch OS 2 which is in beta right now and will be out at some point.
Watch OS 2, iOS 9.3, OSX 10.11.4, and TV OS 9.2:
This one I would put money on. I'm almost sure they will release them shortly after the event is over or later on in the week. All of these have in beta or public beta for while now and as far as the public builds for iOS they are in 6th build of it. So even if you can't afford anything that might be announced in the event you will still have something to play with that day. That's about all I can come up with. We will see in a few weeks on March 21st what they will really announce. You will be able to watch a stream of The event by Apple and many blogs will be live blogging it as well.
Opinion: Apple Watch
So as the pre-order date comes closer for the apple watch I feel like voicing an opinion about the Apple Watch. I guess for me the Apple Watch seems out of place in my world. When I want to know what time it is I just pull out my phone if its not all ready in my hand. If I want to see who sent me a text I just pull out my phone or ask Siri. Map directions just listen to the phone or have it mounted some place. I have no need to check my wrist to see this information.
The Apple Watch to me seems like a wast of time. Not that all warbles are a wast because I do have a Jawbone up which I have been using since January and I love it and the information it gives me about my day and night. The Jawbone has a purpose it tracks my steps and even my sleep. It dose a few other side things like reminders and alarms but thats about it. This warble docent try to be everything my iPhone can already do.
I feel like in the long run specific devices will be what people adopted not watches. When was the last time you saw someone check the time on there watch? Even the people Ive seen with watches still check there phone to see what time it is. For most people a watch is just jewelry. The last time I wore a watch was in middle school and that was because my teachers would cover the clock in the there classrooms so we might pay attention to them instead of looking at the clock every 5 minutes to see if it was launch time or time to go home.
So if I don't like the Apple Watch then what warble type do I like? Well I got a answer! I want something like Google Glass. I think the reason why is ever since playing Halo when I was in elementary school Ive wanted to be able to have some kind of computer that was either part of a pair of glasses or some kind of eye implant. I want to be able to look things up or have an AI look things up for me or remind me to do something. Thats why when Google announced Glass I was way more excited about that than some watch. But of course we probably wont see anything like that for awhile thanks to technophobic people. Though I would be happy with something like Glass that docent have a camera on it.
Well Apple Watch comes out later this month and it would be foolish to think that it will be a flop. Apple is good with marketing and makes grate devices. They will probably out sell all the Google Ware devices ever made in like the first week of sales. And in this time I might be able to play with a Apple Watch and change my mind about getting one. I know when the iPad came out I felt that way, then I got to use an iPad and I got why it was so good. So I got one eventually. We will see and Im sure I will write about it when I do change my mind.