Apple has just held its inaugural keynote event (the Apple Event) at the newly established Steve Jobs Theater on their new “spaceship” campus, where a litany of new products was announced.
The address was led by the announcement of the iPhone X – the long-awaited, 10th anniversary-edition iPhone – which has an all-new design, facial recognition software, and an impressive list of brand new features.
iPhone X – Apple Event Focus
- Borderless, OLED screen
- Wireless charging
- Facial recognition software
- Most expensive iPhone to date, starting at $999
- Available in grey and silver finishes
- New screen dubbed a ‘Super Retina’ display
- Measures 5.8-inch (approximately 14.73 cm) diagonally and has a 2436-by-1135 pixel resolution
- First iPhone without a home button and the phone will be woken by tapping the screen
- Swiping up from the bottom of the screen navigates back to the home screen and launches the app switcher
- Available for pre-orders starting October 2017 and will be available to buyers from 3 November 2017
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are essentially updated versions of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
- Features the new glass back
- An enhanced screen that includes the True Tone technology found on the iPad which adapts the colour temperature to match the ambient light in any situation
- Biggest change is the new A11 Bionic processor which includes 2 performance cores, and 4 high performance cores
- Wireless charging
- New camera optimised for augmented reality
- 12 megapixel camera sensor picks up 83% more light than its predecessors
- iPhone 8 will be available in 64GB and 256GB capabilities, starting at $699, while the iPhone 8 Plus will start from $799
Apple Watch Series 3
- New watch has cellular connectivity meaning you won’t have to keep your iPhone close by in order to make phone calls, navigate via maps, or stream music. Although it’s unclear at this stage whether it will support the online slots Canada has to offer!
- Faster dual-core processor
- Faster barometric altimeter which measures the altitude of an object above a fixed level
- Series 3 watch with cellular capabilities will cost $399
- Series 3 watch without cellular capabilities will cost $329
- Apple is still partnering with Hermes and Nike to create limited editions of the Series 3
Apple TV 4K
- Updated to include support for ultra-high-resolution 4K video and HDR (High Dynamic Range), a visual tool which radically enhances the screen’s contrast and colours
- 4K resolution can only be achieved by watching 4K content on a 4K compatible television, screen, or monitor
- Apple will be bringing 4K movies to iTunes at the same price of High Definition content currently available
- Customers who bought HD versions of movies will automatically be upgraded to 4K versions
- Apple TV 4K will cost $179
Animojis
- Apple unveiled its take on animated emojis, dubbed animojis, as part of the demonstration of the iPhone’s new high quality front-facing cameras
- Characters are animated based on the users’ facial features and speech
- Will be launched with a dozen characters including a pig, an alien, and of course the poop emoji
- Can be dragged and dropped into iMessage conversations
- Animation is made possible by iPhone X’s True Depth camera which utilises Face ID facial recognition technology to unlock the phone or complete Apple Pay purchases
MacOS High Sierra Release Dates
- Latest mobile operating system, iOS 11, will be available from September 19th
- Latest iOS update focuses on speeding up iPhones and iPads
- New and improved Siri
- A major update to the existing Sierra edition of MacOS, High Sierra, will be available via the Apple website from 25th September
Which of the announcements from the Apple Event are you most excited about? Let us know!