Apple Special Event in September usually gets massive attention because this is the usual timeline of new iPhone announcement. This year, Apple September Event was held on 9 Sep 2015 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (San Francisco). The exact time was 10 am Pacific Time, or already 10 Sep 2015 in Australia.
You could easily search and get tons of articles written about this event, but probably won’t have enough time to read them all. If you simply wants to know what was announced in a very short article, this post is for you.
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus
As expected, Apple announced 2 new iPhones: the 4.7″ and 5.5″ model, exactly the same size and design as iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both new iPhones are powered by Apple’s new A9 processor with 12 MP back camera (capable to record 4K video) and 5 MP front camera. The Plus model will have image stabilisation feature similar to its predecessor. The main selling point of this year’s new iPhones is pressure-sensitive display called 3D Touch. This new feature allows us to press down on the iPhone’s screen to pull up new menus, activate shortcuts, and generally interact with the device in new ways. It is basically an improved version of Force Touch from Apple Watch, but with significant improvement to make it more sensitive and usable. Another new interesting feature is live photos. This feature automatically records a short clip of video alongside every photo that we take. It can be turned off, but it’s on by default. These new iPhones will also feature second generation Touch ID sensors (said to be faster and more responsive), faster WiFi (assuming our WiFi router is the latest model) and stronger body using 7000 series aluminum (presumably to prevent another bendgate). There are 4 colors available: the usual silver, gold and space grey, plus a new “rose gold” that pretty much looks like “pink” for me. Pre-order starts on 12 Sep. First day of availability is 25 Sep.
iPad Pro
A larger iPad with 12.9″ screen, but remains extremely thin (6.9 mm) and reasonably lightweight (712 gr). It is powered by more powerful A9X processor and said to have double the RAM. The screen resolution is 2,732 x 2,048 pixels, creating a whole new category in iOS ecosystem. It offers 10 hours of battery life. Apple offers two first party accessories for this new iPad: Apple Pencil (basically a powered stylus) and Smart Keyboard (looks exactly like Microsoft Surface’s smart cover). I personally won’t even consider this iPad because even the 9.7″ model is too big for my taste (I prefer the 7.9″ model), but I can clearly see how some business would choose to use this. This oversized iPad will be available in November.
iPad mini 4
iPad mini, still with the same 7.9″ display, but with significantly thinner body and reduced weight. For me, this is the star of this year’s event. Sadly it didn’t get nearly enough time and attention in the announcement. The processor is bumped from last year’s A7 into A8. The back-camera is upgraded from 5 MP to 8 MP. This new model is available today from Apple Online Store.
Apple TV
There’s a new Apple TV with completely new touch-sensitive remote. This new model will have tvOS with app store. So, we can use it to watch movies or play games. The new remote works like Nintento Wii’s remote, so even its movement can be used to control something. There will be third party game controllers available for the new Apple TV. Another major highlight of this new Apple TV is Siri integration. We can ask Siri to find us the movies that we want. The price is USD 149 for 32 GB and USD 199 for 64 GB. This new model will be available for pre-order from October.
Software-related
iOS 9 will be available on 16 Sep. WatchOS 2 for Apple Watch will be available on 16 Sep. OS X El Capitan will be available on 30 Sep.
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