Apple announced a bunch of new things today. I have a few quick thoughts on everything.
Whether users are out for a run, at the pool or just trying to be more active throughout their day, Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular allows them to stay connected, make calls, receive texts and more, even without iPhone nearby. The third-generation Apple Watch is an amazing health and fitness companion with intelligent coaching features, water resistance 50 meters1 and a new barometric altimeter that measures relative elevation.
This seems like a nice logical step. The idea of being able to leave the house for a workout and only needing your watch and AirPods is definitely enticing. Which leads to:
Soon, the combination of cellular and watchOS 4 will allow Apple Music users to stream 40 million songs right from their wrist.
The watch is making a play as the new iPod. It used to be a thousand songs in your pocket, now there’s 40 million songs on your wrist.
watchOS 4 features an updated Heart Rate app, giving even more insight to heart rate, including measurements during resting, workout, recovery, walking and Breathe sessions. Customers can also choose to receive a notification when their heart rate is elevated above a specific threshold while inactive.
These health updates are pretty cool.
With Apple TV 4K, viewers can enjoy a growing selection of 4K HDR movies on iTunes. iTunes users will get automatic upgrades of HD titles in their existing iTunes library to 4K HDR versions when they become available. Apple TV 4K will also offer 4K HDR content from popular video services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, coming soon.
Pretty standard update for the Apple TV. Without a new remote, I don’t really have a reason to upgrade at the moment. Mine works just fine for what I mostly use it for (a Plex watching device).
The new iPhone features a new glass and aluminum design in three beautiful colors made out of the most durable glass ever in a smartphone, Retina HD displays and A11 Bionic chip, and is designed for the ultimate augmented reality experience. The world’s most popular camera gets even better with single and dual cameras featuring Portrait Lighting on iPhone 8 Plus, and wireless charging brings a powerful new capability to iPhone. Both devices will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, September 15 in more than 25 countries and territories, and in stores beginning Friday, September 22.
Nice looking phones, great spec bumps, and an impressive camera. Also, almost immediately outdated.
Apple today announced iPhone X, the future of the smartphone, in a gorgeous all-glass design with a beautiful 5.8-inch Super Retina display, A11 Bionic chip, wireless charging and an improved rear camera with dual optical image stabilization. iPhone X delivers an innovative and secure new way for customers to unlock, authenticate and pay using Face ID, enabled by the new TrueDepth camera. iPhone X will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, October 27 in more than 55 countries and territories, and in stores beginning Friday, November 3.
Expensive, very expensive. It seems that Apple wants to continue pushing their phones forward without having to be constrained by the need to mass produce at iPhone scale. This new phone gives them the ability to use components they can’t put into the “main” phone that needs to ship millions at once. It looks gorgeous, the camera looks fantastic, and I’m sure I’ll get used to the “notch” sooner or later. The real decision for me will be how the lack of the home button and swipe gesture to get to the home screen feel in real use. It’s something I do a hundred times a day, and it needs to feel natural. I assume I’ll get used to it. Face ID looks interesting and I hope it’s as fast as it demos since I’ve become accustomed to the speed and ease of use of Touch ID. I guess time will tell.