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Apple Announces New iPhones, Apple TV, and Apple Watch

Apple
Jason Tate

Apple announced a bunch of new things today. I have a few quick thoughts on everything.

Apple Watch 3:

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.

Apple TV 4K:

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).

iPhone 8:

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.

iPhone X:

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.

Apple, Amazon Join Race for James Bond Film Rights

James Bond
Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter:

The James Bond sweepstakes has taken an unexpected turn. While Warner Bros. remains in the lead to land film distribution rights to the megafranchise — whose deal with Sony expired after 2015’s Spectre — a couple of unlikely suitors have emerged that also are in hot pursuit: Apple and Amazon.

The tech giants are willing to spend in the same ballpark as Warners, if not much more, for the rights, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. MGM has been looking for a deal for more than two years, and Sony, Universal and Fox also had been pursuing the property, with Warners and Sony the most aggressive.

Apple Introduces New Wireless, Noise-Cancelling Beats Studio3 Headphones

Beats
Jason Tate

Beats have announced their new, over the ear, Studio3 wireless headphones:

Beats Studio3 Wireless headphones deliver a premium listening experience with Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling (Pure ANC) to actively block external noise, and real-time audio calibration to preserve clarity, range and emotion. It continuously pinpoints external sounds to block while automatically responding to individual fit in real-time, optimising sound output to preserve a premium listening experience the way artists intended.

Apple Music Festival Ends After 10 Years

Jason Tate

The annual Apple Music Festival will end after ten years:

However, the cancellation of the festival doesn’t signal a move away from live events by Apple Music completely.

The brand was recently a partner of shows by Haim and Skepta in London and Arcade Fire in Brooklyn and it had a heavy presence at SXSW in Texas earlier this year – where it backed shows from Lana Del Rey, Vince Staples and DJ Khaled.

In addition, Apple Music also sponsored Drake’s 32-date Summer Sixteen Tour in 2016 and it supports regular live sessions from its ‘Up Next’ artists.

The closure of the Apple Music Festival is likely because Apple is concentrating its resources on one-off events like these, in addition to its original content efforts in video – which have recently included a Carpool Karaoke spin-off series and a behind-the-scenes documentary on Harry Styles.

How Apple Is Putting Voices in Users’ Heads — Literally

Apple
Jason Tate

Steven Levy, writing for Wired:

Cochlear implants bypass the usual hearing process by embedding a device in the inner ear and connecting it via electrodes to the nerve that sends audio signals to the brain. The implant gets sound from an external microphone and sound processor that usually sits behind the ear. Until now, users have had to deal with balky remote controls to adjust the settings. And dealing with smartphones has required a separate piece of equipment that vexes communication thanks to its low quality and annoying lags. But Bahnmueller, a 49-year-old executive in automotive safety, has recently been testing a new solution. The reason I was coming through so clearly is that his over-the-ear device linked to the implant was streaming directly from his iPhone—essentially putting the conversation in his head.

Apple Removes iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

Jason Tate

The iPod nano and the iPod shuffle are no more:

The iPod touch remains. With its 10th anniversary just a few months away, I wonder how long it has left. In July 2015, Apple gave it the A8 processor from the iPhone 6, along with better cameras and increased storage capacity. The Touch’s pricing and capacities were adjusted today, but the product saw no other changes.

The iPhone Turns 10

iPhone
Jason Tate

The iPhone turned 10 today. John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has a good piece:

There is no way to overstate it. The iPhone was the inflection point where “personal computing” truly became personal. Apple had amazing product introductions before the iPhone, and it’s had a few good ones after. But the iPhone was the only product introduction I’ve ever experienced that felt impossible. Apple couldn’t have shrunk Mac OS X — a Unix-based workstation OS — to a point where it could run on a cell phone. Scrolling couldn’t be that smooth and fluid. Touchscreen response couldn’t be so responsive. Apple couldn’t possibly have gotten a major carrier to cede them control over every aspect of the device, both hardware and software. I can recall sitting the hall at Moscone West, watching the keynote unfold, 90 percent excited as hell, 10 percent concerned that I was losing my goddamn mind. Literally mind-blowing.

Apple and Record Labels Working on New Deals

Jason Tate

Bloomberg:

The record labels’ deals with Apple expire at the end of June, though they are likely to be extended if the parties can’t agree on new terms by then, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

The negotiations would bring Apple closer to the rate Spotify Ltd. pays labels, and allow both sides to adjust to the new realities of the music industry.

And:

Apple initially overpaid to placate the labels, who were concerned Apple Music would cripple or cannibalize iTunes, a major source of revenue.

The growth of Apple Music hasn’t been as detrimental to iTunes as labels had feared. But record labels are still asking for precautions.

Apple Music Adds $99 Annual Plan

Jason Tate

Apple Music now offers a $99 a year plan:

This setting is quite buried as Apple doesn’t want you to know that you can pay less than what you’re actually paying. We tried different scenarios, and it was quite hard to find the new annual plan — but it’s real.

If you’re not a current Apple Music subscriber, the Music app only lets you subscribe to a normal monthly plan as pictured above. But if you’re an existing subscriber, you can go to your membership settings and switch to an annual plan. So new users will have to buy a monthly subscription first and then switch.

Quick way to save $20 bucks a year.

MacStories Reviews the New iPad

Apple
Jason Tate

Federico Viticci, writing for MacStories, about the new 10.5” iPad Pro:

The first time I swiped on the 10.5” iPad Pro’s 120Hz display last week, I thought it looked fake – like a CGI software sequence. It was incredibly, utterly crisp and fast. It didn’t look like iOS belonged on the screen: after years of iPad usage, my brain was telling me that something didn’t seem normal about the way iOS was animating. Except it’s all real, and it simply takes a couple of days to get used to the new display and the work Apple has put into ProMotion for smoother scrolling and fluid animations throughout the system.

Apple Announces Podcast Updates

Apple
Jason Tate

Apple has announced some new podcast updates. Jason Snell, over at Six Colors, has a good rundown:

The other big news out of today’s session is for podcasters (and presumably for podcast advertisers): Apple is opening up in-episode analytics of podcasts. For the most part, podcasters only really know when an episode’s MP3 file is downloaded. Beyond that, we can’t really tell if anyone listens to an episode, or how long they listen—only the apps know for sure.

Apple said today that it will be using (anonymized) data from the app to show podcasters how many people are listening and where in the app people are stopping or skipping. This has the potential to dramatically change our perception of how many people really listen to a show, and how many people skip ads, as well as how long a podcast can run before people just give up.

Apple’s Keynote is Full of Goodies

Apple
Jason Tate

Apple kicked off their developer conference this week with a slew of announcements in their keynote. A bunch of the Macs got speed-bumps, the new iMac Pro looks lust-worthy, and iOS 11 has a whole bunch of new features specifically designed for the iPad.

Then there’s the new HomePod speaker. It’s pitched as a great speaker that includes Siri.

Some quick thoughts:

  • I’m glad to see Apple dedicated to updating their Mac line-up with new processors and little speed-bumps when available. This gives me faith in the Mac platform going forward.
  • While the name of the new macOS, “High Sierra,” is sure to be the butt of a lot of jokes, I like that it signifies a bug-fix and more small improvement release.1
  • That iMac Pro with the black accessories burns me at my core with envy. I want one. That price tag puts it outside of my grasp for now though. I’m sure a lot of “pros” will be happy to see these kinds of specs in a new machine.
  • The iPad specific updates to iOS 11 look fantastic. They look to be moving the iPad more toward to Mac in terms of what it can do productivity wise. Multi-tasking, file management, and drag and drop are all things we take for granted on a Mac, but I think bringing them to the iPad in a new way is far better than just trying to shoehorn a touch interface onto the Mac. It actually made me want an new iPad with an Apple Pencil. I yearned for something like this in college.2
  • The HomePod looks interesting. I think pitching it as a great speaker first is a smart marketing move. It sets expectations. A great speaker that works with Apple Music and does some Siri stuff? That’s enticing to me. I like my Amazon Echo, but the speaker isn’t great and it doesn’t integrate with my Apple Music account — that’s two great selling points for me right there. It’s on the pricey side (no shock there), but this feels like the kind of device I’d love to have in the living room to play music with, and if the multi-device syncing is as good as advertised, I think I’d look to this before a Sonos system. I’m intrigued. The sound quality will be the make or break moment for me.
  • The Safari browser will be shipping with the ability to stop auto-play videos. It’s interesting to me how much of Safari and Chrome are having to be devoted to basically “fixing” so much of the gross bullshit websites are being filled up with today. Not a good sign for the web.

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  1. Now let’s hope they fix some of the Bluetooth issues I see on a daily basis.↩

  2. My laptop was so heavy I couldn’t even take it to class comfortably. Fuck I’m old.↩

Inside the New Apple Campus

Jason Tate

Steve Levy goes inside Apple’s new spaceship campus:

We drive through an entrance that takes us under the building and into the courtyard before driving back out again. Since it’s a ring, of course, there is no main lobby but rather nine entrances. Ive opts to take me in through the café, a massive atrium-like space ascending the entire four stories of the building. Once it’s complete, it will hold as many as 4,000 people at once, split between the vast ground floor and the balcony dining areas. Along its exterior wall, the café has two massive glass doors that can be opened when it’s nice outside, allowing people to dine al fresco.