Apple Special Event, March 2016 highlights
Last night Apple had its special event where they traditionally announce upgrades to current products and one or two new products. Yesterday was no different.
The underlying theme of the event? Apple is no longer high-end, they too are ‘downsizing’.
A new iphone was launched; the iPhone 4SE. The 4SE is a a smaller, less powerful iPhone that is said to target a specific subset of customers. The main features highlighted for that subset of customers are a smaller screen and a cheaper price. The iPhone 4SE has been released just in time for the upgrade cycle for owners of the iPhone 4S, 5, 5C and 5S owners.
The technical specs on the iPhone 4SE include:
- US price of $399.00 for the 16GB model without a contract
- US price of $499.00 for the 32GB model without a contract
- 12 megapixel camera
- 4k video shooting capability
- A new A9 senor
- Apple touchpay
- 4 inch screen
- It comes it the Apple quadtage of colours
If you are deep in the Apple ecosystem and want to upgrade but do not want to buy an old 5S or have the hands for a huge 6S wait for the 4SE. Apple will start taking pre-orders for the 4SE ton the 31st of March 2016.
The iPad Pro has also undergone the shrinking cycle bring it down to 9.7inches (25cm) from 12.9inches (32.8cm). The new size makes the iPad Pro more portable. The reduction in size has not impacted the abilities of the unit. To ensure the device is accurately sold, here is a video by Apple VP for iPad Pro Marketing Mr Michael Tchao:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_pMx7IjYKE
The technical specs for the iPad Pro 9.7
- Starts from $599.00 for the 32GB WiFi only model
- The high-end 256GB WiFi + cellular model will cost $1029.00
- 12 megapixel iSight camera
- 5 megapixel facetime camera
- Shoot and edit dual stream 4k video
- True tone display with two four-channel sensors, colour and temperature
- Expected battery life is 10-hours
- Quadtage of colours
The accessories for the iPad Pro are eye-watering with their prices. The must have pencil is $99.00 and the very much should have Smart Keyboard be available for $149.00. Pre-orders for the iPad Pro will start on the 31st of march 2016.
Other notable highlights:
- Cheaper iWatch at $299.00
- New iWatch bands (yes this was an actual announcement)
- New iOS9.3.3 will start rolling out today – get close to your WiFi
- New Apple TV OS that supports diction including spoken passwords and App store searches
Unless you are a genuine Apple fan due for an upgrade of your old phone this was more a marketing event to remind us Apple are still here. Will everyone else follow suit and announce premium small screen devices?
