Today at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s second keynote in two months. While their last presentation covered the Apple Watch 4, iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, yesterday’s big reveal brought us even more announcements in what looks like a historic time for the company.
The New iPad
Apple is marketing these following new features as the biggest changes to the iPad since the inception eight years ago. First of all, and most the most immediately apparent change, the new iPad Pro totally eliminates the home button and incorporates the company’s facial recognition technology, Face ID, for a seamless unlock. With a near edge-to-edge display and rounded corners, the device certainly looks slick, and in keeping with the times, no longer features a traditional headphone jack. The benefit of this is that the new model is 5.9mm (15%) thinner than its predecessor. The lack of Lightning and inclusion of USB-C support means the device can connect to external monitors, turning itself into a portable workstation, while also having the rather snazzy ability to act as a power bank with the ability to charge your iPhone. As the device is so favoured by designers, the Apple Pencil (the device’s high-tech stylus) now magnetically attaches to the side of the tablet where it wirelessly charges. Running on A12X bionic chips (more powerful than iPhone XS/XS Max), and boasting up to 1TB of storage, it’s certainly a powerful tool. The device will come in two models; an 11-inch and a 12.9 inch.
The New MacBook Air
Also announced was the new MacBook Air, boasting a 13.3-inch edge-to-edge retina display, as well as Touch ID, unlock capability. This sensor sits in the keyboard and also enables touch-based Apple Pay transactions. The entire keyboard and trackpad have been revamped around this. Many critics will be pleased to hear the Touch Bar is now absent, while the speakers have also been improved for stronger audio playback. The device offers up to 16GB storage, with doubles the memory capacity of its predecessor. Made entirely from recycled aluminium, the device is lighter and has had a weight reduction of 25% at 1.25kg. This use of recycled materials will also help reduce the device’s carbon footprint by 50%.
The New Mac Mini
While the new Mac Mini looks nearly identical to previous models, this first update in four years overhauls the device with a quad-core Intel processor and the option to upgrade further to a six-core. With four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and HDMI, the device will be five times faster than previously and will come in space grey. Also made entirely from recycled aluminium, the new Mac Mini will come with up to 64GB of memory.
iOS 12.1
And finally, Tim Cook announced that iOS users can now upgrade to iOS 12.1, which will give the user 70 new emojis and the much-anticipated new group FaceTime feature.
So, all in all, a pretty busy keynote from Apple – and some very much needed updates to a group of products that are long overdue for a change. All new products will be available from November 7th.
Sam Love
