Apple held their annual Fall media event today, September 12, 2017 and it was a BIG deal!! It was a big deal for two reasons... 1) Apple announced many incredible new products, namely the new iPhone X and 2) they presented live, for the very first time, from the Steve Jobs Theater at their new Apple Park campus.
The event lasted 2 hours, and you don't want to miss the details. You can watch the event on www.apple.com. For those who don't have 2 hours to spend, you can read up on all the news here!
Introduction
- Apple starts by showing a video showcasing the new Steve Jobs Theater and Apple Park
- The event starts with a brief tribute to Steve Jobs, playing an audio clip of Steve Jobs discussion the importance of people and Apple.
- Tim Cook takes the stage to a huge, roaring applause! This is the first public event in the new Stave Jobs Theater.
- "It's only fitting that Steve should open his theater"
- "We're here today to talk about some incredible products"
- Apple Park features more than 9,000 trees and is 100% powered by renewable energy
Retail Update
- Angela Ahrendts takes the stage
- "We don't call them stores anymore, we call them Town Squares"
- Town Squares are gathering places, and the intent is to humanize technology
- New features: a public plaza, a forum and a boardroom
- "Today at Apple" helps to inspire customers using Apple technology
Apple Watch and watchOS
- "Apple Watch was designed to help people stay active"
- Apple Watch experienced a 50% year-over-year growth, and is now "the #1 watch in the world" with a 97% customer satisfaction rating
- Jeff Williams takes the stage
- watchOS 4 will feature many new features for swimmers and a new feature called "GymKit"
- Heart rate app is receiving some major improvements including heart rate histographs, making it easier to watch for trends
- watchOS 4 will be available September 19
- Apple Watch Series 3 was just announced, with built-in cellular connectivity and GPS!!
- Place and receive call on your Apple Watch with the same number as your iPhone, without having your iPhone with you
- Apple Watch Series 3 + Apple Music will allow you to stream 40 million songs, right to your wrist!
- Dual-core processor provides a 70% increase in performance
- Siri on Apple Watch Series 3 is now audible
- All-new A2 chip provides 85% faster WiFi and altimeter functionality
- The Apple Watch Series 3 case is exactly the same size as Series 2
- New bands will be available
- New gray ceramic finish will be available
- Prices start at $329 and will be available for pre-order on September 15 (available September 22)
Apple TV
- Apple has now won two Emmies for their Apple TV
- Next generation Apple TV will feature 4K streaming!
- Eddy Cue takes the stage
- Apple TV 4K will offer not just 4K video, but 4K HDR video
- Apple TV screen savers have been remastered to take advantage of 4K HDR
- CPU performance is more than 2x faster than pervious model Apple TV
- 4K titles on the iTunes Store will be the same price as HD titles, AND all previously-purchased HD titles will be automatically upgraded to 4K!
- Live sports coming to Apple TV later this year!
- Prices start at $179 and will be available for pre-order on September 15 (available September 22)
iPhone
- "We have HUGE iPhone news for you today"
- Phil Schiller takes the stage
- "Today, we are announcing the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus"
- Colors come in Silver, Space Gray and a new Gold
- Speakers are 25% louder with deeper bass
- All-new A11 processor with 4.3 billion transistors
- New iPhone 8 features the all-new Apple-designed GPU
- 12MP dual photo sensors with f/1.8 aperture
- New Portrait Lighting mode (in beta now) helps to separate background from subject in photos
- Video capable of shooting at 60 fps in 4K resolution
- Slow motion now up to 1080p at 240 fps!
- Each iPhone is calibrated for augmented reality, from the factory
- Editor's note: cool things are happening with augmented reality and ARKit!
- "The future is wireless"
- iPhone 8 and 8 Plus support Bluetooth 5.0
- With the new glade back, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus now supports wireless charging
- Many hotels, car manufacturers and others are starting to build-in wireless charging stations
- iPhone 8 prices start at $699 (for 64 GB storage) and will be available for pre-order on September 15 (available September 22)
- iPhone 8 Plus prices start at $799 (for 64 GB storage) and will be available for pre-order on September 15 (available September 22)
- iOS 11 will be available as a free upgrade on September 19!
- "The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus is an amazing improvement, but we're not stopping there... we have one more thing...."
- Today, Apple announced the iPhone X (pronounced "ten")
- iPhone X sports an edge-to-edge display
- Glass on the front and back, supporting wireless charging
- iPhone X is dust- and water-resistant, available in Silver and Space Gray
- New 5.8" Super Retina display sports a 2436x1125 resolution at 458 PPI!!
- Simply tap on the screen to wake it up (or you can lift)
- No more Home button
- To go to the Home screen, swipe up from the bottom
- To access the app switcher, swipe up from the bottom and pause for a moment
- Unlocking the iPhone X is as simple as looking at your phone, using "Face ID" (facial recognition)
- Face ID uses 3D IR technology so you can't foil it with a photo or even a 3D mask
- iPhone X features a "neural engine" in the A11 chip! 600 billion operations per second
- Face ID adapts to changes each time you use it... grow a beard, wear glasses, etc
- Touch ID is granular to 1/50,000 people. Face ID is granular to 1/1,000,000 (in other words, you have 1 in a 1,000,000 chance of someone else being able to unlock your iPhone X)
- Face ID also works with ApplePay
- New animated emojis (animojis) on iPhone X are animated based on YOUR facial movements!
- Craig Federighi takes the stage
- "This is a phone that we've been dreaming about for a long time, and today, it's a reality"
- Control Center is accessible by swiping down from the top right corner
- Rear iPhone X camera features an f/1.8 (wide) and f/2.4 aperture (telephoto)
- Dual optical image stabilization engine on iPhone X
- Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting are now available on front TrueDepth camera!
- Battery life is expected to be 2 hours longer than iPhone 7 (to big applause)
- Sneak peek: Apple is coming out with a single, uniform charing mat that charges your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. This technology is called "AirPower" (coming next year)
- iPhone X prices start at $999 (for 64 GB storage) and will be available for pre-order on October 27 (available November 03)
