Everything announced by Apple at their September iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 Keynote
Apple talked about a lot of new products and software today during their keynote. Here you’ll find a breakdown of everything Apple announced at today’s conference.
Apple kicked off the event with Nintendo, announcing that Super Mario Run will be an iOS exclusive game. For the first time you will be able to play Mario one handed and you can even play battle mode to battle friends and people around the world. Pricing and the actual game will be out in time for the holidays this year.
More into software, Apple then talked about iWork. Finally launching real time collaboration into the software family, Apple has caught up to Google Docs and all of Google’s work suite.
Next, Apple made some announcements with Apple Watch. Showing that the Apple Watch is #1 in smartwatch customer satisfaction. And now everyone’s favorite 2016 game, Pokémon Go is now coming to the Apple Watch.
Apple Watch:
The new Apple Watch, being called Apple Watch Series 2, is now much more waterproof and includes some swimming health features. The Apple Watch Series 2 features a 2nd generation S2 dual core processor chip paired with a 2x faster GPU. This will allos some larger apps to reach a staggering 60 FPS on your Watch with the new chip. The Series 2 also features a 2x brighter display, becoming the brightest screen Apple has have ever released on any product.
You can now go on a run with built in GPS, meaning you no longer need your iPhone to go on a run with Apple Watch. With the built in GPS you don’t even need cell service coverage to use it. Meaning you can go on rural hikes and adventures without getting lost. Apple Watch Series 2 now comes in ceramic with a white pearl like shine. Not only that, but Apple teamed up with watch company Hermes to introduce some classy new bands. Of course, the watch is built accordingly to Apple’s strict environmental standards.
Apple is also partnering with Nike and are launching an Apple Watch Nike Plus edition for runners. The device packs in plenty of cool health features and software as well.
Apple Watch Series 2 starts at $369 and the Apple Watch Nike + is also $369. The original The original Apple Watch will also get the new processor and will be renamed to Series 1. The Series 1 will start at just $269. Pre-orders begin September 9th and watchOS 3 launches on the 13th of September. Apple watch Nike+ will be coming at a later date, sometime in late October.
iPhone:
Next up, iPhone. Apple announced that they have sold over 1 billion iPhones worldwide before they introduced the iPhone 7. Apple made a focus on 10 key areas with the next iPhone that are as follows; Design, home button, enclosure, camera, display, audio, ear pods, wireless, Apple Pay, and finally performance.
1. Design
New finish called jet black. High gloss finish with seamless surface between glass and back of phone. Antennas are barley visible. 2nd new black, called simply, black. With a matte finish. Of course it comes in gold, silver, and rose gold.
2. Home Button
Completely new design with customization features. Now force sensitivity, solid state, works in combination with the tap-tic engine. Creating a new feel in the button with feedback. Unique feedback with ringtones and app notifications.
3. New Enclosure
The enclosure of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are water and dust resistant. IP67 standard now protects the internals of your phone.
4. Camera
Optical image stabilizers are now standard in all of the new iPhones featuring up to 3x more exposure, a f1.8 aperture, size element lens with sharper image, new high speed 12 mega pixel sensor that is 60% faster and 30% more efficient than the previous camera. New quad flash LED that creates 50% more light, and a high tech flicker sensor is integrated.
Apple is integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with iOS 10 using AI to read the scene and set exposure, focus, color balance, wide color, tone mapping, noise reduction, and can combine multiple photos into one to make the best picture.
Live photos get an upgrade with image stabilization and you can now edit and crop them. The front facing FaceTime camera gets an upgrade with a 7 MP HD camera. Your selfie game will now have quite the upgrade with auto image stabilization.
iPhone 7 plus gets widely speculated dual camera, which are two 12 megapixel cameras. One has wide angle 28 mm lens, the other has 56MM lens. Why? To simulate an almost DSLR like image capture and zoom. It works exactly like you would think, there is now a small new zoom icon in the camera app to use optical zoom while keeping the high quality. Even with the software zoom the quality is still very high. Shallow depth of field from big full frame sensor cameras is now possible with the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone scans the scene and creates a depth map in order to keep the people in focus and add blur to the background, making a true professional camera feature possible on a phone.
To activate, all you do is slide over to Portrait mode in the camera app. Apple clearly made a big focus on the camera, as they should with the world’s most popular camera.
5. Display
The new retina HD display is now 25% brighter, wide color gamut cinema standard, active color management, and of course 3D touch enabled.
6. Audio
Stereo speakers are on iPhone for the first time, one is at bottom one is at top which delivers 2x the volume, with better sound at increased dynamic range.
7. EarPods
The new EarPods now connect over lightning connection, removing the headphone jack. Lightning has actually been designed to manage audio since it came out, with over 900 million lightning enabled devices to date.
The new lightning style EarPods come in the box with each iPhone. Apple is also making an adapter from lightning to 3.5mm jack that also comes in every box with your iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
8. Wireless
Apple AirPods is a new ear bud that is truly wireless. Absolutely no wires just two earbuds that are separate from each other. With its own W1 chip, it brings great connectivity and has sensors that only allows it to play when its actually in your ears.
It recognizes when you are speaking and reduces external noise. With 5 hours of listening on a single charge. The W1 chip allows intelligent connections between your Apple devices with popups whenever the Earpods are nearby.
The wireless headphones features a one-tap connection that auto syncs across all of your devices so you don’t have to set them up independently on each device.
There is even a battery and charger in the case that it comes with which provides an extra 24 hours of battery life. Beats is also coming out with a line of headphones using the same technology. Solo 3 Wireless, PowerBeats 3 Wireless, and the all new BeatsX, an ‘affordable light and comfortable’ headphone.
9. Apple Pay
Apple reported that over 90% of wireless payments today are made with Apple Pay. In late October Apple Pay will come to Japan using a serpate NFC technology making the Japenese iPhones a little unique compared to the others. Apple will also be launching Transit in Japan alongside Apple Pay.
10. Performance
With the new generation chip called A10 Fusion you get a powerful four core CPU, with 3.3 billion transistors. Two high performance cores, 40% faster than previous generation, 120x faster than original iPhone. And two highly efficient cores running at 1/5 the power. Which only runs when you are using apps with low performance needs therefore saving you battery and increasing performance when you need it.
The new 6 core GPU is 50% faster, delivering 240x faster graphics than the original iPhone. The A10 chip is now the most powerful smartphone chip, enabling games that were never possible before. Reaching console level gaming on a phone, and professional apps like Adobe Lightroom brings 95% of the desktop features to your iPhone.
The battery gets a bit of an upgrade with 2 additional hours of screen tiem than the iPhone 6s. While the iPhone 7 Plus has just one more hour of battery life than 6s Plus (On average).
iPhone Pricing:
iPhone 7 will start at $649 (same price as 6s) with 32GB. iPhone 7 Plus will start at $769 with 32GB. Finally, Apple is ditching the 16GB iPhone model and is doubling the storage of all their phones. Apple is also launching all new Apple cases, battery cases, and charging docks. Both phones will also have 128GB and 256GB storage options.
You can pre-order September 9th, starts shipping September 16th starting in 28 countries and one week later 30 more. Finally, iOS 10 will be released September 13th, and the new wireless AirPods come late October at $159.