A few thoughts on the new Apple products announced today
by Volker Weber
I like these announcements that just fall out of the sky without much fanfare. In no particular order:
- iPhone 7 gets a new color. Apple donates some money they make from (PRODUCT)RED products to AIDS research. So that's a good one. It looks cool, but my matte black iPhone 7 Plus looks cool enough that it does not need replacing.
- iPad replaces iPad Air 2. Faster chip (A9), more base memory (32 GB), brighter display, lower price. What's not to like about those changes? Turns out most of the rumors about new iPads were wrong.
- Swift Playgrounds now also available in German (and other languages). That's also good because it teaches young kids the basics of programming.
- New Spring Collection of Apple Watch bands. Bring them on if you like to dress up in new colors.
- Apple Clips. Not available yet. Meh. Will look at it when it's there. This is a feature right out of Snapchat and Co.
iPad is the biggest news and it says: the iPad is done. Apple is just refining the components, but there isn't much they can do these days to make yet another super duper earth shattering innovation here. They are making it better, they are bringing the price down, and that puts tremendous pressure on all other tablet makers. This is a high quality product for a resonable price. As is Apple Watch btw.
My wish list for Apple products is short. I'd like them to make an iOS notebook. Let's call it iBook.
Comments
Excellent summary.
The display of the new iPad is supposed to be worse than the display of iPad Air 2 (display not laminated to the front glass, no anti glare coating). This saves Apple some money.
But still a great device for this price.
And still no new desktop Macs. I'm a bit concerned about this.
Looks like the future of Apple is iDevices and Macbooks only.
The new iPad is the only one that comes without "Fully laminated display" and "Antireflective coating". I wonder how much that matters and if Apple did not safe in the wrong place.
Manfred, the iMac is the Apple desktop and it's a very good computer. No, it's not MacBook and iDevices. I know you are looking at the Mac Pro, but you don't know Apple's numbers. I know quite a few people with iMacs but not a single Mac Pro customer. If Apple is going to do AR like everybody assumes they will, I am sure they will have the hardware to go with it.
Felix, it's quite simple. There are now two iPads (and the odd mini): iPad for people who like cheap, and iPad Pro for people who like good. Both run the same software. I don't want to second guess Apple on the laminated display front but there is a clear advantage for having a display not laminated. You can exchange the glass without the screen, which makes repairs much more feasable..
The current iMac lacks Thunderbolt 3.
If you have a computer which you can not expand with internal components, you have to rely on the ports. And Thunderbolt 2 will likely die as fast as Firewire 800. And i know what i am talking about. I still have one of these "furniture" Macs (https://vowe.net/archives/016077.html) with Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 only.
So my credit card is waiting for an updated iMac with Thunderbolt 3.
No need for a Mac Pro.
A new iMac with Thunderbolt 3 should not be too far away. Start saving up. :-)
not to forget the iPhone SE with 128gb
They said that they will anounce new hardware without any event and it seems they have done it now but i still think they will anounce new ipdas in april
Volker: I think the Mac Pro customers are mostly university science departments with substantial budgets and big EU grants.
Which means that UK universities will not be in that market sector any more :-(
Nick
I can shorten that sentence: The UK will not be in the market anymore. And you can start buying American cars instead of German. :-)
Reinhard, what kind of iPads do you expect them to announce?
Although i am not Reinhard, i think i know the answer:
iPad Pro (both sizes) with A10X chip.
And 12.9 inch model with true tone display.
Incidentally are you serious about wanting a iOS notebook? Wouldn't that run counter to your own arguments about diverged interfaces from a few months ago (/archives/015995.html )?
Absolutely, yes. There is a certain class of users that cherish simplicity over everything else. Moms and CEOs come to mind. They don't want to manage files, so Windows or MacOS don't fit their needs. Today they can buy an iPad with a somewhat clunky attached keyboard. Why not make it official?
I learned about a student who wrote her thesis on an iPhone, mostly by dictating into Siri. Fascinating.
Da kommt vermutlich das Notebook mit iOS:
https://www.heise.de/mac-and-i/meldung/Apple-Patentantrag-Accessoire-soll-iPhone-zum-Laptop-machen-3663245.html
Die Idee das iPhone als Touchpad zu benutzen finde ich genial.
Congratulations on being named "Europe's shrewdest hardware scribe" by El Reg: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/23/clearance_sale_shows_the_ipad_is_over_its_done/