A few thoughts on the Apple WWDC 2017 keynote
by Volker Weber
Photo Apple
In reverse chronological order:
- Homepod and Airplay 2 are an immediate threat to the Sonos business in pure Apple households. It combines Siri smarts with Homekit integration, streams directly from Apple Music, it looks quite capable in the sound department and it comes at a low price. $349 is a PLAY:3 plus an Echo Dot and I would be surprised if it did not sound better. We will see how well Apple does multi-room, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. Available first in the US it will come to Europe next year.
- iOS 11 is a fantastic update for iPads. It brings many of the Windows 10 features around inking and multitasking to the iPad. You also finally get file management and drag&drop. This will make the iPad much more capable as your main computer. So far I have advised against that, but I will reevaluate my position once iOS 11 ships in the fall. Adding a bigger screen to the smaller iPad Pro is also a plus and it will make it even more popular. With a 64 GB iPad Pro starting at $649 it may give the iPad line a much needed boost.
- New hardware for iMac, MacBook Pro and a screaming fast iMac Pro, that is all very welcome news, unless, well you just bought a new MacBook Pro. 7th gen Intel chips were to be expected but much faster SSDs and lower entry level prices were not.
- There were a whole lot of things in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra targeted at developers that Hairforce One rattled through. I need to watch all of that a couple of times until I fully understand.
- watchOS 4 was mostly meh. New watchfaces, a new timeline, yeah. I bet the really cool stuff is invisible like the full Bluetooth stack that lets the watch interface other equipment. How about that rumored non-invasive glucose monitor? When that becomes available it will take over the world for all diabetes patients.
- Amazone Prime video coming to the Apple TV. That's about time.
iOS 11 on iPad - that was the most interesting part for me. Homepod will be interesting next year, but it won't have the breadth and depth of Sonos. No TV surround, limited to Apple Music, no Android support. But hey, if you live in Apple land, you will want this for sure.
Apple Pay? Sigh. N26, are you listening?
Comments
iPad Pro 10.5 + iPad specific iOS 11 additions were indeed the best part.
Bigger memory is welcome. Ordered a 10.5 256. Leather SmartCovers are back. Smart cases (back protection) are gone - not sure yet if I like that. I stuck to the silicone one, anticipating smart case coming later.
HomePod - Apple had to do this to not let Amazon and Google take this market. They are late to the party. Sad to see it will only come to continental Europe next year. For me so far Alexa switches the lights in my office. A Sonos / speaker connection is sorely missed. I am curious to see if this category will really lift off. Also given Amazons' / Googles' head start. Apple made their move. Sonos still have to make theirs.
Today my AppleWatch (1.0) fully drained the battery early evening, second day in a row. Time for a new watch. WatchOS 4 arrives in Fall - maybe new watches, too?
Now that Apple is becoming a bank, it should be easy to roll out basic Apple Pay support everywhere - even without any partners.
This was a very long keynote. And it was fully packed with new software and hardware. Great new features and great new hardware.
Except on little thing: Apple continues to remove digital audio out from the Macs. The new iMac now lost its optical audio output too. Apart from that, this is the iMac i was waiting for. But i will likely wait for the new modular Mac Pro Apple promised a couple of weeks ago before finally deciding which Mac to buy.
And yes, the best part is iOS for iPad that goes to 11 now ;-)
No Siri improvements? Without dramatically better Siri Carplay and Homepod are not of much use. Siri does not understand much of what I am asking it to do. Amazon and Google are much better.
Best Apple keynote for quite a while. I like it that they showed some love for the Mac.
And AI/ML everywhere. It will be really interesting to see how far they can get with their approach to privacy. In theory that should not work, but in practise it works well for me. Lots of low hanging fruit ripe to be picked still. And ML powered API for developers, great.
No 32 GB for MacBook Pro. Sad, so sad. Make MacBook Pro great again. I want to pay. But my late 2013 MBP has 16 GB already and it's not enough ;(
Ordered a 10.5 ipad pro. It seems iOS 11 will make a difference.
My SP 4 and my iPad pro 12 will go on ebay during the next days (if I can get off my ass that is).
Volker, do you think that Apple will harmonize macos and ios to one system? Or is it that apple moves away from macos in favor of ios? For me Apple kind of sensitizes its customers to more advanced functions by adding file management and drag&drop. But I do not yet know what it is finally good for.
Brandnew iPad Pro 9,7" will be returned today for refund. Decided 5 minutes before having read vowe's notes - thanks anyway!
Apple's very customer friendly "return for refund within 14 days" (logistics, speed, ...) is a no-brainer. One of the reasons I love Apple products, since 2005. Worth the extra money in every aspect.
iPad Pro 10,5"/256/WiFi&Cellular will come soon. The "Pro" feels very much more as it could replace a notebook, AFAICS - if not being used 6-8 hrs/day (?)
Kai, Macs are their non-touch devices. Apple's future is in touch and iOS. Macs still matter and will for a long time, but the volume (and profits) are in iOS.
Stephan, an iPad can be used by many people as their only computer today. The Pro adds more power and pen support. And iOS 11 will bring that all to fruition. You were right with returning your 9.7 for a 10.5, since there was no penalty. But only in the fall will you feel how much more powerful the iPad becomes.
I am actually very happy with all of it. Especially the MBP Updates, but the complete no show of 4k or even a mention of it in regards to the Apple TV really annoys me a lot.
@Tobias - Starting this week my Apple Watch 1 has also gone dead by the end of the day. My watch has never - ever - before run out of power during the day. I have removed all the apps and will test by re-adding them in a controlled manner. But Spiddy sense says Spark and/or Starbucks.
Did you guys know that you even can bring back your "old" iPad Pro within 4 weeks if there is a new product released? I will prove it tomorrow!
@Martin:
https://www.apple.com/shop/help/returns_refund
14 days. That's it. Same in Germany. Found nothing else.
Yep, that is indeed not officially "documented". But confirmed by a store-manager.
As I said, I will prove it this week, let's see.
@ Martin Cygan: Looking forward to your report whether you had success. Another question is the price you get for the old one....Honestly I doubt that this will work since Apple would then need to evaluate each and every iPad returned like flip4new, rebuy and all the others.
@Tobias & Ian
My apple watch 1 went dead too yesterday evening, had to turn it on again and it worked again. Strange :/
So I am back from the Apple Store (Centro / Oberhausen) and guess what happened within 2 minutes?
I told the guy that I want to buy the new iPad Pro 10,5" and return my iPad Pro 9,7".
He said: "Okay, give me a second". He just checked the SNR and not even if something is broken or whatever. He took my iPad + Keyboard and my whole money will be back on my CC within next days.
I have asked him why this information is not somewhere in their T&C's. All he could say is: "We do not need to do this, but it's an Apple goodwill!"
One more time happy because of being sticky to Apple stuff.
iPad Pro 10,5"/256/WiFi&Cellular ordered ;-) My highlight of WWDC Keynote (together with the iOS11 ipad improvments).
Dissapointed by watchOS announcments too ... but appreciate the coming HIT workout. One thing I really missed when doing CrossFit excercises.
Still no applePay in Germany but enjoying applePay via Boon/Wirecard France.
Put it on reload at €20 ... so in most cases I don't have to care about balance even this is only a prepaid card.
@Martin Cygan: Very interesting to hear. How old was the 9.7 iPad pro when you returned it?
@Michael
3,5 weeks. (You can return it within 4 weeks!)
