On Thursday, Apple unleashed a mix of new software and hardware upon an audience of press at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California. Among the new announcements were 2 new iPads, a stunningly high-resolution 5K iMac, and a refresh on the Mac Mini.
Software
iOS 8.1
iOS 8.1, the first of three big updates planned for iOS 8, will be releasing next Monday on October 20.
8.1 addresses some customer issues with iOS 8. The camera roll has returned for browsing and storing photos for those who were frustrated by the new system introduced in the vanilla iOS 8 release.
iOS 8.1 will also include the iCloud Photo Library as a public beta. Users will be able edit photos and videos on any device and have those changes reflected on all their devices. You’ll be able back up photos and video to iCloud or use it as primary storage for your captured memories. 5 GB of iCloud storage will come free, but you’ll also be able to subscribe to 20 GB of storage for 99 cents a month, and 200 GB for $3.99 a month. Other tiers will be available of up to 1 TB.
Apple Pay will be making its debut in 8.1 for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. You can read more about Apple Pay here.
OS X Yosemite
The newest version of the Macintosh operating system, OS X version 10.10, AKA, Yosemite, is now available as free download on the Mac App Store.
Yosemite brings an updated aesthetic that overhauls the look of OS X. The UI is flatter and cleaner. Spotlight has been upgraded to be more robust, and Yosemite is also the introduction of Apple’s iCloud Drive, which allows syncing of files between multiple systems, including iOS, OS X, and Windows.
“Continuity” is a big focus for Yosemite, which allows for better connectivity between the iPhone and the Mac. “Handoff” allows you to share work between devices, like starting a document on your phone and continuing it on your desktop. “Instant Hostpot” lets you share your phone’s cellular connection with your Mac for Internet access. You can also write and receive text messages on your Mac and use your Mac as a speakerphone for making phone calls.
OS X Yosemite can be installed on any Mac system running OS X 10.6 Mountain Lion or higher.
For a complete list of new features in OS X Yosemite, check Apple’s official website.
Hardware
iPad Air 2
The iPad Air 2 is this year’s big iPad update. Unsurprisingly, it’s thinner and faster than the previous iteration.
The new iPad is 6.1 mm thin, 18 percent thinner than the first iPad Air and 20 percent thinner than the iPad 4.
The screen remains the same as the first iPad Air, but it now has an anti-reflective coating that reduces reflections by 56 percent. The iPad Air 2 no longer has an air gap between the glass and the display, making for a tighter, thinner device.
A new A8X system-on-a-chip powers the iPad Air 2. This is a version of the iPhone 6’s A8 chip rebuilt specifically for the new iPad. It has 40 percent faster CPU than the A7, and a 2.5 times faster GPU. To show how far the iPad has come, Apple claims it is 180 times faster than the original iPad.
The same M8 motion coprocessor from the iPhone 6 assists the iPad Air 2 in measuring motion data, including the data from the new barometer.
The iPad Air 2 has a 10-hour battery life.
As for the camera, there’s an upgraded 8-megapixel rear-facing “iSight” camera sporting a f/2.4 aperture. It’s capable of 1080p HD video, time lapse, and slow motion, like the iPhone 6. The front-facing “FaceTime” camera has a f/2.2 aperture lens with a new sensor, achieving 81 percent more light and improved face detection.
The iPad Air 2 has faster Wi-Fi, 802.11ac with MIMO, and can be as fast as 866 Mbps (up from 300 Mbps in the previous model). The faster LTE can go up to 150 Mbps.
For the first time, TouchID is now on an iPad. TouchID on the iPad Air 2 works just like it does on the iPhone.
The cellular models of the new iPad feature a multi-carrier Apple SIM that allows you to easily switch between mobile carrier services without changing the card. It currently supports AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.
The iPad Air 2 comes in three colors: “Space Grey,” white, and gold, and the pricing is as follows:
- 16 GB: $499 ($629 for LTE)
- 64 GB: $599 ($720 for LTE)
- 128 GB: $699 ($829 for LTE)iPad Mini 3The second new iPad model is the iPad Mini 3. This device only features minor updates over its predecessor. The only differences are that it now has Touch ID, the new Apple SIM, and an option for a gold-colored casing.The pricing for the iPad Mini 3 is as follows:
- 16 GB: $399 ($529 LTE)
- 64 GB: $499 ($629 LTE)
- 128 GB: $599 ($729 LTE)Both new iPads will begin shipping by the end of next week.iPad Price DropsThanks to the new hardware, the older iPad models have been discounted.
- The original iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 are reduced in price by $100.This makes the entry-level 16 GB 1st Generation iPad Air $399 and the entry-level iPad Mini 2 $299.The original iPad Mini is now $249.Retina 5K iMacOne could easily consider this new iMac as the biggest announcement of the conference. The new 27-inch iMac features a 5120 x 2880 resolution display. That’s 14.7 million pixels, 7 times more pixels than 1080p, and a huge improvement over the previous 27-inch iMac’s 2560 x 1440 display. Apple is calling this the world’s highest-resolution display and dubbing it “Retina 5K,” with 67 percent more pixels than 4K. It’s also more energy efficient, as the new LED backlight technology consumes 30 percent less energy.
- The base 5K iMac model has a 3.5 GHz Intel i5 processor, upgradeable to 4.0 GHz Intel Core i7. The GPU options include a Radeon R9 M290X and M295X. The standard model has 8 GB of memory and a 1 TB Fusion drive for storage. It has 4 USB 3.0 ports and 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports.The base model starts at $2499 and is shipping now.Mac MiniThe iMac isn’t the only desktop to see an upgrade. The Mac Mini hasn’t seen an update since 2012, but 2 years later we’ve finally got a refresh. It looks the same as the old Mac Mini, but with upgraded internals. The base model comes with a 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel i5 processor, upgradeable to a 3.0 GHz i7, graphic options of Intel HD 5000 or Intel Iris GPUs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports, and upgradeable to PCIe-based storage.Apple touts this Mac Mini as “the world’s most energy efficient desktop.”Pricing starts at $499 for the base model and is shipping now.
- By Alfredo Dizon, eParisExtra