This year’s Apple event has been one of the most anticipated. A whole new iPhone was expected to be announced, which may or may not exclude a headphone jack, along with a new watch, iPad and maybe even a Macbook Pro. Although despite the hype and speculation, there was always bound to be a couple of surprises. So what exactly was announced?
Let’s start with the most talked out, the iPhone.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were the two flagship products from the launch event and caused a buzz on social media. However despite this, there were no surprises for those who had kept abreast of the rumor mill over the last few months.
The first thing to note is the company has finally ditched the 16GB model, instead opting to start their range with 32GB. Although not the most newsworthy update, it is one of the best. In this modern age, people use their phones for everything; their whole lives are captured in snippets on their phones. And as such, 16GB is simply not enough for most. 32GB will give people much more space to download apps, save photos, videos and messages. The new phones will come in 32GB, 128GB and 256GB variants, and encased in a range of colors; Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black and Jet Black.
The tech giant has also, somewhat controversially, eliminated the 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, the new devices will be shipped with EarPods that connect through the Lightning port. It will however come packaged with an adapter so music fans can still use their own headphones should they prefer. Wireless earphones will soon become available too, and come with all the new technology you’d expect – not least, they will only play music when in the ear and stop when they detect they are not in use.
The camera has also had an overhaul to keep up with rivals, with the Plus now boasting a two-lens camera. The 12-megapixel cameras will serve separate functions, with one being wide angled while the other is a telephoto lens. This, according to Apple, will allow the 5.5-inch smartphone to perform better in low-light conditions and shoot with a shallow depth-of-field. This means the phone can now focus on an object or subject near it while blurring out the background. Both will come with an improved 12MP rear camera and a 7MP front-facing camera.
The new iPhones will go back to their roots, reaffirming their use as a personal music device by containing speakers on both the top and bottom of the device in order to provide stereo sound. This will be boosted by an improved battery life, which is a main bug-bear for iPhone owners. Wireless audio will run up to 40 hours on the iPhone 7 and around 60 hours on the iPhone 7 Plus. This means the iPhone 7 will run for two hours longer than the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 7 Plus will run for one hour longer than the iPhone 6S Plus.
The iPhone 7 will also come with new, and improved insides in the shape of an A10 chip Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture and embedded M10 motion coprocessor. This makes it is the fastest and most responsive iPhone yet.
Following their competitors, the new iPhones will also be waterproof and dustproof, much to the delight of clumsy phone fans everywhere, while the home button has also had a makeover. Instead of dipping into the device, the Home button will flush with the rest of the iPhone 7's casing. The button will now use Apple's Force Touch technology, which can sense how hard the glass is being pressed.
iOS 10 was also unveiled. Not much has changed in a year, but it does have a few new features. For example Siri will now be able to communicate with third-party apps, Maps will be able to book an Uber, Messages will get an update, stickers will be available for download, and money can be transferred through the Messages app.
The new iWatch was also unveiled at the launch. Described as the ‘ultimate fitness device’, it is water resistant to 50m, making it ideal for water-loving thrill seekers. The tech giant has also cemented a partnership with Nike, which will appeal to runners in particular. The fitness brand has created an app that lets users share details of their runs with others. It has also launched its own bands for the timepiece.
The Watch also introduces a host of new features, such as a built-in GPS location tracker which allows running routes be tracked without carrying a paired phone, a more powerful processor which lets it show more detailed graphics in apps than its predecessor and a brighter screen. The original iWatch is the bestselling smartwatch on the market, but numbers of the device dwindled more than 50% between the April-to-June quarter of 2016, compared to the same period the previous year. These new updates however are sure to give it a much-needed push.
Not leaving those out who love tech for the fun aspect, video game character Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, announced that Nintendo's plumber would appear in his first iPhone video game before the end of the year. An iOS exclusive, it follows on from the success of another Nintendo franchise, Pokémon, on the platform. With that in mind, it was also revealed that the Watch would soon have the ability to tell owners how close they are to nearby Pokémon in Pokémon Go, and show which characters have hatched from eggs in the augmented reality title.
There was no mention of a new Macbook Pro, or any iPad updates at the conference, which many were surprised about. However that doesn’t meant to say that updates won’t be happening soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
What do you think of the new releases?
