Apple Day 9/12/17: Fanfare and Fiesta
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I awoke yesterday, both excited and a little disheartened for the Apple Event of 2017. If you are anything like me, you have read rumors, followed trends, and chased leads through every avenue of the internet. We have heard about potential device names, manufacturer locations, phone capabilities, Apple Watch LTE capabilities, Apple Watch glucose scanning for diabetics, and about the new iPhone 8/8+/X. This list is not all inclusive but summarizes a lot of the information. I did not know what to expect from today’s show, specifically about the plethora of leaks. It seems that every year, the party is nearly ruined before the show.
This is the first year that the show has been held in the new Steve Jobs theater, in Cupertino, California. The show started with a visual tour of the Spaceship campus/Steve Jobs Theater, with a very jovial “All You Need is Love” song playing in the background. The lighting was fantastic, the building appeared visually gorgeous and seemingly defied logic. At first glance, the Steve Jobs Theater appears to be structurally supported by glass alone, with the metallic roof floating above the stone floor. There is a complete 360-degree view, through glass paneling, allowing high-quality access to sunlight. The upper floor ceiling has inset LED lighting and a series of enlarging black circles. To continue the theme, the two elevators are also surrounded by glass. The stairways are very modern, utilizing cut out railings, instead of the typical wooden banister or metallic styles. This is a very sleek and modern design and as stated above, is an architectural marvel. The first 3.5 minutes of the show were dedicated to the new building on the hill, a memorial to Steve Jobs, who passed away at 56 years of age in 2011. Quotes from Tim Cook suggest that this was placed specifically in the current location, to memorialize the man who elevated Apple to the top of the tech world. As the video guided you downstairs, you enter into the subterranean environment that houses the actual theater. The 1000 seat theater appears to be just as amazing as the above ground entrance portion. The ceiling continues to display the same concentric black circles and LED lights and the leather chairs add an air of class. The Apple design for Apple Park is a wonderful union of nature and tech. The building is powered by 100% renewable energy and the system is designed to bring a free spirit nature into the workplace. The dedication to Steve Jobs was a fitting start to this year’s Apple Event and personally was the highlight of the entire show. “Steve Jobs is the DNA of Apple.”
This is a very sleek and modern design and as stated above, is an architectural marvel. The first 3.5 minutes of the show were dedicated to the new building on the hill, a memorial to Steve Jobs, who passed away at 56 years of age in 2011. Quotes from Tim Cook suggest that this was placed specifically in the current location, to memorialize the man who elevated Apple to the top of the tech world. As the video guided you downstairs, you enter into the subterranean environment that houses the actual theater. The 1000 seat theater appears to be just as amazing as the above ground entrance portion. The ceiling continues to display the same concentric black circles and LED lights and the leather chairs add an air of class. The Apple design for Apple Park is a wonderful union of nature and tech. The building is powered by 100% renewable energy and the system is designed to bring a free spirit nature into the workplace. The dedication to Steve Jobs was a fitting start to this year’s Apple Event and personally was the highlight of the entire show. “Steve Jobs is the DNA of Apple.”
The Devices:
Unfortunately, most of the rumors/leaks proved to be true. I do not mind a good teaser, but a large portion of the allure seemed lost once the new Apple Campus was unveiled. Starting with Apple Watch, “designed to keep people active, motivated, connected, so that they can live a better day,” Tim Cook preached about the stats of the Apple Watch. As of yesterday, Apple watch is the number one selling watch in the world (97% customer satisfaction). The third generation watch, promises increased sensors, for the most used heart rate monitor in the world. Enhancements to the device allow heart rate information to appear on the face with simply raising your wrist. You have the ability to see resting daily calculated heart rate, recovery heart rate and warnings if your heart rate speeds up when you’re not active. The new software is being developed to potentially evaluate for dangerous arrhythmias. I am absolutely excited to see the integration of health tech with the wearable market. I am excited to a be a witness to and possibly part of the “Apple Heart Study.” With the watchOS 4 release on 9/19/17 and built in LTE functionality, utilizing your same phone number, the Apple Watch Series 3 will be hard to resist.
I was really not that interested in the Apple TV news, except for the fact that if you buy a 1080p movie on iTunes, it is automatically upgraded to the 4K version. The Apple TV app seems to be improving with Live Sports and with some additional country specific programming. The iPhone 8/8+ reveal was rather predictable with better sensors, better camera features and better-improved motion tracking and lighting. Instead of changing the title to the 8/8 Plus, I feel that this should have really been 7s/7s Plus. The AR apps seem to be really cool, combining dynamic sound (increases as you get closer and decreasing if you get further away from the game/app), Unreal engines, and real world involvement. I really like the AR idea for sporting events. The demonstrated games appear to be very well designed and are very visually appealing. Priced starting at $699, the iPhone 8 does away with the 32 GB model, instead opting for 64 GB and 256 GB models. The same models are available in the iPhone 8 Plus, but start out at $799. You can see a full list of the upgrades on the Apple website.
Despite the upgrade from iPhone 7 to 8, Apple has been working towards the future of the smartphone with the iPhone X (Ten). Tim Cook states that this is “the biggest leap forward, since the original iPhone.” The Super Retina Display is designed to reach every edge of the front of the device, following the edges of the iPhone X surgically (5.8-inch diagonal). A hybrid of glass and stainless steel, the iPhone X looks beautiful. The device is designed to be water and dust resistant and is available in space gray and silver. I personally do not know which color I like more. You will immediately notice that there is no home button. So, there must be new ways to interact with the phone. You can tap the screen to awaken it or simply swipe up from the bottom, to go home. Change between tasks by swiping up and holding for a second. Siri is still available via voice prompt or pressing the side button. One of the neatest features of the iPhone X is the mechanism that you can use to unlock it.
The iPhone 5S unlocked touch ID, for protection of your device. The iPhone X now uses FaceID to recognize you, not an image of you, not a mask of you, but to recognize you! The notch along the top of the screen has numerous sensors, which are designed to recognize you. All of the processing is done on the device and not sent away to a server somewhere. Use this to open your phone, use this to Apple Pay, use this for face tracking in AR experiencing (add masks that follow you in real-time using Snapchat or similar apps). You can also use 3D emojis (Animojis) that react to your face in real-time. This immediately reminded me of Mr. Ed and ventriloquists and promises hours of fun recording your voice coming from animals or from a poop emoji. Enjoy better cameras, better lighting, better stabilization, better flash and lastly AirPower charging. Also available in 64 GB and 256 Models, the iPhone X will be available starting at $999.
Perhaps I came away from the event a little more excited than anticipated. I cannot wait for 10/27/17 to preorder my iPhone X.
Overall Event Summary: Preorder the Apple Watch Series 3 9/15/17 (available starting 9/22/17) Preorder the iPhone 8/8+ 9/15/17 (available starting 9/22/17) Preorder the Apple TV 4K 9/15/17 (available starting 9/22/17)
Preorder the iPhone X 10/27/17 (available starting 11/3/17) (Weird date choice)
watchOS 4 available 9/19/17
iOS 11 available 9/19/17
Happy Apple Day.
Originally published at macsources.com on September 13, 2017.
