The Apple Beat: 10 things you might have missed from Apple’s September event

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple’s September announcement was definitely a jam-packed affair. A time of year traditionally reserved for iPhones and various iOS updates, features and new apps; this week’s monumental unveiling at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium covered so much more.

You can read about the iPad Pro, the new iPhone 6s, the Apple TV as well as all the updates to Apple Watch. You can even relive the moment by watching the keynote video and all the product videos and ads. You’ll realize a lot of things you might have missed. Here are just 10 things that were briefly covered or not even mentioned during the ‘Hey Siri,’ event. 

1)    Apple Watch sales still haven’t been given a number – There’s little doubt that the Apple Watch is the most successful and profitable smart watch right now. Apple still hasn’t talked about sales figures or even a breakdown of which sizes, editions or accessories are most popular. All we really know is that Apple Watch has a 97 per cent satisfaction rating among the people who own them, even if we don’t know how many people these actually are.

 

2)    Apple TV is a multifaceted Trojan Horse – What amazed most about Apple TV is that it is priced to be affordable for a device that’s really Apple’s next Trojan horse.

Much like how the iPod opened up Apple to a range of users who wouldn’t buy a Mac, Apple TV is set to transform a number of segments. The TV and streaming piece of the equation Is obvious but there’s a big apps and gaming play which will entice a whole new gamut of users.

3)    Apple TV’s Siri Remote is like a Wii Remote – Aside from touch functionality and the much heralded Siri Voice control, the Siri Remote (which only has five physical buttons) will also have a gyroscope and accelerometer to enable wireless video game controls. You can even get an optional Remote Loop to make sure you don’t fling it away by mistake. Other types of video game controllers will also be compatible with Apple TV. 

4)     Apple TV is a Console Gaming Platform – It may not be a direct threat to the Xbox One or the PS4, but the Apple TV has a lot of potential as a gaming platform.

The Apple A8 chip doesn’t have to be dialed down extend battery life (it is plugged in) and new storage capacities of 32GB and 64GB will allow it to save various apps and games. As demonstrated during the event, Apple TV can run various complex games smoothly. While I don’t believe that porting Fruit Ninja to a 70-inch HDTV will be a game changer, I can’t wait to see what developers can come up with specifically for Apple TV.

 

5)    The new iPhone 6s models are slightly thicker and heavier – While at the iPhone 6s demo area during the event, I quickly noticed that the new iPhones felt more robust, slightly thicker (1mm) and a tad heavier. This is because of the new 7000 series Aluminum and improved protective glass, which are both welcome for those of us who’d rather have stronger iPhones than have to use bulky protective cases.

 

6)    There are a lot of new accessories coming from Apple – The most obvious are the new Apple Pencil and Keyboard for the iPad Pro, but Apple’s unloaded a lot of accessories for their new devices. Take for example new colour-coded iPhone 6s docks, new Apple Watch strap colours and even new leather and rubber iPhone 6s and 6s Plus cases.

7)    There’s a new iPad mini 4 – With the same specs and internals of the iPad Air 2 but in the smaller, more portable 7-inch size with a thinner enclosure, the iPad mini 4 would have been a big deal as an announcement a year ago, but was an afterthought this year.

8)    The iPad Air wasn’t updated – While last year’s iPad Air 2 is still a great tablet and one which will be able to take full advantage of iOS 9’s new multi-tasking and dual window features, it is surprising that it was barely mentioned. It makes sense that focus will be on the iPad Pro this year, but since iPad sales have slowed, maybe the iPad Air 2 will remain the middle model for a while longer.

9)    This was purely an iOS-focused event. iOS 9, watchOS 2, tvOS and their corresponding hardware got all the coverage during the event with OS X and EL Capitan name checked solely as an email-topic for demo purposes. It is clear that Apple is focusing hard on iOS and its variants even if we didn’t get any news on CarPlay, HomeKit or HealthKit.

10) Mac OS and Hardware announcements are coming at a later date – OS X El Capitan is coming on September 30 as a free upgrade. While this isn’t the big overhaul that OS X Yosemite was, it is likely that some new El Cap-powered desktops and maybe MacBook Airs and Pros will be announced in the coming months (or early next year). This is timely because Intel’s new Skylake processors are out and sure to be featured in new Mac hardware.