APPLE hosted a media event in San Francisco on Monday, March 9, announcing its newest look and latest in software technology and advanced products.
The company unveiled its newest MacBook laptop, a 24 percent thinner, lighter design that weighs just two pounds. The laptop, which (at 13.1 millimeters thickness) is lighter than the 11-inch MacBook Air, includes a 12-inch Retina Display with over 3.3 million pixels, and is the first MacBook without a cooling fan. The device uses Intel’s new Core M processor, allowing for longer battery life, faster processing power, and up to nine hours of wireless Web browsing.
“We challenged ourselves to reinvent the laptop,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told press. “And we did.”
The new laptop starts at $1,299 and ships out starting April 10th in three different colors: silver, space grey, and gold.
Apple’s new Force Touch technology can also sense a range of pressure on the laptop’s trackpad, from a light click to a deeper press. Different types of clicks allow users to do different things, such as “force clicks” on a word in a Web browser like Safari, which will pull up the word’s Wikipedia page.
A new USB-C port supports charging, video output, and downloads from another device, such as the iPhone and iPad. The port is also reversible, able to be plugged in easier.
Media company HBO also used the event to launch HBO Now, a new streaming service exclusively for Apple that will have the network’s full inventory of shows and movies for $14.99 a month. Currently, HBO Now is available exclusively in the US on Apple TV, the App Store, and on PCs. The price on the Apple TV was also cut from $99 to $69, staving off the competition.
A major software update is also anticipated, the iOS 8.2, available for all Apple devices. The update is full of bug fixes, Apple Watch compatibility, and a new app called HealthKit, which is designed to draw user data to further medical studies, enabling certain apps to collect and send information (such as body temperature, weight loss, and blood glucose levels) to different labs worldwide. The app is meant to visualize a user’s workout session and turn on/off settings to track physical activities.
The biggest reveal of the day, however, was Apple’s much-anticipated new Watch. First introduced last September, more details about the Watch were revealed, including the price. With three different sizes/versions, the watch starts at $349 (38mm) for the Sport Edition (the 42mm option costs $50 more), $549 – $1049 for the regular Apple Watch (38mm), and $10,000+ for the limited Apple Watch Edition.
Made with different material cases and a flexible looping rubber band, the Apple Watch is a computer for your wrist. The Sport uses anodized aluminum alloy and an Ion-X glass display, while the more expensive watches (ranging from $550 – $17,000) use a stainless steel case and sapphire crystal (the Apple Watch Edition case is made from 18-karat yellow/rose gold) display.
The touchscreen watch battery lasts up to 18 hours, and can do numerous things from hailing an Uber to swiping into a hotel room, sending messages, tracking fitness activity, and chatting with digital personal assistant Siri. It must be paired with an iPhone, from where it draws apps and alerts.
“We think it’s quickly going to become integral to your day,” Cook said.
Altogether, the Watch comes in 38 different combination looks, 19 of each size. It will be on display in stores starting next month, and officially goes on sale April 24.
(With reports from Los Angeles Times, Forbes, CNET, Wired.com.)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek March 11-13, 2015 Sec. B pg.1)
