As one of the biggest events for Apple rolled out, Tim Cook said he had six announcements to make. Here is a recap in case you missed out:
1. Watch OS 4
Apple unveiled watch OS 4, the newest operating system for the Apple watch. This state of the art watch automatically displays the information that’s most relevant to you. It can tell you things like when to leave for work, the music you’re playing, how your workout is going and more. It has a new workout UI, support for two-way data exchange with workout machines and more.
2. MacOS High Sierra
MacOS high Sierra is the successor of Sierra announced last year and it comes with updates to Safari that help block site trackers and auto playing videos. Apple also added photo editing tools like curves (helpful for those who don’t have Adobe Photoshop), and it has better filtering tools to sort images by keywords or faces
Apple file system by default is also a part of the update as well, which should mean more secure storage. On the graphics end, there’s a second version of Metal, support for VR, and a Metal 2 developer kit that you can order with an AMD GPU to tune apps for external graphics. High Sierra will be available in the coming months.
3. iOS 11
Apple’s iOS 11 will launch in September and includes new features for the iPhone and iPad.
There are improvements to Siri which make it easier to synchronize between various iOS devices. Apple also said iOS 11 will keep messages in the cloud thereby saving valuable hard drive storage space.
Another change is it supports person to person payments integrated into messages. This will allow Apple to compete with PayPal, Square Cash, Venom and others by allowing iOS users to easily send money to one another. On the iPad, users will find drag and drop, more room for icons in the bottom dock of the screen.
Apple unveiled AR Kit, which will allow developers to easily create augmented reality apps for iOS devices
4. IPad Pro 10.5
Apple showed a new iPad Pro 10.5 during the event. It features a brighter display with a faster refresh rate (120 Hz) which is important while watching things like movies or playing games. It also sports a new A10X processor that should improve gaming and overall app performance. That chip and the new screen were also added to Apple’s iPad Pro 12.9. Apple did not refresh the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
5. Apple Home Pod speaker
The only brand new product announced was the Home Pod speaker. It’s a Siri-powered smart speaker that allows you to play music, check the traffic, control you smart lights, query sports scores and more. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s very much like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Apple says its product is better, though, thanks to advanced speakers that will fill your room with music. It’ll cost $349 when it launches in December
6. New iMacs and MacBook Air / MacBook Pro refreshes
Apple finally refreshed the iMac after more than 600 days without doing so, adding a sharper and brighter display and new Intel processors. It also brought those seventh-generation Intel processors over to the MacBook Pro, which is otherwise unchanged, and boosted the speed of the chip in the MacBook Air. The biggest announcement was the iMac Pro, however, which will start at $4,999 and includes beefy new processors, a 5K display and a sharp design. Apple said it’s “the most powerful Mac we have ever made.”
