Apple’s New iPad, iPad mini and MacBook Revealed
Apple hosted a special event on Tuesday to reveal new products across its line-up, and we've got it all covered for you.
Tim Cook took to the stage at Apple's press event to introduce a host of new creations coming from the Cupertino company. Before getting on to what was coming, Cook first talked about the recent launch of the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C and the adoption of iOS 7. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of all devices are now running iOS 7. Along with iOS 7 came iTunes radio, which now boasts 20 million users who have listened to over 1 billion songs in just a month.
First up on the docket was OS X Mavericks. Craig Federighi took to the stage to introduce the latest iteration of the operating system. Among the priorities for Mavericks were core technologies, features and apps. However, Mavericks will also fundamentally upgrade the hardware, offering improved battery life even in the MacBook Air. New compressed memory means you'll be able to run more apps with less slowdown. It's also better at allocating resources to graphics. The integrated graphics now offer OpenCL, which has added 2-times boosted performance.
Shocking everyone in attendance, Federighi announced Mavericks would be offered for free to all OS users. Mavericks will work on as many Macs as possible, and will be available starting today for everyone right from within the App Store.
Phil Schiller then took the stage to talk about new MacBook Pros. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is powered by the Intel Haswell chip, and has 90 percent faster graphics with Intel's integrated Iris. The smaller Pro will now offer up to 9 hours of iTunes movie playback. With 802.11ac WiFi, you'll get speeds up to 3 times faster than 802.11n. This latest edition will come in at $1299, features 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and is available for order starting today. For the 15-inch MacBook Pro, you'll get the Intel Crystalwell chip, Iris Pro graphics, an Nvidia GeForce GT processor, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD and will come out starting at $1999.
Phil then offered some new details on the Mac Pro. The black behemoth will feature an Intel Xeon e5 processor with four, six, eight or 12 cores. It also offers 1866MHz DDR, as well as AMD FirePro, flash-based storage up to 1TB, and six Thunderbolt 2 ports for expansion. You can hook up to three 4K displays to the Mac Pro, and it features HDMI 1.4 to broadcast to TV, too. The Mac Pro will run $2999, and comes with a 3.7GHz Xenon chip, 128GB DRAM, and 256GB SSD in December.
Eddy Cue took the stage next to discuss new Apps. There are new versions of iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand coming for Mavericks, each of which are 64-bit versions. All the components of iLife will be completely free with the purchase of any new Mac or iOS device. iLife's updates will be available starting today, too.
Tim Cook then returned to the stage once more to bring the focus to the iPad. Cumulative sales for the iPad are fast-approaching 180 million units, with Apple having sold its 170,000,000th tablet earlier this month. The iPad accounts for 81 percent of all tablet use worldwide.
To introduce the next generation iPad, Phil came back out on stage. The iPad Air is the fifth generation of the tablet, and features a 9.7-inch Retina display. There will be a 43 percent smaller bezel, and is only 7.5mm thin, which is 25 percent thinner than previous iterations. It will also weigh just one pound, down from the 1.4 pounds of the last version.
Inside is the all-new A7 chip, which is the same found in the new iPhone 5S. All together, the iPad Air will be eight times faster than the first generation iPad, and offers graphics processing 72 times faster than gen one. iPad Air starts shipping on Nov. 1 for $499 for the 16GB wi-fi version, and $629 for the LTE-enabled version. It will be available in white/silver and black/grey.
The iPad mini also got an upgrade, and Phil showed off the new 7.9-inch Retina screen coming to the smaller tablet. It too will be powered by the A7 chip, and will feature Mimo technology, just like the iPad Air. The iPad mini will be available in the same colors in November, for $399 for the wi-fi version and $529 for the cellular-capable version.
With those announcements, Apple's event came to a close. With a host of products due out in time for the holidays, there are sure to be plenty of Apple users flocking to stores for the latest in iPad, MacBook and Mac Pro advances.