Apple launch: iPhones, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade take centre stage
Apple’s biggest event of the year has kicked off in California and while the iPhone remains the company’s star, the tech giant turned the spotlight on a whole new cast of products.
The Apple has landed.
Well, it’s launched, anyway. The tech monolith held its annual event in Cupertino, California, early this morning (Australian time) to an excited crowd of tech writers and rabid Apple devotees.
Given iPhone sales have been on the wane globally, it was no surprise that the company honed in on ramping that up, with the release of three new iPhones.
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The Apple Watch is also getting an upgrade, and the slightly forgotten iPad is getting an overhaul.
But the focus was well and truly on Apple TV+, Apple’s attempt to take on streaming giant Netflix, and the roll out of the video gaming service, Arcade.
So here’s what we learned and what you’ll be buying and watching in the coming months.
THE BIGGER, CLEARER IPHONE
Apple unveiled three new iPhone 11 models — the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max — touting dual cameras and ultra-wide lens capabilities as it updated its popular smartphone line-up.
The new iPhones are “jam packed with new capabilities and an incredible new design,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.
The newest handsets come as Apple seeks to spur new upgrades in a slumping global smartphone market.
Apple’s new iPhones will resemble recent models, but with better cameras and new colours.
The most expensive models, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, will now have three cameras on the back, including a new, wider angle one to squeeze more of the landscape into the picture.
They start at $US1000 ($A1450), the same as before.
The cheaper model called the iPhone 11 will start at $US700 ($A1000). It now gets two lenses instead of one.
The lower price reverses a trend in which premium phones get more expensive as people upgrade them less often.
The new iPhones have better quality, better resolution and more colours than ever before, but surely the most important thing about the new iPhones is that they have pet portrait mode!
The new iPhone 11 series will be available globally on September 20.
LOOK OUT, NETFLIX, HERE COMES APPLE TV+
Get used to the words, An Apple Original. Apple’s answer to Netflix will launch on November 1 and will feature a slate of original programs featuring stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Jason Momoa.
Indeed, the streaming service’s first production will feature Aquaman star Momoa in the show, See, about a world where no one is able to er, see.
More importantly for consumers, the price is only US$5 (around $A7) per month.
Apple is featuring scripted dramas, comedies and movies as well as children’s programs in the service, which will compete against streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
“With Apple TV+, we are presenting all-original stories from the best, brightest and most creative minds, and we know viewers will find their new favourite show or movie on our service,” said Zack Van Amburg, Apple’s head of video.
Mega-signing Winfrey will also produce and front a slew of documentaries.
In the US, if you buy an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV, you will get a year free. Take that, Netflix, Hulu, Disney … No word on whether the same applies to Australia.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the streaming price is a “show stopper.”
Netflix’ most popular plan in the US is $US13 a month and Disney’s service launching in November will cost $US7 a month.
Ives says that with an installed base of 900 million active iPhones worldwide, Apple could gain 100 million consumers on streaming in the next three to four years.
The service will be available in 100 countries at launch, which most likely includes Australia.
THE IPAD GETS SOME OVERDUE LOVE
Apple introduced the new seventh generation iPad, bringing more screen area and support for the full-sized Smart Keyboard1 to its most popular and most affordable iPad, not the iPad Pro.
Starting at just $US329 ($A480), the upgraded iPad features a stunning 25cm Retina display, though still has a fingerprint sensor, and the latest innovations including Apple Pencil2 support, the fast A10 Fusion chip, advanced cameras and sensors, unmatched portability and connectivity, ease of use and great all-day battery life. It will work with the iPad OS and has support for Apple Pencil.
GAMERS REJOICE, HERE’S APPLE ARCADE
Apple’s new video game subscription service will roll out on September 19, and should cost around $A10 per month.
Apple said that subscribers will be able to access games through a new dedicated tab in the app store.
Apple Arcade subscribers will get more than 100 games, curated by Apple and exclusive to the service. Unlike a video streaming service, games can be downloaded and played offline — on the Apple made iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.
It will be available in 150 countries and subscribers will get a one-month free trial.
APPLE WATCH DOESN’T DIM, HAS NEW FINISH
The biggest change in the new Series 5 Apple Watch is that it looks a lot like Series 4, but it has an always-on display.
That is, you don’t need to tap it or it doesn’t need to sense arm movement to turn on the screen.
Apple revealed that when you lower your arm, the brightness drops and the screen’s refresh rate dips down to one refresh per second, but your complications and watch faces stay visible. It’s getting a built-in compass, and an “international emergency calling” feature that lets you call emergency services in 150 countries by pressing and holding the side button.
Apple says the battery should last about 18 hours per charge
Apple Watch Series 5 will start at $US399 ($A580), or $US499 ($A730) for the mobile-enabled models.
The watch will be available from September 20.
Originally published as Apple launch: iPhones, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade take centre stage
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