Before they got to the good stuff, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a moment to reiterate that the company will not back down on its position against the FBI with regards to iPhone security. Immediately following that short overture, Apple took a moment to talk about how it is trying to be a more environmentally friendly company, introducing Liam, a new machine designed to mechanically disassemble iPhones so individual parts can be harvested for their materials.
Eventually, however, Apple got to the good stuff, starting with the new iPhone SE, a return to the 4-inch screen size for the company, but with all the power found in the iPhone 6S, including an A9 processor, M9 motion sensor, always-on Siri, and 12-megapixel camera with the ability to shoot 4K video and massive 63 megapixel panoramic photos. The phone will go on sale March 24 at $400 for a 16 GB version or $17/month on Apple’s 2-year payment plan.
Next up on the hardware list is the new 9.7-inch version of the iPad Pro, which, much to the delight of artists, supports the Apple Pencil stylus — part of what makes the original Pro so popular – and will go for $599 for a 32 GB, zooming right up to $899 for a 256 GB model. With an available accessory keyboard, these new iPads are looking more like full-on computers than tablets, and hitting your wallets just as hard, too.
There was some news for the Apple Watch at the event, as well. The successful smartwatch got some new nylon bands, but more notable was a price drop. You can now get the smaller version for $299 and the larger version for $50 more. It is important to note, however, that the Apple Watch was already seeing some nice discounts at retail, so this looks a little like an admission that maybe the watch was priced a bit high for immediate adoption in the first place.
Finally, Apple TV owners got some new features, not the least of which is dictation ability, which will make entering usernames and passwords for apps like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon a whole lot easier. Apple also talked up advanced Siri search capability and the addition of folders to tvOS, making app organization a bit easier, too.
That’s it for today’s special-edition DT Daily. We’ll see you back here for our regularly scheduled show tomorrow.
