The New iPad

It's becoming almost a tradition now. Anita's birthday followed by Apple announcement. A birthday present for her, followed by a present for me! And this year's announcement did not show anything unexpected although there are three things worth mentioning.

First, the new camera for the iPhone. On the new iPhone 6S, Apple finally caught up with the competitors in terms of photo resolution was concerned. I was never that bothered with megapixels, but to see the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge camera trumping the iPhone hinted that something need to be done.

The new snapper shipped with a 12MP sensor. But it wasn't just the size of the sensors, it's the technology behind it, the Apple secret sauce. Being an avid photographer, I value the mobility and simplicity of the smartphone camera very much. I have toiled with the latest iPhone and Samsung's offerings as well as the Lumia 940 as well as the BlackBerry Z10 which camera was often under appreciated.

So far, the Samsung was on top. Let's see how Apple upped its game.

The second, was the iPad Pro. I have always felt that eventually a desktop-sized tablet would be in the market. Samsung had the 10.9 inch tablet, so was the Nexus series. And there are plenty of use-case scenario, coupled with the dedicated stylus - sorry, Apple Pencil - it could prove very useful in my clinic and for photo editing.

The keyboard was also a welcomed addition as since I had been using a keyboard with my tablet, it had transformed my productivity. Especially useful for attending conference although I doubt that the iPad Pro is mobile. At least it has a built-in LTE chip.

Last point was Apple TV. I had been using it for the last 4 years using a US account. I used it to watch the latest miniseries as well as movies. The latest Apple TV looked at disrupting the console market with many games and a Wii-like controller making playing social games enjoyable. You can also use your iPhone and iPad Touch as controller as well to join in. This is going to be big as you could download games on line from the App Store with close integration with the rest of Apple ecology.

All in all, it was one of those announcements well worth staying up for. I was expecting a new Mac Mini, but the new Apple TV might just beat that. No new standard iPad to replace the Air 2. But Anita had already asked me to get her the new iPad Mini. But before that, let's see how much of an upgrade the new WatchOS was going to be. It would certainly opened up the real potential of the watch.

Events Added

Shame that I had a full clinic planned tomorrow morning - and not to mention a couple of important meetings to boot. It was just past 10am now, and I thought I should just quickly go to bed for a nap and wake up at around 1 am. Apple had an announcement to make, and I guess it would be about Apple Watch.

But there were a few other products needed refreshing. So, I would imagine that it would be interesting event, something which may be worth waiting for. And then there was a small matter of FA Cup Quarter Final between United and Arsenal. That would kick-off an hour after the Apple event finished!

How I wished I had taken tomorrow off .....

Upon Reflection

I spent the morning drive listening to MacBreak Weekly on the podcast, listening to the analysis post-Apple announcement, and it was clear, the sheer number of product launched in the session was mind boggling. It seemed that there was a change of guard happening, with Tim Cook drawing the line on the ground, releasing all of Steve Jobs relics in he open.

The next batch of products would be under his watch, and for the time being, it allowed for a new start. And what an end it was! A fourth generation iPad - more of an internal rather than external evolution - the iPad Mini, the new iMac line as well as the 13 inch MacBook Pro. Add to that an improvement to the Mac Mini and other software updates, those folks at Infinity Loop had certainly been busy!

It seemed only last month that the iPod line-up was launched - on a similar platform to the iPhone 5 - and now, new stocks into the Apple Shop. I would be broke real soon!

I would definitely be eyeing the iMac, and maybe the Mini, just to see how it was like. The iPhone 5 may have to wait, as my next phone would likely be the Galaxy Note II to go along with my 4S. I need a bit of Google magic in my pocket, an a second phone was almost essential in my line of work.

I might actually buy the iPad Mini during my visit to the US, just for the fun of it :) and excuse to go to the Apple Store there I supposed.

The Apple Announcement

It was finally announced. One of the worst kept secret in Apple was unveiled in the keynote last night and the iPad Mini would be arriving later in the year - or later in the month at Low Yat. Supporting the same resolution as the iPhone 4, not quite the retina display, Apple finally yielded at the viability of the 7 inch form factor. This iPad has a cellular chip, but the stock model does not carry voice, meaning no native ability to make phone calls.

Camera would be a 5 MP affair - which should be pretty decent. And taking snaps and videos would not be as awkward as doing so on a full sized iPad. But that was not the announcement which caught my eye.

Reading the rumor mills and reading the logs made it obvious that the announcement was imminent. So was the release of the 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. But what surprised me about the Pro was that it had two Thunderbolts and an HDMI output. It would be very interesting if the Intel Graphic chip - the laptop did not have a separate high-powered GPU unlike the 15 inch sister - would be able to shift all the pixels. It also only carried 4 GB RAM (ed: sorry 8 GB but still underpowered) and a dual core i5 processor. I think it would be a touch underpowered.

But the main headline for me was the upgrade to the iMac line. Yes, I was planning to grab one for the apartment for the last few months but held off as I thought it was de for a revamp. It finally came. New form factor, but nothing revolutionary. Same resolution, and still an i5 chip - a slightly powerful one though. The chassis was now thinner, and the display was upgraded to IPS technology, which translate to a mo vivid colour rendition. And no optical drive ...... I guess everything would be stranded rather than burned in the future ....

I have yet to watch the full keynote - I would leave it for later in the weekend. It would be interesting to read the gadget blogs to see the reactions. I reckoned it would generally be a positive one. And yes, I would be investing on an Android 7 incher .......