Apple held their annual Worldwide Developers Conference this morning and made a slew of announcements to the applaud-happy crowd. With super dramatic videos that present the products as if they may be able to stop an apocalypse, there was a lot to wade through when watching the presentation and not all of it was necessarily exciting—until the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus came out to blow the entire keynote up, that is. Here are our favorite moments, from the Apple TV updates to the highly-anticipated iPhone 6S that we will definitely be lining up for.
Tim Cook opened the conference with the Apple Watch, proudly boasting that the company has had a 97 percent customer satisfaction rating for the wearable gadget. Of the updates, there will now be over 10,000 apps, Facebook Messenger and iTranslate is on its way, and you will be able to use it as the viewfinder for your GoPro. The Airstrip is probably the coolest upgrade, which collects health data in new and surprising ways. For example, pregnant women will be able to see and hear their unborn child’s heart rate on the watch face. New bands are also on the way, including three custom Hermès options to up your fashion game.
The huge iPad Pro reveal was next, which Cook exclaimed as the “biggest news in iPad since iPad.” At first glance, the iPad seems a little extreme in size, since it is now 12.9 inches diagonally, but the new features make it much more desirable. With 5.6 million pixels, the mobile device introduces the Apple Pencil (which seems like a dream for illustrators), the Smart Keyboard and the 3D4Medical app. The former will allow doctors to show their patients, in incredible detail, how their body works at the bone level. Doctors can walk you through your injuries and then send the 3D renderings to your own iPad, so you can check it out at home. Available in November in “Space Grey,” gold and silver, the iPad Pro ranges from $799 to $1,079.
Apple TV’s remote is getting a makeover with the introduction of a glass touchpad at the top and an increase in buttons—it can also now double as a game controller when turned on its side. Yes, that means that the new Apple TV supports video games. With built-in Bluetooth, you won’t have to point the remote at the box and one charge will apparently last three months. Thanks to the added Siri button, you can use voice command to choose what sorts of programs you want to watch, even if all you say is “Show that Modern Family episode with Edward.” You can even rewind by 15 seconds by asking it what a character just said, which is pretty dang cool. The new device also supports universal search—making it easier to find a specific movie or program across all of your apps—and it will show sports and weather information at the bottom of the screen without interrupting your program. Available in October, the 32GB Apple TV is priced at $149, with the 64GB set at $199.
And finally, the reason why we are all here, the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. "While they may look familiar, we have changed everything about these new iPhones.” Available in silver, gold, space grey and rose gold, the smartphone introduces 3D Touch. Reacting to how hard you press your finger onto the screen, the feature utilizes Force Touch and introduces new gestures called peek and pop, which gives you a wealth of options. You can take a peek inside an application—like photos, email and text messages—without losing the context and if you keep holding, it will pop into the window full screen. It’s basically like the right-click on a mouse, showing that the iPhone is heading more and more into traditional computer territory. There may be a bit of a learning process when it comes to 3D Touch, but it seems like it will make multitasking incredibly simple by allowing you to skip steps and jump right into what you actually want to be doing.
The 6S has the new A9 chip, which promises to be 70 percent faster than the A8, with graphics that are 90 percent faster. It also has a motion coprocessor that never turns off, which keeps track of your movements throughout the day. The 12MP iSight camera marks a huge improvement, with 50 percent more pixels than before. If the demo photos are anything to go by, the level of detail and sharpness is incredible and if we weren’t sold before, we are now. Able to take 4K videos, the 6S gives eight million pixels per frame and enables you to shoot and edit the footage within the same application.
3D Touch comes into play by allowing you to press your finger onto a photo and make it “live.” You don’t have to do anything differently, because by default the feature is always on. You simply snap the photo and it captures a brief second before and after the snapshot so you can view it later as a living photo, not a video. However, it is safe to assume that these living photos will take up more storage space, which could be an issue for some.
The new iPhone 6 lineup is moving into the original’s price range ($199 for the 16GB iPhone 6 to $499 for the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus) and won’t be available until September 25. The iOS 9 update will be available next week, on September 16.
