Now watch Apple’s WWDC videos promoting HomePod speaker, 10.5″ iPad Pro & iMac Pro

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2017

With the WWDC keynote wrapped up, Apple has now posted latest product introduction videos to its official YouTube channel, including one aptly titled “Apocalypse” that highlights the importance of mobile apps (it was played as an opening intro for WWDC attendees).

Some of the hardware products and updates announced today are available immediately, like the refreshed Mac desktops and notebooks, while others will arrive later in the year, like the firm's Siri-powered smart speaker, called HomePod, and the new iMac Pro.

Apocalypse

“Ever wonder what life would be like if all our apps suddenly disappeared? Enter the Apocalypse,” reads the videos description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC0pT9xg1oI

Song: “All Right” by Christopher Cross

Introducing HomePod

“Immersive hi-fi audio. All the music you love. And the intelligence of Siri. Welcome HomePod.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hw9skL-IXc

As we told you, HomePod will be available beginning this December. To learn more about Apple's Siri-enabled smart speaker with HomeKit support and more, visit apple.com/homepod.

The New iPad Pro—On Any Given Wednesday

“With the world's most advanced display, the powerful A10X Fusion chip, and a new 10.5-inch model, the new iPad Pro is everything you want modern computing to be.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR5ODc5Wbbo

Productivity-enhancing OS 11 features shown in the video will be available this fall.

To learn more about what the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro has to offer check out my colleague Cody's write-up, then visit apple.com/ipad-pro.

iMac Pro—Power to the Pro

“Packed with powerful technologies for the creative professional. The new iMac Pro. Power to the pro.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIrnAcmCSk

To learn more about the upcoming iMac Pro, visit apple.com/imac-pro.

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Can your iPhone or iPad run iOS 11?

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated September 18, 2017

iOS 11 makes your iPhone and iPad more powerful, personal and intelligent than ever before. You might be wondering if you have the device requirements to install it. Fortunately, we're here to answer that question.

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Apple refreshes iMacs with faster everything: Kaby Lake chips, Radeon Pro 500 graphics, brighter displays, Thunderbolt 3 & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2017

Apple today refreshed its family of all-in-one desktops with faster Intel chips, up to three times more powerful graphics, speedier storage options, 43 percent brighter displays at 500 nits that now support one billion colors, the latest Thunderbolt 3 I/O and other improvements.

The 5K models of new iMacs sport the same 5,120‑by‑2,880 pixel resolution and wide color gamut (P3) support like the models they're replacing. In fact, the previous-generation iMac lineup is no longer sold on Apple Online Store.

The new desktops with Retina 4K and 5K displays are available to order today on Apple.com, and available to buy in Apple Stores starting on Wednesday, June 7, with one-day shipping.

Using Intel's seventh-generation Core processors, code-named “Kaby Lake” that were introduced in March 2017, the new iMacs have the clock frequency of up to 4.2 GHz with Intel's Turbo Boost technology increasing the CPU speed to up to 4.5 GHz during heavy workloads.

In the graphics department, the updated iMacs feature the new Radeon Pro 500-series graphics with up to 8GB of dedicated video memory. The 21.5-inch iMac model delivers up to three times faster graphics performance, with the 27-inch models being up to fifty percent faster in terms of graphics than the current generation.

The new lineup supports up to twice the memory as the previous generation and SSD storage options are now up to 50 percent faster as well, Apple has said. Speaking of which, Apple's made its Fusion Drive (a hybrid SSD/HDD drive) standard across all 27-inch iMac configurations and it's now included by default on the top-end 21.5-inch iMac model, too.

The $1,299 21.5-inch iMac model now features a brighter Retina 4K display, an upgrade over the previous 1080p screen, and discrete rather than integrated graphics. And with the macOS High Sierra update due this fall, the new iMacs will deliver even faster graphics performance via Apple's updated Metal graphics framework for 3D graphics, video editing and gaming.

The following models are available:

$1,099 21.5-inch iMac

21.5-inch 1,920-by-1,080 sRGB display 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz 1TB storage 8GB 2133MHz memory, configurable to 16GB 1TB hard drive Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

$1,299 21.5-inch iMac

21.5-inch Retina 4K 4,096-by-2,304 display with wide color (P3) support 3.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz 8GB 2400MHz memory, configurable to 16GB 1TB hard drive Radeon Pro 555 graphics with 2GB video memory 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

$1,499 21.5-inch iMac

21.5-inch Retina 4K 4,096-by-2,304 display with wide color (P3) support 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz 8GB 2400MHz memory, configurable up to 32GB 1TB Fusion Drive Radeon Pro 560 graphics with 4GB video memory 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

$1,799 27-inch iMac

27-inch Retina 5K 5,120-by-2,880 display with wide color (P3) support 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz 8GB 2400MHz memory, configurable up to 32GB 1TB Fusion Drive Radeon Pro 570 graphics with 4GB video memory 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

$1,999 27-inch iMac

27-inch Retina 5K 5,120-by-2,880 display with wide color (P3) support 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz 8GB 2400MHz memory, configurable up to 64GB 1TB Fusion Drive Radeon Pro 575 graphics with 4GB video memory 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

$2,299 27-inch iMac

27-inch Retina 5K 5,120-by-2,880 display with wide color (P3) support 3.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz 8GB 2400MHz memory, configurable up to 64GB 2TB Fusion Drive Radeon Pro 580 graphics with 8GB video memory 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports

macOS High Sierra will turn your iMac “into a great platform” for VR content creation.

Last but not least, the Cupertino giant has previewed an all-new iMac Pro model. Engineered to please creative pros until a next-generation Mac Pro with a modular design is ready, the new iMac Pro is the “most powerful Mac we've ever made”.

It will be available in December, starting at $4,999.

For more information on the refreshed iMac lineup, including additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories, visit apple.com/imac.

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You can now protect your Apple Pencil with Apple’s own Pencil case

Steffen Reich ∙ June 5, 2017

It was only a matter of time until Apple would release an in-house case for Apple Pencil. Lo and behold, just after this year's main WWDC keynote had come to a close, the item already offered by various third party companies was silently added to the Apple Store.

We'll put this addition down as rather overdue and predictable - all the while welcome - which also holds true for the colors currently on offer. With Saddle Brown, Taupe, Midnight Blue and Black, Apple draws on the four most classic tones also available for iPhone and iPad cases, playing it safe rather than betting on a new color palette. As it stands, the cases ship in 3-5 business days and can be grabbed for a hefty $29 per piece.

If this is what you were waiting for, hurry up, because shipping times might slip fast!

 

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iOS 11 on iPad comes with a raft of new features for Apple Pencil

Steffen Reich ∙ June 5, 2017

Apple Pencil is already loved by a large constituency, but new features added this fall will mean more and better use cases for the white stylus. Deeper integration for Apple Pencil has been developed for both the current and new iPad Pro range, the latter however does boast additional technological advancements such as ProMotion, developed to further boost the responsiveness and latency of the writing tool.

With the exception of ProMotion, all iPad Pros in the market are going to acquire a bunch of new skills. Naturally, the most prominent features were introduced under the buzzwords of Instant Markup, Instant Notes, Inline Drawing and Scan & Sign.

To flesh out Instant Markup, any device screenshot taken on iPad immediately creates a thumbnail in the newly-designed app dock, which in turn can be marked up or manipulated otherwise before being shared.

Besides this and a built-in scanner functionality for the enhanced Notes app, Inline Drawing (between typed paragraphs) for Pencil will be implemented, allowing for the user to easily clear as much space as needed between written words for drawings or sketches.

It is also now confirmed that touching the lock screen with Pencil will instantaneously open a clean piece of paper to work on. The instant note will be saved inside your Notes app in the event that the iPad is locked again.

What's more is that iOS 11 boasts smarter machine learning algorithms capable of recognizing Apple Pencil handwritings in Notes, which means you will be able to search notes by way of Spotlight search and consequently detect files containing words scrawled by hand.

 

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New Apple Files app has support for Dropbox and other third-party cloud services

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2017

Apple announced a new Files app at its Worldwide Developers Conference today that works especially well with the newly announced iOS 11 productivity features for iPad. A placeholder listing for the Files app appeared on App Store earlier today, meaning users will be able to hide and re-download the new app.

Featuring a user interface that looks like an enhanced iCloud Drive app, the Files app allows you to access files and folders in your iCloud Drive, on your device and in third-party cloud services like Box and Dropbox, as long as they include a Provider Extension for iOS.

And with new iPad productivity features on iOS 11 like an enhanced Split View mode, an interactive Dock (pictured above) and drag-and-drop, users will be able to easily, say, drag an attachment from Mail and drop it on a folder in the Files app to save it to a custom location.

It works the other way, too.

For instance, you could tap and hold the Files app icon in the Dock to bring up your recently accessed files, then simply drag a recently opened image and drop it in a precise place within the Keynote presentation you're working on.

Your files can be browsed in the grid view with larger thumbnails or you can access details about files in the more informative list view. Items can be sorted by size, date and more, you can create new folders, delete files and so forth.

The files app requires iOS 11 and supports only 64-bit devices.

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iOS 11 adds new dock, drag and drop and other iPad productivity features

Cody Lee ∙ June 5, 2017

Following the announcement of its new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, Apple showed off a slew of new iPad-specific features that are coming in iOS 11. It's a pretty impressive collection of improvements, clearly aimed at making the tablet more of a productivity tool.

Apple calls this the "biggest iOS release for iPad ever," and there is a lot of new stuff here. So for now, instead of going into each new feature in detail, we're just going to list out all of the features so you can get an idea of what to expect.

New dock - can be filled with a ton of apps now, and there's a new predictive area to the far right that guesses which app you'll want to use next. You can pull it up from anywhere and slide an app up from it to the Slide Over view. New app switcher - preserves spaces, along with app pairings, so you can open the same set of apps easily. Drag and drop - drag and drop anything including images, texts and URLS. Even if you're in a full screen app you can collect multiple images by swiping with opposite hand and drag and drop. New Files app - supports iCloud, Dropbox OneDrive, etc. Allows you to drag and drop files into apps by swiping up on dock and holding down on the Files icon. Spotlight search for handwritten notes in Notes app. Inline drawing with Apple Pencil in Notes app. Quickly input numbers by swiping on corresponding key on virtual keyboard. New screenshot-editing UI that lets you crop image, annotate with pencil, and share with Share Sheet. Notes now has document scanner built-in.

Here's a shot of the new Files app:

And here is Files app with drag and drop:

Here's the official excerpt on iPad features in iOS 11 from Apple's website:

iOS 11 makes multitasking on iPad even more powerful with a new customizable Dock that provides quick access to frequently used apps and documents from any screen, and a redesigned app switcher makes it easier to move between pairs of active apps, used in Split View and now Slide Over. The new Files app keeps everything in one place, whether files are stored locally, in iCloud Drive or across other providers like Box, Dropbox and more, and with Drag and Drop available across the system, moving images and text is easier than ever. Apple Pencil is more deeply integrated into iPad with support for inline drawing and a new Instant Notes feature opens Notes from the Lock Screen by simply tapping Apple Pencil on the display.

So what do you think, did Apple achieve its goal of making the iPad more productive?

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With ARKit, Apple turns iOS devices into the largest AR platform in the world

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated June 21, 2017

Augmented Reality is set to make its mark on Apple's iOS 11, as the impressive technology has been showed off on stage moments ago. ARKit brings the API to all developers, allowing developers to tap into the latest computer vision technology to build compelling virtual content on top of real-life scenes. It brings along all new possibilities for existing apps like the by now infamous Pokemon Go, as well as for new creations such as camera apps allowing for virtual object manipulation.

The technology is going to be rolled out across all the latest iPhones and iPads, virtually rendering Apple's devices the largest player in the Augmented Reality field over night.

The live demo given certainly looked awe-inspiring and showed multiple objects being rendered on top of an on-stage table and subsequently affecting each other when shuffled around. That is to say, the shadows cast by all objects and light emanating from the virtual lamp adapted to corresponding movements and displayed correctly on surface of the real world table.

In a second, equally impressive, demonstration, a Lego Batmobile was projected onto the table and disassembled in real time by touching the iPad's screen, camera angle and individual bricks could be smoothly manipulated. It remains to be seen what else developers and Apple themselves have up their sleeves later this year, this short excursion alone certainly did whet our appetite for more.

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Apple announces new 10.5-inch iPad Pro

Cody Lee ∙ June 5, 2017

As rumored, Apple today announced a new 10.5-inch version of its iPad Pro. It features a larger display, in a body that's essentially the same size of the 9.7-inch iPad. You can see in the above image that this is possible thanks to slimmer bezels—Apple says they've been reduced by 40% in size.

The tablet weighs 1 pound and is extremely powerful. It features a new ProMotion Retina display that can refresh at a rate of 120Hz. That's double the refresh rate of previous iPads, making things smoother, crisper and more responsive. This is powered by an A10X Fusion chip processor, which has a 6-core CPU and 12-core GPU.

Other features include a 12MP iSight camera with optical image stabilization (same as iPhone 7) and a 7MP FaceTime camera. It has the same 10-hour battery life, supports USB3 fast-charging, and entry-level storage now starts at 64GB. The new iPad Pro starts shipping next week, with prices starting at $649.

Here's a note from Apple's press release on the new tablets:

“These are by far the most powerful iPads we’ve ever created with the world’s most advanced displays featuring ProMotion, the powerful new A10X Fusion chip and the advanced camera system of iPhone 7,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “Together with iOS 11 these new iPad Pro models will radically change what users can do with iPad.”

One last thing: a new full-sized Smart Keyboard has been custom designed for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, offering a thin yet durable keyboard that never needs to be charged or paired over Bluetooth and is easily foldable into a protective Smart Cover.

What do you think of the new iPad Pro? Will you be picking one up?

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Apple announces completely redesigned App Store

Cody Lee ∙ June 5, 2017

Phil Schiller just made perhaps the most surprising and impactful announcement at Apple's WWDC keynote: the App Store is getting a complete redesign. This is the first time this has happened since the App Store was introduced back in 2008.

“Together with our incredible developer community, we’ve made the App Store the best app platform in the world, and more than 500 million unique customers visit it every week,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Now, we are taking everything we’ve learned from the App Store over the past nine years and putting it into a stunning new design. Every element of the new App Store is richer, more beautiful and more engaging.”

As you can see in the above images, the new App Store looks a lot like Apple Music and Apple News. Images are larger with rounded corners, and header text is large and bold. There's a new Today tab, with big, color cards you scroll through that shows app previews and updates, news, tips and guides, and more. There will also be an app of the day, game of the day, and a daily list of suggestions.

"It all starts with the Today tab, a daily destination all about games, apps and app culture. Through in-depth features and interviews filled with beautiful artwork and videos, the App Store’s global team of editors will share the stories behind the apps and games that change the way we live and the developers whose ideas push and shape the world as we know it. Today will feature exclusive premieres, new releases and a fresh look at all-time favorites, as well as recommended tips and how-to guides to help customers use apps in innovative ways."

Games also now have their own tab, separate from apps, which should make non-game developers pretty happy. This is going to be one of those things where we are going to have to go hands on with to cover the extent of the changes.

"Games is the most popular category on the App Store, and with the new design there will now be a dedicated home just for games. It will feature recommendations of new releases and updates, compelling videos, top charts just for games and hand-picked collections. It's now easier than ever to navigate the over half a million games available, and find the perfect game for everyone from the casual player to the hardcore enthusiast."

What do you think of the new App Store design?

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CarPlay on iOS 11 has DND while driving

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2017

A real important step for safety in the car was just introduced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference that's currently underway in San Jose: Do Not Disturb mode while driving. Apple's proactive assistant on iOS 11 determines when you're driving and offers to automatically turn on DND mode via CarPlay.

With DND active while driving, CarPlay won't be showing any notifications, similar to DND mode on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And if someone message you while DND mode is active on CarPlay, the Messages app on your iPhone will auto-respond with a message on your behalf telling the sender that you're currently driving and will be getting back to them soon.

Like with DND on iOS, DND for CarPlay allows you to cherry-pick contacts whose messages will get through while you're driving in DND mode. The Messages app on iOS 11 will permit users to respond with a simple “reply” message if they'd like their muted message delivered to CarPlay, as long as they're on your whitelist.

Those and other CarPlay improvements will launch for everyone when iOS 11 releases for public consumption this fall.

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