Everything you need to know about Apple's new products in handy little videos

3 months ago

There’s a real buzz in San Francisco right now as Apple announced the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and a brand new Apple TV.

If you missed the keynote, fear not, you didn’t miss much. It was an hour and a half of boredom interspersed with lots of people being sarcastic on social media, a few awkward moments on stage and an underwhelming performance from One Republic – who apparently didn’t even know they’d be performing until 10 minutes before. In between, of course, there were new products being announced – and these were genuinely good.

Here’s what Apple have brought to the table this year.

1. Apple Watch now has even more colours (and other stuff)

By the end of the keynote we’d almost forgotten that there had been any Apple Watch announcements. The Watch was the first thing Tim Cook spoke about – omitting the number they’d sold – and announcing a new partnership with Hermes to bring out some brown leather straps.

Not everyone thought Apple had their priorities right.

But wearables are important to tech companies right now, and Apple don’t want to lose any ground with Samsung, Motorola and Huawei bringing out new watches at IFA earlier in September.

The Apple Watch will also be getting some cool new apps, although they won’t be for the regular consumer. Apps like AirStrip will be added to the already 10,000 plus Apple Watch apps in the App Store, and is aimed at doctors and the like.

Although saying that, it does allow you to listen to your baby’s heartbeat, which is pretty cool – and it will allow you to communicate with your doctor remotely, even allowing THEM to listen to your baby’s heartbeat. VERY cool.

They *are* introducing more for the casual consumer though, with apps by GoPro coming as well as Facebook Messenger.

2. iPad Pro is bigger and better

So if you use your iPad to watch YouTube videos, reply to email, and check your social channels, there’s probably not much point in upgrading to the iPad Pro – unless you’re desperate for that 12.9-inch screen.

This iPad is all about productivity, and its A9X processor chip would be wasted on standard app browsing and what most of us use our iPads for.

Still, after watching the video can you feel the Pro’s pull on you? Damn you Apple, you evil geniuses.

3. Apple Pencil is probably the world’s smartest pencil

The Pencil seems like a great tool for all the creatives out there, and that added to the keyboard which clips to the Pro puts the new iPad in direct competition with the Microsoft Surface.

4. Apple TV’s a lot more efficient

Let’s face it, we’re all very lazy nowadays, with “Netflix and chill” being an actual accepted date night plan. Well, pretty soon that could become “Apple TV and chill” because we all love new ways to be lazy, and Apple TV’s new remote provides them.

It comes with a microphone, as well as Siri, so you can ask it to find you films or TV programmes of a certain genre, or films with a certain actor. The search will give you results from different platforms including Netflix and iTunes.

Even better, though, is the ability to say something like “what did she just say?”, for Apple TV to then rewind the programme 15 seconds and add captions to the screen momentarily so you don’t miss it a second time.

The remote can also be used like a Nintendo Wii remote because the App Store is now available directly from Apple TV – and they’ll be bringing out a lot more games for you to download.

5. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus may look the same, but they’re far from it

“The only thing that’s changed is everything” may sound like an absurd phrase made up by someone openly mocking Apple’s hip phrases, but it’s not, and what’s more, it might actually be true.

The new 3D Touch feature on the 6s and 6s Plus is integral to the phone, and we imagine that once you’ve gotten used to it, doing something on your friend’s iPhone 6 or, even worse, 5, will feel completely alien and difficult.

The camera has also received an upgrade, going up to 12 megapixels, and the front camera now has flash – provided by the screen! Innovation. Also, there’s this thing called Live Photos which creates short, moving versions of your photos when you hold the screen down. It might actually be considered wizadry, until you find out how it works – which is just by the phone capturing a bit before and after you take the photo.