Apple held their much-anticipated March 21 media event today. The event was held at their very own Town Hall theater and streamed live. Below are notes from the event.
Welcome
- Tim Cook takes the stage after a short "40 years in 40 seconds" video commemorating Apple's 40th birthday (April 01, 2016)
- "We have a responsibility to protect your data and your privacy. We owe it to you and we owe it to our country."
- "We want to talk about two initiatives that we are working on to protect our environment"
- Lisa takes the stage
- "When we think about the environment, we think abut innovation"
- 93% of Apple's facilities worldwide run on renewable energy
- 100% renewable in 23 countries around the world (including US and all China stores)
- 99% of Apple's packaging comes from paper that is recycled or eco-friendly forests
- Apple introduces "Liam"... an automated robot that dismantles and recycles iPhones
- "Apple Renew" is available at apple.com/recycling
- Jeff Williams takes the stage to discuss health and ResearchKit
- Largest Parkinson's study in history happened via ResearchKit in less than 24 hours
- Apple now managing 20+ major health studies using ResearchKit
- The goal of ResearchKit is to improve research... and it's turned out to be so much more
- "Today, we are launching 'CareKit'", a framework that allows developers to build more advanced healthcare apps
- Tim takes to stage to talk about products
Apple Watch
- Top-selling smart watch in the world
- "Today, we are introducing brand-new bands"
- Woven nylon band in a variety of colors
- New Sport and Leather bands in new colors as well as Milanese loop in Space Gray
- Apple Watch pricing now starts at $299
Apple TV
- "People are loving the new Apple TV"
- More than 5,000 apps available on the Apple TV App Store
- New apps being released all the time
- New features coming to Apple TV: folders, dictation, Siri for App Store, Live Photos, etc.
- New tvOS available TODAY
iPhone & iOS
- Greg takes the stage to discuss iPhone
- "We're here today to talk about a smaller iPhone"
- "Some people simply love smaller phones"
- Apple introduces the iPhone SE
- "The most powerful 4-inch phone ever"
- iPhone SE will have the same processing power as the iPhone 6s
- Embedded M9 co-processor is always on
- 12 MP camera with Live Photos, Retina Flash and 4K video
- 802.11ac and WiFi calling supported
- Apple Pay
- iPhone SE priced starting at $399 for 16 GB model ($499 for 64 GB model)
- Pre-orders available March 24, shipping March 31
- iOS 9.3 overview
- Night Shift: uses the devices clock and GPS location to discover natural lighting, shifting lighting automatically to be easier on your eyes
- Notes: adding fingerprint passcode for added security
- Health: added app suggestions into the Health app
- News: various improvements including editor picks
- CarPlay: more than 100 car models allow CarPlay with more onboarding over time
- iOS 9.3 available as a free download TODAY!
iPad
- "The perfect expression of personal computing"
- Phil Schiller takes the stage
- New 9.7" iPad Pro with Retina Display
- "The majority of people switching to an iPad Pro are switching from a Windows PC"
- Over 600 million PCs in use today that are over 5 years old
- The iPad Pro is the "ultimate PC replacement"
- Same materials used in the 12.9" iPad Pro
- 40% less reflective than an iPad Air 2
- 25% brighter than an iPad Air 2
- "True Tone Display" measures the color temperature of the ambient light and adjusts the screen to match
- Pro audio system with 4 speakers
- Support for Pencil
- New USB adapters available
- 12 MP camera (panoramic up to 43 MP)
- 5 MP FaceTime camera
- New 9.7" iPad Pro starting at $599 for 32 GB, $749 for 128 GB and $899 for 256 GB
- Pre-orders available March 24, shipping March 31
- 12.9" iPad Pro also now available in 256 GB model for $1,099
CLICK HERE to watch the full event.
