Little more than a month after the iPhone 6 and Watch launch Apple takes to the Auditorium at its Cupertino, California HQ to reveal the iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 3, the iMac with Retina Display and a new Mac Mini.
Of course, the event was also an excuse for the company to pat itself on the back. CEO Tim Cook opened the launch event by telling how the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus set a new record for most orders taken on its 30 days in the market, as well as announcing Watch ships from early 2015, Apple Pay starts operating from next week and OS X Yosemite is available now.
In actual new devices, Apple first unveiled the iPad Air 2-- an even thinner (6.1mm) update on the first iPad Air featuring a touchscreen with an anti-reflective coating, a tablet first according to the company. It is powered by a 2nd generation 64-bit A8X processor promising a 12x performance boost over the original iPad, 16, 64 or 128GB of storage and, as expected, includes a TouchID sensor.
The camera also sees improvements with an 8MP iSight sensor, f/24 aperture and an Apple-designed image signal processor. Meanwhile the front-facing camera promises improved face detection, "burst" selfies and f/2.2 aperture.
Cook also used the new iPad presentation to share one big number-- global iPad sales over the past 4 years total 225 million units, more than any other product in Apple history.
Also announced is the iPad mini 3, featuring a 7.9-inch Retina display, 5MP iSight camera, 802.11n wifi with MIMO and TouchID.
On the Mac side Apple announced the iMac with Retina Display, which features a 5120 x 2880 (or 5K) 27-inch display all of 5mm thin. It carries a custom "timing controller" chip to control the display and a new compensation film to improve images when seen from off-angles.
It appears designed for pro and enthusiast users, as it allows for pixel-for-pixel 4K video editing with room left over for UI elements. It will also be available with 4K resolution 21.5- and 27-inch displays.
A final Apple offering receiving an update is the Mac Mini-- now with 4th generation Intel Core processors, Intel Iris and HD Graphics 5000, PCIe-based SSD storage, 802.11ac wifi and a pair of Thunderbolt 2 ports.
"This is the strongest lineup of products Apple has ever had," Cook concludes. "This incredible lineup of products and the ecosystem that supports them is something only Apple can create."
Go Apple
