March 2015 Apple Event Thoughts

Today’s Apple event, which was held at Apple’s Town Hall in Cupertino, was the shortest Apple event in over five years.

While time wise today’s event was small, the announcements we saw today were all at least mildly important. We had a good grasp as to what the announcements today were going to be, but some of the details and explanations were interesting looks into how Apple is structuring its lineup for the future.

Speaking of small, the majority of todays announcements had to do with taking existing devices, making them smaller and, by extension, more accessible.

Here are my first thoughts on today’s announcements:

Apple V. FBI

As I am writing this, I am taking a break to go post about how the DOJ has vacated tomorrows trial against the FBI. While it certainly makes what Tim Cook had to say today a little less relevant, it is clear that one of the main purposes of today’s event was to make sure the world knew Apple’s side of the story. Apple positioned itself as the defender trying to protect the citizens of the USA against the government, and make sure a proper discussion is held regarding encryption and privacy in the digital age.

Tonight’s news makes it clear to me that this whole trial was in all likelihood an attempt to catch Apple on a precedent, and the FBI became worried they were going to lose. This certainly isn’t the end of the saga, but now there really isn’t any argument to be had for at least a few weeks.

Environment and Health

I am not an expert on the Environment, nor am I an expert on Health, but it seems clear to me that Apple is making amazing strides in both of these fields. Some of these numbers, especially the renewable energy numbers, are unprecedented.

Apple Watch

While public opinion seems to be split, I am personally a fan of the new Nylon band options for Apple Watch. The Space Black Milanese Loop is also gorgeous (though I have trouble understanding why it costs an extra $50), and the new leather bands look pretty nice as well.

Possibly the most unexpected announcement of the day was the news of a $50 price drop for Apple Watch Sport. This really isn’t much of a surprise all things considered, you’ve actually been able to get one for closer to $100 off from Target and Best Buy for at least a couple months.

Clearly there were plans at some point in the recent past for a second generation Apple Watch to be unveiled at this event, however that clearly didn’t happen. While some may argue Apple may be in need of an update as soon as possible, Apple would probably prefer to launch these watches in the holiday season anyways, and the extra time won’t hurt.

One last small but interesting point I noticed during the event today, Apple referred to the Apple Watch as “the #1 selling smartwatch”. As far as I know, that was the first time Apple referred to the Watch as a smartwatch, and not just a watch. Major change in philosophy from what they were saying right around when the thing launched last year.

Apple TV

Nothing much to see here, tvOS 9.2 has been in beta for some time, and Apple just gave it a little bit of promotion. The company did say they’ve sold more Apple TV’s than ever since the new launch, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

iPhone SE

The iPhone SE was essentially what we expected. It’s a 6S (mostly) in the body of a 5S. There are a few things to note though:

• First, the iPhone SE does not feature 3D touch, as expected. As 3D touch was the headline feature of 6S, it likely won’t get put in anything until the iPhone 7 comes around.
• iPhone SE does not seem to feature the new, amazing, TouchID 2, and instead regular TouchID. This isn’t that big of a deal, but is certainly annoying.
• iPhone SE may only feautre 1GB of RAM. There was absolutely no discussion of how much it has at today’s event, though people at the event seem to be saying it only has 1.
• The iPhone SE features the same, 1.2 megapixel, front facing camera as the iPhone 6 instead of the 5 megapixel from the 6S.

The biggest surprise iPhone wise was the SE’s price: $400. This is incredibly low, and when it was rumored a few weeks back, I discussed how this isn’t only important for countries that need cheaper phones, it is important for US customers as well. Because all four major carriers now subsidize as opposed to using contracts, the difference between a baseline iPhone SE and iPhone 6S is $11 a month.

9.7-inch iPad Pro

The last major announcement today was the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. The device is the same as its larger 12.9-inch sibling, with the exception of a new True Tone display and 12 megapixel iSight camera.

From what I hear the new display is pretty cool, however that new camera bump on the back is absurd.

While this new iPad is certainly interesting, and you should certainly check back for a review of it soon, the main thing I wanted to talk about from this section was the iPad lineup as a whole.

On screen, they showed the iPad mini at $269, the iPad Air 2 now at $399, the iPad Pro 9.7 at $599, and the iPad Pro 12.9 at $799. It is an incredibly risky move on Apple’s part to no longer have a $500 flagship tablet. Apple is now hoping all potential iPad users will either see the value in getting a more powerful iPad and spending more money, or don’t and are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on last generation products.

Interestingly, currently on Apple’s website, the iPad mini 4 is still around, at the same $399 price as before, making it the same as an iPad Air 2, with noticeably worse specs.

I actually do believe the risk will pay off, and I think it will become less of a risk once more change is made to the iPad lineup. I don’t believe we will ever see another device under the ‘iPad Air’ name, and would even be willing to bet we eventually see the ‘iPad mini’ name gone too. Imagine having to choose either iPad or iPad Pro, and then iPad 7.9, iPad 9.7, iPad Pro 9.7, and iPad Pro 12.9.

Infinite Loop

Today was Apple’s final event in its Town Hall before it moves into Campus 2, the companies brand new ginormous headquarters. This venue was the home to many Apple product launches throughout time, most notably the original iPod.

It was exciting to see Apple take time to note this fact, and talk about the future. Soon, they’ll hopefully have a venue large enough for all future product launches.