I guess that an event billed ‘Peak Performance’ shouldn’t really surprise you if the first 40 mins are devoted to little more than upgrading chips for faster performance in existing products. But, Dear God, it makes for a dull keynote. Well…dull for awhile, until that is, Cook’s Cronies blew us all away. That's right, this one had a little sting in its tail.
So, in chronological order, here’s what went down.
Green iPhone 13 and 13 Pro
The green iPhone 13 had been widely rumoured (and pictured) in advance of the event but no one saw the 13 Pro model coming. Sadly that doesn’t change the fact that they’re both as ugly as goblins. Next!
iPhone SE
They put a faster chip in it. It now has the A15, same as the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro. So it’s faster. Errr, that’s it. But, honestly, if you care about Apple’s entry-level phone, you’re reading the wrong newsletter.
iPad Air
They put a…wait for it…faster chip in it. The Air now has the M1 chip so it’s…faster. And for the dozen or so people in the world who cough up for the wireless version rather than just hot spotting to their phones on the very few occasions they’re not near a Wi-Fi network, they’ve added 5G. ‘Cause it’s….yep, you guessed it…faster.
The detail worth noticing? They’ve also given this cheap iPad the best new feature of recent years: Centre Stage - which allows the camera to keep you in frame and in focus as you move around on video calls. Now all iPads have it. In our post-Covid age of video calls, this matters. It’s a great feature.
Mac Studio
Here’s when I woke from my slumber. A brand new Mac in form and function. That doesn’t come along very often. Let’s jump in, shall we?
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