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from the another-bite-at-the-tablet dept.
Though it has been rumored to be in the works for a few years now, the big Apple announcement on Sept. 9 was the iPad Pro, a 12.9" tablet with a screen resolution of 2732×2048. The price starts at $799 for the 32 GB Wi-Fi version, increases to $949 for 128 GB of storage, and $1079 for 128 GB and LTE cellular connectivity. Two accessories are available: a $99 Apple Pencil with a 240 Hz input scanning rate, and a $169 Smart Keyboard, a form and price which may be familiar to you if you have seen Microsoft's Surface. Battery life of the iPad Pro should reach 10 hours, comparable to previous iPads. The iPad Mini 4 is a 7.85" tablet. Mini 4 weighs up to 304g (0.670 lbs) while the Pro weighs up to 723g (1.594 lbs).
The A9X chip in the iPad Pro will be built on either Samsung's 14nm or TSMC's 16nm FinFet process. Apple claims the CPU is 80% faster and the GPU is twice as fast compared to the A8X SoC. This would make the CPU 22 times more powerful than the one in the original iPad, and the GPU 360 times more powerful.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus replace the previous iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models. The new versions use the Apple A9 SoC with 70% faster CPU and 90% faster GPU performance than the A8. The M9 motion coprocessor is built onto the SoC, and Apple has added always-on Siri activation, similar to the Moto X. The display adds a "precise force sensing layer" called "3D Touch," similar to the "Force Touch" on Apple Watch. The front-facing camera has been increased from 1.2 to 5 megapixels, and can use the display as a flash to enable... low light selfies! The rear camera can now record 4K resolution (presumably Ultra HD) video.
The new Apple TV will cost a minimum of $149, more than double the $69 price of previous versions. The SoC inside has jumped from Apple A5 to Apple A8, and RAM has been quadrupled to 2 GB, which should allow it to act as a console, running a broader selection of more powerful games and apps. The tvOS UI can be controlled using voice recognition (Siri) or by remote. The remote comes with a "touch surface" and dedicated Siri button to initiate voice input.
iOS 9 and watchOS 2 will launch on Sept. 16. OS X El Capitan will launch on Sept. 30 with unchanged system requirements from the previous version, Yosemite.
(Score: 2) by cosurgi on Thursday September 10 2015, @12:05PM
The hardware is very interesting, especially since it has keyboard too. Problem is that I would like to dual-boot this tablet with debian.
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#\ @ ? [adom.de] Colonize Mars [kozicki.pl]
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 10 2015, @12:56PM
Surface Pro? [techradar.com]
It took me a while to realize that Apple even copied the "Pro" name.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @04:16PM
Um, MacBook "Pro"?
(Score: 1) by WillAdams on Wednesday September 16 2015, @02:33PM
Considered getting a Surface --- wound up w/ a Toshiba Encore 2 Write 10:
- smaller and lighter
- includes GPS (only available on the cell-enabled Surface)
- fond memories of a Toshiba T1200XE from way back when
The only issues I have w/ it are:
- screen isn't especially bright, nor is it daylight viewable
- somewhat fragile (screen is plastic w/ no oleophobic coating and easily scratched, case is plastic, ditto)
- satin gold, and the matching keyboard case has a brown pleather exterior
- Windows 8.1 is a weird tablet / desktop hybrid --- I was far more comfortable and productive w/ Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
(Score: 1) by rob_on_earth on Thursday September 10 2015, @02:26PM
Keyboard and pen are not included and cost $149 and $99 extra respectively
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:56PM
For $149, those keyboard keys had better click really loud when used in the train.
(Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Thursday September 10 2015, @04:24PM
If you see a stylus, they blew it.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.