SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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, Disagree) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Thursday September 10 2015, @02:58PM
Apple can't be interested in a big tablet, because large-screen tablets have not caught on. App developers ignore them. The iPad Mini was a big success because it was smaller. People can't hold or manipulate big tablets (especially elderly), and they cost too much. Amazon just announced a $50 cheap tablet for the holiday season. People want cheaper tablets, not bigger ones. Apple can't be going after the nonexistent big-tablet market, and even they don't have the hubris to think they could create a demand for them.
If you look at the MacBooPro line, it's been shrinking. Features have been taken out (ethernet ports, optical drive, etc) and the 17" model was discontinued.
Is Apple going to replace their laptop line with tablets? Add a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you have a really thin MBP with even less features than it has now.
Is Apple going to discontinue the 15" MBP line next? It's the only reliable professional laptop left. Will we all be using HP laptops in a few years? Lenovo? Does anyone make a reliable laptop any longer besides Apple?
I guess professionals who want a reliable, solid laptop are vanishing, and it's not worth Apple to support them. Not like anyone else is rushing into this space to fill the void.
Can't wait to see what the rumor sites come up with next. Is Apple trying to get rid of the laptop and replace it with a tablet and a bag of accessories?
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Celestial on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:44PM
Replacing Apple laptops with tablets is exactly what they're doing. Word on the street is that the MacBook Air is in its last days.
(Score: 1) by Pino P on Thursday September 10 2015, @06:14PM
Unlike an iPad, the MacBook Air can run Xcode. What will Apple replace it with for that purpose?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @06:35PM
The 12" MacBook.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:49PM
Is Apple going to discontinue the 15" MBP line next? It's the only reliable professional laptop left. Will we all be using HP laptops in a few years? Lenovo? Does anyone make a reliable laptop any longer besides Apple?
The Dell Precision I have been using for four years now. The only thing that has failed on it was the power supply and I have wore the battery out. 17 inch, i7, 8gb ram, slot loading dvd burner, auto back-lit keyboard, ssd are all working fine. It can easily be called a reliable business laptop. Now is it as pretty as an Apple? No. Is it as thin? No. Is it a powerful reliable business laptop? Yes.
I am not a big Dell or HP fan in the consumer market, but in the business market they both make respectable computers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday September 10 2015, @03:58PM
They launched a smartwatch before those caught on too. Now they are the dominant [pcmag.com] vendor [strategyanalytics.com] of smartwatches.
The hint is in the name, Pro. By making it gigantic, allegedly capable of multitasking, and copying the Surface Pro, they want to pitch it to businesses. By adding a stylus they want to pitch it to artists and other creative professionals.
Optical discs are dying and the Ethernet port is much less necessary for most compared to a decade ago. The thin slab with less ports than a laptop and no disc drive might be toxic for some, but others will buy it up.
Is Apple really the only "professional laptop" maker left? You can find laptops with mobile Xeons (a growing segment [theregister.co.uk]), gaming laptops with much higher specs, and 4K resolution laptops. Even the bargain laptop manufacturers like Asus/Acer/Toshiba/etc. make a solid product if you spend $700+ on it instead of $300.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]