Apple thrills with iPad Air, Mac Pro and iPad Mini launches

Technology companies are leaving no stone and tablets unturned in trying to outdo each other in the race to capture users, the slew of launches on 22 October being a case in point. Nokia Oyj., for instance, stepped up its pace in the race to capture big screen phone market on Tuesday morning by launching six new devices, including its first ever Windows tablet, two phablets and three Asha models, just hours after Microsoft Corp.’s Surface 2 tablet became available
for sale, making it a competitor to its to-be-parent.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd followed by unveiling the Galaxy Note 10.1 in India.
However, none could hold a candle and beat the hype that Apple Inc. generated with the launch of its products, with journalists, as usual, gathering hours before the event and trying to outdo each other with ball-by-ball coverage and of the event.
The event was also webcast live.
On Tuesday, at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook unveiled the new 13- and 15-inch Macbook Pros, priced much lower at $1,299 and $1,999, respectively. While the 13-inch Macbook Pro sports an Intel Haswell chip, the 15-inch one has an Intel Crystalwell chip.
The company also unveiled the new MacPro. Priced at $2,999, this high-end desktop does away with the big square box and instead has a shiny black cylinder that looks like a piece of a starship.
The device comes with a 3.7GHz quad-core machine, 12GB DRAM, Dual FirePro D300, 2GB VRAM each, and 256GB SSD.
The MacPro is engineered around workstation graphics with dual GPUs, PCI Express-based flash storage, high-performance Thunderbolt 2, new-generation Xeon processors, ultra fast memory, and support for 4K video.
Apple said the new design consumes 70% less electricity than the previous generation model, and is quieter too—on par with a Mac Mini. It will be available by the end of this year.
But amid all the hype, all were waiting for the new iPad announcements.
Apple launched iPad three-and-a-half years ago and “sold our 170 millionth iPad this month (now approaching 180 million)”, said Cook, adding, “We now have over 475,000 iPad apps, on the app store. These have been customized for the iPad, not these stretched out smartphone apps that our competitors are doing.”
Apple announced the iPad Air with a 9.7-inch Retina display and bezel that is “43% smaller than previous versions”. Like the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air has Apple’s new
M7 motion processor.
“It’s the lightest full-size tablet in the world,” claimed Apple. The iPad Air weighs a mere one pound. Around 25% thinner than the earlier iPad, it is priced at $499 for the WiFi model, and $629 “for the cellular model”.
The iPad Air will start to ship on 1 November.
Apple also announced the launch of the new iPad Mini with a 7.9″ screen, running at 2048×1536.
To be launched later in November, it will run on the new A7 chip. The original iPad Mini will stay on sale, dropped from $329 to $299.
The iPad Mini with Retina will sell for $399 for the 16GB WiFi model.
Meanwhile, to make the Apple experience more seamless, the company also revamped iMovie to allow for direct compatibility with the videos you can shoot on your iPhone 5S. iMovie theater brings all of your iMovie projects into one place, and syncs to iCloud. Create a project in iMovie, and it’s available across all of your iCloud devices. Moreover, GarageBand’s new iCloud support allows you to start working on a song on your Mac, walk away, then continue working on it from your iPad or iPhone. The new garageband has a smart “drummer track”, which analyses your music and automatically plays along. You can tweak the drummer’s style, making him player louder/softer, or to play more complicated pieces.
All of these iLife apps, meanwhile are getting 64-bit updates on iOS. IPhoto for iOS got a new look that’s black and gray instead of silver. Also new is book making for iPhoto on iOS. It’s a feature that lets you design books on your phone or tablet, then pay Apple to print it and send it to you. All iLife and iWork apps have become free downloads.