My initial overview thoughts from today’s October Apple Event.
Software
The biggest news here is that all of the software updates: OS X, iLife, & iWork are all FREE!
The software business has a trend of moving to subscription based services (Adobe’s Creative Cloud, Microsoft’s Office 365, etc.) and Apple has taken another path… giving it away.
The advantage Apple has is that they make money on the hardware and as a result, they can afford to give the software away, as a perk of being a part of the Apple ecosystem.
Today was a massive software release for Apple: OS X, iLife (iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand), and iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) all saw updates. iLife and iWork also saw major iOS version updates and iWork has new cloud based versions for online collaboration as well.
Along with these major updates, Apple quietly released iOS 7.0.3 with some bug fixes and new features for iCloud keychain that work with OS X Maverick. Details here on what was updated.
I plan to share more individual thoughts on each of these software updates as I have a chance to install and use them.
Hardware
While Apple didn’t release any totally new products today (AppleTV, iWatch, etc.), they did make some major upgrades to existing products that matter.
First, more details (including price) were released regarding the all new MacPro. At $2999, this is clearly a PRO level machine but practically a bargain for the power it provides. This machine looks incredible and the specs on it will be a dream for anyone doing major video or audio production. For the average business, including our web design business, this is WAY more than they need however.
The MacBook Pro received a speed bump and a price reduction at the 13in size.
The largest upgrades came to the iPad lineup. The top of the line iPad has been renamed the iPad Air. It’s better in just about every way: faster, lighter, smaller footprint with the same size screen, thinner, better camera, and improved wireless connections.
The iPad mini also saw a major upgrade that is very tempting. It now boasts the beautiful retina display, it’s significantly faster, has advanced wireless capabilities, and more.
I would be hard pressed to pick between the two iPads. The new iPad Air is so much lighter and thinner it takes away the negatives of the old iPad, BUT the price point for the mini is a huge advantage.
The new iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and MacBook Pro keep Apple well ahead of the curve with regards to overall hardware offering for mobile users. Their build quality and overall software integration is hard (read: impossible) to beat at the moment.
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If you want to see a full video of the announcements, you can see that on Apple’s website.
This is the question of the day.