The WWDC Keynote is only two weeks away, so we should start hearing bits and pieces about what will be covered at the event. However, if last year is a guide, we should also expect some surprises. While there were rumors of a new 10.5″ iPad Pro leading up to WWDC 2017, no one knew about the new iPad-specific features that were coming to iOS 11.
While the new 6th Generation iPad was framed almost exclusively in terms of its usefulness and capabilities for the education market at Apple’s release event this week, the reality of its appeal promises to be FAR broader. Between the current focus on education and the robust features and specs of the iPad Pros, it is easy to forget about the iPad’s more general reach. However, it was the release of the new iPad’s predecessor and its new focus on delivering solid features at a more competitive price that finally reversed the fortunes of Apple’s tablets last year.
Photo Source: Patently Apple
There is a lot of smoke on the topic of touch and virtual interface for there not to be a fire somewhere. We have the Touch Bar that Apple added to the MacBook a couple of years ago. A couple of weeks ago, Apple was awarded a patent for a clamshell device with an OLED keyboard. Now, as reported by Patently Apple, an Apple patent application for a virtual keyboard that was filed in 2017 was published just a couple of days ago. Where the awarded patents was fairly open ended, this application has some valuable specifics and diagrams,
The hot Apple rumor du jour is that we will be getting a brand new 11″ iPad Pro alongside a refreshed 12.9″ version at WWDC. iPad Pro rumors are nothing new right now, as we have been hearing reports of new Pros with Face ID, no Home Buttons, and much slimmer bezels since late last year. However, today’s report from the Taiwan-based Economic Daily News adds a new twist in predicting that the current 10.5″ model will jump up to a larger 11″ screen.
I’ve been using an Apple Pencil for a couple of years now, and I have never been anything but happy with it. It is incredibly accurate, tracks fast across the screen, feels good in the hand, and the battery life is just fine considering how well it performs. Lately, my wife and kids have also discovered how good the Apple Pencil, as they keep borrowing mine and pairing it up with the other iPad Pro in the house.
I know what that means- soon I’ll be out another $60-$99 (depending on whether I can find a refurb model, or not). However, if a recent Kickstarter delivers on its promise, then maybe that price will soon be a little lower.
This is day four with my HomePod, and I think I have a pretty good feel for it at this point. We all know the basics- the sound is great, Siri is no so great. However, this is the point where users start coming across more of the details of a device, and the HomePod is no exception. Here are some more observations from the last couple of days of use.
Despite the fact that we just got brand new hardware from Apple just yesterday in the HomePod, let’s be honest. It isn’t for everyone. However, thanks to Apple’s wide ranging product lineup, there’s always something else coming just around the corner. In this case, it may be sooner than you think. According to a few different reports over the last week or so, we have a pretty good idea about as many as eight new Apple products that will be released over the course of this year.
So I ended up returning the Pixelbook that I picked up to review and wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This was more of a false start than a failure, though. I hit day 14 (BestBuy’s last day to return) without being able to say if it was something I would be willing to part with $1000 for, or if I would even be able to take a small monetary hit to have it for a while and then sell it for less. The fact is, I just wasn’t able to spend as much time with the device as I had hoped, and couldn’t be sure about it. It’s better to safe than sorry in that case, but I can’t say that I won’t go back any try again later on.
Here are a few things that I did glean from my brief time with the device:
I used a Chromebook several years ago and I actually really enjoyed the simplicity of it. It was a super fast, super easy barebones computing experience. Few bugs. No viruses to worry about. No fuss. It shared the same instant on capability of the iPad, but it was even more to the point without the all the apps. That can be both a positive and a negative, but you might surprised by how much you can do in a browser until you actually try it.
We know that Apple is continuously prototyping and testing all kinds of different products, both new and variations on existing ones. While we will never see the vast majority of these experiments, it is interesting to think about what could be. You can pretty much assume that anything we have thought about that is within Apple’s product umbrella has been at least drawn up, if not built to some level of completion. I’m going to occasionally be asking you about some likely experiments that Apple has dabbled with, and ask you the question- “Would you buy this?”
2013 saw the introduction of TouchID, but as popular and highly reviewed as it was, it was the next year when the technology truly arrived and came into its own. It showed up on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, the iPad Air 2, and the iPad Mini 3 in the Fall of that year, and it was improved across the board. Not only did it make it across the entire mobile product line, but its speed and accuracy also improved noticeably.