Apple Launch Event, September 2015

WRITTEN BY Gwyn D’Mello, WRITTEN BY Marco D'Souza | Updated: Sep 10, 2015, 12:15 AM IST
DNATechApple, Apple Event September 2015, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, Apple TV, Siri, iOS 9, OS X El Capitan

New Apple goodies all around, don't miss our live coverage of the tech giant's iPhone launch event today.

It's that time of year again, with Apple launching a new set of iPhones, and a bunch of other things. For those of you who couldn't make it to the event in San Francisco, we're going to be covering Apple's show live right here. So get comfortable, grab a snack, and we'll be ready to go once the live stream launches at 10:30 pm IST. From the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, to the new 4th gen Apple TV, to Siri upgrades and more, there's going to be a lot of announcements coming out, so make sure you don't miss out!

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  • And there we are, the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are starting at a 16GB model and going up to 64GB and 128GB.  They will be available in the same price bracket as the last models, with the iPhone 6s 16GB starting at US $199 and the iPhone 6s Plus 16GB starting at US $299 for a two year contract. 

  • One Republic on stage performing now. No mention of pricing or storage versions yet, I guess that's the real event closer.

  • Comes with 5GB iCloud storage, 50GB for US $0.99 a month, 200GB for US $2.99 and 1TB for US $9.99 a month

  • The old iPhone rates have been dropped. 16GB iPhone 6 starts at US $199 and US $299 for 6 Plus

  • iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus pre-orders start September 12. Available the September 25 in the US, China, France , UK, Japan, Australia, and otther countries. iOS 9, meanwhile, comes out September 16. 

  • Ok,  final words on the iPhone: 3D Touch7000 series Aluminium64-bit A9X chip with M92nd-gen TouchIDLTE Advanced12MP iSight camera, 5MP FaceTime cam with Retina FlashLive Photos 

  • Live Photos. What is that? it's a photo and video into one. 3D Touch on your photo in the gallery and it animates them GIF-like. This is on by default. They're still saved as 12MP high quality images, but the phone extends the capture moment to just before and after. It saves the video and audio to play when you 3D Touch, and you can also save it as your watch face.

  • 5MP FaceTime camera. True Tone flash on the rear. On the front, the phone screen acts as a True Tone flash for the FaceTime camera. That took a custom display chip that makes your phone display 3x brighter.

  • Yup, there's 4K video recording on the new iPhones but nothing mentioned for the Apple TV. Ain't that something? 

  • 12MP iSight camera with faster auto focus and 50 percent more pixels. "Deep Trench Isolation technology separates the photo diodes and helps to maintain very accurate colour." I have no idea what that is, I'm going to have to research.

  • Siri is also always on now. "Hey Siri" to voice a command. 2x faster 2nd-gen TouchID sensor.

  • Apple says the 3rd-gen A9X 64-bit chip is 70 percent faster at processing and 90 percent faster with graphics than the A8. "We've also for the first time built our M9 motion coprocessor directly in the chip. ... Able to be always on as it's integrated."

  • 3D Touch for inter-app navigation. Apply pressure on the edge and the app swipes to the next one.

  • And while demoing the touch interface with email, we're given an easter egg email with the subject line, "Check out my new Apple Ride." Subtle Apple, very smooth.

  • Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, now on stage to demonstrate 3D Touch. 

  • Apparently the glass on the new iPhones is "the strongest in the industry." After years of broken iPhone screen jokes and memes, and now 3D Touch, i really hope so.

  • And there's the confirmation for Force Touch, except it's apparently officially being called 3D Touch. Once application lets you browse apps directly from their icons, without opening them.

  • New space-grade Aluminium on the phones. Silver, gold, space gray and rose gold colour variants. 4.7-inch display on the iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch on the iPhone 6s Plus

  • That's it, the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Demo video shows them in silver  and Rose Gold too.

  • And finally, we're on to the main event of the night; the iPhone. 

  • The Apple TV will be available late October. Not bad. All in all, I can at least get behind the Apple TV as a solid device.

  • Bluetooth 4.0 on the remote, charges via Lightning connector, lasts three months on a single charge. The 32GB for US $149, 64GB for US $199. The Apple TV 3rd gen will stay for US $69.

  • Right on the processor, this gets the 64 bit A8X chip from the iPhone 6. Also WiFi 802.11ac, and 10mm tall. Power, HDMI and Ethernet ports on the back. Apple TV ships with the remote.

  • "Developers can create universal apps so single purchase works on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV." Again, does that means your iPhone can be a controller? Answers!

  • Wii-Sports-like game being demoed. With the motion controls, that makes sense. But how does the multiplayer work? Does the Apple TV sync with your iPhone as a controller or do you need another Apple TV Remote?

  • Looks like there's also multiplayer support. Crossy Road multiplayer. Hmm...

  • Theres a bunch of new games from iOS being remade for tvOS, including Guitar Hero......How does that work I wonder, the controller touch pad is really not big enough for that.

  • It's a new operating system for the Apple TV, tvOS. Yes, the uppercase in that name is correct. 

  • Easy swipe control on the remote to switch apps, and it pauses your movie in the background.

  • New Universal Search with Siri, like we said. Search all your apps for the content you want, even with contextual cues. And you can also use Siri during playback to, say, skip forward or turn on subtitles.

  • Eddy Cue (Senior VP of Internet and Services) on stage now, with the new remote. Glass touch surface at the top front end, volume rocker, Siri activation button, play/pause, Menu and Home.

  • Finally, on to happier topics. Tim Cook is back on stage with the Apple TV. "Show me family movies. animated only. just the new ones," Cook says. So clearly the reports of Siri deep integration were spot on.

  • So we have two issues. There's no USB Type-C (Boo), and no touchpad on the physical keyboard accessory (Double BOO).

  • The iPad Pro will be available November. And it's basically the same price as a MacBook.

  • Oh wait, we're not done. US $1079 for the 128GB LTE version. Bravo Apple, bravo.

  • Available in Silver, Gold, and Space Grey. US $799 for 32GB with WiFi (about Rs 53,000), US $949 for the 128GB (Rs 63,000). The Pencil is another US $99 and the Smart Keyboard is US $169. Oh come on guys, be reasonable.

  • So to roundup: 12.9-inch Retina Display3rd-generation 64-bit A9X chipQuad-speaker Audio10-hr battery8MP iSight camera802.11ac with MIMOLTE Support and Touch ID

  • The sty.....errr "pencil" should be really useful for designers and photographers in particular. I can see Adobe being the most popular developer here.

  • Adobe apparently also working on new apps for the iPad Pro

  • "Lots of developers collaborating for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil." And Microsoft's name is on the stage. My mind is blown. Microsoft Office now supported on Apple platforms they say.

  • The Pencil has a battery, but it charges with the Lightning connector on the iPad Pro.

  • Ok, so there are a few differences in the Pencil. Two sensors in the device let you draw light or bold strokes and even shade.

  • It's a stylus. I don't care that Apple wants to call it the "Apple Pencil", that's just a stylus. And that's an extra accessory so it means more money spent.

  • You connect the keyboard to a new Smart Connector on the tablet's left spine. It carries power and data.

  • Smart keyboard accessory. Why do you need to dock this to a physical keyboard when it's supposed to be large enough to have a full virtual keyboard?

  • The iPad Pro is about 700g. That's most certainly meant for your desk ONLY.

  • They're claiming a 10-hr battery life. Quad speakers, one in each corner. And it's 6.9mm thin.

  • "It is faster than 80% of the portable PCs that shipped in the last 12 months." That's a pretty tall claim. This is most certainly going to cost a bunch. US $700?

  • There's a variable refresh rate to save energy when images are static. It's got a new third generation 64-bit A9X chip. 1.8 times faster than the A8X.