The Big Apple update: iOS8, iPhone 6 (Plus), the Apple Smart Watch and Mac OS X Yosemite

Earlier this week Apple held their Keynote 2014 presentation and they showed off their new products. It is the first time that we (officially) could catch a glimpse at the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple (Smart) Watch (which isn't named iWatch as we all first thought). Besides that Apple also showed off the new iOS; iOS8 which can be downloaded at the 17th of September as long as you at least have an iPhone 4S or higher and/or and a second generation iPad or higher. There will also be a new update for your Mac with OS X Yosemite. I will show you the highlights of their announcements.

iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus

This time Apple didn't released just one iPhone, instead they released two. This way you can chose the size that fits you best:

The iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus source: Engadget

The new iPhones will be more curved (real phones have curses?! Anyone?) and are both thinner than their predecessors:

Apple does a smart step introducing these phones because the sales of phablets has increased significantly over the last few years:

The new iPhones will both be available in several colors:

Source Apple.com

Looking at the specs inside the two iPhones we see a big increase in CPU en GPU speed and performance.  They both have an A8 chip with a 64 bit architecture and a M8 motion coprocessor. This time apps will open before you even touched them (that's a joke, perhaps on the iPhone 7?).

There is also a big increase in screen resolution and the amount of pixels. The iPhone 6 has a resolution of 1334 x 750 with 326 ppi and the iPhone 6 Plus a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) with 401 ppi. What this means? The screen of the iPhone is sharper than ever before. Fun fact is that you can now also tilt your iPhone horizontally with your apps facing you, just like on an iPad.

The camera has also received a (small) update, so now you can make movies at Full HD with 60 fps. Besides that, the upgrade regarding the camera isn't that big. The fingerprint identity sensor will also be built-in in the two new iPhone models.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will both be available as an 128 GB model. Both of them don't have a 32GB model. I find this a kind of weird, why not start with the 32GB model and skip the 16GB edition. Looking at the size of files these days, I can only predict that a lot of users with the 16GB model will have to keep deleting files and photo's to create space. But marketing wise this is obviously to create the slogan *available starting from (relatively) low price*.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available starting from €549 - €649. There hasn't been released a retail price list yet, but I expect that to come around the 19th of September.

Apple (Smart) Watch

Not iWatch, but the Apple (Smart) Watch is the name of the smart watch by Apple:

Apple Watch. Source Apple

Now you can finally see the time from your wrist, but now with an Apple flavor on top of it.
You can connect the Apple Watch to your iPhone (and perhaps also you iPad (Mini)) and use several apps directly from your wrist, like Whatsapp or Weather and even play games and even make direct phone calls.

A little showcase of the possibilities of Apps on (your) Apple Watch
Source Apple 

The Apple Watch will come in three different editions with the option to change the straps. You can also customize your background and the entire look and feel of the Watch. This way you can still "Think Different". Fun fact is that can charge you Apple Wathc by using a magnetic chord that will come with the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch will also contain an heart rate monitor so you can track your heart activity (and more) for in example when you are working out. The Apple Watch will most likely be available for €349.

iOS8

The new iOS will come with some drastic, but fun changes. This time around we won't have to wait too long, since we can already download the new iOS on the 17th of September.

The focus in this iOS8 will be more focused around (your) health and sport, that is why the new iOS compliment the heart rate monitor function in the Apple Watch. 

Source Engadget.com

With the new iOS8 there will also come an upgrade regarding iCloud. With iCould Drive you can now literally save all kinds of files on your iCloud and you can access them anywhere you go.

A very cool and interesting feature is the "Attached" function. This way you can start an e-mail on your iOS device and directly continue on you Mac (or the other way around) whenever there is need to. 

You can actually already download iOS 8.0, so you don't have to wait till the 17th of September. The Gold Master version can be downloaded from the developers page of Apple. Do it at your own risk.

OS X Yosemite

OS X Yosemite will be the next update for the Mac OS. Several functions receive major updates and with the "Attached" function (also built-in in iOS8) you can also receive and answer phone calls with your Mac.

The new OS X Yosemite will also come with drastic changes to the design and look-and-feel of your Mac, iPhonehacks created a screen of the upcoming design:

Mac OS X Mavericks compared to Mac OS X Yosemite

So as you can see see there is a lot to look out too. 

I can't wait for the new iOS(8), but for now I will still keep my iPhone 5S. 

We will see what the future brings... perhaps the iPhone 6S?

Before I forget, you can also download the new album of U2 in iTunes. for free! You will find it in you iTunes library. All you have to do is download it. I like the free deal, but I can image that you feel "obligated" to download it... Just "Let it Go".

Thanks for reading and let me know what your thoughts are about the new Apple hard- and software.

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