Yesterday, Apple confirmed quite a few things that many people were speculating up to that point. However, not all the rumors were true. There was no iPhone 5 announcement – which I was disappointed to find out. However, there was definitely enough to chew on. Catch the entire thing here as the keynote is now online.
The Major Changes of interest are as follows:
-iOS 6
- iOS 6 brings a ton of changes and perhaps most notably “Maps”. Maps really does look quite nice and it really needed to happen. Since Google was withholding the goods (i.e. turn by turn navigation) for so long Apple decided to move forward without that partnership. In “Flyover” mode, you see 3D models of all the buildings in a particular city as if you were really looking at the city from the sky. Google unveiled a similar product last Wednesday so there will definitely be company in the 3D mapping space.
- Passbook was another goodie that came up – with the ability to have all of your passes at your fingertips digitally. This includes your Starbucks card, plane ticket, and even movie pass. What’s really neat is the fact that your iOS 6 enabled device will know where you are and pull up the correct pass as you near your destination so you won’t have to fumble through your apps to find it.
- Guided Access is fairly intriguing though I doubt I would have much use for it – though many people with kids – especially those with special needs – may find it handy. It gives you the ability to restrict certain areas of the phone so that the user stays focused on the task at hand.
New Macbook Pro
- The newest computer in the MacBook family is now the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. This puppy is on sale right now (though you’ll have to wait between 2-3 weeks for it to be shipped since demand is so high). The display has literally 5.1 million pixels.
- It’s almost as thin as the Mac Air. I’ts .71 inches thin and weighs 4.45lbs. To achieve this they did get rid of the disc drive and flattened the Magsafe port.
Macbook Pro Refresh
- Apple has also refreshed their entire MacBook lineup with a slew of new features like a new HD Facetime Camera and all new Thunderbolt ports. The processors of each line has been upgraded with i5 or i7 processors. You can check out comparisons here.
- The 17 inch MacBook Pro has been axed. Apple always tries to keep it fresh so I suppose it was bound to happen.
For a cool $2,199 smackers the new retina display MacBook Pro can be yours. The regular MacBook Pro of similar size starts at $1799. Do you think the new Mac is worth the extra $400?
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