As mentioned last week, Apple finally had an event to announce its latest products. This time around, there’s no new iPhone, though, we’ll have to wait until next month for that. Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple Event September 2020.
Apple Watch Series 6
The new Apple Watch Series 6 comes with a new Blood Oxygen sensor (SpO2), mainly to calculate the percentage of oxygen being carried by red blood cells from the lungs to the rest of the body, and indicates how well this oxygenated blood is being delivered throughout the body.
The Blood Oxygen sensor now employs four clusters of green, red, and infrared LEDs, along with the four photodiodes on the back crystal of the Apple Watch, to measure light reflected back from blood. The watch then uses an advanced custom algorithm built into the Blood Oxygen app, which is designed to measure blood oxygen between 70 percent and 100 percent.
The watch has a faster S6 SiP and next-generation always-on altimeter, as well as new case finishes and bands. Running on watchOS 7, the watch now comes with a list of features, including Family Setup, sleep tracking, automatic handwashing detection, new workout types, and the ability to curate and share watch faces.
Other features include the U1 chip, Ultra Wideband antennas, 18-hour battery life with fast charging, and an enhanced Always-On Retina display.
For the first time, the Apple Watch Series 6 now comes in (PRODUCT)RED option, together with the Solo Loop band style. The new Solo Loop band style introduces a continuous and stretchable band design that comes in two materials: soft silicone and braided yarn. A special UV treatment process used on the soft silicone of the Solo Loop creates a smooth, silky finish, while a precision-braiding machine interweaves the 16,000 polyester yarn filaments, made of 100 percent recycled material, with ultrathin silicone threads, giving unique stretchability and a distinct look to the Braided Solo Loop. As usual, there are also Nike and Hermès editions.
The launch date of the Apple Watch Series 6 in Malaysia remains unknown, but the watch is priced from RM1,749, more info can be found here.
Apple Watch SE
As for the Apple Watch SE, it is a more affordable version of the Series 6, retailing at RM1,199. It shares similar features from Series 6, such as the same accelerometer, gyroscope, and always-on altimeter. It also runs on watchOS 7 with the same essential feature from the Series 6.
The Watch SE features a stunning Retina display, which is 30% larger than the Series 3. It is powered by the S5 System in Package (SiP) and a dual-core processor, which is two times faster than the Series 3. Unlike Series 6, it doesn’t come with the Blood Oxygen sensor, but there are still advanced fitness features such as small elevation changes detection and a built-in compass.
At the moment, there’s no info about the launch date of the Apple Watch SE in Malaysia. We’ll keep you posted for that!
Family Setup
For the first time, Apple Watch can be set up through a parent’s iPhone with Family Setup, so kids can connect with family and friends through phone calls and Messages, stay motivated with personalized Activity goals, and express their creativity through custom Memoji. Parents have the ability to approve all contacts, so kids can safely use the communication features of the Apple Watch.
Apple Fitness+
Apple Fitness+ intelligently incorporates metrics from Apple Watch for users to visualize right on their iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, offering a first-of-its-kind personalized workout experience. When a workout is selected and started on any of those devices, the correct workout type will automatically start on Apple Watch. During the session, the metrics from Apple Watch are shown on the screen and come to life for moments of inspiration.
Apple One Subscription Plan
Apple One offers customers Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, and more in one simple plan. The Apple One Individual plan offers a savings of over $6 per month, while the Family plan offers a savings of over $8 per month, and the Premier plan offers a savings of over $25 per month. Savings are based on standard monthly pricing. In Malaysia, there will be two plans, pricing as below:
- Individual: RM19.90/month
- Family: RM33.90/month
Apple iPad (8th Gen)
Besides Apple Watch, Apple has also unveiled the new iPad (8th Gen). In terms of design, the new iPad looks quite similar to its predecessor, Apple mainly focuses on its performance.
The new iPad sports a 10.2-inch Retina display (2,160 x 1,620) with 500 nits of brightness and supports 1st generation Apple Pencil. Powering the tablet is the A12 Bionic chip with 40 percent faster CPU performance and twice the graphics capability. For the first time on iPad, A12 Bionic introduces the Neural Engine for next-level machine learning capabilities, including people occlusion and motion tracking in augmented reality (AR) apps, enhanced photo editing, Siri performance, and more.
You still get the traditional Touch ID, which also doubles up as the home button. There’s still the same 8MP camera on the back and a 1.2MP 720p FaceTime camera on the front. It runs on the latest iPadOS 14, which is now available for download for compatible iPads.
The new 8th generation iPad will be available in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold, retailing as below:
- 32GB Wi-Fi: RM1,499
- 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: RM1,999
- 128GB Wi-Fi: RM1,849
- 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: RM2,399
Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t shared when will the new iPad available in Malaysia.
Apple iPad Air (4th Gen)
Finally, here comes the new iPad Air! The 4th generation iPad Air is the most powerful iPad Air ever with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display (2,360 x 1,640). Basically it’s quite similar to the iPad Pro without the 120Hz refresh rate. The display comes with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including full lamination, P3 wide color support, True Tone, and an anti-reflective coating for an amazing visual experience.
Apple has also introduced the new Touch ID sensor, which is integrated into the top button (power button). It also supports 2nd generation Apple Pencil, just like the iPad Pro.
The new iPad Air is powered by the latest 5nm A14 Bionic chip with Neural Engine. This latest-generation A-series chip features a new 6-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance, and a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.
The new iPad Air now comes with a 7MP front-facing FaceTime HD camera and the same 12MP rear camera used in iPad Pro for higher resolution photos and 4K video capture. The new design of the iPad Air features stereo speakers in landscape mode, elevating the audio experience so users can enjoy wider stereo sound while watching a video.
It also comes with a USB-C port for up to 5Gbps data transfer. It also runs on iPadOS 14, which further integrates Apple Pencil into the iPad experience for better note-taking capabilities, and new ways to work with handwritten notes.
The 8th generation iPad Air will be available in Space Gray, Silver, Rose Gold, Green, and Sky Blue. The prices are as below:
- 64GB Wi-Fi: RM2,599
- 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: RM3,149
- 256GB Wi-Fi: RM3,249
- 256GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: RM3,799
Same as the 8th generation iPad, Apple hasn’t shared when will it available in Malaysia.
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