Apple held a keynote event today where they introduced some new hardware and other updates. The event had the teaser tagline “Let us loop you in.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook and other Apple employees discussed a variety of topics from the importance of encryption to their efforts in conservation and environmental responsibility. They also introduced new hardware such as a 4-inch iPhone SE while discontinuing the iPhone 5S. The other hardware announced, besides new bands for the Apple Watch, was a smaller iPad Pro measuring in at 9.7-inches.
Apple iPhone SE press release: Apple Introduces iPhone SE — The Most Powerful Phone with a Four-inch Display
Apple® today introduced iPhone® SE, the most powerful phone with a four-inch display, in a beloved compact aluminum design that has been updated with matte-chamfered edges, a color-matched stainless steel Apple logo, and four gorgeous metallic finishes, including rose gold. iPhone SE offers exceptional performance with the same 64-bit A9 chip offered in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus for blazing fast speeds, longer battery life, faster wireless, a 12-megapixel iSight® camera featuring Live Photos™ and 4K video, and Touch ID® with Apple Pay®.
Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro press release: Apple Introduces 9.7-inch iPad Pro
Apple® today introduced the all-new 9.7-inch iPad Pro™ — at just under one pound it features a new pro Retina® display with greater brightness, wider color gamut, lower reflectivity, Night Shift™ mode and introduces new True Tone® display technology to dynamically adjust white balance. The new iPad Pro delivers incredible performance with the 64-bit A9X chip that rivals most portable PCs, along with a four-speaker audio system that is twice as powerful,¹ new 12-megapixel iSight® camera for shooting Live Photos™ and 4K video, 5-megapixel FaceTime® HD camera, and faster wireless technologies. And iPad Pro includes support for the breakthrough Apple Pencil™ and a new Smart Keyboard™ cover designed to fit the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
In addition to hardware, Apple announced advancements to ResearchKit and introduced CareKit.
Apple® today announced advancements to the open source ResearchKit™ framework that bring genetic data and a series of medical tests typically conducted in an exam room to iPhone® apps. Medical researchers are adopting these new features to design targeted studies for diseases and conditions that affect billions of people around the world and to gather more specific types of data from participants.
CareKit press release: Apple Advances Health Apps with CareKit
Apple® today announced CareKit™, a new software framework designed to help developers enable people to actively manage their own medical conditions. iPhone® apps using CareKit make it easier for individuals to keep track of care plans and monitor symptoms and medication; providing insights that help people better understand their own health. With the ability to share information with doctors, nurses or family members, CareKit apps help people take a more active role in their health.
Along with these announcements, Apple made iOS 9.3 available as a free update today with Night Shift feature to reduce blue light at night, Touch ID protection for Notes, improvements to News, and many other improvements and fixes. They also released numerous other updates:
- iOS 9.3 for iPhone 4s and later, iPod touch (5th generation) and later, and iPad 2 and later
- watchOS 2.2 for Apple Watch Sport, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition, and Apple Watch Hermes
- tvOS 9.2 for Apple TV (4th generation)
- Xcode 7.3 for OS X El Capitan v10.11 and later
- OS X El Capitan v10.11.4 and Security Update 2016-002 for OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10.5, and OS X El Capitan v10.11 to v10.11.3
- OS X Server 5.1 for OS X Yosemite v10.10.5 and later
- Safari 9.1 for OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10.5, and OS X El Capitan v10.11 to v10.11.3
The “one more thing” of the presentation ties in the teaser reference to the “loop”. CEO Tim Cook announced that their next presentation would most likely be done from their new headquarters, a large ring structure with a beautiful presentation room.
Some of the best news for Apple may have come after the presentation had ended as the Justice Department asked a federal court to cancel a Tuesday hearing to force Apple to help the FBI break encryption to a terrorist’s iPhone. Apple has stood strong, along with many allies, to not weaken the security of encryption nor create any other back door which could compromise the future security of data on iPhones. From the FBI filing:
On Sunday, March 20, 2016, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone. Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook’s iPhone. If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple Inc. (“Apple”) set forth in the All Writs Act Order in this case.
Accordingly, to provide time for testing the method, the government hereby requests that the hearing set for March 22, 2016 be vacated. The government proposes filing a status report with the Court by April 5, 2016.