Apple Event (October 2014) - Live Blog
by Ryan Smith on October 16, 2014 12:56 PM EST02:20PM EDT - Thanks for reading, everyone
02:20PM EDT - And we're done here. Heading over for hands-on time
02:19PM EDT - Thanking the hardware and software teams
02:18PM EDT - Products that are great apart or used together, taking advantage of being the hardware and OS designer
02:17PM EDT - Tim's back to summarize things
02:17PM EDT - R9 M295X is new; have not seen it before
02:17PM EDT - R9 M290X is Pitcairn. Comparable to Radeon HD 7870
02:16PM EDT - $499
02:15PM EDT - Haswell with GT3 graphics. PCIe flash storage
02:14PM EDT - Mac Mini is finally getting an update
02:14PM EDT - Shipping today
02:14PM EDT - Still no SSD standard
02:13PM EDT - Starts at $2499
02:13PM EDT - Thunderbolt 2 also present
02:13PM EDT - GPUs are AMD Radeon R9 M290 and M295
02:12PM EDT - CPUs are Intel
02:12PM EDT - DisplayPort technically doesn't have enough bandwidth over a single link
02:12PM EDT - That said it's not clear if Apple is using multiple tiles here or not
02:11PM EDT - We only now have single tile 4K TCONs, never mind 5K
02:11PM EDT - TCONs have been an issue for HiDP dispkays since they first reached the desktop
02:10PM EDT - This is very likely to be the same panel as in the recently announced Dell 5K monitor: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8496/dell-previews-27inch-5k-ultrasharp-monitor-5120x2880
02:09PM EDT - Video time again
02:08PM EDT - Reduced power consumption and improved off-axis contrast as well
02:07PM EDT - Apple made their own Timing Controller (TCON) for this iMac
02:07PM EDT - Comparing pixel counts to other kinds of devices. TVs, movies, etc
02:06PM EDT - Calling it the "Retina 5K Display"
02:06PM EDT - 27". 5120x2880 pixels. 14.7Mpixels
02:05PM EDT - iMac with Retina Display
02:04PM EDT - Time for a video
02:04PM EDT - Retina Display discussion
02:04PM EDT - Recapping Mac division successes so far
02:03PM EDT - Switching gears to the Mac
02:02PM EDT - Shipping next week
02:02PM EDT - Pre-orders open tomorrow
02:02PM EDT - Apple has never offered so many models before
02:02PM EDT - iPad Mini, Mini 2, and Air (1) are going to continue to be sold at lower prices
02:01PM EDT - Also being announced is iPad Mini 3
02:01PM EDT - Pricing: $499/$599/$699 for 16GB/64GB/128GB Wifi
01:59PM EDT - Phil is back for the recap
01:58PM EDT - Metal was deisnged for compute as well as graphics, so it's cool to see it being used for compute
01:57PM EDT - GPU compute: Replay uses Metal API to do computer vision
01:56PM EDT - More CPU cores? More GPU cores? More cache? Different ISP?
01:56PM EDT - I'm really curious where those extra billion transistors went
01:55PM EDT - Pixelmator is 2x faster on iPad AIr 2
01:53PM EDT - First up: Pixelmator
01:53PM EDT - App demo time
01:53PM EDT - Ships with iOS 8.1
01:53PM EDT - This means you can use Apple Pay on the iPad Air 2, specifically for online shopping
01:52PM EDT - Finally on iPad: TouchID
01:51PM EDT - New LTE chip; faster with more bands. Likely the same out of iPhone 6
01:51PM EDT - Front camera: single shot HDR
01:51PM EDT - And dual microphones to go with those videos
01:50PM EDT - Can also do slow mo 120fps recording
01:49PM EDT - Can now do burst mode and time lapse
01:49PM EDT - 43MP panorams
01:48PM EDT - Now demonstrating the new camera wth untouched photos
01:48PM EDT - New 8MP iSight camera
01:47PM EDT - Now discussing iPad camera
01:46PM EDT - 10 hour battery life
01:46PM EDT - Significantly more transistors than A8. ~3B vs. ~2B
01:45PM EDT - Performance comparisons are against A7 in iPad Air (1)
01:45PM EDT - SoC: A8X
01:44PM EDT - 56% lower reflectivity
01:44PM EDT - And a new anti-reflective coating
01:44PM EDT - Optical bonding fo screen to reduce thickness
01:43PM EDT - 18% thinner.World's thinnest tablet
01:42PM EDT - 6.1mm thin
01:42PM EDT - Phil Schiller now on stage
01:41PM EDT - iPad Air 2
01:41PM EDT - We're about to find out
01:41PM EDT - When you make the best tablet in he world, how do you make it better?
01:39PM EDT - High consumer satisfaction for both iPad models
01:39PM EDT - Comparing it to PC sales, though price differences make that a stretch
01:38PM EDT - 225 Million iPads sold
01:37PM EDT - Recapping the advancement of iPad so far. New technologies, new uses
01:36PM EDT - iPad
01:36PM EDT - Back to Tim
01:35PM EDT - iWork: Today, update is free
01:35PM EDT - 8.1: Monday
01:35PM EDT - Yosemite: out today
01:35PM EDT - With controls via an Apple Watcb
01:34PM EDT - Using Continuity to play it off of an Apple TV
01:34PM EDT - Cut to a recorded skit about ecrecy at Apple
01:33PM EDT - And done
01:32PM EDT - Last minute zinger about the Apple Watch not being out
01:32PM EDT - Bantering back and forth about Stephen's "title" as Chief of Secrecy at Apple
01:31PM EDT - Stephen the character, not the individual
01:30PM EDT - Calling up Stephen Colbert
01:29PM EDT - Apple is very mindful of their situation Their theme: a humorous take on stopping leaks
01:28PM EDT - Showcasing how he's able to use the iPad and iPhone together via Continuity
01:26PM EDT - Continuity demo on stage
01:25PM EDT - And of course Continuity
01:25PM EDT - iCloud for syncing data, AirDrop, AirPlay
01:24PM EDT - Now on to how the two OSes work together
01:23PM EDT - iWork updates coming in Yosemite as well
01:22PM EDT - Safari should bring better battery life through lower CPU usage
01:20PM EDT - Largely a recap of what Apple first annonced back at WWDC 2014
01:20PM EDT - Switching gears to Yosemite
01:20PM EDT - Photos synced across all devices using iCloud
01:19PM EDT - Camera roll will be back, along with a new feature called iCloud Photo Library
01:19PM EDT - Apple says they have been listening to user feedback on iOS 8
01:18PM EDT - Up now: iOS 8.1
01:17PM EDT - Swift apps are already showing up in the App Store
01:16PM EDT - Now the benefts of new APIs such as HealthKit and Metal
01:15PM EDT - Apple has seen quick adoption of iOS 8 extension and sharing features
01:13PM EDT - Though other ources indicate it's lower thna iOS 7
01:13PM EDT - Touting iOS 8 adoption rate
01:11PM EDT - First up: operating system news. iOS 8 and Yosemite
01:11PM EDT - Now on to the new announements
01:11PM EDT - Confirming availability of Apple Watch next year
01:10PM EDT - New SDK for Apple Watch: WatchKit
01:09PM EDT - Now on to Apple Watch
01:08PM EDT - Apple Pay launches on Monday
01:07PM EDT - Well supported; have lined up even more banks and retailers
01:06PM EDT - Up next: Apple Pay
01:06PM EDT - "Biggest iPhone launch ever"
01:06PM EDT - Launching today: China
01:05PM EDT - Greatest first month iPhone sales ever
01:04PM EDT - Tim is recaping the launch of the iPhone 6, the critical response, and the high sales volume
01:03PM EDT - And right on cue
01:03PM EDT - Tim Cook has been spotted walking in and is expected to speak
01:02PM EDT - Preview video to warm up the crowd
01:01PM EDT - Here we go
01:01PM EDT - For the iMac, HiDPI panels are a good bet, as those are now regularly available in stand-alone displays
01:00PM EDT - For the iPad Apple of course has their new A8 SoC
12:59PM EDT - We're expecting news on the iPad and iMac, especially in light of Apple's own accidental manual release yesterday
12:59PM EDT - The presentation should kick off in a few minutes
12:58PM EDT - We're here at Apple's October 2014 event
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caleblloyd - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Glad to see you guys made it to this one! This way we can get reliable information if Apple has as many streaming issues as they did last month. It'd be nice if you'd announce the live blog a couple days before on the pipeline.doggghouse - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Wonder what's new on the iPad... guessing it'll be another very small iteration (new processor, new OS, new number after it).caleblloyd - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
I can't wait to see the A8X (or whatever they end up calling it) go head-to-head with the Tegra K1 Denver on the Nexus 9FATCamaro - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
At this stage, It is about the software. Apple has had class leading CPUs or GPUs (sometimes both!) for a long time now.caleblloyd - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Tegra K1 Denver has binary translation + code optimization/morphing. It's brand new microarchitecture, not just another revision of the same uarch like A8 is of A7.kron123456789 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
But there is still one question: how much RAM iPad Air 2 has? 1GB or 2GB?WinterCharm - Friday, October 17, 2014 - link
2GB. Leaks confirmed this.Midwayman - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
The trouble the nexus 9 will have is finding anything that really takes advantage of the massive GPU. At least you can count on people writing stuff to the new ipad specs.KoolAidMan1 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
This has always been the issue. Developers actually use the specs of iOS tablets for apps and games. Its much harder to find the same on Android tablets, and what little is there is almost always a port.The Tegra K1 is very good but the platform is still waiting on games that iOS has had for months or years.
edsib1 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Who plays games on a tablet anyway? - to play proper games u need a controller - touch screen is not repsonsive enough or is awkward to use.Something like a 3DS or a Vita is much better.