So Apple came out guns blazing again yesterday. Sure there were a lot of leaks before the event but still a few surprises. Mostly in the shape of the Apple Pencil, the new iPhone subscription, and what’s up with Apple trying to be the New Nintendo?
First, Cloud.
The 16GB iPhone has always been the entry level/most affordable option. Its the ‘let me try out the iPhone with this little money I have and see if it’s a good choice‘ iPhone. For so long only a few have mastered the art of deleting photos and creating enough room for OTA (over the air) firmware updates. Others will always complain and gripe every time they get a Storage almost full message on their device.
Well, Apple is trying to make life easier for you. With the crashing of the pricing for iCloud storage, you can now get 50GB for only $0.99/mo. That’s about ₦200 right now. I know a lot of people who won’t mind shelling out ₦2,400 a year for all that storage space. It could be a lot bigger obviously, but its way better than having to delete those new live photos you’re about to be obsessed with.
Second, Apple TV.
Now this is interesting. A lot of people out here in Naija with an Apple TV seem to just have it for show. They could almost not use it to its max capacity. That’s about to change.
With the new Apple TV you can have pretty much all games catered to iOS on your TV. Imagine the possibilities.
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| Image courtesy of Apple |
The AppStore already has significantly more titles than what’s on offer on the Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U combined. From simple games like Crossy Bird which was demoed to even more graphic intensive ones like the Asphalt racers we’re used to and other action packed games, there’s a lot on offer.
Even better is sports! MLB was demoed at the event but there was no BPL. At some point, it seem the Premiership could end up on Apple TV. With the dual view feature you can watch Stoke City play against Chelsea while Garry Monk’s Swansea continue to school LVG’s boys on the other half.
Local multiplayer is also making a comeback. What was seemingly being phased out by the current gen’s console makers’ obsession with “everybody has to be online and play against each other” mindset is being – in a weird way – being challenged here by Apple. Be honest, wouldn’t you love to play Split Screen Angry Birds Go with your friends?
3D Touch.
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| Image courtesy of Apple |
I hear a lot of people saying that this will cause a lot of confusion. ‘How many milliseconds do I hold it down for before it does what?‘. No, it shouldn’t be a problem. As a matter of fact, it will be a big miss for Apple if its a problem. The Apple Watch 1.0 was the test bed. It will not be wise to say they’ve perfected it but it will definitely pan out to be a smooth experience that becomes intuitive the more the user interacts with the device.
So, keep calm and 3D Touch already!
iPad Pro,
Don’t even go there. This one doesn’t concern you. Except your company is willing to shell out all that cash to get you a Pro and an accompanying Pencil, leave it.
iPhone Upgrade Program
Don’t bother. You need a valid US personal credit card. Unless you have that, just act like you didn’t hear that part of the announcement.
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| Screen grab from the Apple Website |
In the end, 3D Touch seems to be the only new tech from Apple. Everything else had been done before by a lot of their competition but its just ‘way cooler’ now because well…its Apple. The new upgrade program too is a nice touch. I see a lot of other OEMs trying to imitate and probably not do it as well.