During yesterday morning’s special press event, Apple introduced a host of new products, along with some restructuring and repricing in their product lines (you can now get a new iPad for a little as $250, and a new Mac mini starts at just $500). Here are the highlights, along with availability information (as best we can determine—we will update this post as details emerge):
iPad Air 2: The big splash was made by the debut of the iPad Air 2, a crazy-thin (just 6mm) iteration of its flagship full-sized tablet. It’s not only thinner, but faster, too. And you can now add a third color choice to the current Space Gray and Silver: Gold. The new color choice, along with the addition of TouchID, brings the iPad Air 2 in line with Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Prices start at $499.99. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly two weeks. Find out more.
iPad Air: Yep, it’s sticking around—but it’ll cost you substantially less. Prices now start at $399.99. Available almost immediately. Find out more.
iPad mini 3: Similar specs to the original iPad mini 2, but now adds TouchID and the new Gold color choice. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly two weeks. Find out more.
iPad mini 2 and iPad mini: Now cost much less than before. The Wi-Fi 16GB iPad mini, for example, now sells for $249.99—the lowest price ever offered for a new iPad. Available almost immediately. Find out more.
iMac 27-inch with Retina 5K Display: The “5K” stands for “5000”—as in 5000+ pixels. The new flagship iMac boasts more than four times the pixels of its 27-inch brethren. That’s impressive enough, but the fact that it will sell for $2499.99—that’s just nuts. Most 4K standalone monitors sell for more than that. Basically, Apple’s throwing in a quad-core Mac with all the bells and whistles for free. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly one week. Find out more.
Mac mini: The littlest Mac got a well-deserved, long-delayed makeover. The entry price point dropped a hundred bucks to $499.99—the lowest price ever for a new Mac. It now comes with two Thunderbolt 2 ports and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly one week. Find out more.
OS X 10.10 Yosemite: The long-awaited major update to the Mac’s operating system looks to be an impressive one, with hundreds of new features and enhancements—and is available for free download immediately.
Overhead shot of mysterious “white box” Apple built at the Flint Center, Cupertino. (Photo credit Fortune.com)
In a departure from recent events, Apple will be streaming this morning’s big news live from the Flint Center in Cupertino, beginning at 10am PT / 1pm ET. (NOTE: Live stream requires Apple’s Safari browser. Also available on the Apple Events channel on Apple TV.) Apple is rumored to be introducing a new iPhone (or two?), and possibly a companion wearable device many sites are referring to as the iWatch. But truth be told, outside of Apple’s inner circle, no one knows for sure what will happen. Even though Connecting Point is an Apple Specialist, and has a relationship with Apple stretching back over three decades, we’re as in the dark as everyone else about the true nature of this event.
A number of leading tech and news sites will be live blogging this event:
Today, Apple released a beta version of the next version of its Mac operating system, OS X Yosemite. Yosemite was announced and previewed at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June; the official release is slated for sometime this fall.
Participating in Apple’s OS X Beta Program — which is distinct from the Beta Seed Program for Mavericks — is free, but there may be non-monetary costs, such as time or data lost due to crashed applications. Apple warns the OS X Yosemite Beta “may contain errors or inaccuracies and may not function as well as commercially released software.”
Another cost comes in the form of silence: Apple considers its beta software confidential and forbids beta testers from posting screenshots or discussing the software publicly. By agreeing to Apple’s Beta Program terms, testers promise to take reasonable steps to keep Apple’s software confidential, such as shielding the screen of a Mac running OS X Yosemite from onlookers.
If, after all that, you’re still interested in participating in the development of the next generation of Mac operating systems, you can sign up for the public beta here.
Today, Apple announced a new entry-level iMac priced at $1099 – $200 less than the previous entry-level model (which, like all the other iMac® models, remains current). It retains many features identical to its two 21.5-inch brethren:
21.5-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology, 1920×1080 pixels
8GB DDR3 memory (not expandable)
FaceTime HD camera
Built-in downward-firing stereo speakers
Dual microphones
Headphone/optical digital output
Four USB 3.0 ports; Two Thunderbolt ports; SDXC card slot
Gigabit Ethernet; 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0
Apple Wireless Keyboard and wireless Magic Mouse
OS X Mavericks operating system
So what’s different? A few key changes have been made to reduce the cost:
1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz. Contrast this with the substantially faster (2.7GHz and 2.9GHz) quad-core processors in the other two models. The L3 cache is smaller, too, and shared by the two processor cores.
500GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive, in place of the 1 TB hard drives in the other models.
Intel HD Graphics 5000, in lieu of Intel Iris Pro graphics in the $1299 model, and the 1GB NVIDIA GT 750M graphics in the $1499 model.
To better see how the new model fits in with the other 21-5-inch models, click here.
AVAILABILITY: We’ll be accepting orders for this new iMac model immediately. Fulfillment will depend on initial supplies and demand, which could push delivery to as much as two weeks away.
Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Verizon is working with Makers.com and the Verizon Foundation to #InspireHerMind and encourage more girls to get involved with high-tech STEM fields.
“Our words can have a huge impact. Isn’t it time we told her she’s pretty brilliant, too? Encourage her love of science and technology and inspire her to change the world.” – Reshma Saujari, Founder of Girls Who Code
iPad Air 2: The big splash was made by the debut of the iPad Air 2, a crazy-thin (just 6mm) iteration of its flagship full-sized tablet. It’s not only thinner, but faster, too. And you can now add a third color choice to the current Space Gray and Silver: Gold. The new color choice, along with the addition of TouchID, brings the iPad Air 2 in line with Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Prices start at $499.99. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly two weeks. Find out more.
iMac 27-inch with Retina 5K Display: The “5K” stands for “5000”—as in 5000+ pixels. The new flagship iMac boasts more than four times the pixels of its 27-inch brethren. That’s impressive enough, but the fact that it will sell for $2499.99—that’s just nuts. Most 4K standalone monitors sell for more than that. Basically, Apple’s throwing in a quad-core Mac with all the bells and whistles for free. Available for pre-order immediately; we expect to begin filling orders in roughly one week. Find out more.
