On Tuesday, September 12th, Apple held their first product event in the new Steve Jobs Theater. Like many had been anticipating since last year's launch, they announced the new iPhone 8 and 8+ - the successors to the iPhone 7 and 7+ respectively. Also announced was the new Apple TV 4k and Apple Watch Series 3.
The biggest and most hyped announcement was the long-rumored, massively leaked iPhone X (ten). There are countless sites and blogs with an overview of the new phone and other products, and while they're certainly exciting, I feel as if there are plenty of other announcements that flew under the radar.
Hidden in the shadow of the new, expensive, premium iPhone X (ten), here are some other big takeaways from Apple's most recent announcement.
Fast Charge
One big feature of the three new phones is the ability to finally charge your phone wirelessly through inductive charging using the Qi standard. This means that instead of plugging in your phone to juice it up, you simply rest it on a pad connected to power and the phone will charge that way.
This is a big feature that has been popular on Android phones for a while now, so it's nice to see Apple adopting the technology in their new phones.
Along with this they announced that their new phones will be Fast Charge capable, but didn't delve into the specifics. Android phones capable of Fast Charge typically can reach 50% within 15-30 minutes of charging, but since Apple didn't specify the speed or the tech they're utilizing, we'll have to wait and see just how fast it is.
Apple TV 4k
A long time coming, the new Apple TV is 4k capable and supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. For lower-end 4k tv's, this won't mean anything. Many mid-to-high range 4k tv's offer some sort of HDR capability for enhanced picture quality and clarity, and the Apple TV 4k will support this natively.
However, one big thing that Apple announced with this new product is that 4k movies on the iTunes store will cost the same as their standard HD counterparts, instead of being more expensive.
Not only that, but they're also going to automatically upgrade your previous purchases from standard HD to 4k at no cost, which is a big win here for 4k streaming and 4k content in general.
Airpods Wireless Charging
Apple's wireless headphones, the Airpods, have been fairly popular with consumers. The pods themselves offer 5 hours of use, with an extra 24 hours of charging in their included charging/carrying case.
Apple announced at their event that a new wireless charging version of the aforementioned case is in production and will be available later. So now you can recharge the case the same way you can charge the new phones. Not a bad feature, and hopefully that case will be available soon.
So there you have it. Some announcements from Apple that you may have missed. Full details and the entire keynote address can be found at apple.com