Every Apple event is always preceded by intense speculation on what the company is about to release.

For this year’s event, the Internet rumour mill ground into overtime with a number of obvious and not-so-obvious predictions.

These ranged from the inevitable iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices to a new Apple TV and and a larger screen tablet called the iPad Pro.

Also, there were a few sure things which had already been announced, namely iOS 9, watchOS 2 and the next Mac OS X El Capitan.

So now that the event is over and all has been revealed, what did we get?

Same design, new stuff: While the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus share the same design as the iPhone 6, there are a lot of changes under the hood.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
Based on past experience, the iPhone model following a major new redesign differed little in looks, but got a speed bump and some hardware tweaks.

So after the iPhone 3G you got the iPhone 3GS, after the iPhone 4 you got the iPhone 4S and after the iPhone 5 was the iPhone 5S.

For the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the Internet predicted that it will have the same design, but will be slightly thicker (to prevent any more “bendgate” incidents) and, most interesting of all, feature a new Force Touch capable screen.

So what did we get?

The Apple event indeed revealed the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus – while they look the same as the current models, CEO Tim Cook says they are very different on the inside.

Chief amongst these changes is the 3D Touch feature (looks like that’s what Apple is calling Force Touch now) and while we expected it, Apple’s implementation will completely change how you interact with iOS.

Using the same feature first seen in the Apple Watch, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus take the whole “press harder” idea to a whole new level by adding new functions.

At its most basic, you can press down an app and bring up a context menu that shows your most-used actions relating to that app.

However, what 3D Touch really enables is a right-click paradigm in iOS – press harder in your summary of email messages and you’ll get to peek at the entire email, while pressing harder you’ll open the email proper.

See a link in iMessages? 3D Touch on it and you can pop-up a quick browser window to see the webpage – lift your finger to go back to your message.

In fact, instead of double-clicking on the Home button to bring up the multitasking menu, on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus you can do this by pressing down harder while in an app and swiping to switch between open apps.

On the hardware front, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus share the same resolution as before, but internally, many of the hardware features have been upgraded.

The processor is, as expected, a new A9 processor with an M9 motion co-processor, while the Touch ID sensor is now claimed to be even faster than before.

What’s an iPhone without a class-leading camera? The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus don’t disappoint – both come with an upgraded 12-megapixel image sensor which Apple claims not only captures more detail than before, but does this without compromising on detail and colour accuracy.

Apple is also introducing a feature called Live Photos with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus which captures a short video clip before and after your still photo so you can see your photos in motion when you press down on a photo.

Yes, we’ve seen this feature in another smartphone before.

More importantly, the new sensor also allows for 4K video recording and according to Apple’s Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus can edit 4K video directly in iMovie on the device itself.

The front-facing camera has also been upgraded to a 5-megapixel FaceTime camera and taking a trick from an old iMac, the LCD screen can be used as a makeshift flash to help illuminate your face when taking a selfie.

Oh yes, the rumours were also correct in that both new models are built on a stronger 7000 series aircraft grade aluminium alloy and cover glass.

While no local prices have been announced, a quick check on the US Apple Store reveals that the contract-free iPhone 6s will go for US$649 (RM2,800) for the 16GB version, US$749 (RM3,200) for 64GB and US$849 (RM3,650) for 128GB.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 6s Plus is priced at US$749 (RM3,200) for 16GB, US$849 (RM3,650) for 64GB and US$949 (RM4,100) for 128GB.

The US pricing is actually the same as before, but at our current exchange rate, the devices are going to be quite hard on the wallet unless Apple decides to charge a bit lower locally.

The new iPhones are slated for launch in the United States and some countries on Sept 12, while countries like Hong Kong and Singapore will get them by Sept 25.

As usual, Malaysia is not specifically listed in any of those launch dates, and we will probably have to wait till the end of the year before we can purchase one.

More TV: The redesigned Apple TV is bigger but offers more storage, an App Store and a new remote control. It ships in late October in the United States.

Revamped Apple TV
Having been left alone and unloved since the last update in 2013, the Apple TV was rumoured for a big update at this Sept 9 event.

Most of the rumours seem to agree that the new Apple TV would be larger, feature a touch-based remote control and a host of new services including an App Store, TV streaming service, Siri integration and more on-board storage than the meagre 1GB on current models.

However, the most exciting rumour was that the App Store would support games that could be played on the TV with a wireless controller.

Indeed, as it turns out, all the rumours were right and a new Apple TV was announced with more powerful hardware and an App Store.

It is physically larger than its predecessor but that’s because it’s sporting new powerful hardware and a lot of cool features.

For one thing, the remote is now touch- and Siri-enabled so you can swipe across the surface of the remote to access the menu options.

The real magic is in Siri – you can specifically ask for particular shows or genres as you’d expect but what makes it powerful is that you can ask specific questions like, “Show me the Modern Family episode with Edward Norton” and get Siri to find it for you.

Even more interesting is that if you missed a bit of conversation in the show, you can ask Siri something like, “What did she say?” and Siri will rewind the show back 15-seconds and temporarily turn on captions to help you catch what you missed.

Of course, with the appearance of the App Store, the new Apple TV can install not just entertainment apps but also games while the remote can be used as the game controller.

Music gaming company Harmonix, showed a very cool music-themed game called Beat Sports which takes advantage of the motion sensor in the Apple TV remote to offer gameplay similar to the Nintendo Wii games of yesteryear.

Also, games can be started on the iPhone or iPad and continued seamlessly on the Apple TV later.

Instead of simply being “based on iOS”, Apple is calling the iOS-based operating system on the Apple TV the tvOS.

The Apple TV is slated to be available in October in 80 countries.

There will be two versions – a 32GB version for US$149 (RM650) and 64GB for US$199 (RM850).

Bigger is better: The iPad Pro’s 12.9in screen and more powerful processor allows for easy typing and a more notebook-like experience

iPad goes Pro
The iPad Pro rumour has been floating around for a while now and many agree that Apple has indeed been working on a tablet with a screen of 12in or 13in in size.

Apart from the screen size, the ability to run apps side-by-side and a rumoured stylus, however, very little information was leaked about this new device.

So did we get the iPad Pro? Yes, indeed, and it even has a stylus!

The iPad Pro comes with a 12.9in oxide TFT LCD screen with a 2,732 x 2,048-pixel screen – that’s  a whopping 5.6 megapixels with a pixels-per-inch density of 264 for anyone who’s counting!

The device runs on the new A9X processor which Apple’s Phil Schiller claims is 1.8x faster than the A8X processor it replaces with double the performance when it comes to graphics.

Schiller also showed off how the iPad Pro is actually powerful enough to edit three streams of 4K video simultaneously – that’s impressive considering that many PCs today still struggle with editing 4K video.

For the first time, the iPad Pro comes with a four-speaker system which automatically changes the stereo left and right channels depending on the orientation.

Apparently, all four speakers are used to subtly enhance the stereo soundstaging as well.

The iPad Pro also comes with a new magnetic connector which connects to an optional Smart Cover, a magnetic cover with an integrated keyboard – yes, we’ve seen a similar accessory for Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet already.

Lightning charge: The back of the Apple Pencil pops open to reveal a Lightning connector which can be plugged right into an iPad Pro to charge the stylus

Finally, there’s the Apple Pencil – again, it’s similar to powered styli we’ve seen with other tablets and it recognises pressure as well.

What’s interesting, however, is how the Apple Pencil charges – the back of the stylus pops off to reveal a Lightning connector which plugs directly into the bottom of the iPad Pro to charge.

A number of apps compatible with the Apple Pencil were shown off, including one from Adobe called Photoshop Fix.

The iPad Pro starts at US$799 (RM3,450) for a 32GB WiFi-only version, US$949 (RM4,100) for a 128GB WiFi version and finally, a 128GB WiFi plus cellular version which will set you back US$1079 (RM4,650).

The iPad Pro ships in November in the United States, but there is no information yet on when it will be available here.

New storage plans:Apple also announced upgraded iCloud storage plans

Conclusion
Well, there’s a lot more of “me-too” in this launch, with Apple adding many features to its devices which we’ve seen before in other rival models.

However, the 3D Touch features integrated into the new iPhones promise to be quite revolutionary. We can see many of these features actually being truly useful on a day-to-day basis.

The iPad Pro is an interesting device – again it’s sort of playing catch up to other large tablets out there, most notably the Microsoft Surface 3 Pro with its Type Keyboard and stylus, but it does take the iPad line into a new place.

Source: The Star Online