Apple Take-Away

Apple announced new devices today.

First the massive iPad Pro. A 12.9" iPad Pro that starts at $800 (for only 32GB). Definitely not a market for the average user but attempts to compete with the Microsoft Surface. It's hard to believe that iOS will have as good productivity software as Microsoft Windows will (it's not fair comparing a mobile OS to a desktop OS); I think this will be major reason professionals will refrain from getting the iPad Pro. While I don't think the iPad Pro will not suit many users, the Apple Pencil (read: stylus) looks amazing. (It is unfortunate it is only compatible with the iPad Pro and is an extra $99)

Next, the Apple TV with the new tvOS. Just another attempt at TV... I'm not impressed at all. At $150/$200, there really has to be a reason to get the Apple TV; I don't think Apple has given users a reason.

New iPhone 6S with new 3D Touch (read: Terribly named Force Touch). I can see it being very useful as long as developers take advantage. Apple can do this because it controls iOS' devices; finding this in the Android ecosystem would take much longer to catch on. Essentially, the 3D touch adds a third type of click: short click, long click, and force touch. I'm excited to try it out!

More interesting news for users who upgrade annually, Apple is offering a upgrade program:

The Verge did an assessment on the program and it seems to be a great deal as long as you care about insurance.

Of course most of their devices received performance bumps as usual.

In other news (that no one cares about), Amazon stopped selling their Fire Phone.