Just finished watching the Apple Keynote and I must say that it is getting a bit boring. It is not because the products are bad. It is just that energy level is not as before or maybe it is just me. Anyway, Apple announced a slew of things in the 1 hour++ keynote but I guess most people just care about new products. So, there you have it. Two new products will arrive on the 31st March 2016 (pre-order from 24th March). They are the iPhone SE and a smaller 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

The Apple Keynote started with Tim Cook talking about the Privacy issue that they have had with the FBI. It seems there is no backing down now from Apple on protecting the privacy of their customers. Next, they talked about renewal energy. Singapore was mentioned. Check out the HDB flats below. There is even an article on Straits Times last year if you missed it. Basically, Apple taps on the renewable energy to power their stores and etc in Singapore.

Apple is also into recycling their stuff. They even have an R&D robot (Liam) that can dismantle used iPhones and place the components into different categories for recycle. I must really give credit for the initiative.

First new product announcement from Apple is accessories for Apple Watch. They have new straps. You can check them out now.

Next, they talked about Apple TV. Siri is now integrated into Apple TV. Yes, you can talk to your TV (or rather Apple TV device) now. The Live Photos and iCloud Photo Library will also be part of Apple TV. And one of the highlights is Folders. You can now have folders on Apple TV. All these features  come as an upgrade on the Apple TV.

Moving on, Apple announced the 4-inch Apple iPhone SE. According to Apple, people still love 4-inch iPhone. The Apple iPhone SE is like an upgrade to the specs and features of iPhone 5s. Not sure what SE stands for here.

Here are some screenshots that explain most of the features of the iPhone SE.

The iPhone SE is using one of Apple latest chipsets, the 64-bit A9 with M9 motion coprocessor.

Here is the CPU performance. It is on par with iPhone 6s and 2x faster than iPhone 5s.

Here is the GPU performance – 3X better than iPhone 5s.

Here is the battery performance for various usages.

Specifications of the rear camera.

Faster Data with LTE at 150 Mbps.

Wireless AC is now the new norm.

Here is a summary of the features of the Apple iPhone SE

It will be available for pre-order from 24th March and available from 31st March 2016 in some countries. Singapore is one of them.

Click Here to Know More about iPhone SE

The next topic that Apple touched on is CarPlay. Now, more automobile companies are supporting CarPlay. Click Here to find out more.

Finally, Apple talked about iPad Pro, touting it as a PC replacement (but I seriously don’t think it is even in the same league as a PC). Although the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has been around for a while, I don’t see it as often as iPad mini or the rest of the 9.7-inch iPads.

It is no wonder that they want to come out with a 9.7-inch iPad Pro. I believe the size will be more comfortable to hold and easier to store. Check out the features.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is 40% less reflective. I like this feature.

And as with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the 9.7-inch also sports 4 speakers at each corners.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is powered by the A9X chip integrated with M9 coprocessor.

Check out some of the accessories for the 9.7″ iPad Pro. It has a matching keyboard.

Here are some peripherals that can be plugged into the iPad Pro.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has 12 MPX rear camera with True Tone Flash.

It also has a 5 MPX front facing camera.

Seems like the Rose Gold is popular with many device makers. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro comes with 4 colors to choose.

Here is a summary of the features of Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro

Love that Apple has bumped up the storage capacity of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro to 256GB.

So, here is a family portrait of the current Apple iPad series.

The Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro will be available from 31st March 2016 and pre-order starts from 24th March 2016.

Click Here to Check Out Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro

That is it for the Apple Keynote today. I believe I covered most of the topics. There is one more thing that Apple is proud to announce – the True Tone Display. It uses 4-channel ambient light sensors to automatically adapt the color and intensity of the display to match the light in the environment so that reading on the iPad Pro is more comfortable.

If you are still not bored, you can watch the keynote now.

Click Here to Watch the Apple Keynote

Here is the Singapore Press Release for iPhone SE.

Press Release

Apple Introduces iPhone SE — The Most Powerful Phone with a Four-inch Display

Featuring A9 Chip & Advanced 12-Megapixel iSight Camera

CUPERTINO, California — March 21, 2016 — Apple® today introduced iPhone® SE, the most powerful phone with a four-inch display, in a beloved compact aluminium design that has been updated with matte-chamfered edges, a colour-matched stainless steel Apple logo, and four gorgeous metallic finishes, including rose gold. iPhone SE offers exceptional performance with the same 64-bit A9 chip offered in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus for blazing fast speeds, longer battery life, faster wireless, a 12-megapixel iSight® camera featuring Live Photos™ and 4K video.

“iPhone SE is an exciting new idea — we started with a beloved, iconic design and reinvented it from the inside out. The result is the most beautiful and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone SE is packed with a stunning four-inch Retina display, advanced 64-bit A9 chip with M9 motion co-processor, longer battery life, 12-megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash, Live Photos, 4K video, faster LTE and Wi-Fi. Everyone who wants a smaller phone is going to love iPhone SE.”

The Most Powerful Phone with a Four-inch Display
iPhone SE takes a beloved iPhone design and reinvents it from the inside out, giving customers a powerful, full-featured iPhone no matter which model they choose. The 64-bit A9 chip, introduced in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, offers iPhone SE customers two times faster CPU and three times faster GPU performance compared to iPhone 5s, all with gains in energy efficiency for improved battery life. M9, Apple’s next-generation motion coprocessor, is integrated into A9 allowing more features to run all the time at lower power, including “Hey Siri” without having to pick up your iPhone, and a range of fitness tracking capabilities like measuring your steps and distance. iPhone SE users can browse, download and stream content even faster with Wi-Fi up to three times and LTE up to 50 percent faster than iPhone 5s.* iPhone SE also includes more LTE bands for better worldwide roaming and supports Voice over LTE and Wi-Fi calling for high-quality wideband calls.

With an easy-to-use interface, amazing features, and security at its core, iOS 9 is the foundation of iPhone SE and brings powerful built-in apps like Messages, FaceTime®, Photos, Music and Maps to iPhone users. iOS 9 also brings more intelligence to iPhone SE with proactive assistance, powerful search, improved Siri® features, and a new Night Shift™ feature that uses your iPhone SE’s clock and geolocation to automatically adjust the colours in the display to the warmer end of the spectrum after dark and may even help you get a better night’s sleep.

All of these innovations are packed into a light and compact phone designed to fit comfortably in your hand, crafted from bead-blasted aluminium for a satin-like finish, refined matte-chamfered edges, a new colour-matched stainless steel inset Apple logo and a brilliant four-inch Retina® display.

The World’s Most Popular Camera
iPhone SE has an advanced 12-megapixel iSight camera featuring Focus Pixel technology for fast focusing, an Apple-designed image signal processor, advanced noise reduction, third-generation local tone mapping and better face detection, all resulting in sharper, more detailed photos like the ones shot on iPhone 6s. With Live Photos on iPhone SE, customers can go beyond snapshots to capture moments in motion and relive unforgettable memories with sound. Live Photos are beautiful 12-megapixel photos that, with just a touch, reveal the moments immediately before and after the shot was taken, so users can enjoy a living memory rather than an instant frozen in time.

Additional camera advancements include:

• The ability to shoot HD video with support for 4K at a resolution of 3840 x 2160. After capturing 4K video, customers can edit on a Mac®, PC or iPad®, and with the latest version of iMovie® on iPhone, can even edit two simultaneous streams of 4K on iPhone SE.
• Retina Flash, which momentarily makes the display three times brighter with True Tone® lighting technology, for wonderfully bright selfies in low light with the FaceTime HD camera.
• Features introduced with iPhone 6s, including up to 63-megapixel panorama photos, video capture up to 60fps for 1080p video and 240fps for slo-mo, time-lapse with video stabilisation and cinematic video stabilisation.

Pricing & Availability

• iPhone SE will be available in space grey, silver, gold and rose gold metallic finishes in 16GB and 64GB models starting at SRP S$658 from apple.com/sg, Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers.
• Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK, US Virgin Islands and the US will be able to order iPhone SE beginning Thursday, March 24, with availability beginning Thursday, March 31.
• iPhone SE will be available in early April in Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Guernsey, Jersey, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Maldives, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and UAE.
• Apple-designed accessories including leather cases in black and midnight blue will be available for SRP S$58, and Lightning® Docks in colour-matched metallic finishes are currently available from apple.com/sg  for SRP S$68.

* Data plan required. LTE is available in select markets and through select carriers. Speeds vary based on site conditions and carrier. For details on LTE support, contact your carrier and see www.apple.com/iphone/lte.

Apple revolutionised personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Here is the Press Release for Apple 9.7-inch iPad Pro

Press Release

Apple Introduces 9.7-inch iPad Pro

¹Over iPad Air 2.

²Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results may vary.

³Based on theoretical speeds, actual speeds may vary.

⁴Data plan required. LTE is available in select markets and through select carriers. Speeds vary based on site conditions. For details on LTE support, contact your carrier and see www.apple.com/sg/ipad/LTE.

⁵Embedded Apple SIM in iPad Pro (9.7-inch) may be disabled when purchased from some carriers. See your carrier for details. Apple SIM and embedded Apple SIM not available in China.

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