The much anticipated spring keynote took place on March 21st just a few days before Apple’s 40th birthday. The day also marks an incredible milestone of 1 billion Apple devices in use around the world. As Apple products are so embedded in our daily lives, there was much anticipation regarding the announcement of new products. The event focused on two parts, with one focusing on two new initiatives and the other on the products. Tim Cook also addressed the circulating rumors regarding the privacy. He resolved that data protection is the top priority and all the rumors have no substance.

Two new initiatives of Apple were much talked about at the event. Environment preservation is one of Apple’s new projects based on innovation to change the world for the better. Use of renewable energy and energy efficiency goal was set to be 100% and now 93% of the Apple offices/facilities run on renewable energy. All operations in US and offices and stores run on renewable energy. Solar farm in China is also providing energy to the nearby population and the plant. Singapore has solar panels on 800 rooftops and all operations function completely on renewable energy. In other words we should feel good whenever we send an iMessage or make Facetime call; we are not impacting the environment negatively. Forest protection project is also taken to conserve the environment; 99% of the paper used for packaging comes from recycling and not by cutting forests. Apple is also paying for forest preservation of millions of acres in North Carolina and China. The second project is regarding Reuse and Recycling. Apple is designing the products to last longer and then get back the products through upgrades and trade up programs. Apple recycles the products by the coolest R& D project called LIAM. LIAM is a robot that deconstructs the iPhone components and gets out all the parts and materials like lithium copper etc. that can be reused rather dumping them, because the world has limited resources.

Diabetes App By Apple - GlucoSuccess

Research kit introduced last year is doing wonders in the medical research field. Parkinson’s study became the largest study in the history of research. Asthma app discovered that asthma can get triggered in all 50 states, which was not known before. Researchers are getting insight that wasn’t possible before. Mass general Study by app called GlucoSuccess discovered that people with both type I and type II diabetes respond differently to the therapies than the others meaning there might be sub types of diabetes. Now, research studies have been launched by several research institutions regarding numerous diseases. The research kit app helped to detect autism as early as 18 months which was only possible before at the age of 5. That’s a remarkable achievement. Apple watch app for seizure record the physiological data during and before the attack. The data will be used to predict a seizure in advance. The new care kit was launched to compliment the research kit. It will empower people to record data about various health measures just to know whether the medication is working or not. It will help change the dose or the medicine used for the cure. The first app was launched for the Parkinson’s disease. Post-surgical care can make use of the care kit modules and your phone will guide you how to get through with the recovery phase and share your recovery with loved ones and physicians.

Apple Watch

Let’s now talk about the products and upgrades that was the highlight of the event. iPhone has a new member. There are a few upgrades for the Apple Watch and the iPad family has a new member too. Apple Watch was the top selling smartwatch across globe last year. It got an upgrade in the bands for different purpose and occasions. Brand new woven nylon bands in different vibrant colors were launched. All other material bands were also introduced in different colors including both sport and leather bands and there is a new space black Milanese loop to go with the bestseller space grey watch. To get more and more buy in for the Apple Watch, prices were reduced by fifty bucks. Apple TV sales grew tremendously after the last keynote. The apps have been increased to five thousand with amazing content apps. Whether its sports or seasons they are just an app away with no commercials.  The free update of TvOs contains Siri’s capability to respond to passwords and search for the best apps that you are looking for. It can also now sync your entire music and photo library with the big screen.

iPhone, the most loved phone around the world has an addition to the family which was much anticipated. According to the expectations the new four inch iPhone is named iPhone SE. there were rumors about that the new four inch iPhone would look like the bigger iPhone 6 and 6s with a smaller body. But against the expectations it’s just the same as iPhone5s with better hardware comparable to iPhone 6s. Last year Apple sold about 30 million small four inch iPhones which forced them to upgrade the smaller version. Huge sales proved that there are customers who don’t like giant phones. The other reason for the huge sales was the people switching for the first time to iPhone, wanting to start with the cheapest iPhone available.  So the iPhone SE has got the same aluminum construction we are aware of with the addition of new rose gold color. The internals have been upgraded with A9 chip of iPhone 6s, live photos with long press, 12mp camera, 4k video recording, and retina flash with front facing camera and Apple pay (NFC) built in. The only thing that sets it apart from iPhone 6s is the 3D touch. The price for this amazing device has been reduced to just four hundred bucks. iOS 9.3 was also rolled out with a lot of interesting improvements. The new innovations include the night shift which I absolutely love. Research shows that looking at colors at the warmer end of spectrum at night help you sleep better. So the night shift changes the color of your iPhone display to help you sleep better and trust my word it works. Notes, one of the most used app everyday now has an added protection of passcode and fingerprint. Health app has got suggestions of the accompany apps that can feed in the data to the health app. Car play has now got the support of all the major car manufactures with the commitment of integration with their car system. 

iPad is the future of personal computing. iPad Pro of last year has been a great replacement to the personal computers for many. The huge 12.9 inch iPad with the apple pencil introduced last fall did remarkable business. The iPad family has a new member now, a 9.7 inch iPad Pro. The size is the same as the previous models, iPad Air and iPad Air 2. This iPad would be an attraction to all those people who didn’t switch to iPad pro because of its huge size. This would also be a possible upgrade for window users. 600 million PCs today are over five years old, these people can benefit from iPad pro. This lightest iPad is 25% brighter with best color saturation. The audio system got an upgrade with four speakers on all sides. The device also has Apple pencil which is the most remarkable drawing tool till date that can sense pressure as well as tilt angles. It’s packed with powerful 12mp insight camera with live photo and 4k video capability.

Apple Keynote evening

The event came with a lot of good news for the Apple customers. The new product lineups look promising and for first time ever, Apple has priced the products exceptionally well, which in my assessment will attract a lot of customers. Apple’s software now actually looks like an amazing operating system with good penetration. 80% of the Apple devices are running on iOS 9 or higher which is great as compared to 2% for latest Android Marshmallow. iPhone SE has the same wonderful design, great processing capabilities and affordable price will make it one of the best phones this summer.