A brand new iPad Air. MacBook Pros packing Haswell processors. A price and release date for the Mac Pro. New Retina iPad Minis and a whole lot of free software, including OS X Mavericks! This was one hell of an announcement rollercoaster. See how it all unfolded.
This event plays out chronologically as you scroll. To make browsing easier, we have added sub-headings so you can jump to the news you want. Enjoy!
The Headlines
New 2013 iPad Mini: Everything You Need To Know
iPad Air: Everything You Need To Know About Apple’s Svelte New Tablet
It’s Easier To Make Like A Pro With The New iLife And iWork
New 2013 MacBook Pro Gets Significant Spec Bump
Mac OS X Mavericks Is Here Today, And It’s Free!
Pre-Game
3pm, 22 October 2013
Hey there, readers! We’re firing on all our live blog cylinders today.
3:25
We’ve heard rumours for weeks that indicate this event will focus primarily on the iPad. We’re likely to see a new iPad Mini, as well as an update the regular-sized iPad. It’s likely that the two will sport the new iPhone 5s redesign and colours, and maybe we’ll even see a goldpagne iPad?
3:27
Apple will also take a bit of time out before the official iPad announcements to talk about the new version of OS X, named Mavericks. We’ll likely see the new software get a release date and price tomorrow morning. We’ll be able to share more if and when it happens.
3:29
The invite to Apple’s press events always hold a few clues, too. This time the invite cryptically reads “We’ve got a lot more to cover”. Might Apple be following Microsoft’s lead for a change and invent a decent keyboard cover for its iPads?
3:30
What do you want to see out of the event?
3:50am, 23 October
We’re all settled in for this event now!
3:53
Apple is actually live streaming this event to Safari and Apple TV users. Check out this post for a pointer on how to get it started.
3:57
Just got the ‘switch off your phones’ warning. It’s starting soon!
4:01
Here we go!
4:02
We kick off with that cute video on Apple’s design philosophy.
4:03
Enter Tim Cook.
Market Updates
4:04
As usual, Tim is starting with some updates. iPhone update time.
4:05
We’re going over a few review quotes.
4:06
9 million iPhones were sold in just one launch weekend. Goodness!
4:08
We’re watching a video of the latest iPhone launch. Lots of cheering and whooping, as you’d expect.
4:08
Moving on to iOS 7 reviews. 200 million customers activated the new software in the first week.
4:10
Onto The App Store. People have downloaded 60 Billion apps so far! Holy crap.
4:11
And now onto Mac. Will we get a Mavericks update?
4:12
“Our competition is confused. They chased after netbooks and tried to make PCs into tablets and tablets into PCs. What will they do next?” Tim jibes.
New logo for Apple Maps?
OS X Mavericks
4:12
New Mac products will be announced this morning! Craig Federighi of the OS X division is on, talking about Mavericks.
4:13
Craig promises that just by installing Mavericks, the new 13-inch MacBook Air will get 1 hour longer battery for web browsing, and 1.5 hours longer iTunes video watching.
We’re moving onto Compressed Memory: a feature that will immediately compress existing apps to fit 6GB equivalent RAM into just 4GB of hardware.
Apple also wants to fix integrated graphics. Apple dynamically changes the amount of integrated memory going to video tasks for more efficient computing, while packing in OpenCL support.
4:16
I can’t wait for better Multiple Display support from Apple.
4:17
iBooks and iBooks textbooks are coming to the Mac, as is Maps, complete with flyover support.
4:17
We’re getting a demo of Mavericks on an iMac now.
4:23
Demo over. It’s pretty much what we saw at WWDC. I’m getting deja vu…
Tell them the price, son!
4:24
OS X Mavericks is FREE! Take that, Microsoft.
Even if you’re back on Snow Leopard, Apple will give you Mavericks for free. Compatibility goes right back to the 2009 Mac Mini and even the 2007 iMac!
4:25
Mavericks is free, and it’s here today!
New Intel Haswell MacBook Pros
4:36
Phil Schiller is up to talk us through MacBooks.
4:27
The MacBook Pro is getting an update today.
4:27
First, the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
It’s even lighter now at 1.56kg, and even thinner at .71 inches thick.
It has 9 hours of battery life, a Haswell processor, and Intel Iris integrated graphics. It’s also packing PCIe-based Flash storage and it has 802.11ac and even the new Thunderbolt 2 port!
The last generation device started at $US1499, this new one starts at $US1299. That’s the 2.4GHz dual-core i5, 4GB memory, Iris graphics and a 128GB storage option. That ships today. Australian prices soon.
4:30
Now onto the new 15-inch.
It’s shipping with a new Haswell quad-core processor, Iris Pro graphics as well as a NVIDIA GT750M 2GB option available as well.
It was $US2199, it’s now $US1999. 2.0GHz quad-core i7, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage.
Mac Pro
4:32
And onto the mind-blowing Mac Pro!
4:33
Here come some specs.
A new Intel Xeon E5, quad, 6, 8 or 12-core options, up to 64GB of super-fast RAM and AMD FirePro dual-workstation graphics. Up to 12GB of GDDR5 VRAM and up to 7 teraflops of computing power. Holy crap.
The new storage options are flash based, with up to 1TB of flash storage to be supported. That’s going to be pricey.
It also packs Thunderbolt 2 and the ability to drive up to three 4K displays.
4:36
This thing really is a weaponised machine…
4:37
Dean Devlin, director of Independence Day, has been hands on already. What, no Pixar?
4:37
The new Mac Pro ships in December, and it costs $US2999! Thats the 3.7GHz quad core Xeon model, 12GB of DRAM, dual FirePro D300, 2GB of VRAM each and a 256GB SSD. That’s actually pretty competitive.
4:39
Apple doing the call-out once again that this thing is built in the US.
4:42
Watching a video about the new iMac being assembled in the US. Ends with a super-cool shot of the laser engraving process. Hot.
iLife/iWork
4:43
Eddy Cue is up talking about new versions of iLife. 64-bit, all geared up for Mavericks.
4:46
We’re now going into the new, advanced GarageBand.
4:47
Oh man. Eddy Cue just “accidentally” announced that the iPad is now 64-bit while talking about app compatibility.
4:49
There’s a new virtual drummer that reads your track and plays along with it. All these drummers are based on the “best session drummers” in the business, and you can purchase more as you go. That feature was originally introduced in Logic X.
And of course, iLife is FREE with any new Mac or iOS device, available today.
4:50
Onto new iWork updates.
4:51
There’s that “64-bit” hint again. Just tell us, Eddy!
4:53
Two things you’ll notice about this presentation: lots of untucked shirts, a few too many stumbles in the talk. Let’s keep reading those notes, cool kids.
4:54
So we’re an hour into this iPad event, and no iPad yet. Don’t worry though, folks: iWork is suuuuper cool.
4:55
Collaborative editing is now working on iCloud. Direct shot at Google Apps.
4:47
All of the iLife apps are available for Free with the purchase of Mac and iOS devices from Today. Throws some shade onto the $99 per year subscription cost of Office 365. Really pulling no punches against Microsoft today.
4:58
Tim Cook is back up.
4:59
“We are turning the industry on its ear” with the announcement of free stuff, says Tim.
iPad Air
4:59
iPad time!
5:00
170 million iPads have been sold. That’s quite a few.
5:01
iPad now has 81 per cent of the tablet market share according to Apple. That’s no laughing matter.
5:02
And now, a video on iPads. Looks like lots of people use them to do lots of different stuff. Farmers, engineers, skaters.
5:05
They’re going to tease and tease and tease today. They must be feeling pleased with themselves this year.
— Seamus Byrne (@seamus) October 22, 2013
Seamus isn’t wrong.
5:06
Next-generation of iPad, set to be introduced by Phil Schiller.
5:07
“Thinner, lighter, more powerful than ever before. So much so it deserves a new name. We call it, iPad Air.”
This thing has a smaller bezel, lighter construction and a big 9.7-inch Retina display.
The A7 chip is in there too.
This thing weighs just 453 grams.
5:11
Cheeky little Gizmodo mention in there. Is the Cold War finally thawed?
5:11
Multiple Wi-Fi antennas in the new MIMO technology (first time in an iPad), and it also comes in at $US499 for the Wi-Fi model and $US629 with Cellular + Wi-Fi.
Australia is a launch market too! We get it on November 1.
5:13
Jony Ive is on!
5:16
Worth noting that Apple will still keep the iPad 2 on sale. Also, there’s no gold iPad. Sad face.
iPad Mini
5:17
iPad Mini time!
5:17
Retina iPad Mini, complete with the Apple A7 chip. That’s rad.
It’s pretty much the iPad Air with a smaller form factor. That’s what it should have been.
The original iPad Mini gets a price drop to $US299, while the new model starts at $399. Available in November.
There are also new cases. Check these out.
5:21
Tim giving us a recap now.
5:22
New ad goes up, narrated by what sounds like Bryan Cranston.
5:24
And that’s all she wrote!
Free software, new MacBooks, new Mac Pro, new iPad Air, new iPad Mini. That’s one hell of a list!
Thanks for joining us today!
What did you think of the announcements?
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