After an effective introductory movie, the boring Tim entered the stage and told us how amazing is Apple and its iPhone. Again. In the same words as every year. However …
The phone. iPhone
When Apple announced the iPhone X in 2017 it was something fresh. New look, new interactions, and even new naming – the all-new iPhone, best they have ever created. They told us then it is the future of its kind and this year brings us not a successor… but three more of them. Three iPhone X clones with really confusing naming, like the “extra small” iPhone XS. The “X” allowed for naming changes but unfortunately, no one has taken this opportunity. Maybe next year will bring us some new names?
From a developer’s perspective, there are only slight changes. If your app looks good on iPhone X it will be quite the same on the new ones. With one exception, though. iPhone XS Max is a thing that was not present before. It is an iPhone X with a landscape iPad mode. This might be interesting, but also might require some non-trivial changes in the “half iPad” mode.
As every year, we have a better camera, a battery CPU… all the things that are better every year. Apple chips, as always, are very impressive in performance but most applications will never use this power. Those most demanding apps will have iPhone 5s to support, too. The new iOS will be available on 5-year-old devices – great news for owners but not so good for developers. It also looks like FaceID will completely replace TouchID. Good technology into great technology – also already supported by everyone thanks to iPhone X.
If you do not have iPhone X yet, you can choose one of the three new versions (but they did remove the last year’s “X” from stores, didn’t they?). iPhone future has the shape of X, be sure that all your apps support its unusual screen.
The watch
Interesting changes appeared in the Apple Watch. According to Apple, a complete redesign took place. A bigger screen, better digital crown, new chips, etc. With the new watch faces and complications, Apple has found the best of the smartwatch – the ultimate, data-packed dashboard on a wrist. It opens some new interesting opportunities for application designers to provide even better service experiences.
The biggest change, however, is not related to technology itself. New Apple Watch can perform electrocardiograms every moment you want. This is the next huge health monitor improvement after the pulsometer from previous generations. I am looking forward to what will be possible with this small health diagnosis and monitoring tool in the future.
The shame
Wireless charging and the legendary Apple charging mat – not this time! Shame on you Apple: announcing products that you cannot deliver is not a thing we like to see from the company with such a reputation.
Additionally, almost everything leaked months before, was anyone surprised by any of the new releases? Even though nothing spectacularly new or different than things we already use was released, knowing everything before the event is a little disappointing. It looks like the most interesting Apple conference this year so far was WWDC – if you like to know about what is really new to iPhone – go there.
For any consolation, it looks like the next year will be really big for Apple. We have some clues from WWDC. Hope that not everything leaks out before the event!
If you want to watch the Apple Special Event, click here
