Rd. Alexander
Apple Inc on Thursday unveiled the world thinnest tablet, the iPad Air 2 which the company claims is just 6.1mm thin.
During its October iPad Event 2014 on Thursday at the Town Hall auditorium at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, Apple also unveiled a series of other products, namely iPad Mini 3, MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini.
The iPad Air 2 has been priced at $499 for 16GB, $599 for 64GB and $699 for 128GB.
iPad Mini has been priced at $399 for 16GB, $499 for 64GB, $599 for 128GB while the MacBook Pro has been priced at $2,499.
The last time the San Francisco-based company unveiled a new iPad was during its event in October 2013 during which it showed off the iPad Air along with Mac Book Pro.
Last month, Apple unveiled two new and larger iPhones, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus during its September Event.
Below is the LIVE coverage of the event as it happened.
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- Okay. The event is being held at the Town Hall auditorium at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, the same place where Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod in October 2001.
- Fourteen years.. and how time passes
- Outside the hall is a quote of Steve Jobs on the wall: "If you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should do do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next."
- Apple's top executives have arrived. Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs is also present in the front row
- Lights dimmed and here we go
- Lots of clap.. Video shows pictures of September 16 event when Apple launch the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
- The company sold 10 million new iPhones during its first week. What an achievement..
- Tim Cook is on stage and is talking about the latest iPhones
- These phones are the best phones we have ever created, he says of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
- It's no wonder that these iPhones have become the fastest selling iPhones in history, he continues
- He informs that the latest iPhones will be launch in China few hours from now and that by the end of the week, it will be in 32 countries across the globe
- Apple has signed with 500 banks for ApplePay, Cook informs
- Apple Pay to begin by Monday. Now, that's a quick move
- Apple to roll our WatchKit next month
- I'm pleased to tell you today we have developed WatchKit where many other developers can join this party. We're rolling out WatchKit next month, Cook says
- Now, Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering overseeing both iOS and Mac OS X, is up on stage
- In just under 4 weeks, 48 percent of iOS users are on iOS 8, Federighi informs
- He takes a jab at Android: After 313 days, KitKat is only on 25 percent of Android devices, he says
- Next is HealthKit and more on apps taking advantage of iOS8
- HealthKit is coming in November
- Now, he is talking about Yosemite, Mac OS, iWork, iCloud
- What makes Yosemite and iOS 8 so special is the way they work together, he says
- The way they work together is something we've been focused on for years now. At the center of that is iCloud, Federighi adds
- With Yosemite and iOS 8, all of our documents with iCloud Drive, photos, everything synced, he adds
- Now, its time for demo :)
- Let's take a look at life in the world of Continuity. Tim Cook sent me a note about doubling down on secrecy at Apple, Federighi says
- He's demonstrating on connecting calls and the likes
- Interesting indeed..
- So, the iWork for OS X and iOS will be available from today (Thursday) itself and its free..
- Tim Cook is back on stage
- I would like to talk about the iPad, he says..
- Now, that is what we have been waiting for.. Isn't it??
- The iPad is a simple and magical device, Cook says adding that tt's always been a unique blend of simplicity and capability.
- Beautiful on the outside since the very first one, it is jam packed with technology on the inside which customers are using it in ways we couldn't image: Cook
- It's transfomring the way we work, the way we learn, the way we play. It's transforming the way we communicate: Cook
- Therefore, it's not surprising that we sold more iPads in the first 4 years than we sold of any product in our history
- Apple has sold 225 million iPads so far..that's a pretty good number.
- It's video time..
- Yes! It's the iPad Air 2 as expected.. as thin as a pencil as compared in the video on the screen..
- This is the new iPad Air 2. It's unbelieveably gorgeous and look at how thin it is. Can you even see it?, Cook asks
- - Indeed, it looks incredible.. It's incredibly thin too.. Can't really see it ;)
- Phil Schiller, Apple's head of marketing, is now on the stage
- iPad Air 2 incredibly thin. It is18 percent thinner than iPad Air.
- I'm so excited to tell you about the incrdible iPad 2. 18 percent thinner than the first iPad Air, which was 20 percent thinner than the iPad before it, he says.
- iPad Air 2 is the world's thinnest tablet: Schiller
- Schiller also informs that the company has created an antireflective coating for this multitouch surface which reduces reflections by 56 percent, a thing never done before.
- This will be the best tablet display you've ever seen and the thinnest tablet, he says.
- Schiller also reveals a whole new generation chip. A8X created specifically for iPad Air 2. Second-gen 64 bit architecture. 3 billion transistors. 40 percent faster CPU. 2.5X faster GPU.
- Now, this is interesting.
- The iPad Air 2 is has 180X faster graphics performance than in the first iPad
- It comes with a new M8 motion coprocessor which tracks motion, calibrates sensors, barometer.
- Now, Schiller is talking about the camera
- The iPad is the best viewfinder for composing your photos, Schiller says.
- The iPad Air 2 comes with a new iSight camera and a full new 8-megapixel camera which takes photos and videos at 1080p HD
-Schiller is showing off some photo examples
- Some interesting new features of iPad Air 2 are: You can take large panoramos, take Burst Mode photos, can do TimeLapse and you can do slo-mo photos - all first time on iPad.
- It also comes with a TouchID which was available on iPhone 5
- Now, that will make photography quite interesting on the new iPad Air 2
-There's a new FaceTime camera on the front side as well. A whole new sensor. Larger aperature lets in 81 percent more light. Can do burst selfies. Can do HDR with a single image
- The iPad Air 2 will be priced starting $499 (16GB), $599 (64GB) and $699 (128GB)
- Now, its iPad Mini 3 as expected
- Has been priced at $399 for 16GB, $499 for 64GB, $599 for 128GB
- Can be preorder from Friday, October 17 and shipment will start from next week.
- Now, it Mac time..
- As iPad continues to evolve and challenge what a computer can be, that challenges us to move those forward at the higher end. Let's talk about what's going on with the Mac. We have the best lineup we've ever had, Schiller says
- Video time again
- And behold, the new MacBook Pro. It comes with Retina
- iMac with Retina display.. that's sweet..
- There has never been a desktop display like this, Schiller says of the new iMac
- 5120x2880 pixels and 14.7 million pixels on one display.
- It is the world's highest resolution display and it is call the Retina 5K display, Schiller says
- It is just 5 mm thin and that's an incredible feat of engineering, according to Shiller
- Schiller is talking about the beautiful display of the 27-inch iMac
- The new iMac comes with an Intel 3.5GHz, quadcore i5 processor which is upgradeable to 4 GhZ
- - And the MacBook Pro has been priced at $2,499
- New iMac with Retina 5K is going to cost $2,499, says Schiller
- Shipment starts today (Thursday) itself
- Apple has also updated the Mac Mini
- It is pdated with faster processors, 4G Intel Core processors, Intel Iris and HD graphics 5000, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, two Thunderbolt ports, world's most effecient, says Schiller
- The price starts at $499 only. That's exactly $100 cheaper than its previous pricing
- Cook is back on stage
- This is the strongest and most incredible lineup of products Apple has ever had, something that only Apple can create, says Cook.
- This is our vision of personal technology and we are just getting started, Cook says
- He concludes thanking all the teams at Apple who have worked so hard.
- And thanks all for from all of us here at Zee Business
