Apple is going all-in on the M1 chip. It's obvious this chip is a revelation, so now it's powering the new iMac & the new iPad. The new iMac design is the biggest story here. It's the first fresh design we've seen from Apple in a long time. While there's a lot to like, there are some real head-scratching choices made.
The new iMac design is the biggest story here.
Aside from the new iMac, we're presented with a couple product refreshes for the iPad and Apple TV. They want the iPad refresh to feel significant, but that's a tough sell. It's already been the most powerful, most beautiful device with the best screen in the category for years. What can you do with the new one that you can't do with the last one? And the Apple TV is still just too expensive when you can get a Google TV or Roku for $50.
Finally, we have a few leftovers. A purple iPhone 12 that looks like a purple iPhone 11. Apple Card support for families. Airtag; which I'm giving as much attention as Apple did.
<aside> 🖥️ M1 iMac - Gorgeous and ridiculously thin, but with some really odd design decisions. Marketing appropriately focuses on productivity, videoconferencing. My main gripe is the white borders around the screen. There's a reason that they're usually black. It helps hide the edge of the screen to make it feel bigger. Starts at $1299
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It's a big iPad on a stand!
This hurts the experience a bit.. remember when all the video game consoles had big external power supplies? even the previous iMac has it inside the chassis.
The power cable attaching magnetically feels like an accident waiting to happen. A laptop with a magnetic connection makes sense; it still has power. A desktop will die when it disconnects.
A legitimately great new product that's been a long time coming. A little expensive, but there's so much that's new and exciting here.
<aside> 📡 Airtag - Seemingly an example of Apple ripping off a product feature-for-feature without bringing anything meaningful new to the market. Tile has been around for years and has iterated their product to be better over the years. They've even addressed the most vocal complaints by integrating user-replaceable batteries.
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<aside> 📺 Apple TV - Redesigned remote. Cool color balance feature with iPhone. Still way too expensive compared to the rest of the market. Starts at $179 (WHY?)
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Why wasn't this fixed sooner?
Color balance your TV with your iPhone. Neat!
<aside> 🗒️ M1 iPad Pro - Improved performance on a device that was already leagues ahead. AI camera features & Thunderbolt 4. Positive improvements, but how does the software take advantage of it? Answer: it doesn't. When will the iPad level up?
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<aside> 🗒️ Edit - iMac configuration page reveals some pretty ridiculous pricing schemes..
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