Apple's "Time Flies" event unveils the company's latest products

Sep 15 2020, 5:21 pm

In arguably its biggest event of the year, Apple officially unveiled its latest product announcements on Tuesday.

Although those looking for the new lineup of iPhones may have to wait a little longer.

CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday’s event, named “Time Flies,” features the latest Apple Watch, and iPad.

Apple Watch Series 6

Apple

Apple screenshot

Apple Watch Series 6 delivers many notable hardware improvements, including a faster S6 System in Package (SiP) and next-generation always-on altimeter, along with its most colourful lineup yet, featuring a beautiful palette of new case finishes and bands, according to Apple.

The watchOS 7 also brings Family Setup, sleep tracking, automatic handwashing detection, new workout types, and the ability to curate and share watch faces.

New this year, the Series 6 conveniently measures the oxygen saturation of the user’s blood, so they can better understand their overall fitness and wellness.

“Oxygen saturation, or SpO2, represents the percentage of oxygen being carried by red blood cells from the lungs to the rest of the body, and indicates how well this oxygenated blood is being delivered throughout the body,” said Apple.

“To compensate for natural variations in the skin and improve accuracy, the Blood Oxygen sensor employs four clusters of green, red, and infrared LEDs, along with the four photodiodes on the back crystal of Apple Watch, to measure light reflected back from blood. Apple Watch then uses an advanced custom algorithm built into the Blood Oxygen app, which is designed to measure blood oxygen between 70 percent and 100 percent. On-demand measurements can be taken while the user is still, and periodic background measurements occur when they are inactive, including during sleep.”

Apple screenshot

Apple also unveiled the watch’s new loops, including a Hermès loop, a new leather link, and a solo loop described as “one continuous piece” of stretchable material that comes in seven colours.

The new Apple Watch Series 6 will start at $529 CAD.

Apple Watch SE

On Tuesday, Apple also announced the new Watch SE, an affordable Apple Watch model.

The Watch will come in both cellular and WiFi models, and will include a new “Family Setup” allowing kids to use the watch without needing an iPhone.

It will start at $369 CAD.

Apple Watch SE

Both watches are available starting Friday, according to Cook.

Those picking up the new watches will notice they don’t come with chargers. This is due to the company’s environmental initiatives. New Watch users will need to get chargers separately.

Apple Fitness+

Apple Fitness+ is the first fitness experience built for Apple Watch, arriving later this year.

Apple Fitness+ intelligently incorporates metrics from Apple Watch for users to visualize right on their iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, offering a first-of-its-kind personalized workout experience, according to the tech giant.

When it launches, it will include the most popular workout types including Cycling, Treadmill, Rowing, HIIT, Strength, Yoga, Dance, Core, and Mindful Cooldown.

Fitness+ will be available to Apple Watch customers as a subscription service before the end of 2020 for $12.99 CAD per month or $99.99 CAD per year.

Apple One

Apple announced Apple One, the easiest way to get all of Apple’s subscription services in one simple plan, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+, and iCloud.

“Apple One makes enjoying Apple subscription services easier than ever, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud, and more,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “With Apple One, you can access the best of Apple entertainment across all your favourite devices with one simple subscription.”

Once available, it will be offered for free for 3o days.

Individual plans start at $15.95 CAD a month.

iPad 8th generation

Apple screenshot

The new iPad includes an A12 Bionic chip, making it really fast, according to Apple, and they say it is two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop, three times faster than Android tablet, and six times faster than Chromebook.

It also works with a full sized keyboard.

The new iPad includes 10.2 retina display and starts at at $429 CAD, available Friday.

iPad Air

Apple screenshot

The new iPad Air is designed with an all screen display, and comes in five colours including rose gold, sky blue, and green.

It features liquid retina display, and the TouchID is integrated into the power button on the side.

It includes the A14 bionic processor, and has 40% performance improvement over the last iPad Air, according to Apple.

The new iPad Air starts at $799 CAD, and is available next month.

iOS 14

The new iOS 14 will be available on Wednesday, September 16.

This story is developing

Daily Hive StaffDaily Hive Staff

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