It’s been a while since Apple really hosted a special event that had loads of products to unveil. While the company was really calm for the first half of the year, it’s been a completely different case since WWDC 2013, which happened in June. The event, which happened on October 22nd at the Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco is an event that many Apple fanboys and investors have been waiting for.
At the special media event, Apple unveiled the iPad Air, iPad Mini with Retina Display, Mavericks, new MacBook Pro line-up and literally revolutionized the pricing of their products and pushed itself to the top of the competition in a jiffy.
On the hardware front, Apple unveiled the iPad Air, iPad Mini and the refreshed MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The company also threw some light on the new Mac Pro, a killer desktop powerhouse, that costs $2,999.
Apple also did a quick preview of the new OS X Mavericks, the next major release for the desktop operating system with improvements on the technology front. While the entire world was saving some money for the desktop OS, Apple said, that the era of desktop OS costing the users is now over. OS X Mavericks will now be available for free from Apple’s Mac App Store.
This is not all. The company also made its entire line-up of iWork Suite free for the users who purchase devices starting October 1st. We will quickly look into these apps in a while.
Ultimately, the two words, free and today took over the event completely. We think that the event was indeed revolutionary for the company.
iPad Air
Shipping this November
The iPad Air is the new device that would replace the current model of iPads in the market. The iPad Air is about 20% thinner than the current generation iPad. With a thinner bezel, pencil thin design, and the iPhone 5 like meta edges that are cut with diamonds, iPad Air sports an all new design, since the iPad 2. The device comes with a 64-bit A7 processor, improved graphic performance and much more under-the-hood improvements. The device is priced at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version and the iPad Air will exist along with the second generation iPad in the market, that would cost you $399. The iPad Air will start shipping to the customers on November 1st, and will launch in few countries initially.
iPad Mini with Retina Display
Shipping this November
This is one of the most speculated product from Apple. The iPad Mini has been sporting a regular non-Retina display ever since it launched, and the customers have been waiting for the product to get a display resolution bump for sometime now. Apple announced the new iPad Mini with Retina Display at the event yesterday, and the device will launch sometime in November. iPad Mini with Retina Display now sports a 2048×1536 screen resolution, which is almost the same as that of the iPad. The 16GB Wi-Fi model would cost $399 and this would stay along with the iPad Mini with a non-Retina display. This would take on the Nexus 7 from Google, which they claimed to be the tablet with the best display on the market.
New MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Shipping NOW
The MacBook Pro with Retina Display just got an feature update. The device is now just 3.46 pounds and is about 0.71 inches thinner than the previous generation MacBook Pro. While the company upgraded some features of the device, the laptop now comes for a really competitive price tag. MacBook Pro with Retina Display will now start at $1,299, which is $100 less than the current price in the industry. This is not all. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display now comes with a 9-hour battery life, putting a lot of Windows laptops to shame. While the 13-inch MacBook Pro sports a Haswell chip from Intel, Apple has chosen to put Intel’s new Crystalwell chip inside the 15-inch version of the device. The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display will now cost $1,999, which is $200 lesser than its predecessor.
Mac Pro
Shipping this December
Apple announced the new Mac Pro back in June at WWDC, and the pro customers have been waiting for the device to come to the market. The new Mac Pro will launch to the public this December at a price that’s much lesser than we anticipated. The Mac pro, with a Xeon E5 processor and a cool new design. The pricing starts at $2,999 and interestingly, the Mac Pro is designed and manufactured in the United States.
OS X Mavericks
Shipping NOW for FREE
Apple not only talked about the new hardware they were working on. The long awaited OS X Mavericks is now out for the end-users. The OS has been undergoing some rigorous testing with the developers since WWDC 2013, and the OS is now available on the App Store for FREE. Apple claimed that they’re revolutionizing the era of desktop operating system, and we think that is completely true. While Apple’s competitor, Microsoft Windows costs about $129 for the OS, the company revolutionized by making the OS completely free, even for the users who are still on Snow Leopard. This is a huge change in the company’s business model.
iWork and iLife Suite
Shipping NOW for FREE
The event was pretty lengthy with exciting announcements. While we thought Apple has done something amazing by making its desktop Operating System Free for its users, the company went one more step ahead and made its iWork and iLife suite free for the users. iWork, which is competing with Microsoft Office (Comes for a premium) will now be available for free. And iLife, which includes iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband will now be available for free with new and improved features. The updates are now available on the Mac App Store. This is not all. The company also pushed an update to the iWork for iCloud, with collaborative editing that will not force someone to have an Apple ID to make changed to the documents.