What to know from that Apple event

Apple refreshed two devices of it’s full iPad lineup, the iPad Air and iPad.

One thing you might’ve seen when you opened apple’s website was the iPad Air. It now has the same design as the iPad Pro, so what’s different besides the size?

Well, first off, the new iPad Air may look like the iPad Pro, but there are a few differences. Face ID is not yet on the new iPad Air, but it has a Touch ID sensor in the power button of the device, which might be integrated into one of the upcoming iPhones. For most, this isn’t such a big deal since it still gets the job done. The iPad Air comes in all of the usual colors (silver, space grey), but it also comes in blue, green, and pink. Another difference in the iPad Air, of course, is the size. This isn’t necessarily a downside, because the reason for getting the iPad Air instead of the Pro is because of the price, and the size. The iPad Air supports the Magic Keyboard, and the Apple Pencil 2. So, if you were wanting an iPad similar to the Pro, but didn’t want to shell out on it, this is for you. Apple seems to be targeting college students and adults who want to have the all screen design and the cool accessories, but are willing to give up things like Face ID for a lower price tag.

For the most part, the iPad 8th generation looks the same, doesn’t have any major new features, so what is different? Well, the iPad is now using the A12 Bionic chip, which brings the Neural Engine to the iPad. The Neural Engine allows advanced Machine Learning. The iPad is also now 40% faster. However, unless you have a good reason of buying this iPad, I would recommend the new Air because of all the significant new features.

The Apple Watch Series 6 has a little different look than the Apple Watch Series 5, and also introduces the ability to take your blood oxygen level. Other than that, things are pretty much similar. This shows further that Apple is trying to make the Apple Watch a better tool not only for just accessing your phone on the go, but also a device for tracking health stats. In Series 5, they added the ability to take an ECG.

The Apple Watch SE is like the iPhone SE 2 that was recently launched, it offers a low price in turn for a little less features. The Apple Watch is expensive, and a lot of people who can’t afford it go for other cheaper smart watches. The SE doesn’t have the ability to take ECGs and blood oxygen levels, but it offers functionality you’d expect from other smart watches at it’s price point, plus it is more integrated with your iPhone. This watch is likely aimed toward people who don’t want to splurge on an Apple Watch, but are okay with giving away things like ECGs.

Apple expanded upon the plus subscriptions and added Apple Fitness+. It is kind of like a service that offers stats as advanced as a treadmill or exercise bike, but don’t have enough room. The way it gets the advanced stats is your Apple Watch. The ads for it show that you just pick workout, trainer, time, music. It hasn’t been released yet, and is coming in late 2020. It’s launch is perfectly timed as people need to stay active during quarantine.

Since Apple has more subscriptions now, Apple One is a subscription pack. There are three different plans so you can pick the one with the services that interest you. You can compare plans in the screenshot above. In the highest tier, Apple One includes iCloud, Arcade, News+, Fitness+, Music, and TV+.

That was all of the Apple services launched in the latest Apple event. Thanks for reading!