New Apple Products Announced: iPhone 6, Apple Watch And More

Evan Candelmo, Online Arts and Entertainment Co-Editor

On Sept. 9, Apple announced their highly anticipated iPhone 6 and the all-new Apple Watch through a Keynote presentation headed by CEO Tim Cook. The Keynote lasted about 123 minutes and was jam packed with new content coming from the tech company including the iPhone 6 announcement.

With a new iPhone usually comes a size change to the device. The iPhone 6 will now be 4.7 inches from the top right corner to the bottom left corner- an update from the current 4-inch screen that the iPhone 5 has. Cook also announced that the iPhone will come in two sizes. The larger will be dubbed as the “iPhone 6 Plus”

The bigger screen will be 5.5 inches, a mere 0.8 difference between the two new devices. Both models will also be significantly thinner with the regular being 6.9 mm and the Plus being 7.1 mm. Prices will range from $199 to a whopping $499 for the iPhone 6 Plus with 128 gigabytes of data, the new maximum for iPhones.

While many thought of the presentation as iPhone-based, one of the add-ons that had people talking was the Apple Watch. The advanced watch is more than just your average watch. The Apple Watch has a touch screen similar to an iPod Nano. According to Apple, you will be able to receive calls, view notifications, check weather and respond to messages and emails on the screen. Some special features include interacting with other watch users. People will be able to sketch drawings and send them to other users, use the watches as walkie-talkies, and more. There will be three editions of the Apple Watch involving the look of the physical watch, including an 18-carat gold version called Apple Watch Edition.

In addition to the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, Apple Pay was also announced. Similar to PayPal, Apple Pay will be a contact-less way to complete payments. Users will be able to store their credit card information in the Passbook app and choose what to pay with. It will also be very security friendly with a fingerprint sensor to gain access to information. American Express, Visa and MasterCard users will be happy to hear that they already have partnered with Apple Pay, as well as some of the world’s biggest stores and restaurants including McDonalds.

One of the most surprising things about Cook’s Keynote speech was the surprise announcement from U2.  The band decided to release their whole  new album, “Songs of Innocence,” for free to every iTunes customer. Unfortunately, that didn’t go too well. Apple has set up a link for iTunes users to get rid of U2’s album because of the many negative reactions towards U2 or Apple having an album voluntarily download to their device.

Overall, the Keynote was a major success on Apple’s part, not only creating conversation around almost everything they talked about in the presentation, but also successfully promoting their new and improved iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Pay and the U2 album.

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