WATCH: Apple iPhone SE compared to 5S and 6S
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Apple fans are in for a treat as the company announced new versions of two of its most popular products during the latest Apple event.
CEO Tim Cook welcomed tech aficionados on Monday (Tuesday, March 22, PHT) at the company’s Cupertino campus in California where the new iPhone SE and the iPad Pro were unveiled.
Smaller, but better
Joining the iPhone roster was the new iPhone SE, which Apple billed as “the most powerful 4-inch phone ever.”
Greg Joswiak, vice president of Apple, took to the stage to explain just what makes the newest addition to the iPhone family so remarkable.
He said the smaller iPhones were an integral part of the iPhone lineup with over 30 million sold in 2015. He added this was due to two reasons: some people “just love smaller phones,” and for many people, “it was their first iPhone whether they were switching from Android or using their first smartphone.”
In a release from Apple, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said, “iPhone SE is packed with a stunning four-inch Retina display, advanced 64-bit A9 chip with M9 motion co-processor, longer battery life, 12-megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash, Live Photos, 4K video, faster LTE and Wi-Fi, and Touch ID with Apple Pay. Everyone who wants a smaller phone is going to love iPhone SE.”
Along with these features, the new iPhone SE has an improved Siri feature.
It will be available in space gray, silver, gold, and rose gold metallic finishes.
Reaching out to Windows users
The new iPad Pro was also unveiled to the public during the event, to which Phil Schiller introduced its features.
He said they have heard a lot of great responses to the iPad Pro since it was released six months ago and showed testimonials from John Lasseter, the chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios; Stephen Gates, head of design of Citi; and Alex Valdman, Rapha’s head of design.
Schiller showed the new iPad Pro which has a 9.7-inch Retina display — smaller than the previous iPad Pro which had a 12.9-inch display.
This 9.7-inch size was only previously available to the iPad.
He said one of the reasons why a smaller iPad Pro was created was because the display was big enough for work, but small enough to be portable.
Schiller then gave the second reason why a smaller iPad Pro was created: it was to reach Windows users.
He said, “You may not know this, but the majority of people coming to an iPad Pro are coming from a Windows PC — a desktop or a notebook.”
According to Schiller in a release from Apple, “The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has a new Retina display with True Tone technology, four-speaker audio system, blazing fast A9X chip, 12-megapixel iSight camera, 5-megapixel FaceTime HD camera, faster wireless, and support for Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. It is the ultimate upgrade for existing iPad users and replacement for PC users.”
One of the best features of the new iPad Pro is the True Tone display where four-channel sensors adjust the white balance of the display depending on the light surrounding a user.
Like the iPhone SE, the iPad Pro will be available in silver, space gray, gold, and a rose gold metallic finish.
Other updates
The Apple Watch also got an upgrade with Cook announcing that new straps in a variety of colors will be available to customers.
Apple also dropped the price of the Apple Watch, which now starts at $299.
Also announced at the Cupertino event was CareKit, an “software framework designed to help developers enable people to actively manage their own medical conditions.”
A release from Apple said, “iPhone apps using CareKit make it easier for individuals to keep track of care plans and monitor symptoms and medication; providing insights that help people better understand their own health. With the ability to share information with doctors, nurses or family members, CareKit apps help people take a more active role in their health.”
The company’s ResearchKit framework was also upgraded, with the company announcing, “By delivering ResearchKit as open source, any developer can quickly design a research study for iPhone. They can also build on the available software code and contribute their tasks back to the community to help other researchers do more with the framework. “
Apple also announced that the latest upgrade to iOS, 9.3 is now available for download.
The newest feature will be the Night Shift which automatically adjusts the colors of the phone’s display “to the warmer end of the spectrum after dark and may even help you get a better night’s sleep.”
Related: Apple to add night mode to iOS 9.3 update
Preorder, release dates
No release dates for the Philippines have been announced, but it will be available for preorder to select countries starting March 24.
