First of all, this post is not an appraisal of Apple in any way, quite the opposite, which is not normally what the posts in the Apple Everything category are.
2015 was not just an odd year for Apple but, in my opinion, one of the worst in terms of design.
The MacBook (Retina)
I was so hyped when the MacBook was being re-released but incredibly disappointed by a certain number of things about it.
The Retina display is a lovely addition to this computer and makes it one of the highest resolution displays in the market at the moment, alongside its bigger brother, the MacBook Pro.
I happen to be the owner of a Pro and feel somewhat disappointed by Apple's recent changes that they have been bringing to the Pros - particularly the miniaturisation of components since this has resulted in Apple taking away all of the possibility of upgrading components.
On the subject of the MacBook, absolutely nothing can be replaced, and the laptop itself features just one connector. A single USB-C connector provides the power inlet as well as the data connector and video connectivity. I'm not a fan of these designs where functionality suffers for design to gain.
This is why the MacBook fails to grab me.
As well as offering just one physical connector, the MacBook is powered by a measly 1.2GHz Core M - a mobile CPU that is intentionally cut down for better thermal design power. Again, this is well suited to making the computer smaller and thinner, but at the end of the day, this is still a laptop computer. Other than that, it is a stunning machine, and had it not suffered functionally, I would have considered one.
Apple Magic Mouse 2
The Magic Mouse 2 was released as the final release of 2015, along with a new Magic Keyboard and a new Apple Trackpad.
The Magic Mouse 2 is, in my personal opinion, the biggest design flaw in any wireless mouse ever.
The Magic Mouse 2 is finally a rechargeable Magic Mouse, meaning you can say goodbye to the AAs required in the previous version. The big flaw with this is how it is charged, however.
The Magic Mouse 2 is charged via the Lightning connector. This is alright, I suppose, although I'd rather have seen it being charged by MicroUSB, but I could never imagine Apple doing this since they like to use proprietary connections that they have developed for everything.
However, the charging connector is on the bottom of the mouse. This means that the mouse cannot be used while it is being charged. I mean, what?! This is so ridiculously stupid, and it may seem impossible to even think that this is the same Apple that designed the iPhone, the Unibody Macs and the iPad, but it is.
I'm not the only one to have complained about this, but this is entirely my own thoughts on this. Take a look at the picture here to see what I mean.
Apple Pencil
The Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro is a really great idea, something that has actually existed for many years on Windows tablets, like my 2010 Fujitsu Lifebook T4410.
The Pencil allows the user to simply write on the screen with a stylus but has the benefits of things like pressure sensitivity and angle detection so that the stylus produces more realistic results. This is great with things like Microsoft Onenote and taking handwritten notes and drawings.
The problem with the Pencil is one of the ways in which Apple has allowed users to charge the device. When the Pencil runs out of juice, the user has the choice to take it to a plug socket with the adapter included and charge it using that. Alternatively, if they only have the iPad Pro on them, they can charge it using the Lightning connector on the base of the Pro. This allows them to go completely mobile and leave behind all charging devices.
The problem is how it is charged, however. Putting the Pencil in the bottom of the iPad Pro and charging it makes the Pencil more susceptible to being broken. Remember all those USB ports that have been broken by leaning on the cable when it's plugged in? The same can be said with the Pencil when it is in the iPad Pro Lightning connector.
Take a look here for a picture of this.
iPad Pro Keyboard
The iPad Pro also came with a keyboard case thing as an option. I was very pleased to see that Apple added a physical connector for the keyboard since a Bluetooth keyboard is not an ideal solution for my idea. I was let down by the fact that it is what I refer to as a 'cloth keyboard'. I'd have really liked it to have been one of the hard keyboards, transforming the iPad Pro into a convertible tablet, somewhat like my Windows tablet.
Mac Mini 2014
I decided to include the end of 2014 in this post since I wanted to bring up the Mac Mini 2014. Once again, the Mac Mini received no updates in 2015, but a 2016 refresh with Intel Skylake is expected.
Nonetheless, the Mac Mini, the modder's machine, in Apple's words, was completely redesigned in 2014. This redesign involved removing any parts that were modifiable and replacing them with parts that could not be changed. What a disaster. The same will be with the 2016 version.
Conclusion
While I am happy with my current range of products, my favourite device is my Mac Mini due to the fact that I can change parts inside. I have a 2012 top model and refused to take the 2014 model due to the fact that there were no quad-core options available, as well as due to the lack of removable parts.
Apple has gone the wrong way recently with design, and knowing Apple, they will not change this and will stick to their guns. Who knows if I will ever buy another Apple product?
I have recently changed from Source Sans Pro to Open Sans again as the font on my website.
I noticed more and more than it becomes increasingly difficult to read the text at smaller font sizes with Source Sans Pro and received a comment about this yesterday. I have since switched back to the font I used right up until July this year for quite some time. Since going back to this font, just today, I will say that the text is far more legible.
Since I am an Edinburger I thought it was important to post a link to mark this moment, the moment Tim Cook visited the Edinburgh Apple Store for the first time! How I'd have loved to have been in the store at the time.
The Scotsman has more here.
Mac OS X has featured a dashboard for a long time. It was introduced in Mac OS X 'Tiger' (version 10.4) and since Mac OS X Lion (10.7) it has received barely any attention from the developers.
Dashboard still has yet to change
But now since Lion it has had absolutely no updates. It still looks like something from pre-Yosemite with it's skeuomorphic icons and it just doesn't fit into OS X. I love the dashboard in OS X, but it looks close to it's end.
This post is a collection of all the information you will need from the keynote today. I will likely do a full review of this in the next few hours.
The introduction
The start of the keynote was all about Watch OS 2 and what it has brought to the Apple Watch. New Watch apps include Facebook Messenger, a Go Pro app, iTranslate and a new app for measuring pregnant mothers.
iPad
Tim Cook talks about how the iPad has changed the way we work and create. Now Apple asks itself how they could improve it. The result, the biggest change in the history of the iPad: the iPad Pro. Does this mean I will need to update my website's media queries?
The Pro looks beautiful. The iPad Pro is twice the height of the iPad Air 2 in width. It has 5.6 million pixels with a resolution of 2048 by 2772 pixels on a 12.9 inch display. It features an Apple A9X APU which is now 1.8x times faster than the iPad Air 2 in CPU performance and 2x faster in graphics performance. It is faster than 80% of portable PCs sold in the last year and faster than 90% of PCs sold in the last year in terms of graphics.
All this, and still ten hours of battery life and incredibly slim (6.1mm)! It also features a four speaker audio system.
The iPad Pro was actually expected by many, so the shock was rather small for me!
Apple also introduced the Smart Connector, which allows a new physical Smart Keyboard to be attached to physically to the iPad and whilst I do not like the looks of the official keyboard but the physical connection is a huge bonus!
Apple also spoke about a new accessory called Pencil. Pencil is basically a really awesome stylus for the iPad.
Microsoft had a say today at the event as well - they announced that they were bringing features for the Pencil to Microsoft Office that allow input from the Apple Pencil. It's nice to Microsoft and Apple working together on this.
Adobe also spoke about their new apps that are coming to the new iPad. Adobe Comp looks really impressive (maybe not something I would use) and the multitasking works so well with it.
The new iPad Pro starts at $799!
The iPad mini 4 also got a short introduction. It is simply a smaller version of the iPad Air 2.
Apple TV
Today, Apple "did something" about the lack of innovation in the TV industry.
The new remote uses a new touch surface that makes it fluid to move around. This is a more innovative way to interact. The new Apple TV also supports voice commands through Siri.
The Siri search also searches across multiple apps including Hulu, Netflix and iTunes, all in one search. Siri can also rewind the video and put subtitles on when you mention that you missed what someone said!
There was a lot of focus on the new screensaver features, which doesn't really interest me but there we go. There was a bit that really touched the inner Bond fan in me as well which was nice!
The new Apple TV also now features its own App Store.
The games coming to the Apple TV look incredible.
Unfortunately, Tom from Hipster Whale didn't make it across the road in Crossy Road. Crossy Road looks lovely on the new TV, but I'm not sure I'm that thrilled by the idea of games on my Apple TV with the remote.
Apple has also taken the concept of hand off further by allowing you to continue playing games you own on your iPhone and Apple TV.
Oh and yea, my favourite feature, it has HDMI-CEC. The new Apple TV has 32GB or 64GB of built in storage. The new Apple TV has all the same connectors as the previous one other than the removed optical audio port.
iPhone
The iPhone 6 is the most popular iPhone ever and indeed they are the most popular and most loved phone in the world. Tim Cook now asks, how do you continue that success? The answer, the iPhone 6s.
The new iPhone 6s looks exactly the same as the iPhone 6, but it changes are phenomenal.
Multitouch is replaced by a new type of interaction called 3D Touch. As expected, this is a similar technology to the new Force Touch Trackpad found on the new MacBook. iOS 9 deeply integrates this to allow contextual data to appear where it could be considered useful. I really like the looks of this and cannot wait to try it out in the next few weeks. At this point, 3D Touch looks well integrated into iOS.
The new iPhone is also made with a new 7000 series aluminium. The new iPhone 6s also features the new Apple A9 APU. It is supposedly 70% faster in CPU tasks and 90% in graphics tasks. The new iPhone 6s has a new fingerprint sensor for Touch ID which is twice as fast.
The new camera is 12 megapixels, which will increase resolution but not at the price of quality. The new camera seems to take great photos. It can now take 4K video (that's 8 million pixels!). The front FaceTime camera now also has a flash that uses the display of the camera using True Tone technology.
Live Photos now also add a small video to the photo, which allows the photo to transform to something that moves.
Apple are also adding a new Android transfer app that they consider the 'neighbourly thing to do'. This allows Android users to transfer much easier.
Prices are still the same of the iPhone 6s, starting at $299 for the 16GB.
Apple are also launching a new iPhone Upgrade Program that entitles you to a new iPhone every year and includes an unlocked iPhone and AppleCare.
The best news, iOS 9 will launch on the 16th September.
The new ad had a slight rip off of the 'Okay Google' adverts but it was very Apple.
To finish
Tim Cook made a really nice tribute to the all the Apple employees and there was, as always, some live music (this time from One Republic) and a song specifically for Tim Cook.
And that is it for another year from Apple.
Just a quick reminder that Apple's September event takes place today at 18.00 UK time.
You can find out more on Apple's website.
Possible releases could be a new Apple TV, a bigger iPad, the iPhone 6s, new Macs and more information about the new OSes.
I would love to make a liveblog on this, but unfortunately my host runs an Apache server and not an nginx server therefore every livepost I make ends up overloading the server so I will do a summary post at the end.
I am personally really excited by the feature I loved most on Android - NFC payments - finally coming to iPhone.
Now I will be able to pay for those purchases with NFC from my phone rather than my debit or credit card.
I personally like this idea, but I understand that many do not.
Apple are now my favourite company. This is contrary to what I believed some four years ago, where I was only considering a MacBook Pro because of it's beautiful design and ability to run Windows (which I intended to do).
Furthermore, for the first few years - from when my family got our first Mac in 2009, we ran Windows 7 as the primary operating system. I even had an argument with my mother that there was no point in running OS X because half the stuff you want to do isn't available. This went even further when I got my MacBook Pro in 2011 - I bought it for the design and having OS X as a background OS.
It wasn't until about mid-2013 that I really started to use Mac OS X for my every day activities, in February 2014 I actually started to use Mac OS X as my main operating system and have barely used Windows at all since then and in November 2014 I ditched Windows on my Mac. Not only is OS X a more secure operating system, it has features like the Bash (Bourne Again SHell), iMessage and much more just built into the operating system. Things have changed so drastically since Snow Leopard but that's not saying that Snow Leopard wasn't good, because now that I look back at when I made the change to Mac with Snow Leopard I never had any problems at all.
Macs are actually getting more and more popular, with the decline in the PC industry pushing the Mac sales up (do not forget: computer sales actually come from businesses too, and businesses are more likely to be buying PCs - although probably not much longer as hardware advancements push users to use the abomination of Windows 8 which was clearly designed for nothing but tablets and 'touch-screen desktops').
Here are a summary of the best things about Apple's products:
- Great quality hardware
- Everything integrates well between iOS and Mac OS X
- Mac OS X
- Innovations throughout the operating system
In this post I have decided to look through the archives of Apple's website.
The site is a good indicator of how technology has changed.
