Katie Hunter |
It’s that time again when Apple try to entice us with refreshments to some of their top products and true to form they have released a new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, news of a new iPad Pro available from November, as well as the recent release of the latest operating system IOS9. Throughout this review I will be giving you a flavour of each of these products.
IOS9
IOS9, released on the 16th September 2015, provides many new features and design changes. One change you will notice is the new font making reading easier, particularly on a small screen, as well as the new app switcher giving you 3D stacks of apps rather than 2D.
A significant improvement is the Lower Power Mode feature allowing your iPhone to last another hour before you need to charge, and they have come up with a clever idea of disabling for example animations which could then give you an extra three hours on your battery life.
In Notes you can use the Sketch button to add drawings and there is a direct link to add photos. Finally, who could forget our old friend Siri? Well, he’s just got even smarter, with improved searching and the use of Proactive, which suggests apps as your iPhone learns your habits, even playing your favourite music when you plug in your earphones – Spooky!
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
Although they may look similar to the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, the smartphones now come in a “rose gold” colour.
The biggest change is the introduction of 3D touch. This means the touchscreen is now pressure sensitive allowing you to glimpse at an app or by pressing harder you can launch the full app. Although it may take a while to get used to, it makes the iPhone more effective to use.
There is an upgraded camera allowing you to now record 4k videos and a new live photo feature has been added meaning that when taking a photo, a few moments of motion and audio will be captured. The final and less obvious change from previous models is that new hardware has been added including upgraded front and rear cameras. The camera has made a 50% jump to 12 megapixels making for much better photo quality from the rear camera. The front facing camera has been improved to 5 megapixels.
iPad Pro
Finally, Apple have announced the forthcoming release (November) of the brand new 12.9 inch iPad Pro, which looks like a massive iPad Air 2, and with a supporting battery, weighs in at 1.57 pounds (not lightweight).
It has three key differences from previous years. The first is that there are now four speakers which according to Apple, will result in far more volume output and automatically rebalances audio performance. There will also be ”Force Touch based screen” similar to the new iPhones, in addition to a stylus accessory. Last, but not least, the iPad Pro will use IOS9.1 providing better versions of, for example, split screen apps and Picture-in-Picture video playback.
In my opinion, Apple have really exceeded themselves especially with the latest IOS update. Whilst the changes on IOS9 seem small when you add them up and see the impact when using your devices you will wonder how you ever lived without them. The 3D touch is an innovative feature which adds another dimension to the iPhone and iPad Pro experience, making them more efficient.
Personally, I am very excited to see what Apple bring to the table next year and I don’t doubt it will be something bigger and better as ever.
