What’s New At Apple?
Rumours have been swirling for ages about new and exciting things at Apple, as they love to tease us with snippets and whispers about new products. But at the recent Worldwide Development Conference, they made some intriguing official announcements about this year’s new releases.
From major software updates to brand new hardware, Apple are putting out some impressive new tech this year. We might have to wait a few months for some of it, but early reports suggest the wait will be worth it. Let’s take a closer look at what you can expect.
2022 MacBook Air
The brand new MacBook Air is a streamlined version of previous models. Happily for those on the move it’s 20 percent thinner and will slip easily into backpacks and laptop cases, even though it’s still the same size screen. Apple tells us this new improved MacBook achieves 20 hours of battery life and has 24 GB of memory. With other features including a 25 percent brighter screen than the previous model, two USB ports, a MagSafe port for charging and a new M2 chip inside (see below), in all, it’s indeed a great upgrade. And with a 15 July release date there’s not long to wait to get your hands on one!
M2 chip
Your new MacBook Air is going to be faster and perform better thanks to the new M2 chip. In fact, Apple tells us it will be 18 percent faster than the previous M1, so it should be very noticeable.
The M2 is a clever little chip. Its unified memory architecture means instead of the technologies in the chip having to move between different areas of memory, as they did in previous chips, they can access the same data, giving you a smoother and faster experience. Until 2020, Intel chips were used in Mac products, but Apple have been working steadily to move away from this to develop their own industry-leading tech. With the M2 chip it feels like they’ve completed that move.
Apple WatchOS 9
Rejoice – there’s an impressive upgrade to the Apple Watch. Not only does the watchOS 9 include new running metrics that tracks runners’ stride and arm movements to reduce their risk of injury, it has some exciting brand new features we’ve not seen in Apple Watches before. For example, it has a cool new medications tracker. You input the medications you need to take and when to take them, and the feature will do the remembering and reminding for you. And we all know sleep is as important to health too, and with the watchOS 9 you can gain insights into how well you’re sleeping. Sleep Stages tracks your light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep, and lets you know if you’re getting quality rest.
It all means the watchOS 9 is a smart watch for all-round health, rather than just for fitness. Even the new faces have broader appeal, with astrological displays and lunar calendars. There isn’t an official date yet for the release of the watchOS 9, but September – when Apple usually release the new generation of iPhones – is the best bet.
iPadOS 16
This shiny new software update for your iPad moves it into a more collaborative and business-minded direction. Freeform, a new app that’s all about working together, brings the whiteboard of an office to your iPad. You can add PDFs, videos, images, audio, weblinks, so it’s a step up from the office working environment of yesteryear. Reflecting the world in which we operate, it also allows users to move FaceTime calls between devices without interruption, giving you a seamless experience between iPad, iPhone, and MacBook. The iPadOS 16 also features SharePlay, a gaming feature that allows users to share screens and play together.
The release date for the iPadOS 16 is still unclear. Earliest estimates put it at September, along with the watchOS 9 and others, so we’ll have to wait a little longer for these fancy new features. Watch this space – it will certainly be worth the wait.
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