Apple’s Fresh Picked Tech: Worth the Hype?
Tech giant announces latest releases in their all-star product lineup
Azariah Joel
The Santa Clara
November 8, 2018
Before making an expensive purchase from Apple, have you ever told yourself to wait a little longer to see if a new version will be released? Don’t bother.
No matter how long you wait, Apple will always be releasing new devices—making your new plaything just as obsolete as the rest of them. And you can trust me on this—I work for them.
Apple just held its latest keynote on Oct. 30 in Brooklyn, N.Y. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to share the new releases they have up their sleeve.
In just a few more days, Apple will be unveiling their second line of products for the year. This month we will be seeing a third generation of the iPad Pro, the second generation of the Apple pencil and a revamped MacBook Air and Mac Mini.
Tim Cook began the event by introducing the new MacBook Air with a lively and engaging sneak peek video.
He then passed the spotlight to Laura Lagrove, vice president of hardware, to explain in detail the new features of the Mac. The main takeaways were the addition of the retina display, two new colors, Touch ID, a butterfly keyboard and a thinner, faster and lighter computer overall.
This MacBook definitely needed a reboot seeing as it was the oldest Mac being sold by Apple. Considering the price, I think it’s worth the extra $200 because of the major updates they’ve given it. The MacBook Air was the only device I was truly impressed with because of how important and useful these new features will be.
Before diving into the next product release, Cook introduced Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president to share a reiteration of the company’s values.
Ahrendts spoke about “Today at Apple” in-store creative sessions and how they are becoming more widespread and popular within the retail world.
Apple’s creative sessions have grown to 18,000 sessions a week all over the world and continue to increase each month.
Followed by Ahrendts’ inspirational speech, the new iPad Pro was introduced and explained down to its core complex tech specs. The iPad Pro now has a whole new design to resemble the features of their most prized product, the iPhone X.
The difference with these iPads is the Face ID, a faster chip and an edge-to-edge display.
Although this upgrade seems nice, Apple almost instantly removed their previous generation of iPad Pros from their products list after the keynote ended, meaning they will be discontinued by Apple.
The only device version Apple will still be keeping is their 10.5 sizes, and the price will remain the same. The company has shown a pattern of removing previous generations of devices to keep the lineup concise.
The starting price for the larger iPad Pro is now equivalent to the original MacBook Air—$999. When the first iPad was released, Apple had the ease of creativity for students in mind. In comparison to a MacBook, the price of an iPad was more budget friendly while still providing high-quality graphics and speed. The new price increase has essentially defeated the purpose of purchasing an iPad on a student budget.
So when is the right time to buy something from Apple? If you’re not in a huge rush for an upgrade, I’d say wait until they release a design that has gone through a few updates before giving in.
To compensate for the hole in your wallet, Apple’s devices are pretty durable and reliable even if they are not the newest devices on the market. Since being a part of Apple’s sales team, I have seen how quickly the company introduces new devices and how irrelevant the older versions become, which makes it difficult for people to keep up.
Apple releases new products faster than the customer can keep up with.
There were some disappointments in this year’s sales. Apple’s stock lost $13 billion dollars in market capitalization after the firm unveiled the next generation of product at its previous launch event in September.
It’s hard to tell whether or not this new device lineup will redeem Apple’s loss of money or if it will add to it.
Apple has continued to emphasize that their devices are here to act as a tool to develop individual talent and that they can help your most basic and advanced needs.
The only problem is that Apple has continued to raise their prices while discontinuing previous generations giving buyers no option but to fork over the extra money.
Since Apple has released a ton of new products this year, hopefully, they will give their consumers the time to get comfortable with their expensive new device.
Contact Azariah Joel at ajoel@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.