Highlights of Everything Apple Announced at Its Event on Sept 10th

With over 2 million viewers watching the LiveStream on YouTube alone, Apple’s popular September event showcasing its annual lineup of products, continues to grow new audiences.

In a little under two hours, Apple announced its slew of products, focused around the latest iterations of its flagship product, the iPhone - iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, along with a new 10.2 inch iPad, an updated Apple Watch Series 5, and more insight into Apple Arcade and Apple TV+. The video above gives a quick recap. Read on for a more comprehensive overview of all the major announcements. The full recording of the Apple Event is available on Apple’s website and on YouTube.

“The new iPhone 11 has a new dual-camera system, powerful A13 chip, beautiful new finishes, and incredible capabilities.”

— Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Here are the main highlights of Apple’s Event on Sept 10th:

New iPhones - iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max (ships Sept 20)
New Apple Watch Series 5 (ships Sept 20)
New 10.2” iPad, 7th Generation (ships Sept 30)
Apple TV+ subscription service (launching Nov 1)
Apple Arcade game subscription service (launching Sept 19)

For finer details, dive in below! In addition to providing the overview below, we will also be having more in-depth coverage of individual products and subscription services in the next few days.

New iPhones - iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max (ships Sept 20)

Apple announced today three new iPhone models, including a new iPhone 11 at $699, an iPhone 11 Pro at $999 and an iPhone 11 Pro Max at $1099 with full pro features. Apple’s iPhone models came in underpriced then expected. The new iPhone 11 has dual cameras, while the 11 Pro has triple cameras and all the new iPhone models have an improved TrueDepth camera system, and a faster A13 chip.

Apple launched a new iPhone today, the iPhone 11 with two pro models, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max in six new colors (Purple, White, Yellow, Green, Black and Product Red). The iPhone 11 comes with a 6.1 inch liquid retina display, has spatial audio with immersive theatre sound and Dolby Atmos support, a dual camera system (wide and ultra wide), faster autofocus and A13 Bionic chip for greater performance.

There’s a Night mode that comes on automatically and dramatically takes better photos in dim light. The iPhone 11 has an improved front camera in 4K and slow-motion and offers 1 more hour of battery life compared to its predecessor, the iPhone Xr. The Pro versions of the iPhone 11 are the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max with a third camera for a total of three lenses (wide, ultra wide and telephoto lenses) and a Super Retina XDR display.

The Pro versions employ a sophisticated neural engine image processing software system called Deep Fusion, leverage computational photography and can take a series of photos, selecting the best pixels out of each photo and stitching them together into one ideal photograph.

The Pro versions also offer longer battery life of up to four hours more than iPhone XS and five hours more than iPhone XS Max and better 4K video. Preorders start on Friday September 13 at 5 am PDT and ship out September 20. Apple also lowered the prices for older models to $599 for iPhone XR and $449 for the iPhone 8.

New Apple Watch Series 5 (ships Sept 20)

The new Apple Watch Series 5 has a new always-on Retina display with new low power technology, an 18-hr battery life, a built-in compass and improved emergency SOS. Cellular Apple watch models can make international emergency calling even without paired iPhones.

In addition, Apple Watch users can choose to voluntarily participate in health research by sharing any data that their watches are recording. Some current studies that you can participate in include the Apple Hearing study, Women’s Health Study, Heart and Movement study. There is also a new Titanium material option along with the previous materials such as aluminum and ceramic.

Apple Watch’s new Series 5 models start at $399 for the GPS model and then $499 for GPS + Cellular. You can pre-order Apple Watch Series 5 today, with shipping and available in stores September 20. Series 3 watches, GPS models, are available also at a lowered cost of $199 each.

Apple Watch Face to Face

New 10.2” iPad, 7th Generation (ships Sept 30)

Apple launched into its new iPad, 7th generation, quickly into its two-hour event, sharing its latest model, a 10.2 Retina display with 3.5 million pixels. The new iPad has a smart connector so you can connect a keyboard and card reader.

The new iPad comes with Apple pencil support, weighs one pound and is enclosed in 100 percent recycled aluminum.

The new iPad will start at $329 with education pricing at $299. You can pre-order iPads as of Sept 10 and they will ship out by Sept 30.

Apple TV+ subscription service (launching Nov 1)

Apple today announced that its new video subscription service, Apple TV+ will launch November 1st in over 100 countries. Original shows include “See” featuring Jason Momoa, “Dickinson” with Hailee Steinfield, “The Morning Show” with Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston and more.

The new service will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and more platforms and at tv.apple.com. Coming in at just $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial, AppleTV+ is affordable and directly competes with other video subscription services such as Netflix and the new Disney+ at $7.99. In addition, Apple also announced that any customer that buys a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free.

Apple Arcade game subscription service (launching Sept 19)

Apple’s new video game subscription service for mobile, desktop and tv called Arcade will be available September 19. Apple is launching 100 games on its new subscription service - games that cannot be found on any other platform or subscription service.

You will be able to view and download games by clicking on the new Arcade tab in the App Store. You will have access to new games every month with personalized recommendations. This includes big publishers like Capcom and Konami. Arcade costs $4.99 a month/family with one month free trial available.

“Apple Arcade is the only place you can get unlimited access to over 100 ground breaking, exclusive new games.”

— Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Apple Retail Store

Apple also launched a new in-store Apple Watch Studio where you can customize your Apple Watch and play with cases and bands to choose which style you like best.

In addition, also Apple’s Trade In program allows you to trade in your old phone as credit with low month payment plans available.

Apple Tools

Watch the Full Video on Youtube

Apple is accepting pre-orders for the new Apple Watch Series 5 and 10.2-inch iPad, with pre-orders for the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro by Friday, September 13 at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time. All new devices will ship out to customers by Friday, September 20. Visit www.apple.com.

We will also be having more in-depth coverage of individual products and subscription services in the next few days.

Apple Has Record-Breaking September Quarter with $62.9 Billion in Revenue

Apple reported $62.9 billion earlier this month, with $37.2 billion in revenue from the sales of 46.9 million iPhones

Image via Apple

“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,”

— Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Apple’s sales results beat records and forecasts for the past three-month period for the last quarter of 2018, the highest growth rate in three years with earnings-per-share of $2.91 growing per year. All-time quarterly records were made with $62.9 billion is a year-on-year increase from $52.6 billion last year. Apple shipped out 46.9 million iPhones during the September quarter, with revenue up to $37.2 billion, increasing year after year.

The average selling price or ASP of the iPhone is $793, going up from the $617.99 ASP from just one year ago in 2017. Premium pricing for the Phone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max has been driving the ASP increase. Analysts estimate that Apple would sell 47.5 million iPhones in the fourth quarter within the range of 46.7-48.1 million.

Apple provided live streaming for its Q4 2018 financial results conference call on November 1, 2018. The webcast is available for replay for up to two weeks after.

“We concluded a record year with our best September quarter ever, growing double digits in every geographic segment. We set September quarter revenue records for iPhone and Wearables and all-time quarterly records for Services and Mac.”

— Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO

iPad, Mac and Services Revenue

The iPad raked in $4.1 billion in revenue with 9.7 million units sold, lower than analyst expectations of 10.5 million for the quarter. Mac revenue was $7.4 billion, higher than a year ago. Apple services has grown to $10 billion, up from $8.5 billion in 2017 for the same quarter. The Services arm keeps growing fast with analysts expecting ongoing growth in the future.

Consolidated Financial Statements

Data Summary

Changes in Reporting for 2019

Apple surprised many when the company also announced that they would no longer be reporting iPhone, iPad and Mac unit sales in earnings reports. This surprised many analysts given that this data was used as an indicator of growth and ASP calculations. However, the decision makes sense when iPhone sales are slowing down, while ASPs keep going up.

Apple will report revenue, sales growth, and guidance as before. However, given that a unit of sale is very different today than it was eleven years ago, sales of Apple products do not represent completely the product’s business health.

“A unit of sale is less relevant today than it was in our past.”

— Luca Maestri, Apple CFO

Pricing varies by a larger range today such as the iPhone ranging from $449 (iPhone 7) to $1,449 (iPhone XS). Maestri also pointed out that segment competitors do not provide unit sales.

For First Quarter of 2019

Analysts expect the first quarter of 2019 to also best records, with Apple predicting revenues of $89-$93 billion with gross margin between 38-38.5 percent. Operating expenses are expected at $8.7-$8.8 billion, while a tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent is expected.

iOS 12.1 Brings Group FaceTime, Over 70 New Emoji, Depth Control in Cameras and Dual SIMs

Apple Announced 4 New Features at its Brooklyn Event today with iOS 12.1 available for download today for iPhones and iPads

The iOS 12.1 update is available on all eligible devices over-the-air via the Settings app. Access the free update by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Having your iPhone or iPad plugged into a power source is recommended.

Group FaceTime

With iOS 12.1, Apple offers Group FaceTime for up to 32 people simultaneously. You can easily add another person, use camera effects, join an existing FaceTime call and use Animoji and Memoji features. FaceTime now actually sizes a person’s image in relationship to how active the person is during the call, bringing prominent speakers to the forefront. You can also bring a person to the forefront with just a tap. Joining calls is not disruptive, and announced just by a simple ringless notification.

Group FaceTime integrates into the Messages apps so that you can start a chat right from iMessages. All FaceTime conversations remain private, whether one-to-one or with multiple individuals.

Apple embraced emojis early on, creating beautiful and simple images that have become widespread in use, replacing words and expressing emotions and moods in fun, creative ways. Back in November 2017, we featured Shigetaka Kurita in our Facebook series “100 Things We Love About Design” and “People You May or May Not Know.”

Back in 1995, while working at Docomo, a pager company in Japan, Kurita came up with the concept of 'emojis' that became instantly popular. Kurita also worked on 'i-mode' - the world's first mobile Internet platform that was quickly adopted in Japan and gave the country a 10-year headstart in technology over the rest of the world no less!

An economics major himself, Kurita was not a designer but nonetheless put together a complete set of 176 12 pixel by 12 pixel characters to cover the entire range of human emotion!

As you can see, some of the emojis Kurita designed back in 1995 are still in use today!

Depth Control in Camera Preview

iOS 12.1 brings Depth Control in Camera Preview to iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. In earlier versions of iOS 12, Depth Control was only available for post-capture editing. Now you can use Depth Control to adjust the depth of field of your Portrait Mode photos before you capture them. To use this new feature when you create an image composition, tap on the ‘F’ icon at the top of the screen. Drag the slider to adjust the amount of background blur in the image.

Dual SIM Support

iOS 12.1 also brings Dual SIM Support Comes to iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. This is an exciting feature for anyone who travels. You can now activate a cellular plan from a carrier without using a physical SIM card. This new feature is available through the existing physical SIM slot and the eSIM. This is available in all countries, except in China where new iPhones have two SIM card slots.