Apple General Topic - (OS X El Capitan, iOS 9, watchOS 2, Apple Music)

[Junko]

This was lost in the wipe, so.

 

We have Apple's keynote live Monday afternoon, but what to expect? Last year, the big hitters were iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

 

This year some people are expecting:

Apple will almost certainly use the WWDC 2015 platform to highlight a new major update for both iOS and OS X. The iOS update, the 9th major version of Apple’s iPhone and iPad operating system, is thought to be bringing a lot of stability, performance and security enhancements to the platform. Reports have suggested it will be similar to OS X Snow Leopard, which was largely meant to refine the experience of OS X Leopard.

 

Part of Apple’s aggressive development cycle, which now pretty much guarantees big yearly updates to both of its primary software platforms, is a pace of new feature releases that can be at cross-purposes to providing a stable, bug-free experience. By avoiding any sweeping changes to the core OS experience like those we saw visually in iOS 7, and functionally in iOS 8, Apple might be able to improve the general consistency and quality of user experience, which is something many Apple fans and observers would be happy to see.

 

That said, Apple is unlikely to drop a major point release without introducing anything new – even Snow Leopard got quite a few new user-facing features along with its general improvements. Let’s look at what we’ve heard is coming in terms of brand new abilities and apps in iOS 9, which will mostly likely be available as a developer preview as of Monday, with a wide launch coming alongside new iPhones in September.

[KHCast]

I've still got a little bit of me clinging to the hope that we get a announcement of a iPod Touch 6th Gen., but Im not gonna hold my breath on that. The rumors interest me, but I'll have to see it to believe it.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

As a fan of iOS (got iPhone 6, Apple Watch and iPad Air 2) I'll be definitely be watching this keynote to see what they have in store for iOS 9 and future Watch updates.

(And it's something to hold on to until E3...)

[Candescence]

Hopefully iOS9 is focused more on stability and support for older devices, including my 4S. I might have considered upgrading to iPhone 6 if were not for the obscene price tag.

 

Granted, Apple's products these days are way overpriced in general.

[Komodin]

With iOS 9, I'm hoping that they'll implement some sort of multi-window functionality for iPads. I love my Air 2, but I always wish that I can use its big screen to use more than one app at once for the sake of productivity.

[Junko]

Apple announces OX X El Capitan

Developer beta for El Capitan is today, with Public beta in July and release in the Fall.

[Junko]

• Apple Pay is coming to the UK.
• Passbook is now Wallet

Apple announces iOS 9

 

SplitView and PiP coming to iPad Air and Mini 2 onwards.

• iOS 9 has a low power mode, allowing for an additional 3 hours of battery life
• Apple's reduced the amount of free space you need to get iOS 9 from 4.6gb to 1.8gb

• Apple Swift is going open-source
• Public Beta for iOS 9 in July, dev beta today
• ALL SUPPORTED iOS 8 DEVICES JUMP TO iOS 9; NO DROP OFF

[Junko]

• watchOS 2
  • Nightstand Mode - you can have it show the time while you're charging, and there's an alarm clock feature.

  • You can now reply to email from your watch

  • FaceTime Audio calls

  • Apple Pay will support store and loyalty cards on the Watch as well.

  • Dev beta today, release in Fall

[Junko]

• Apple Music

  • Broadcasting every day is Apple's first 24-hour radio station, Beats One, in 100 countries. Three main DJs.

    • "Plays music not based on research, not based on genre, not based on drumbeats, just music that is great and feels great."

  • Music will also do algorithmic recommendations

  • "For You": personalized playlists and albums you might like. "It isn't just algorithms, it's recommendations made by our team of experts."

[Junko]

Apple Music is coming to Android and Windows Phone.

• $9.99 a month
• Free for three months

• $14.99 for up to six family members.

AND THE KEYNOTE IS OVER

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Finished watching the keynote. Exciting times ahead. Can't wait for iOS 9 and watchOS 2.

Oh and since Apple Music shares the music in iTunes Store, the library is MUCH bigger than Spotify's and Beats Music and I can finally stream Hatsune Miku music that can't be found in these streaming services.

So yeah I'm gonna drop Spotify in favor of Apple Music.

The 6 family member subscription is huge too. Mega huge. That's probably gonna kill Spotify and the rest.

[Junko]

Did they mention that Apple Music is on desktop too?

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Did they mention that Apple Music is on desktop too?

Yes, if you have iTunes installed. ^^;;

[Komodin]

With iOS 9, I'm hoping that they'll implement some sort of multi-window functionality for iPads. I love my Air 2, but I always wish that I can use its big screen to use more than one app at once for the sake of productivity.

 

 

SplitView and PiP coming to iPad Air and Mini 2 onwards.

 

 

Ballin', and about time, too. I'll be using this a lot with my Air 2, yup!

 

Apple Music... eh, I'm gonna stick with Google Play Music for the time being. All of my stored music is there, and I'm not up for jumping ship from it just yet.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Another thing. Sega has published A LOT of Sonic soundtracks on the iTunes Store/Apple Music, you won't find them anywhere else in Spotify, Google Play, Deezer or Beats Music...

Some of Square Enix soundtracks are there as well.

Apple Music is a gamer's DREAM.

[Junko]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/27/9214107/apple-iphone-6s-event-invite

Apple has just announced its traditional fall iPhone launch, sending out invitations to the press for an event on September 9th at 10AM PST, as expected. Less expected? The venue, San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. That's a new one for Apple — and it's a massive venue with a 7,000-person seating capacity, so expect a lot of news.

The company is expected to unveil a new pair of smartphones: the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Not much is known about what the new devices might offer in the way of upgrades, but it's a good bet that the displays will incorporate Force Touch — technology that allows for force-sensitive touches and has already appeared on the Apple Watch and newer MacBooks. A dramatic camera upgrade has also been rumored, so we'll be looking for that.

We've also seen images of packaging that purportedly belongs to the iPhone 6S Plus from Chinese tech site cnBeta. The image shows an iPhone with what looks to be a Butterfly Koi. It's been suggested that this could be one of a new set of animated wallpapers arriving with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. This style of "motion wallpapers" have previously been seen on the Apple Watch, with the company said to have photographed one flower 24,000 times to create a single watch face.

What else? We've also heard rumbles that new iPads might be in the mix, including a rumored larger iPad Pro, and persistent whispers of a revised Apple TV never really seem to go away, although it seems as though that new-look streaming service still won't make it in time. And of course we'll see iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2, all of which should be ready for primetime release.

[Kevin]

I'm really hoping the rumors of a new Apple TV turns out of the be true. The current one is old in terms of technology and is in major need of an update.

[Komodin]

I hope iOS 9 will prove to be impressive. Take it this way: iOS 8 is still pretty decent, but compared to Android 5.0 Lollipop, it still leaves a fair bit to be desired.