The other title I was considering for this is Wow Apple, Wow!
Earlier today, Apple held a ‘Spring Loaded’ event to announce a bunch of new/refreshed products. Some – like Podcasts+ – I don’t really care about. OK, that’s the only thing I don’t care about from today.
The rest of it – curse you Tim Cook – why do you have no regard for my wallet and make me want to spend all kinds of money on things I so want, but absolutely don’t need!?
First – those iMacs. Holy hell. What a design! I’ve always loved the iMac G4 (aka the ‘lampshade’ or ‘pixar’ computer) and have wondered for years why they haven’t returned to that design. This new iMac – while still not the same floating screen on an articulated arm – is the closest they’ve come in years. It’s essentially a giant, amazingly coloured iPad on a sturdy, yet tiny, little stand. And man, do I want one!
I’ve been a MacBook Air/Pro user for years, but would gladly trade the portability (at least in theory) to sit in front of one of these iMacs every day. But – even though this thing is incredibly thin – it’s not exactly portable, so when I’m away from the office, I know I’d still want to have a MacBook Air with me. Regardless, this new iMac absolutely does not fit my work style at all, but I 100% want one, and so far have not convinced myself not to buy one.
Next up is the latest update to the iPad Pro. So, they just took an incredible new Apple M1 processor and put it in an iPad. No big deal. Except it’s a huge deal! And that screen! And the camera that follows you around for FaceTime and other video calls! Amazing! Of course the price tag is not amazing, but I convinced myself a couple months ago that I needed to replace my current iPad, so what ya gonna do.
Then we have some lesser stars, but still cool things: a new Apple TV with – FINALLY! – a new remote, and an ‘only Apple’ configuration set-up feature that uses your iPhone to calibrate your TV to optimal picture settings. That’s just a smart, innovative, cool use of technology.
And of course, we have the long-rumoured, and now finally here, AirTag. This seems like a cool little trinket to have for times when you actually leave the house, and I’m hopeful those times are coming back soon. I can imagine having one on my keychain (naturally), but also in luggage and any time you take a bag to the beach or a bike ride or whatever. And if there’s not already several lines of dog collars with AirTag holders being mass produced as we speak, I absolutely want a piece of that action.
I think that about sums everything from today up – oh, yeah, there’s a new purple iPhone 12 colour available starting Friday. Odd to introduce a new (but actually old) colour into the iPhone line mid-cycle. As if the iPhone 12 line wasn’t selling well enough already.
All of this makes me pretty excited for WWDC and the rest of Apple’s releases later this year. If they just dropped all this amazing stuff now, I can only imagine what’s to come!