Apple’s Chief executive, took to the iconic Flint Center stage in Cupertino, California to reveal this year’s lineup of new Apple products and innovations.
The first of the new products revealed was the iPhone 6 and its larger counterpart, the iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 features a 4.7 inch screen while the iPhone 6 Plus boasts an even larger 5.5 inch screen.
Both new phones have increased camera capabilities, including the ability to take HD and slow motion videos. High-end models of both phones have a whopping 128 GB of memory.
Possibly the most exciting feature of the new phones is the addition of Apple Pay, a mobile payment system.
With Apple Pay, the iPhone becomes a mobile wallet. Apple Pay is based on near-field communication technology. To buy something with Apple Pay users simply hole up their iPhones to a wireless tap-and-pay terminal and the transaction is complete.
Cook says Apple Pay is safer and quicker than using a credit card. Apple will never know what you bought, where you bought it from or how much you paid for it. On top of that, users are able to securely store their credit card information on their iPhone using the Passbook feature, which can only be accessed when users scan their fingerprints using the iPhone’s new fingerprint sensor.
After the iPhone 6 presentation was finished, Cook revealed the much anticipated iWatch was revealed.
to make calls, send texts, ask Siri questions, find directions, get weather info, take pictures and essentially do anything a smartphone should be able to do, just on a much smaller scale.
To navigate the iWatch there is a wheel on the side of the watch (which Apple calls “the crown”), used to zoom in and out and, when pressed, returns to the home screen. There is also a contact friends button on the side that is used to access the contact list.
Finally, the touch screen on the watch differentiates between a light tap and a harder press, assigning different functions to each. For example, when listening to music, a tap would simply pause the song, but a press would bring up a new screen allowing the user to set the music to shuffle, switch artists, etc.
Fitness is another important aspect of the iWatch. Users are able to track workouts, set goals and create exercise schedules. In addition, the iWatch is able to keep track of the user’s physical activity and pulse.
At the end of the presentation, Tim Cook brought out U2, who played the lead single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).” It was announced that U2’s new album “Line on the Horizon” will be available for free exclusively through iTunes.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available Sept. 19 starting at $199, and the iWatch will be available some time in 2015.
