It was reported on June 7 that more than two years after the outbreak of COVID-19, apple held its first live release on Monday local time in the United States, inviting hundreds of software developers and journalists to its headquarters. Apple took the opportunity to release a series of software updates to make the iPhone and other products more practical.
During the two-hour demonstration, Apple launched the "buy before pay" function, which divides a single purchase into months, which is very similar to the services provided by paypal and other financial companies. Apple also said it was expanding the use of iphone Unlock apartment, hotel room and car rental functions. The company also launched a new version of Carplay, which can take over the entire dashboard of the vehicle, provide speed and fuel information, and support map and music playback functions.
Overall, these updates show that Tim Cook, CEO of apple, is still trying to expand the practicality and life of Apple's most important products. At the same time, through many new functions, the company has been pushed deeper into adjacent industries such as finance, real estate and automobile, so as to improve sales.
Bob O'Donnell, President of technalysis research, an analysis company specializing in technology research, said: "Apple devices are becoming digital control centers. As more and more devices are digitalized, they are expanding their coverage. Although this will not change the world to a large extent, they provide enhanced functions and bring more freshness to people."
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has always been committed to building revolutionary devices, but in the past few years, Apple has been stuck in the state of being unable to launch new product categories. However, this software update has changed this situation. Apple last launched a new product category in 2014, when it launched the apple watch.
The COVID-19 has helped increase the sales of Apple's traditional products. Company employees who are forced to work at home and students who study online find that they buy the latest iPhone and ipad And the Mac. Many people also turned to video games and apple tv+ subscriptions, helping Apple's sales grow by 33% last year to $366billion.
On Monday, local time in the United States, Apple hopes to further promote the development momentum of the MAC by upgrading its most popular notebook computer, the MacBook Air. The new model has abandoned the wedge-shaped shell ten years ago and replaced it with a slim rectangular appearance. The computer comes in a variety of colors, including silver, dark grey, gold and dark blue. Apple said that the new model is 20% smaller than the previous generation and weighs only 2.7 pounds.
The MacBook Air is powered by Apple's latest processor, M2. Apple says that M2 makes Apple computers more powerful with less power consumption.
At the same time, Apple announced that it would bring more personalized design to the iPhone, which could customize the lock screen according to color, gadgets and live activities. The new software will allow iPhone users to create custom lock screens for different purposes, such as a work screen that displays a calendar preview, or a personal screen that displays exercise activity data.
These new software features are all part of the new operating system IOS 16 for Apple's iPhone, which is very similar to those launched by Google for its Android system in 2021. Google has created a service called material you that allows users to change the look of the locked screen by selecting a color on the home screen wallpaper.
In addition to these updates, apple said it was overhauling its messaging system to allow people to recall and edit messages after they were sent. Apple has also introduced a new message writing capability that can smoothly switch between typed text and spoken voice memos.
Apple's efforts to expand its existing business have also extended to new software for the iPad. The company demonstrated a new workplace collaboration tool called freeform, which allows colleagues to brainstorm on different devices at the same time. This feature is similar to the products of Microsoft and Google, and may increase the value of iPad to enterprises.
Apple has also released software updates to its Smartwatch that allow runners to monitor their gait and help people track all stages of their sleep cycle.
This launch event is the first major on-site event held by apple in its Cupertino Park since 2019. In view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the San Francisco Bay area, the company set up a large screen outside the cafeteria in the center of the apple park. The attendees included developers, journalists and retail employees. With the increasing calls for the formation of trade unions, apple is eager to improve its relationship with them.
Although the focus of this event is still on existing products, Apple also revealed more clues about its augmented reality (AR) products, which the company hopes will become the next disruptive device. According to people familiar with the matter, apple is trying to make it easier for applications to use its intelligent assistant Siri, which is equivalent to creating a shortcut that can use voice to interact with applications on future helmets. Apple also showed a new video game resident even, which has the complex graphics common in virtual reality (VR) games.
Two people familiar with the matter said that the helmet looks like ski goggles, but due to the challenges in battery and performance, it is expected to be available next year.
However, there is no guarantee that the device will succeed. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has also been trying to improve the attractiveness of its VR helmet quest, so that it is no longer limited to the group of enthusiastic video game players. Last year, quest sold about 10million units, which is only a fraction of the 240million iPhone shipments estimated by analysts.
Apple is always trying to convince developers to accept its vision of a mixed reality (MR) world. In 2017, Apple launched arkit, which allows developers to use iPhone cameras and motion sensors to integrate the digital world and the real world. However, a survey conducted by creative strategy, a technology research company, on more than 500 developers showed that about 70% of Apple developers said they did not use the tool.