Well, that headline is a little misleading, but still cute. What really happened is Apple announced several new products including a new iPad…but they did it with a press release rather than an event. Kind of a big surprise, really. Maybe the iPad and tablets in general have lost their mojo. Sales for iPads have been decreasing for 9 straight quarters.
The new 9.7 inch iPad is just called “iPad” and is cheaper and faster than previous entry models. It comes with either 32GB or 128GB and is priced at $329 ($100 more for the 128GB version). The new iPad will be available to order on Friday, March 24.
But, there were other new products announced and one discontinued. First there is a new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus…now in bright red. Surprising is the fact it will come only in 128GB and 256GB configuration. Price starts at $869.
Next, Apple announced that their 4” iPhone SE will get a storage bump to 32GB and 128GB. The base model will sell for $399. Also announced were a slug of new, overpriced Apple Watch bands and a couple of new iPhone cases.
Finally, Apple is releasing a new, free video editing app for iOS called “Clips.” It is designed to help you capture, edit, and post short, shareable videos to your social networks. You can filter your videos, create animated captions called Live Titles, and add music and emoji's. It is coming in April. That probably means we will also see the latest upgrade to iOS 10.3 in April also.
I mentioned that Apple discontinued one item. That would be the iPad Mini 2. It has been available for quite some time as a cheaper alternative to the current iPad Mini 4. While Apple has not killed off the Mini line, there is only one model left…the iPad Mini 4 with 128 GB of memory…$130 more than the now-deceased iPad Mini 2. You can probably find the Mini 2 in stock at places while supplies last. I saw one at Costco just the other day.
There were several rumors floating about that said there were some new iPad Pro models being released very soon. That still may happen but don’t know when. And I don’t know if it will be by a press release of a real live event. Things have sure changed for Apple.
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