The iPad Mini 4 vs. the iPad Mini 3: What’s changed?

The iPhone might have gotten bigger, but there’s still a place in our hearts for small tablets, as evidenced by today’s announcement of the iPad Mini 4. It offers more screen space than the iPhone 6s Plus while being more pocketable than the iPad Air 2. And, unlike the iPad Pro, you can still easily hold this in one hand. But what makes this worth upgrading from the (now discontinued) iPad Mini 3? We’ve got the specs for both lined up right here so you can see if the Mini 4 is fresh enough for your dollars.

Get all the news from today’s iPhone event right here.

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Tablets, Mobile, Apple

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Tags: apple, iPad, iPadmini3, iPadmini4, iphone2015, mobilepostcross, tablet

‘Hey Siri’ Event Roundup: iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, New Apple TV and More

Apple was on stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco today to announce several new products, including the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro, iPad mini 4, fourth-generation Apple TV and new Apple Watch bands and finishes. It also announced that iOS 9 and watchOS 2 will be released on September 16.

MacRumors provided coverage of the September 2015 event with a live blog and articles, in addition to sending out updates through our real-time Twitter account MacRumorsLive. For those that missed out on the action, or need a refresher, this roundup provides a closer look at today’s announcements.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

– Design: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus look the same as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen sizes respectively, although Apple did make the switch to stronger ion-strengthened glass and slightly thicker Series 7000 aluminum. A new Rose Gold color option was introduced to the iPhone 6s lineup alongside existing Space Gray, Silver and Gold models.

– 3D Touch: 3D Touch builds upon both Apple’s patented Multi-Touch and pressure-sensitive Force Touch technologies, enabling users to make “peek and pop” gestures on the screen with their fingers to access actionable shortcuts or preview content, such as text messages, flight information, calendar appointments and more.

– A9 Chip: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are powered by a 64-bit Apple A9 chip and embedded M9 motion coprocessor that deliver up to 70% faster CPU performance and up to 90% faster graphics compared to the A8 chip inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

– Improved Cameras: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight cameras with 4K video recording (3840×2160) and 5-megapixel front-facing FaceTime cameras with display-based Retina Flash. Optical image stabilization is now available for both photos and videos, but remains limited to the iPhone 6s Plus.

– Faster Touch ID: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have a second-generation Touch ID fingerprint scanner that is up to two times faster compared to Touch ID on previous iPhones. Read more

Apple TV App Size Limited to 200 MB Local Storage, Has 2 GB RAM

Earlier today Apple revealed the long-awaited fourth-generation Apple TV, which includes an App Store that allows developers to create apps and games for users to download. The new Apple TV also comes with either 32 GB or 64 GB of local storage. However, Apple’s new App Programming Guide for tvOS, first spotted by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, includes some interesting insights into how developers can use that storage. For instance, apps are limited to 200 MB of local storage.

Each app stored on Apple TV is limited to a maximum of 200MB. In order to create an app greater than this amount, you must break up your app into downloadable bundles. In Xcode, create tags and attach them to the required resources. When your app requests the resources associated with a tag, the operating system downloads only the required assets. You must wait until the assets are downloaded before you can use them in your app.

This means that each app is limited to a 200 MB shell that downloads the assets it needs to run whenever necessary. The new Apple TV, despite having a base of 32 GB of storage, does not have persistent local storage, which means that each time an app is in use it has to make a request to iCloud to re-download the assets it needs to run.

As noted by MacRumors’ sister site TouchArcade, it’s likely this decision stems from iOS 9’s App Thinning, which reduces the size of apps so that users don’t use as much of their local storage on their devices. Apple TV apps are universal apps, allowing developers to create one app that can work on iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Apple TV. However, because the apps are universal apps, the overall storage size of the app includes assets that aren’t entirely relevant for each device. For instance, an iPhone user would have no need for the iPad or Apple TV assets for an app on their iPhone, and an Apple TV user would have no need for iPad or Apple Watch assets on their Apple TV.

Additionally, as noted by Troughton-Smith, Apple has revealed in its programming guide that the new Apple TV has 2 GB of RAM. Normally, Apple declines to publicly reveal how much RAM its iOS-based devices include. For instance, the discovery of how much RAM is in each new iPhone model is regularly speculated about until a teardown or speed test from a third-party can determine it independently.

The new Apple TV will begin shipping in nearly 80 countries at the end of October. The new Siri Remote is only available in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Canada and Australia. Other countries will receive a remote that replaces the Siri with a Search app. The new Apple TV is priced at $149 for the 32 GB version and $199 for the 64 GB version.

SteelSeries’ Nimbus MFi Controller is the First Apple TV Gamepad

When Apple unveiled the new Apple TV and its ability to play games at its “Hey Siri” event earlier today, the company glossed over the fact that MFi gamepad controllers for iPhone and iPad would be compatible with the new device. However, after the event, SteelSeries announced the brand new Nimbus gamepad controller would be the first made specifically for the Apple TV.

“SteelSeries is at the center of the biggest evolution in gaming. Nimbus represents a new standard in wireless gaming controllers and we’re pleased to be bringing this controller to this incredible platform,” said Ehtisham Rabanni, SteelSeries CEO. “Our global gaming pedigree, together with our unyielding pursuit of simple, modern design is on full display with Nimbus.  We’re thrilled to deliver a truly premium product for the new Apple TV at a great price.”

The Xbox One-like Nimbus wireless gamepad provides 40 hours of gameplay on a single charge and can be recharged via a Lightning cable, making it the first accessory to do so. SteelSeries also says it has pressure-sensitive buttons for “precise control.” Additionally, the controller has a large “Menu” button in the center of the controller, mirroring the “Menu” button on the new Apple TV remote.

The gamepad is featured prominently in the “Games and More” section of the new Apple TV’s page on Apple’s website, suggesting Apple and SteelSeries are positioning the controller as the flagship gamepad for the Apple TV. However, users can also play games with the new Apple TV remote, iPhones and iPod touches.

The Nimbus will be available on Apple.com and in Apple retail stores for $49.95 and will debut around the world in late October alongside the new Apple TV.

The iPhone 6s Plus vs. the iPhone 6 Plus: What’s changed?

With today’s announcement of the iPhone 6s Plus, it looks like larger-screen iPhones are here to stay. And, while plenty of users jumped on board when the iPhone got a bump to 5.5 inches with the 6 Plus, Apple isn’t going to try and entice anyone with another screen size bump — the 6s Plus’ major upgrades are on the inside. While you’ll have to wait for our full review, we’ve lined up the specs of the 6 Plus and 6s Plus to get a better idea of what improvements you can expect if you pick one up.

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Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

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Tags: apple, iPhone, iphone2015, iPhone6Plus, iPhone6sPlus, mobilepostcross

A closer look at that fancy new Hermes Apple Watch band

It might not have been the most groundbreaking thing Apple announced today. In fact, I’d wager that new Apple Watch bands rank at the very bottom of the list, behind new iPhones, a refreshed Apple TV and a big-screen iPad Pro. (I’ll let you all weigh in on how you’d rank the other three.) That said, this is a gadget blog, and what are we here for, if not to give you a healthy serving of gadget porn? Chief among the new bands is a leather one made by luxury brand Hermes, available in a “Single Tour” style for $1,100 (ouch) and a “Double Tour” version that wraps twice around your wrist for $1,250 (double ouch). Also pictured: matching Hermes watch faces, because of course. If that’s a little outside your budget, Apple also unveiled new silicone “Sport” bands in a host of colors. There’s really not much more to it than that — we think our gallery of hands-on shots tells you all you need to know.Slideshow-318570

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Wearables, Apple

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Dancing in the dark with the new, improved Apple TV

Last year’s Apple TVs were a lot of things. Streaming boxes. Keynote watching tools. Must-haves for Airbnb hosts. Most importantly, though, they were Trojan Horses for Apple’s content, ways for Cupertino to worm its way into the heart of your living room. While the Apple TVs of the past were more or less content to take on the Rokus of the world, today’s newer, faster, more capable model is gearing up to battle your Xbox. And you know what? It’s got a pretty good shot.

The Apple TV itself doesn’t look much different than before, but the remote sure does. It’s still a waifish, silver sliver of a thing, except now it has a matte black top end that acts as a trackpad for swiping through all your stuff. The folks in Cupertino have been on a serious “do things better, faster” kick lately and this trackpad really does help — punching out names and titles with a D-Pad is so ten years ago. The flip side is it sometimes feels as though it’s moving a little too quickly, like it wants to be half a step ahead of where you are at the moment. And the icing on top of this squat, squarish black cake? You can use the remote to fiddle with the volume, no matter what game or app you’re currently playing. Just got your tuchus handed to you? One click and you can shut off your TV, too. Despite a shift to tvOS — a platform that more-or-less borrows its foundation from iOS — the interface hasn’t really changed all that much. Guess there’s a limit to the amount of change Apple wanted to throw at us.

We knew coming into this that Siri would be listening in via a tiny microphone lodged in the remote. What we didn’t know was how capable she could be. When the demo room was quiet, Siri very aptly found videos featuring Sofia Vergara when asked and chewed on questions like “What’d he say” before rewinding the video about 10 seconds so I could catch up. Turns out Siri can even tap into data sources like Rotten Tomatoes if you refuse to watch anything below a certain quality threshold.

Thing is, when people gathered around the screen started to murmur to each other the way they do at parties, Siri started to bungle requests here and there. You’ll also have to be pretty specific when you ask her to launch apps — I saw another reporter try to launch MLB’s newfangled streaming app by calling it a very similar, but still technically incorrect name and Siri did the digital equivalent of shrugging her shoulders. It’s tough to make comparisons based off of maybe 20 minutes of seeing the new Apple TV in action, but it does seem a little better at interpreting questions than Android TV. Then again, Apple’s being a little more careful about the sources Siri can pull her answers from — it’s just Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime and iTunes.

Just like all those pre-show rumors suggested, Apple was keen to play up the TV’s improved gaming chops. Demos like Crossy Road on-stage didn’t exactly do Apple’s squarish puck justice — it was bright and fun, but not enough to get people who actually like games rethinking what they need in their living rooms. Games like the new Guitar Hero, which Apple was demoing in a back room, might do the trick. With the help of a Bluetooth-connected plastic guitar controller, one spokesperson very nearly jammed out playing an easy song. Other games will require you to waggle your remote at them, though Apple — ever the cool cat — didn’t indulge in much of that in front of us.

Meanwhile, developers like Airbnb and Gilt (I’m still scratching my head at that one) have put together pretty Apple TV apps too, and there’s no question that the folks in Cupertino are doing a little backdoor wooing to flesh out the TV’s software selection. As they should be. The thoughtful, fundamental changes to how we interact with the Apple TV are one thing — it’s the developers who will ultimately determine whether this black box is worth $149. Here’s hoping one lands on our desks for a full-blown review very soon.

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HD, Apple

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