On August 30th, Apple Announced that they would be holding their September event. This year's event is titled "Gather Round". As with the other Apple events, I offer up my predictions. Unlike other events, the September event is somewhat easier to guess what will be announced. Here are my guesses.

iPhone

Ever since 2011, with the release of the iPhone 4s, Apple has been releasing iPhones at their fall event. In 2011, it was October. Since the iPhone 5, it has been September. This year is likely no different. I am thinking there will be three new iPhones released. These will be the replacement for the iPhone X, a larger model, and the oft rumored 6.1-inch LCD model.

I am guessing that all three of these models will have the same general design as the iPhone X. This means that there will be very small bezels as well as Touch ID being replaced with Face ID.

Naming

The one thing that is always difficult to guess is the naming. For a majority of iPhone releases, there have been two cycles for names. iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4, 4s, iPhone 5, 5s, and iPhone 6, 6s. There was no iPhone 7s, because the iPhone 8 was announced last year instead. I have no idea what they will call these phones, so this is merely a wild guess. I am going to guess that the two OLEd models will be called the iPhone Xs. At the same time, the LCD model will be called the iPhone Xc.

I give the likelihood of the iPhone X replacement and a larger one at 100%, while I give the probability of the 6.1-inch LCD model being released at 90%. I give the probability of the naming at 50% for each name.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch, released in 2015, and unlike the other iOs-based devices, it has remained largely unchanged since its release, at least physically. The Apple Watch Series 3 did get slightly thicker, but only by a millimeter.

I predict that the Apple Watch Series 4 will be released and it will be significantly redesigned. It is my guess that it will have less bezel and have a more edge-to-edge screen, yet it will have the same physical size of the watch.. With less bezel, the screen itself will be larger. The fact that the screen is bigger, means that that there is more area to put the battery. The Apple Watch Series 3 has plenty of battery life to last through an entire day, so it is not my guess that the battery life will increase. Actually, my guess is that at it will remain the same battery life, but the bigger screen will let the battery be thinner. This will result in the watch being thinner, which will be a welcome change for users.

I give the likelihood of a new Apple Watch being announced at 100%, with the screen having less bezel at 85%. My guess is that battery life remains the same at 75%, and the Apple Watch Series 4 being thinner at 90%.

HomePod

The HomePod is Apple's latest iOs-based accessory, and is less than a year old. The HomePod has been available for just about seven months and it is likely to see an update, to iOS 12. The one feature it will likely include is Siri Shortcut support, in particular for third-party apps.

I give the likelihood of a software update for the HomePod at 95%.

iPads

It would not be unprecedented for Apple to announce the release of new iPads. Apple released the current iPads at last year's WWDC keynote. It is possible that they will release new ones, however it is also possible that they will not. If Apple does announce new iPads, here is what I think they will have.

My guess is that the iPad Pros are the only ones that will be updated, since the 9.7-inch iPad was updated in March. The new iPad Pros will have reduced bezel, with no Touch ID but instead will have Face ID. I think the screen sizes will remain the same, at 10.5 inches and 12.9-inches. The reduced bezels means the the physical size of the iPad devices will be smaller, which will allow easier handling.

It is also possible that the new iPads will remain the same physical size, but the screens will be a bit larger. If this is the case, the current 12.9-inch iPad would end up being approximately 14.5 inches. It would be great to actually have an even larger iPad, but within the same physical form factor.

I give the probability of new iPad Pros at 60%, because there is already a lot of stuff in the keynote. If iPads Pros are announced, I give the likelihood of them having Face ID at 100%, reduced bezels at 95%, and being the same physical size at 50%, and retaining the same screen size at 50%.

Accessories

Apple sells many accessories for their iOS-based devices. One product that was announced but has not been released is the AirPower mat. In case you do not remember, the AirPower Mat is supposed to allow you to charge three devices simultaneously. The ones that Apple showed are an iPhone, the AirPods, with a different case, and the Series 3 Apple Watch. The AirPods were supposed to be usable with a different case, which would be sold separately, but has not yet been made available. The Apple Watch has always had inductive charging, so it

I give the likelihood of Apple announcing that the AirPower Mat being available at 75%, a new set of AirPods at 35%, and a new AirPods case at 95%, provided the AirPower Mat is released.

Macs

It is possible that Apple will announce new Macs, however, the keynote is already a bit full, and it is likely that the new Macs would warrant some additional time than just a few minutes. So it is my guess that the likelihood of new Macs being announced at 5%. I rally do think that thy will need their own event, or at least press releases, or journalist meetings.

Recap

So let us recap my predictions. These are ordered in highest percentage to lowest percentage.

Those are all of my predictions. We will know all about what Apple announces on Wednesday, September 12th at 10:00 am Pacific Time.

And while you wait for the keynote, you can pre-order my iOS 12 e-book for $3.99.

As has been the case since 2012 Apple has been holding its iPhone event in September. This year is no exception. Today Apple has sent out invitations for their September Event. This year's event is on September 12th. It will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Campus 2. As with most Apple events, this one is at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. It will be streamed, so you can watch it live.

I will be posting my predictions for what we might see sometime closer to the event date, so stay tuned.

Apple has a part of the education market from the early days of Apple. All the way back to 1978 to be exact. Today Apple has reinforced their education commitment. Apple held their education event at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois. The event is focused on education and they have delivered in a big way.

Being in Chicago, Apple provided a couple of tidbits about Chicago Public Schools. The Chicago Public Schools is working with Apple to teach more than 370,000 students how to code. Alongside this, the venue for the event, Lane Tech College Prep, has had more PhD graduate from there than any other school in the country.

Many questions why Apple would hold an education event at the end of the school year, but this is the perfect time because now is when schools start buying for next year. So this is the perfect time to hold an event.

Tools for Educators

Apple has released some new tools specifically for the K-12 market. These include Shared iPad Support, Classroom app, and Schoolwork.

Shared iPads

Shared iPads is not a new feature, it has actually been around for a couple of years, but it is worth reiterating because it can be an invaluable feature for classrooms so that every student does not necessarily need their own dedicated iPad but can indeed share amongst many students. Students can login to any iPad and get all of their data within minutes.

Classroom

The "Classroom" app was introduced in 2017 with iOS 11. Classroom allows teachers to keep an eye on what their students are doing. If a student is not following along, they can get the student back on track by bringing up the necessary application or website. Similarly, if a student needs some assistance, the teacher can help the student and guide them to where they need to be. There is a new feature for Classroom, Classroom is coming to the Mac.

All of the same features that are available on iPad will be available on the Classroom app for Mac. This will be available as a beta in June.

Schoolwork

Schoolwork is a free web-based app, that allows you to give handouts, provide progress, These handouts can include web links, PDFS, and other documents. Additionally, educators can not only send students a link to an application, but they can now send a link to a specific activity within an application. The ability to send a specific activity will help teachers be able to direct students to exactly what the teacher hopes to be able to assign.

Assigning is not enough though, Schoolwork will also allow teachers to check on the progress of students. At a single glance a teacher can get a quick overview of how all of the students are doing. If they tap on any student, they can then get a detailed view of how the student performed on that activity.

With students using technology for an ever increasing percentage of their work, an area for concern is how to keep that information safe. As one can guess, Apple takes privacy very seriously, and the privacy of student data even more seriously than most. Teachers are the only ones that can see how a student is performing. Apple cannot, nor can anyone else.

These activities are not just going to magically appear, they will require developer support and developers have a new framework to help create these activities, it is

Schoolwork will be available in June.

Apple Teacher

Apple has also introduced a new resource specifically aimed at teachers themselves, it is called Apple Teacher. Apple Teacher is a free web-based tool to help teachers build their skills as a teacher.

Apple Teacher Learning Center is where you can get learn to get the most out of Apple's technologies as well as providing new ideas to bring creative ideas to the classroom. Apple Teacher is available at https://appleteacher.apple.com/

Everyone Can

One of Apple's core beliefs is that having everyone learn to code is an important part of today's education. This is not only to provide a path for future developers, but also because it can teach other skills like critical thinking and problem solving. This is a great idea for those interested in coding.

Everyone can code has guides for teachers, including rubrics, keynote presentations and more. Everyone can code is not new, but it is a resource that is available on apple.com. Apple is also working with ConnectEd and 40 STEM organizations, including App Camp for Girls.

Create

Apple has ideas that go beyond coding. Apple is building a new curriculum to augment the coding, this one is based around any subject. This is focused on four skills areas. These areas are: music, video, photography, and drawing. There will be student guide as well as teacher guides available. It is available for <a href="https://www.apple.com/education/everyone-can-create/'>preview now. With more coming in the summer to be prepared for the fall semester.

While many of these resources are not new, they are resources that many, including myself, may not have known about. It is imperative to allow teachers help students learn and develop new skills that will benefit them beyond the classroom.

iCloud Storage

Every Apple ID gets 5GB of storage for free, this includes education accounts. This 5GB limit is quite restrictive for everyone, but is particularly hard on schools particularly if students want to be able to store a video. Apple has increased the storage limit on all accounts that managed through the Apple School Manager software. Instead of only having 5GB of storage, each account gets 200GB of storage.

iPad

Besides the new tools that Apple has provided for educators they have released the sixth generation 9.7-inch iPad. The 9.7-inch iPad has some new internals, specifically the A10 processor, and Apple Pencil support. The support for Apple Pencil is the same as the iPad Pro.

The A10 Processor allows users to use Augmented reality applications, just like the other iOS devices. The price remains the same at $329 and is available to order now and arrives later this week.

iWork

Apple has updated their iWork suite to support the Apple Pencil.

There is an additional set of features for Pages. A new feature called "Smart Annotations". Instead of needing to manually print out and mark up a student's homework, a teacher can now add note for the student to adjust. These notes are not just standard annotations, but will remain with the text.

This is not just for the device versions of iWork, but these features also work on the iCloud.com version of the iWork applications as well.

Digital Book Creation

One of the strategies for Apple is the creation of digital books. Apple has built-in some new features to Pages that will help with the creation. These features include:

• Image Galleries
• The ability to have video with sound, and can even record directly on an iPad
• Drawing support built-in

Books created with Pages meet ePub standards for books. While some of these features are similar to Apple's iBooks Author application, it does not negate the interactivity and features of an iBooks Author.

Even though they are not the same, the ability to create ebooks directly on the iPad is a huge benefit, not just for writers, but also for educators and students to be able to create books that they want.

Final Thoughts

I think Apple's focus on education is an important one, not only because education is a huge part of the overall market, but because it is the foundation that will help students of all ages. This is valuable because they will be the ones who help move society forward, they are the ones who will be the next astronauts, teachers, and scientists. Without education, and in particular teachers, we would not be able to move forward.

Providing the resources for teachers is what Apple is all about when it comes to education. Whether it is using the Classroom app, the Schoolwork app, and even the iPad with Pencil support will all allow the next generation to keep everything going and moving the world forward.

Apple has invited some journalists to an event that they are holding on March 27th at 10:00 am. This event is not being held at Apple Park nor at 1 Infinite Loop. Instead, this event is being held at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois. This is the first event that Apple has held for the press in Chicago.

This is not the first press event that Apple has held outside of California. In January of 2012, Apple held an education event in New York City. The invite states "Join us to hear creative new ideas for teachers and students."

It is nice to have Apple hold an event close to where I live, it is just too bad that I did not get invited (nor did I really every expect to be invited, but it would have been nice.)

I will try to follow what is announced at the event and will let everybody know what Apple says.

Apple has held their annual Fall Event. The biggest aspect to any Fall event is the unveiling of new iPhones. This event does indeed include new iPhones. Apple's fall event is the one that receives the most attention from not just technology media, but, more importantly, from those outside of the technology sphere. With that fact in mind Apple chose to hold this year's event at the new Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park campus. To me, it seems quite befitting to have the first event at the new Steve Jobs Theater be the unveiling of iPhones. This is because back in January of 2007, Steve Jobs stood on stage at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco and unveiled the first iPhone, one that would revolutionize not just only the mobile phone industry, but also the technology sphere in general. The mobile phone revolution has ushered in one of the greatest technology shifts of the last few centuries. While Today's iPhone announcements may, to some, seem evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, the march of progress continues. This article focuses solely on the iPhone X. I have all of the information about the Apple TV, Apple Watch, and iPhone 8 in a separate article.

iPhone X

Apple announced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. There is just "one more thing" that Apple announced, a third new phone. That model is the future of smartphones, and is the iPhone X. The iPhone X is an all new design for the iPhone. Before we dive into the features of the iPhone X, let us talk about colors, which many may think are not important, but are often used to help personalize an iPhone.

Colors

The original iPhone in 2007 came in just one color, aluminum. The iPhone 3G introduced a second color, white. These two colors remained the only options until 2013 when Gold was introduced with the iPhone 5s. Unless you were willing to purchase a Space Gray, or Black, iPhone, all other faces on the iPhone line are white. This changes with the iPhone X. Now, all fronts of the iPhone X are black. This means that for those who only wanted a black bezel to their iPhones can now get something besides Black or Space Gray.

The back of the iPhone is where people really select their colors. iPhones since the iPhone 6s, meaning the 6s and 7, have had four options. Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, and Space Gray. The iPhone X has a slightly different set of colors as options. There are only two options available, Silver and Space Gray. There is no option for the front face, as it barely there. The selection of Silver and Space Gray should come as no surprise, as these are likely the most popular colors purchased. It is not easy to determine which model will be the most popular, and with such a revolutionary phone, it may be prudent to stick with just a couple of colors to gauge interest before expanding the color choice. Let us dive into the internals of the iPhone X.

Internals

One change that occurs with each new iPhone is the interior components. The new iPhone X contains the new A11 Bionic processor along with its M11 motion co-processor. The A11 Bionic This brings even better battery efficiency and processing to the phone. The A11 Bionic is a six core processor that consists of four high efficiency cores that are up to 70 percent faster than A10 Fusion. It also has two high performance cores that are up to 25 percent faster than the A10 Fusion. To go with the processor, Apple has included a new Apple-designed graphics processor as well. This will get 30% faster performance over the graphics in the A10 Fusion.

There is an all new item incorporated with the A11 Bionic, a neural engine. The neural engine will allow even faster processing of Augmented Reality and Machine Learning than the A10 Fusion. The neural engine is designed not only for Augmented Reality and Machine Learning, but can be used for many other things like processing of items within photos and much much more. The neural engine will work very well with a new feature, one that replaces the home button.

Home Button

The new iPhone X an edge to edge screen. The thing that is most conspicuously missing is the home button. The home button no longer has a place on the iPhone X. With the home button gone, there have been some other changes. One of the primary functions of the home button is to get you back to the home screen. This is still accessible, however there is a new way of doing so. The home screen is now accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Doing this will actually bring up the app switcher, which is very similar to the function within the iPad. To actually get to the home screen just tap on an empty area of the app switcher and the home screen will appear. Again, this is exactly how it works on an iPad under iOS 11. The second primary function of the home button to both unlock the phone as well as to use Apple Pay, and finally to force a refresh should something cause your iPhone to freeze. How are these to be done with the iPhone X? There are new methods for accomplishing all of these tasks.

Biometrics

Apple Pay is a core part of Apple's strategy for iOS and macOS and it makes up a good part of their services revenue. To that end, Apple would not remove Apple Pay from its products; particularly when they announced the Person-to-Person Apple Pay within iMessage on iOS 11. Without a home button with integrated Touch ID to place your finger on to authenticate Touch ID, you can now use the new Face ID technology. At the top of the iPhone X there is a notch that contains a number of sensors. These include the front camera as well as the new infrared sensors for the new Face ID. Face ID is the replacement for TouchID on the iPhone X. If you have used Touch ID, and a vast majority of users have, you are accustomed to placing your finger on the Touch ID sensor. Face ID is similar, but instead of your finger, the new infrared sensors scan your face to determine that it is indeed you. The setup for Face ID is similar to Touch ID. When you setup Face ID, you move the camera around your face a bit. This is done to be able to get different angles of your face. This is exactly like setting up Touch ID where you place your finger in different spots to make sure that Touch ID works as often as possible.

Face ID will only unlock your iPhone X if you are actively looking at it. This means that the iPhone X will not unlock if you are looking away, or have your eyes closed. Unlike a fingerprint, people's faces do not stay the same over time. Hair styles change, men grow mustaches or beards, and people wear hats, add glasses, or many other alterations. As time progresses, Face ID will learn about all of these changes and continue to unlock your phone, just like it did when you initially set up Face ID. What powers all of Face ID is powered by the all new TrueDepth Camera sensor.

TrueDepth Camera

There is an area at the at the top of the screen of the iPhone X. This notch houses a number of the camera sensors for the iPhone. It also requires some accommodations within iOS. The adjustments that are needed revolve around the status bar. The status bar has been a staple of iOS since the beginning. iOS has always shown the time, carrier information, wireless status, and battery. This is still the case with the iPhone X, but the information is now displayed around the notch. On the left is the cellular and wireless information. While on the right is the time, Do not Disturb, Bluetooth, battery, and the current time.

One of the features introduced under iOS 9, is the "back" button to go back to where you were. This is still present. When you follow a deep link that allows you to go back to the previous app, this information will be shown on the left, however instead of being in the left of the status bar, it will be directly below the items on the left side of the status bar. This should actually make it easier for users to go back to the previous app. There is a lot sensors packed within the TrueDepth Camera, let us turn to that now.

There are eight different sensors in the top. These are:

• Infrared Camera
• Flood Illuminator
• Proximity Sensor
• Ambient Light Sensor
• Speaker
• Microphone
• Front Camera
• Dot Projector

The Infrared Camera, Flood illuminator, and Dot Projector are all parts that work together to be sure that it is truly your face that is being shown on the screen. These three sensors, combined with the Neural Engine of the A11 Bionic, is able to quickly and seamlessly detect that you are who are you. The Dot Projector will project and detect 30,000 different invisible dots to be able to look at each feature of your face. The there are three items that occur nearly simultaneously. These items are:

1. Your Face is detected with the flood illuminator.
2. The infrared camera takes an infrared picture.
3. The Dot projector detects 30,000 invisible dots.

The infrared image and dot project are mathematically calculated using the Neural Engine within the A11 Bionic, and a calculation occurs. This is done through specialized hardware and machine learning algorithms that are within the neural engine. The neural engine is capable of handling 600 billion operations per second on a dual-core processor. All of this results in nearly instantaneous calculations. This new calculation is compared to the stored calculation within the secure enclave and if it matches, your phone is unlocked.

Security with Face ID is important, just as it is with Touch ID. Face ID will not allow pictures of you to be able to be used to unlock your iPhone X. Apple states that with Touch ID, the likelihood of someone being able to randomly come up and unlock your iPhone with their fingerprint is 1 in 50,000. With Face ID, this is reduced to 1 in a million. The chances for Face ID are reduced if someone closely related to you tries to unlock your iPhone X with Face ID. That is Face ID in a nutshell, let us move to the thing that you look at the most, the screen.

The Screen

The new iPhone X has a completely new edge-to-edge screen. This screen Optical Light Emitting Diode, or OLED, screen. OLED is a bit different from the traditional Liquid Crystal Display, or LCD, screens that have appeared on the previous iPhone models. There are two big benefits with OLED. The first is that OLED allows for darker blacks and brighter whites. This ultimately means that the picture that is shown will be even better than on LCDs. The second benefit is that OLED uses less electricity, which improves battery life. And who does not like better battery life?

To complement the new OLED screen, the iPhone X incorporates True Tone. True Tone is the same technology that is within the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and second generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. True Tone utilizes a light sensor to be able to automatically adjust the colors on the screen. Combining True Tone with the OLED screen means that the display should be able to produce even better colors; particularly within sunlight.

The edge-to-edge form-factor means more than just less bezel space. It also means that the iPhone X has a distinct resolution. The resolution of the iPhone X is 2436 pixels tall by 1125 pixels wide. This is not a screen resolution that has been on an iPhone before. The biggest change occurred in 2014 with the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus when developing on the iPhone required supporting two more screen sizes. This was in addition to the already known, at the time, 320 pixels by 480 pixels, the retina size of this, 640 pixels by 960 pixels. The first significant change was with the iPhone 5 and its screen resolution of 640 pixels by 1136 pixels. It was was only a difference of 176 pixels in height, and usually meant that you were able to show more items vertically.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus introduced the two new screen sizes of 750 pixels wide by 1334 pixels high. The iPhone 6 Plus introduced a screen resolution of 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels high. The way that developers can make sure that they work with any screen size is through the use of size classes. The addition of this new screen resolution shows that Apple is not afraid to branch out and create a screen resolution that does not fit what developers, as well as users, have become accustom to. If you are a developer, it is becoming increasingly difficult to not use size classes within your applications. Any applications that do not conform to size class will quickly become apparent to users of the iPhone X.

One of the complaints, by some, is that the Plus-sized phones are not comfortable in the hand. The screen resolution of the iPhone X is, of course, due to the physical screen size; which is 5.15 inches. With the edge-to-edge nature of the screen, all of this fits within approximately the same size as the 4.7-inch iPhone 8. This screen size is not as large as the screen on the iPhone 8 Plus, which is 5.5-inches. Even with the physical screen being smaller, the screen resolution is still larger than the Plus-sized phones. This is a nice size between the two, which should help appease some of those who find the Plus-sized phone to be too large and having a larger area is just an added bonus.

Camera

The biggest digital camera on the market right now is the iPhone. The iPhone, along with other mobile phones, has replaced the use of traditional cameras for many people, including myself. This trend is why Apple has paid significant attention to the camera in recent releases of the iPhone. The camera in the iPhone X has some new capabilities that were not available previously. The camera is now capable of recording 1080p HD at 240 frames per second, 4K at 24 frames per second , and even 4K at 60 frames per second. The 1080p at 240fps, and 4K at 60fps are double what the previous iPhones were capable of handling. The new 4K at 24 fps is possible through the use of HEVC. HEVC is capable of handling many different frame rates. The use of 24 frames per second is standard within the movie world and will allow you to take film style video.

The addition of new video filming options will absolutely help drive even more video and photos being shot on iPhone, which is an ad campaign that they have been running, and this should allow even better submissions.

The new Front Camera, within the TrueDepth Camera system, is upgraded over the FaceTime HD camera on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The front camera is also capable of taking Portrait Mode photos. Combining this with Portrait Lighting on the front camera, means that you can take some fantastic selfies. The front facing camera is great for selfies, but there is a new feature specifically on the iPhone X, that can be used with the front camera.

The first is Portrait Mode on the front facing camera. It is nice to be able to take Portrait photos with the rear facing camera, but being able to get a portrait mode selfie will allow you to up your selfie game against others. Another adjacent feature is Portrait Lighting. Portrait Lighting will let you adjust not only the lighting on your face, but also the lighting of the background. The best part is that this can be done after the fact. So if you take a selfie but think it could be a bit better with some more light, you can make the adjustments afterwards to get an even better picture.

There are some other enhancements with the rear-facing camera. You can now record video in 4K at 60 frames per second, this is double the speed on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The telephoto lens on the iPhone X now includes optical image stabilization, which was not present on any previous iPhone, but is present on the iPhone 8 Plus.

The last new feature with the front camera is one that may be quite popular with kids.

Animoji

Apple unveiled a lot of information its World Wide Developer Conference event in June, but they left out a couple of new features that are present in iOS 11. The biggest, and one that will appeal to many users, is the inclusion of some enhancements to emoji. Emoji are a progression in communication mechanisms by many across the world. Emoji can add additional expression that could be conveyed via the written word, but are vastly more succinct through the use of an emoji character. One of the benefits of emoji is that they can be used for both their intended purpose, as well as ironically, or with an alternate meaning.

Take, for instance, the use of the eggplant, 🍆 emoji. It can be used to indicate that you want to eat some eggplant; however it can also be used as a phallic symbol. Similarly, you can send someone a peach, 🍑, emoji. Again, to signify that you want to eat a peach, or tell someone that you think they are a peach, or even that you are peachy keen. It also has been used as replacement for one backside. The last example that I will use is the infamous poop emoji, 💩. If you are of a certain age, you may also refer to him as "Mr. Hanky". Just like the 🍆 and 🍑, 💩 can also be used in a variety of situations. One situation would allow you to indicate that you are not feeling well. Whereas another would be that you might be indicating to someone that they are being a pile of poop. All of these examples above are just a few of the various ways that emoji can be used to signal meaning. These are all just static two dimensional representations.

Apple has expounded upon this concept by including a new feature for iMessage called Animoji. Animoji take the concept of a static emoji but it utilizes your face as well as your voice, to determine which emoji might represent your current expression. Besides just choosing an emoji, which is a feat in itself, the emoji that it chooses is three dimensional and animated. Some of the emoji that are represented by Animoji are the 🐵, 🤖, 🐱, 🐶, and yes even 💩. There are more, but these are just some of the one that are available.

When you begin to send an Animoji within iMessage, your head movements will be mimicked on screen in real time, at the same time you can be speaking and you voice will be recorded. You can then send the Animoji to someone via iMessage. It will then be played back to them. Animojis, while they may seem trivial or dumb, will add a bit of excitement and fun to the existing emoji. It will be interesting to see what faces people can make and what Animoji iOS 11 will show them.

Wireless Charging

The back of the iPhone X is glass. This allows for a new feature, wireless charging. The standard that Apple is using on the iPhone X is the Qi, pronounced "she", standard. This means that if you have a Qi-compliant charging pad, it will work with the iPhone X. The inclusion of wireless charging will allow users to simply place their iPhone on a charging pad and it should begin charging. This means that you will not have to plug in your iPhone just to have it charge. This is convenient, not only for home, but also if you travel. This is because you can bring a charging mat that will allow your iPhone, Apple Watch Series 3, and even AirPods charge wirelessly.

There is a new product coming in 2018 called "AirPower". AirPower is a mat designed by Apple that will allow you to charge all of your Apple devices at once. This is great not just for travelers, but also as a place to be able to set all of your items and know where they are located.

Pre-orders and Pricing

The iPhone X is the future of the smart phone, and with that it commands a futuristic price. The iPhone X comes in two configurations, 64GB and 256GB and as mentioned above, it comes in two colors, Silver and Space Gray. The 64GB model is $999 and the 256GB model is $1149. Apple Care on the iPhone X has also gone up to $199. This brings the total to somewhere between $1200 and $1349. It is available for pre-orders starting October 27th, with delivery starting on November 3rd. It is very possible that the iPhone X will be in short supply after launch.

Final Thoughts

The all new iPhone X, much like with the introduction of the MacBook in early 2015, is showing us the direction it is going to take not just the iPhone X, but phones in the future. The bezel-less display has some great upgrades, in particular the fact that a larger 5.8-inch screen fits into a form factor just slightly larger than the 4.7-inch screen. The new TrueDepth camera allows Face ID to exist. The addition of a neural engine within the A11 processor allows the computation that is necessary to make Face ID open quickly and seamlessly. The inclusion of wireless charging is a great step towards a completely wireless future. Even though it may seem trivial, the inclusion of the new Animoji will add a new dynamic to interactions amongst individuals. The new Animoji feature will be a great demo to show off just what the iPhone X is capable of doing. Even though the iPhone X is pricey at $999 for the 64GB model, it is the future, which means that the technology within the iPhone X will eventually trickle down to the lower end phones.

Apple has held their annual Fall Event. The biggest aspect to any Fall event is the unveiling of new iPhones. This event does indeed include new iPhones. Apple's fall event is the one that receives the most attention from not just technology media, but, more importantly, from those outside of the technology sphere. With that fact in mind Apple chose to hold this year's event at the new Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park campus. To me, it seems quite befitting to have the first event at the new Steve Jobs Theater be the unveiling of iPhones. This is because back in January of 2007, Steve Jobs stood on stage at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco and unveiled the first iPhone, one that would revolutionize not just only the mobile phone industry, but also the technology sphere in general. The mobile phone revolution has ushered in one of the greatest technology shifts of the last few centuries. While Today's iPhone announcements may, to some, seem evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, the march of progress continues.

This article focuses on the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. If you are looking for the iPhone X, that is in its own article.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is one of Apple's newer product lines. When it was introduced three years ago at the September 2014 event, Apple positioned the Apple Watch as a smaller version of the iPhone. While this was a good premise to start a product, ultimately the market has steered the Apple Watch to primarily become a fitness and notification mechanism. While Apple has continued to improve the software, most notably with watch OS 3, and now with WatchOS 4, the hardware, besides internal changes, has remained unchanged. The hardware that was present on the original Apple Watch is the same that was on the Apple Watch Series 2. One of the downsides to the Apple Watch, up to now, has been the need for many to bring their iPhones with them when they go and exercise. The Apple Watch Series 2 obviated this, in someways, by providing a GPS radio in the watch. This is beneficial to those who wanted to plot a route foe their outdoor workouts, but it did not completely reduce the need for bringing an iPhone along.

Hardware Changes

The new Apple Watch Series 3 has made a big leap forward, in this regard. The Apple Watch Series 3 now includes an LTE radio. The inclusion of an LTE radio opens up many more opportunities for fitness. The biggest, and most obvious, is that the Series 3 you can now leave your iPhone at home. To complement this new capability, watchOS 4 includes a new feature that will allow you to automatically sync some of your favorite music to the Apple Watch. This is quite useful if you want to exercise and only bring your bluetooth headphones and your Apple Watch. Combining this with the new watchOS 4 feature that allows you to pair your Apple Watch with gym equipment, and the other new feature to quickly add a new exercise to your current session directly on the watch, one can quickly see that it becomes even easier to switch your current exercise,or music, without needing to fumble with your watch.

There are both upsides and downsides to the inclusion of LTE on the Apple Watch. The upside is that Apple has worked with the carriers to be able to receive phone calls on your Apple Watch. This is not only a convenient feature when around the house, but it will be super helpful should you need to call emergency services. The addition of LTE also means that you will be able to receive iMessages, phone calls, and perform many of the same tasks you would on an iPhone, but with your Apple Watch. Starting in October, you will even be able to stream your Apple Music right from you watch, over LTE.

The processor in the Apple Watch Series 3 has been upgrade to a faster dual-core model, named the S3. Along with this there is a new Apple Wireless chip, the W2. The W2 make some enhancements over the W1, but what those are is not known.

There is an additional hardware change. The Apple Watch Series 3 includes a new barometric altimeter. The barometric altimeter will allow you to more accurately track flights walked up as well as differences in elevation when you are exercising outdoors.

The Apple Watch Series 3, with Cellular has 16GB of storage available on it, this is up from 8GB on the non-cellular models and the older Apple Watches. The last tweak is that the back of the Apple Watch Series 3, with cellular is ceramic and no longer composite. This is due to the nature of radio and the need to be able to send signals through the back of the watch. The advance in processing power has allowed Apple to let Siri actually respond with voice instead of just text.

The last change regarding cellular is the location of the wireless radio for cellular. It is actually embedded within the screen which leaves even more room for the other internals that are needed. Let us turn to some accessories for the Apple Watch, most notably the bands.

Bands

One of the ways that individuals customize their Apple Watch is through bands. Apple has unveiled a new style of band, the Sport Loop. The Sport Loop combines the best of the Sport band with the best of the Milanese Loop. The Sport Loop functions like the Milanese in that you can precisely position it how you need. At the same time though, it is able to breathe like the sport band so that you can use it while exercising.

There are eight colors for the Sport Loop. These colors are:

• Flash
• Spicy Orange
• Electric Pink
• Midnight Blue
• Black Sport
• Seashell
• Dark Olive
• Pink Sand

Just like traditional sport bands, these cost $49 and are available to order today for delivery on September 22nd. The Sport Loop is not the only update, there are two new Hermès bands as well. One for the 38mm, the Hermès Bordeaux Swift Leather Double Tour, and the corresponding Single Tour version available for both the 38mm and 42mm. The Double Tour is $489, and the Single Tour is $339. There are still more bands available.

There is a whole new line of Nylon Colors. The available colors for Nylon are:

• Dark Olive Woven Nylon
• Midnight Blue Woven Nylon
• White Woven Nylon
• Spicy Orange Woven Nylon
• Berry Woven Nylon
• Black Woven Nylon
• White Woven Nylon
• Midnight Blue Woven Nylon
• Black Woven Nylon

Just like the Sport Loop, these are available for delivery starting September 22nd. There is a single new Nike Sport Band, the Pure Platinum/Black band. It is available for $49. The last new set of bands available are the Leather ones, with buckles. The new options are:

• Cosmos Blue Classic Buckle
• Pink Fuchsia Classic Buckle
• Dark Aubergine Classic Buckle
• Ruby (PRODUCT)RED Classic Buckle
• Cosmos Blue Leather Loop (42mm only)
• Charcoal Gray Leather Loop (42mm only)

Just like the other bands, these are available for order today and delivery of September 22nd. These bands cost $149 each.

Apple Watch Colors

Outside of the addition of LTE, there have been a couple of other hardware changes. The Apple Watch initially came in two colors, Silver and Space Gray. There were three different possible materials choices for the case; aluminum, stainless steel, and also solid gold, but that was for the high-end “edition” model. The Apple Watch Series 2 expanded the colors to include Rose Gold and Gold for the aluminum in addition to a new white ceramic as the "Apple Watch Edition" model. This year there are a couple new colors. There is a new "Blush Gold" aluminum color and a new "Gray" for the ceramic edition of the Apple Watch. While these may be modest changes, these will definitely help attract more users, and provide a few more options in the product line.

The Apple Watch Series 3 comes in the same color choices. For the Sport model the options are Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. Pricing for the 38MM aluminum starts at $329. The Cellular option is $70 more at $399. The 42MM is $359 for the non-cellular model and $429 for the cellular model. The Apple Watch Edition is only available in a cellular model. The 38MM is $1299, and the 42MM is $1349.

The Stainless Steel and Hermes models are available in the same colors as before. The Stainless Steel model only comes in two colors, Silver and Space Gray, and just like the Apple Watch Edition, the Stainless Steel model is only available in a cellular configuration. The 38mm is available for $599, and the 42mm is $649. The Hermes is only available in Stainless Steel and only comes in cellular models.

Pre-orders for all of the Apple Watch Series 3 starts on September 15th with deliveries beginning on September 22nd.

Apple TV

The Apple TV began life in 2007 as a modified version of a Mac Mini. This was replaced with a small "puck" like device in the 2nd and 3rd Generation Apple TVs. In 2015, Apple unveiled their all new 4th Generation Apple TV. This Apple TV changed the paradigm for the Apple TV to one that was based upon applications and not based upon whom Apple was willing to partner with. The Apple TV has seen a modicum of success in the last two years. Today, Apple announced an all new Apple TV 4K. The changes that have been brought with the Apple TV 4K bring capabilities to the Apple TV that allow it to take advantage of today's television technology.

The most notable upgrade to the Apple TV 4K is the fact that it can do 4K. 4K television have been around for almost a decade and it is very likely that any TV that you purchase will be a 4K Television. 4K offers twice the number of vertical pixels, 2160, as well as twice the number of horizontal pixels, 3840 pixels over traditional HD TVs, which have a resolution of 1920 pixels wide by 1080 Pixels high. This means that there are four times the number of pixels on the same size screen. This should allow for better clarity and smoother action scenes.

The second, and possibly more noticeable feature, is the addition of High Dynamic Range, or HDR. You may already be familiar with HDR if you use your iPhone to take pictures. HDR on an iPhone will take three pictures and take the best features of each and combine them into a single picture. Ultimately, this results in better colors and more contrast within a picture. The same general thing occurs with HDR on TVs. HDR on a TV will allow for even blacker blacks and even brighter whites. This means that all of the colors on a screen will be even brighter and clearer, which will see the picture even more life-like.

The internals of the Apple TV 4K have been significantly improved. It now sports an A10X Fusion processor in it. This is the same as the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and 2nd Generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The Apple TV 4K also has Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity to the latest peripherals. Alongside this comes HDMI 2.0a and Gigabit Ethernet. This is up from Bluetooth 4.2, HDMI 1.4, and 10/100 ethernet. The wireless has also been improved to support the 5GHz band

Apple would not introduce a 4K Apple TV without having some 4K content to go with it. iTunes now has 4K content within the store. 4K movies will cost the same as HD movies. So around $20 for new releases. Rentals will cost the same around $6 for new releases. With having four times as many pixels being shown within a 4K movie, you might think that the size of the file would be significantly higher. In reality, they are not. With the new High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) in tvOS 11, and iOS 11, 4K movies will be able to be better compressed all while maintaining their quality. This means that 4K movies should come in around 4GB for a 90 minute movie. This is approximately the same size as a 1080p movie that is not encoded with HEVC.

If you already have HD Movies, they will automatically be upgraded to 4K versions. This is a great perk for those who already have large iTunes collections.

The addition of 4K and HDR to the Apple TV will make it a worthy upgrade for anyone who has an Apple TV and a 4K TV. The Apple TV 4K is available for pre-order on September 15th, for $179 for the 32GB model and $199 for the 64GB model. The 32GB 4th Generation Apple TV is still around for $149.

iPhones

With the iPhone being the biggest consumer item for Apple, making up 60% of all of Apple's profits, and with selling millions of phones every quarter, it is hard to keep a lid on all of the changes that are to come with a new iPhone. This year presents a big change for iPhones. The biggest being that there are three different models being introduced. From 2007 through 2013, there was only one model introduced. It may have come in some colors, but there was only one size. From 2007 to 2011, this was a 3.5-inch sized iPhone. For 2012 and 2013, this was 4-inch screen. Since 2014, there have been two sizes, 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens, starting with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. These two sizes continue with the 8 and 8 Plus. Let us look at the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus continue on the tradition of their predecessors. The general form factor of the phone has remained unchanged since the introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014. There have been some interior structural changes, like with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 Plus becoming a bit more rigid to combat any inadvertent bending. Many people may complain that the outside of the iPhone has remained unchanged for four releases now, however this does come with some benefits. For instance, it means that Apple has gotten really good at making the exterior cases for the phone. Along side this, many of your peripherals will continue to work with a new phone, just like they did on the old phone. However, that is not always the case.

The biggest change with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models were that he headphone jack was removed. The removal of the headphone jack allowed Apple to make the iPhone something that it was not previously capable of being; water resistant. One of the quickest ways to kill any electronic device is to expose it to water. The change to the water resistant case, which required removal of the headphone jack, has lead to fewer iPhones being destroyed by being put into water; whether willingly or unwillingly.

Processor

One change that occurs every year is the interior components. The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus contains the new A11 Bionic processor along with its M11 motion co-processor. The A11 Bionic This brings even better battery efficiency and processing to the phone. The A11 Bionic is a six core processor that consists of four high efficiency cores that are up to 70 percent faster than A10 Fusion. It also has two high performance cores that are up to 25 percent faster than the A10 Fusion. To go with the processor, Apple has included a new Apple-designed graphics processor as well. This will get 30% faster performance over the graphics in the A10 Fusion.

There is an all new item incorporated with the A11 Bionic, a neural engine. The neural engine will allow even faster processing of Augmented Reality and Machine Learning than the A10 Fusion. The neural engine is designed not only for Augmented Reality and Machine Learning, but can be used for many other things like processing of items within photos and much much more. The new items within the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus do not end there. Let us look now turn to the screen.

Screen

The screen on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are significantly better with an all new technology that Apple is calling Retina HD displays. Retina HD displays incorporate True Tone technology to adjust the screen to the right brightness, contrast, and color based upon the surroundings. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus also incorporate the Wide Color Gamut, which will be able to show the best colors possible.

With the glass back on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple has matched the aluminum band around the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus to be the exact same color as the back. Besides matching aesthetically, this also allows for more rigidity within the iPhone.

Camera

The biggest usage of any iPhone is the camera. The camera in the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been vastly improved. They now both feature Quad-LED True Tone flash with Slow Sync. They are also capable of recording 4K video at 60 frames per second, which will make your 4K video even more life-like. The cameras have otherwise remained largely the same.

The iPhone 8 Plus has seen a bit of an improvement on its own. It now has a new feature, Portrait Lighting. Similar to the way that Portrait photos were brought to the iPhone 7 Plus last year, Portrait Lighting is in beta, but it allows you to perform some interesting effects with a Portrait photo. Portrait Lighting will take the information from the surrounding light and apply a lighting effect to the photo. The biggest benefit is that you can do this retroactively and you can also change

Battery

One of the things you can always expect is that battery life on the iPhone will remain fairly consistent. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are no exception. They get the same battery life as their predecessors.

The iPhone 8 has a new set of materials on the outside. The front and back are now both glass. The glass is surrounded by a band of aluminum. The glass back allows for an all new feature to iPhones, wireless charging.

The wireless charging that is included with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is the Qi, pronounced "she", standard. This means that if you have a Qi-compliant charging pad, it will work with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The inclusion of wireless charging will allow users to simply place their iPhone on a charging pad and it should begin charging. This means that you will not have to plug in your iPhone just to have it charge. This is convenient, not only for home, but also if you travel. This is because you can bring a charging mat that will allow your iPhone, Apple Watch Series 3, and even AirPods charge wirelessly.

There is a new product coming in 2018 called "AirPower". AirPower is a mat designed by Apple that will allow you to charge all of your Apple devices at once.

Pricing

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus come in two configurations. 64GB and 256GB and come in three colors; Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. The prices have gone up slightly to $699 and $799, respectively, for the 64GB models. The 256GB models are $849 and $949 respectively. Pre-orders for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus begin Friday September 15th, and delivery starts on September 22nd.

Other iPhones

When Apple introduces new iPhone models, they typically eliminate an older model, however that is not the case this year. The iPhone 6s/6s Plus and iPhone 7/7 Plus are still available, as is the iPhone SE. The pricing on these models has changed though.

The iPhone SE is now $50 cheaper, at $349 for 32GB and $449 for 128GB. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have dropped by $100. The iPhone 6s is $449 for the 32GB model, and $549 for the 128GB Model, while the iPhone 6s Plus is $549 for the 32GB model and $649 for the 128GB Model. The iPhone 7 is also $100 less at $549 for the 32GB model, and $649 for the 128GB model, where as the iPhone 7 Plus is $669 for the 32GB model, and $769 for the 128GB Model.

The decision to keep the iPhone 6s will allow even more devices to be purchased that support ARKit under iOS 11, which means that Apple's current iPhone line supports ARKit.

Final Thoughts

The new LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 3 will allow those who exercise to leave their phones somewhere safe and no use them and without having to sacrifice connectivity. The improved processor will make things even smoother than before. Even though the Apple Watch Serires 2 is no longer available for sale, the Series 1 is still available at a new lower price, of $249. The inclusion of cellular as a standard on the Hermes, Stainless Steel, and Ceramic Edition will provide even more benefit for users who purchase those versions.

The new Apple TV 4K is a great upgrade to bring the Apple TV up to date to be able to take advantage of the latest technologies, like 4K and High Dynamic Range. Keeping the old 4th Generation Apple TV around at a lower price point will allow more options for Apple TVs and will allow those who do not have a 4K TV to be able to take advantage of the capabilities of the Apple TV. The automatic upgrade of previously purchased content to 4K is a definite plus that will benefit everyone, not just those who have 4K now, but will end up buying a 4K TV in the future. The biggest benefit is that the pricing of the 4K movies will be the same price as HD movies, which is great for consumers and will ultimately benefit the movie companies as well.

The new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus bring some solid enhancements to the already future-looking iPhone lineup. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus add a couple of additional phones to the lineup and are ARKit compatible. The all new glass back will definitely allow the adoption of the Qi wireless charging standard to become the de facto standard. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are solid upgrades over the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The Retina HD with True Tone display will allow for better viewing all around. If you are in the market for an iPhone, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are solid upgrades. Just be sure to get your wallets ready for pre-orders of all of these starting on Friday.

Now that Apple has announced that its Fall 2017 event will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater on September 12th, at 10AM Pacific Time, it is time for me to make my predictions for what we will see. Even though Apple does hold other events throughout the year, its biggest has been the September event. The reason for the attention to the September event is that it has been the tradition to show off the new iPhones at the event. In years past, the September event has been used for Music. The iPhone makes up 60% of Apple's revenue, so that is where the most attention is paid, not only by the tech press, but mainstream media as well. Let us dive into my predictions.

iPhones

I think there will be three new iPhone versions unveiled at the event. The successors to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which will be named the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus. These will use the same form factor as the previous versions. The biggest changes will be from the addition of the Dual camera for the iPhone 7s, which will allow Portrait Mode on the smaller size. I think the processor will be an A11 Fusion, the next generation of processor and the two phones will have parity, in everything except for size. This is akin to the way the iPad Pros are now positioned. This will just be a continuation of that model. I think the sizes will remain the same at 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Alongside this, I think the colors will also remain the same as Silver, Gold, Rose Gold, and Space Gray. The prices will also remain the same at $649 for the 32GB iPhone 7s, and each increase in size is $100 more. The same will be for the iPhone 7s Plus, starting at $769 for the 32GB, and $100 more for each size above that. I give this a 95% probability of occurring.

New iPhone Form Factor

The third new phone will be an all new model. This is the rumored "Unicorn" iPhone. As an aside, the idea of naming it "Unicorn" is dumb, it will only be a "Unicorn" phone until it is released and then the next iPhone will be the "Unicorn" phone. You can absolutely call it the "Ferrari" phone, or "D22", or "iPhone 8" or even "iPhone Pro". For the sake of these predictions, I will call it the iPhone Pro. The reason I think it may be called the iPhone Pro is it allows Apple to get away from assigning a number to it, and instead just call all versions the same name.

I think the iPhone Pro will sport everything that has been rumored, as well as leaked from the HomePod firmware. The iPhone Pro will sport an "edge to edge" display, an A11 Fusion processor, and a True Tone OLED Display that supports Apple's ProMotion technology, similar to the iPad Pros. Along with all of this, there will be an improved dual camera system that will be even better at detecting objects and may even be able to have a new setting for automatically doing a "Portrait" mode of a Photo, much like you are able to do now with HDR photos. I give this aspect a 25% chance. That is not all with the camera. I'm also thinking that it will be able to do 3X optical zoom, up from the 2X optical zoom on the iPhone 7s Plus. The rationale behind this is that the 10.5-inch and 2nd Generation 12.9-inch iPad Pros both have 3x optical zoom capability. The last new feature of the phone, which may also make its way into the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus is 4K record at 60 frames per second. All of Apple's cameras have been able to do 4K at 30 frames per second, but having a "Pro" iPhone capable of 4K at 60fps would be a great feature. I know I would use it.

As the rumors have indicated, I think Touch ID will not be available on the iPhone Pro, yet there will be a replacement, BioMetric detection through Face Detection. The last new feature that I think will come to the "iPhone Pro" will be wireless charging. Apple already has some wireless charging available with the Apple Watch. The lightning port will not go away, as it is still necessary for many things. However, the ability to charge wirelessly will be built-in and a wireless charging dock will be an extra cost. My guess is $99 or even $129 for the dock. If this does come to fruition, whatever standard that Apple chooses, if they do not do their own, will ultimately become the de-facto standard since Apple ships so many phones.

The hard part to predict with an iPhone Pro is the price. The rumors indicate that it will be $1200. While I can see Apple charging that for a phone, that is most likely the top end model. There are two possibilities. Let us look at both of these.

The first possibility is that the iPhone Pro will come in three sizes; 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Again, this is similar to the iPad Pro and these are the sizes that the iPad Pros come in. In this scenario I think the iPhone Pro will also start at $899 or $949, and be $100 more for each size increase. I am speculating this because Apple likes to give surprises and pricing is the one thing that Apple can decide to change at the absolute last minute. A similar pricing surprise occurred with the introduction of the original iPad. Before it was announced, the rumors indicated it would cost $999, and it came in at $499.

The second possibility, which after thinking about it more seems the more likely course. It is entirely possible that Apple may not do a "low end" size and will only make the iPhone Pro available in two sizes; 256GB and 512GB. This would be akin to the "Jet Black" and "Product Red" iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models. These do not come in 32GB versions. If Apple does truly want this to be a "Professional" phone, then only having two sizes would make sense. In this scenario, the pricing may be more inline with the rumors. The pricing could come in at $1049 or $1069 for the 256GB and $1149 or $1169 for the 512GB version.

I give the overall chance of an iPhone Pro at 90% with the automatic "Portrait Mode" pictures at 25%, object detection at 75%, no Touch ID at 90%, and a new biometric option at 90%. I give 4K at 60 frames per second is 50% chance of occurring and I give wireless charging a 50% chance of occurring. I give my speculation on the pricing on the iPhone Pro at 60%. Now that the iPhones have been covered let us turn to the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch has slowly become a more focused product, which is the opposite of the iPhone. The Apple Watch is primarily focused on fitness, and one of the current downsides is that those who want to go and exercise usually have to bring their iPhones along with them. My guess is that this will change with the addition of an LTE version of the Apple Watch. This will be the biggest change to the Apple Watch, besides the inclusion of a new, even more power efficient S3 processor.

I also think that there will be some new Watch Bands, these will have slightly different colors and the existing bands will support the Apple Watch. I think the pricing will be the same as the existing Apple Watch, at $369 for the 38MM, and $399 for the 42MM. I think the LTE versions will be $499 and $529 for each respective size. This would be the same as what it cost to put LTE into an iPad, $130 more. With the introduction of this model, the Series 2 will become the "lower end" model, and drop to $269 for the 38MM and $299 for the 42MM.

I give the likelihood of a new Apple Watch at 90% and a separate LTE version at 90%, the Apple Watch Pricing at 80% and new Apple Watch Bands at 95%. That is all there is for the Apple Watch, let us move to the Apple TV.

Apple TV

The Apple TV is an interesting product. Apple had hoped that the new version of TV would be application based, and while they are not entirely wrong, I do not think it has exploded as Apple might have hoped. Despite that, I think there will be an updated Apple TV unveiled. I think it will have an A9 processor, and support 4K and High Dynamic Range content. It will support resolutions of 3840 by 2160, which is double the vertical resolution of the previous generation.

I think the storage sizes will be reduced from two, which were 32GB and 64GB, down to just one, a 64GB model. There will still be a 32GB Model, but that will be the 4th Generation Apple TV. The price on the 4th Generation will drop to $119, and the 5th Generation will be $149. I think this may be necessary to be able to compete with other streaming boxes. You can get a 4K Roku for $60, or an Amazon Fire TV for $90. Continuing to charge almost a $100 more, while it may make sense in terms of margins, will not get you new customers as quickly as if you have a compelling hardware offering. If Apple truly sees services as the place for continued growth, then the hardware prices should start to reflect that. Combine this with the rumored $1 Billion that Apple is putting into original Television and it could prove to be a good start to bringing more people into the Apple ecosystem.

Since Apple does not have its own catalog of content yet, it will need to be supplemented. That is why the release date for the Amazon Prime Video app will be announced on stage. It is already 100% certain that it will come, as it was announced back at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference Keynote.

I give the likelihood of a new Apple TV coming at 90%, Amazon Prime Video app at 100%, and pricing at 75%. It is entirely possible that Apple does not

HomePod

Apple's newest foray into Music and voice is the HomePod. It was unveiled at Apple's 2017 World Wide Developer Conference keynote as being available in December, I think Apple will provide a bit more information, possibly even a month in which it can pre-ordered. I give the chance of this happening at 50%.

macOS High Sierra and iOS 11

While iOS is now the primary focus not only for Apple, due to profits, but also for developers, the Mac and macOS does not get as much love. Apple will announce the availability date for macOS High Sierra. My guess is that it will be the same day as iOS 11 availability. So my guess is September 19th at the release date for both of these. It is possible that macOS High Sierra might not be released until later though. So I give this an 80% chance of occurring.

New Mac Hardware

There is a very very small chance that new Mac Hardware will be discussed, as in a 5% chance. The only Mac that has not been updated this year is the Mac Mini. If Apple mentions it on stage, it will be very brief. In all likelihood. Any Mac Mini update will simply be a press release or even just a change on the website and nothing more.

Recap

So, to recap, here is what I am thinking will happen at the September 12th Event. There is just about a week until the event, in the days after the event I will post my prediction results. There are a total of twenty two predictions, so we will see how well I do.

Apple has announced the date, as well as sending out invitations to select press members for its Fall event. It will be held on September 12th at 10AM Pacific Time. The date of September 12th was rumored. One of the aspects to the announcement that was unknown, but had been speculated was the location of the event. Apple has confirmed that it will be held in the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park Campus. This is the first public event being held at the new campus and in the new theater. It is befitting given that Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone 10 years ago in 2007.

My predictions for what I think Apple will end up announcing at this event should be available early next week. This invitation sent out is shown below.

Apple held their annual Fall event earlier this week. The event was filled with both the expected, and a couple of very unexpected items. We'll go over each of the items announced.

iPhone 7

Apple unveiled a slew of new features for their next iPhones, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The first thing that most people notice with any iPhone is the color. This year's iPhones have two new colors, but one color is being retired. The new colors are Black and Jet Black. The remaining colors are Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold. This means that Space Grey is no longer in the line up. The Jet Black iPhone 7 is polished to a high gloss finish, and is very reflective. The standard Black iPhone 7 provides a more matte finish.

The next thing that many would like to know about is the storage sizes of the iPhone. This year Apple's has doubled the storage sizes. They are now 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. All iPhone 7 colors are available in these sizes, except the Jet Black. That is only available in 128GB and 256GB models. The pricing for the iPhone 7 is the same as the 6s and 6s Plus. They start at $649, if paying full price, or about $37 with Apple’s Upgrade Program.

One thing that most iPhone users have in common is that we have all dropped our iPhones at one point or another. Sometimes these drops are on a carpet and the dropped iPhone is no worse for wear. However, all to often the iPhone comes into contact with a water source. To help protect users, Apple has made the iPhone 7 water resistant. This has been done by re-engineering the seals that help protect the internals of the iPhone. This also comes from the design and being able to minimize the inputs on the iPhone 7.

The second new feature is the new processor, the A10 Fusion. This goes above and beyond what was already done with the A9 processor. The A10 combines four processors, two of these are high performance processors, while the other two are lower performance. Apple's own processor engine determines which processor is needed for which tasks. Applications like games, 3D Rendering, or any intensive application will be able to use the high performance processors. At the same time, applications like email, and Siri can use the lower performing processors. This is all handled by Apple's own performance controller which will determine whether the application needs performance or battery life.

Similar to the processing power is the graphical performance. The iPhone 7 has a six-core graphical processor that is capable of performing 50% faster than the A9, or even 3 times faster than the A8. One of the things that the graphics performance is needed for is the Camera. The iPhone 7 has a whole new set of cameras.

The iPhone 7 now has optical image stabilization on both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models. Besides this, there is a whole new camera assembly. The new camera uses an f/1.8 lens, that can take in even more light to create even better images. It is still a 12 Megapixel camera, however it is now 60% faster and consumes 30% less power. The two tone flash now has four LEDs to provide 50% more light. This is particularly useful in low light situations. The other new feature is a flicker sensor. The flicker sensor will be able to detect any errant light in the frame and will match that light so you will not end up with wavy lines in your photos. This is most useful if you try to capture an image off of your TV.

On the iPhone 7 Plus, there is now a dual camera system. The camera mentioned above is the first the second lens is for telephoto pictures. The second camera has a 56mm lens that will allow you to zoom in. This is very simple to do. On the iPhone 7, there will be a software button, just above the sensor that will allow you to zoom in to 2x. This button will use the second lens to optically zoom. There is also software zoom available. This is accessible by holding on the software button and sliding to the right. This will zoom up to 10x. Anything above 2x is software zoom.

One thing that many photographers want to be able to do with their iPhone is accurately capture and display the colors that are represented. The best way to be able to do this is to use the latest color display. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus do just this by utilizing a new display that will show the DCI-P3 color gamut. This color gamut I'd already present on the late 2015 iMac as well as the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. With the camera being able to take even more vivid colors, you will be able to get even better representations directly on your iPhone. These upgrades should also help if you are taking videos.

The rear cameras were not the only ones to get upgraded. The FaceTime HD Camera has also been upgraded. It now is a 7 megapixel sensor that supports the same color gamut as the rear cameras, DCI-P3. The FaceTime HD camera also supports Auto Image stabilization to make sure that you can take the best pictures. Along with the 7 megapixel upgrade, the camera is now capable of recording in 1080p. This is up from the 720p recording capabilities on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

The third new feature is actually the Home button. The Home button has been present since the original iPhone, but the Touch ID sensors within the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus now features a new taptic feature, similar to the Apple Watch. The new taptic feature allows feedback to be given for different actions. In conjunction with this, developers now have a new API for customizing the feedback given.

One aspect to the iPhone that many take for granted is the audio. Many users end up having to use the speaker in their iPhones There have been two significant changes to audio. The first revolves around the speaker. The iPhone 7 now encompasses two speakers. One on the bottom and a second one on the top. This is the first time that an iPhone has had stereo speakers. The dual speaker setup means that users will now be able to hear even more from their iPhone. This is primarily due to the speakers also being twice as loud. The new speakers also have improved dynamic range which should improve the audio output of the iPhone 7.

Many users use the EarPods that are bundled in with their iPhone. Apple is making a slight change to the EarPods. They will now have a lightning connector. With this change, the 3.5mm headphone connection has been removed. Do not fret too much though, included in the box is a lightning to 3.5mm adapter for those who will continue to need the connection. With the headphones now being lightning, the quality of the output should be even better. However, this setup still requires wires. Apple is bullish on a wireless future. To help usher in this new era they have created a new type of headphone, the AirPods.

The Apple AirPods take Apple's work with the EarPods and brings them forward. The AirPods look just like EarPods sans the wires. The AirPods are able to hold a five hour charge. This may not seem like much, and it may not be. But, the AirPods come with a charging case that can charge the AirPods for up to 24 hours. The AirPods can be charged in the charging case via a lightning cable. A fifteen minute charge will give you three hours of battery life with the AirPods.

The AirPods have a brand new chip inside of them, the Wireless1, or W1. The W1 chip has some features that many users will find compelling. The W1 chip contains an accelerometer so it can sense when it is being used and only play sound when it detects it is in use. Alongside this, there is also a voice accelerometer to be able to recognize voice as well as beam forming microphones to be able to reduce outside noise so if you are on a call, you will sound clearer.

The last piece to the W1 chip, and the AirPods, is pairing. If you have tried to use Bluetooth with multiple devices, you know that switching between the two devices can be a painful process. Apple has decided to take this method and make it easier. When you place the AirPods near your iPhone 7, and open the top to the AirPods you will be presented with a dialog asking if you want to pair. You simply tap “Pair” and the two items are paired. That is it. The AirPods will also be paired with your Apple Watch, if one is paired with your iPhone. That s not all, all of your pairing information will be synchronized over iCloud to your Macs as well, meaning that you will be able to seamlessly switch between your Macs, iPhone and Apple Watch.

The AirPods are not the only headphones to get this technology. The new Beats Solo 3 Wireless, Powerbeats 3, and the new Beats X lines will all have the W1 chip built right in. This means that you will be able to seamlessly pair and switch your Beats between your iPhone, Apple Watch, and Macs.

Apple is keeping the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in the iPhone lineup as well. These prices are now $549 for the iPhone 6s and $649 for the iPhone 6s Plus. The storage for these starts at 32GB, this is double the previous base of 16GB. There is only one other storage option for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, that is 128GB. These cost $649 and $749 respectively. This means that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are no longer in the lineup.

The iPhone 7 will be a fantastic upgrade for all users. That is not the only new product announced by the Apple. The next product is the Apple Watch.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch was introduced 18 months ago. In that time it has become the number one selling smart watch and the second best selling watch by revenue. Apple has improved the Apple Watch, with the new Apple Watch Series 2.

The Series 2 includes a brand new processor, the S2. The S2 chip is now dual-core and allows for even faster processing. Besides being dual-core, the S2 now also includes a GPS. The GPS will be very beneficial for users who want to track their exercises. The GPS can be used without an iPhone accompanying it. The Apple Watch Series 2 also has a brighter screen. In fact, it is twice as bright as the previous Series 1 screen. The brighter screen will make it even easier to see in a brightly lit area. This was not the only change to the Apple Watch Series 2.

Just like the iPhone, the Apple Watch Series 2 is also water resistant. The Apple Watch Series 2 is water resistant up to 50 meters. This makes it great for swimming, snorkeling, or even just tooling around the pool. Being water resistant meant that Apple had to redesign the seals and internals in order to protect the watch. The one area that had to remain opened is the speaker. Apple took a clever turn with this. the speaker itself is designed to the water out of the Apple Watch when you are done in the water.

With the water resistance of the Apple Watch, this also allows for two new exercises to be added. These do relate to the water. There are now two swimming related, one for pool swimming and one for open water swimming. The difference is that the pool exercise will take into account laps.

The Apple Watch Series 2 will cost $369 for the 38mm version and $399 for the 42mm version.

Apple has partnered with a couple of companies, Nike and Hermes to bring some new products. The Nike+ Apple Watch comes in four colors, and is designed for those who really want to exercise. The cases consist of an aluminum case and perforated bands and come in two colors, Space Grey and Silver. The Nike+ watches cost the same as the Apple Watch Series 2 watches, at $369 for the 38mm and $399 for the 42mm version. The Hermes partnership bring two new bands, a new Single Tour and Double Tour bands.

There is also Apple Watch Edition Series 2 watch. It is no longer the Yellow and Rose Gold. Instead it is made of White Ceramic. The Apple Watch Edition is only available in White, and will cost $1249 for the 38mm version and $1299 for the 42mm version.

The Apple Series 1 watch also received a slight upgrade, only to the processor. It now has the same dual-core processor that is present in the Apple Watch Series 2. The price for the Apple Series 1 is $269 for the 38mm and $299 for the 42mm watches.

The Apple Watch Series 2 is a solid upgrade, particularly for those that are focused on fitness. The addition of the GPS to the Apple Watch Series 2 will be much needed to alleviate the need to carry and iPhone while out exercising.

Nintendo

The biggest surprise of the event was that a Nintendo executive appeared on Stage. The executive that appeared on stage was not just ANY executive, Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage. Miyamoto is the brains behind iconic games like Donkey Kong, the Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario Brothers. At the event Miyamoto announced a new application coming to iOS that includes a Nintendo property. That application is Super Mario Run. Super Mario Run is a side-scroller, just like the Classic Mario games, except that it is an endless runner.

Super Mario Run is able to be played with one hand. The game play consists of tapping to make Mario jump, or tapping and holding to have Mario jump higher. The goal is to get to the flag before time runs out, just like in the classic Mario games.

This is not the only mode. There is also a battle mode, where you can face off against other players. You can try and beat their time, and there will be a ghost of their run to see how they completed the run. The coins that you collect will help you add items to your own Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario Super Run will be available in December. The game will be free with one in-app purchase to unlock all of the content. Once you buy the in-app purchase, you will have the entire game.

This was not the only announcement that was made that involved Nintendo. Niantic, the company behind the popular Pokemon Go application also had an announcement. Their announcement was that Pokemon Go was coming to the Apple Watch. This change means that those who are out hunting Pokemon no longer have to have their phone open all of the time. Users are now able to be notified on their watch that there are Pokemon to catch along side being notified that their eggs are hatched. This change should make it easier for people not only to pay attention to their surroundings, but also save some battery life.

Final Thoughts

Apple's September 7th Event was one that provided a solid update with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The dual cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus will be a boon for those who enjoy using their iPhone as a camera. The increased battery life, while maintaining the same form factor will be great for all users.

The new AirPods are just the beginning of a new era in technology for Apple. The ability to charge the airPods quickly and provide an additional 3 hours of battery should help some get through an entire work day with their AirPods.

The surprise of having Nintendo and Niantic both appear on stage brought audible gasps and claps, and may just be the beginning of a very fruitful collaboration between Nintendo and Apple. Pre-orders are live now, but you will end up having to wait to get a device.

Apple breaks up the year into three different parts of the year; Early, Mid, and Late. Each part is four months. Apple generally has one event in each of these parts. Apple has held their early 2016 event; dubbed "Let us loop you in".

Apple has unveiled a bunch of new products. Let us look at each of the announced products.

Apple TV

Last Fall Apple unveiled the 4th generation Apple TV. There is no new hardware, but there is the new release of tvOS 9.2. A few of the new features of tvOS 9.2 include: Folder Support, additional Siri dictation, including passwords, conference room display mode, bluetooth keyboard support, and now iCloud Photo Library with Live Photo support.

This is a nice upgrade that adds in some features that users had requested.

Apple Watch

Last year at the March event Apple provided details for the availability of the Apple Watch. Some may have anticipated that the Apple Watch would be a product that is released yearly. If you were hoping for that, Apple has dashed those hopes.

Apple has positioned the Watch as a fashion product. While they may not be able to release new hardware every season, they are able to provide new personalization options by releasing additional bands.

The Apple Watch now has a new type of band, the Nylon Band. The Nylon Band is available in seven different color combinations; Black, Gold and Red, Gold and Royal Blue, Pearl, Pink, Royal Blue, and Scuba Blue. These bands come in both 38mm and 42mm varieties and are $49 each.

Along with the new Nylon Bands, there are three additional Sport Band colors: Apricot, Royal Blue, and Yellow; Two Classic Buckle bands Red and Marine Blue. Two Modern Buckles, Blue Jay and Marigold.The last new bands are the leather loops, Storm Gray and White.

The last change to the Apple Watch is one that will temp more to purchase the Apple Watch, a price drop. The new price for the Apple Watch is $299 for the 38mm and $349 for the 42MM Sport versions.

iPad

While it may not have been the first tablet on the market, the iPad can be considered the one that put the idea of a tablet front and center in the mindshare of the public. Even though it is not at its peak and has fallen, it has not deterred Apple from continuing to innovate the iPad.

iPad Air 2

The iPad Air 2 received a single change, a $100 price drop. This means that the iPad Air 2 is now priced at $399 and $499 for the 16GB and 64GB models respectively. There is still the Wi-Fi + Cellular models available at $529 and $629 for the 16GB and 64GB model.

iPad Pro

Back in September Apple unveiled the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Apple has now released the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. This is the spiritual successor of the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, but is also very closely related to the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is similar to the larger model. The 9.7-inch model supports the Apple Pencil and also has a Smart Connector. With a Smart Connector comes a new Smart Keyboard as well.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro also has the same A9X Processor and M9 Co-processor as the larger iPad Pro. There are also the same four speakers within the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. This means that as you rotate the iPad Pro, the speakers are able to automatically adjust the sound.

This is about where the similarities between the iPad Pros end. There are some other improvements that have been made to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has a brand new display that Apple is calling True Tone. The display utilizes the same color gamut as the Late 2015 iMac, the DCI-P3. This means that the colors will be truer to life. This is not the only difference between the two iPads.

One of the features that many have question about the iPad is the camera. The camera on the 9.7-inch iPad is a vast improvement over the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's camera. The camera

The last difference is the colors. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is available in four colors; Silver, Gold, Rose-Gold and Space Gray.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro still comes in the 32GB and 128GB models. Along with this, it is also available in a 256GB model. This comes in both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular models. The price of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is $599, $749, and $899 for the Wi-Fi models only. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models are $729, $879, and $1029 respectively.

12.9-inch iPad Pro

While the 9.7-inch iPad Pro was the primary iPad shown off, it was not the only one that got some additional options. While there are no change to the form-factor of the larger iPad, there are a couple of additions options.

The 12.9-inch iPad is now also available in 256GB models of both Wifi-only and Wifi + Cellular. Along with this, a clarification has been made that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro can now utilize the lightning to USB-C cable and the 29-watt USB C power adapter. This combination will allow for super-fast charging of a 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

This method is not possible with the 9.7-inch iPad. This is due to that product only having USB 2.0 controller.

iPhone

Apple's best selling product the iPhone continues to sell really well. Apple is known to not divulge the breakdown of models that are sold. Even so, Apple did mention that they sold 30 Million iPhone 5s phones last year. This is a lot of phones that were sold based on 2013 technology. There are many reasons why some might prefer a smaller form-factor phone. They could range from pocket size, better fit in one's hands, or even just as Apple stated, cost. While using an iPhone 5s would be able to use some of the latest software features, you cannot easily upgrade the hardware inside of the phone. Apple has provided a significant update to the 4-inch form factor. That update is named the iPhone SE.

iPhone SE

The iPhone SE the successor of the iPhone 5s, Apple's 4-inch iPhone. The iPhone SE has the same case as the iPhone 5s, except instead of glossy chamfers, they are matte. The outside of the phone looks the same as the iPhone 5s, except for the colors. The iPhone SE comes in the standard four colors, Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, and Space Gray.

The innards of the iPhone SE are the same of the iPhone 6s with an A9 processor and the M9 co-processor. Along with the processors, there is a secure enclave and first-generation Touch ID sensor. This is the same Touch-ID Sensor that has been in the iPhones, prior to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

The rear camera is the same ƒ/2.2 aperture, Five‑element lens that is in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, minus the optical stabilization. Just like the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus you are able to record 4k video at 30 frames per second, 1080p at 30 or 60fps.

The only item not improved is the FaceTime camera. On the iPhone SE, it is still the same 1.2 Megapixel camera that was in the iPhone 5s. The likely reason for this is due to the lack of physical space within the physical case. There is one slight improvement, the addition of Retina Flash.

In case you are not aware, Retina Flash is the ability for the screen to light up to produce enough light that makes it easier to light up your face and surrounding area when taking a selfie.

The wireless connection on the iPhone SE has been upgraded to include 802.11AC. This means that the iPhone now supports 802.11A/B/G/N/AC. Unlike the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the iPhone SE does to include the MIMO technology.

The iPhone SE comes in two sizes, the 16GB version and a 64GB version. It comes in the same standard four colors, Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, and Space Gray.

You can order an iPhone SE today for $399 for the 16GB model and $499 for the 64GB model. The iPhone SE begins shipping on March 31st.

Final Thoughts

The events that Apple has held early in the year are not normally ones where brand new, completely unknown products from Apple are released, and this is the case with this year's event. Even so, Apple has released a solid set of updates.

The product with the least number of changes is the Apple TV, since it received only an upgrade to the software. The software is a minor upgrade, but provides a couple of key features that some users have been hoping would be added.

While the Apple Watch Hardware has remained unchanged, the addition of the new Nylon bands, as well as the new Sport bands and Modern Buckles will provide even more customization options for users. The reduction of the price for the Apple Watch may entice even more people to give the Apple Watch a try.

The release of the 4-inch iPhone SE continues to provide the smaller form-factor that many want and yet only minimally compromises on features, with the lack of 3D Touch and 2nd generation Touch ID sensor, being the only trade offs.

The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro is a great successor to the iPad Air 2. The 9.7-inch size is what most would consider the "standard" iPad size. The new True Tone screen will make an even better experience for iPad users. The addition of the Smart Connector and ability to use the Apple Pencil will allow the iPad to be even more of a PC replacement.