Technology Tuesday: All Things Apple…New iPads, MacBooks & More!
Today in Cupertino, Apple held it’s second keynote a mere six weeks after they had their first keynote of 2013 that announced their completely revamped operating system (iOS 7) and two new iPhone models. Today’s keynote agenda items were the newest models of the iPads, OS X Mavericks and MacBooks. Technology junkies were chomping at the bit to see what Apple had up its sleeve and they were not disappointed. Click below to meet the newest members of the Apple family!
OS X Mavericks
OS X Mavericks is the latest version of OS X and although it isn’t completely different then the previous one, it is chock full of subtle yet impressive minor changes. Mavericks boasts improved battery life (for laptop users), smarter use of compressed memory, full screen app support and integration, a supposed 300% Safari browser boost and all new apps updates that blow the previous ones right out of the water. Want to know the best part about Mavericks? It’s free! Download it right now actually…seriously though.
The MacBooks
For Apple’s signature brand of laptops they’ve taken quite the technical makeover. The 13 inch version of the MacBook is thinner and lighter (less than 3 pounds actually) and has better and faster processor (2.4 GHz Core i5), more RAM (4GB) and a 128GB Solid State Drive. It also has a an more enhanced crispier display then its predecessor. The 15 inch version is similar (but bigger) and has a 2.0 GHz quad-core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB Solid State Drive. Not to mention the same graphical enhancements as well. More great news? It’s $200 cheaper then its previous models, $1300 and $2000, respectively.
The iPads
Releasing November 1st, the iPad Air is 20% thinner and .44 pounds lighter than the last iPad. It also arries the brand new A7 system chip, which we first saw in the iPhone 5S. It is over 8 times faster than the original iPad and over 72 times faster in the graphics department. Faster Wi-Fi, a better front-facing camera and the same battery life (which is impressive for all the hardware upgrades). The iPad Air pricing starts at $500 for the Wi-Fi version and $630 for the LTE model. The new iPad Mini has the same exact guts as the new iPad Air, except it has a 7.9″ screen instead of the Air’s 9.7″ display. iPad Mini pricing starts at $400 for the Wi-Fi versions and $530 for the LTE version.