2019 is just around the corner and now is the best time to look back and remember what this year was for Apple. This year has been particularly productive for the company, with three major events and more than 10 new devices launched, including 3 new models iPhone.
Some devices produced excellent responses, while others were thwarted by their shortcomings. This year Apple also updated its old lines, which, it would seem, have completely forgotten. Below we will tell you about all the achievements of the company this year.
HomePod – February 2018
First presented at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2017, the smart speaker HomePod was released 8 months later – in February 2018. Apple apologized for the postponed release of the column, justifying herself by the fact that it still needed to be worked on. Unfortunately, the company's first smart speaker failed to surprise us. Siri on HomePod is not as good as Alexa on Amazon and Google Assistant, and leaves a lot to be desired in terms of available features.
On the other hand, in terms of sound quality HomePod it is much better than its competitors. Nevertheless, due to the high cost, not everyone can buy it, which cannot be said about smart speakers from other companies. Fortunately, by the end of this year, the value HomePod had already dropped.
Apple has been updating software for HomePod and adding new features all year, but the column is still far from competitors.
9.7-inch iPad (2018) – March 2018
In March this year, the 6th generation 9.7-inch iPad was presented, aimed at schoolchildren and students. In fact, this is an updated version of the same 5th generation tablet, but with improved filling and support Apple Pencil. The new tablet retains the same design, 9.7-inch display, Touch ID and 10-hour battery. To make the tablet perform better, Apple used an A10 processor.
With support for Apple Pencil iPad (2018), it was supposed to compete with Chromebooks and cheap laptops used for school. He did not succeed very much, but the tablet still found its buyer.
MacBook Pro – July 2018
This year Apple finally got the MacBook Pro line to match the 'pro' in the name. The company used 4-core Intel Coffee Lake processors for the 13-inch models and 6-cores for the 15-inch models.
More cores means the new MacBook Pro is up to 50% faster in some tasks. Plus, it now has 32GB of RAM, a Vega GPU, plenty of memory (4TB), and improved security thanks to the new T2 chip. Apple even fixed Butterfly keyboard issues by updating it.
Initially new MacBook Pros were overheating a lot, but Apple fixed this issue with a software update.
Three new iPhone and Apple Watch Series 4 – September / October 2018
As every year, September became the most eventful for the company – Apple presented four new devices. Apple has released 3 new models iPhone like last year. However, this time the company released two premium – iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max – and one budgetary – iPhone XR.
iPhone XS is an updated iPhone X and iPhone XS Max is a big option iPhone XS with 6.5 '' display and powerful battery . iPhone The XS and XS Max have not been much updated from the previous year. They have an improved A12 Bionic processor, improved Face ID system, OLED display and camera with Smart HDR function.
As for the budget iPhone XR, it was released only in October. They have the same specs as the iPhone XS apart from the LCD Liquid Retina display. Despite the lack of a second main camera, this model also takes portrait shots.
Given the modest updates to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, it should come as no surprise that they haven't had much success. iPhone XR also fell short of expectations.
The star of the September presentation Apple was Apple Watch Series 4. Now they have a bezel-less display, an improved 2-core processor and much more. This is the company's most revolutionary product this year. With new sensors Apple Watch Series 4 includes drop detection and ECG.
The ECG feature was only released two months after the release of Apple Watch Series 4 and is currently only available in the US. However, the function will save more than one life.
iPad Pro, Mac mini, MacBook Air (2018) – October 2018
A month after the presentation of the new iPhone and Apple Watch Series 4 Apple held another presentation, where she presented the line iPad Pro 2018, as well as updated Mac mini and MacBook Air.
iPad Pro 2018 has the iPhone X design: thinner bezels, bezel-less display, and now Face ID instead of Touch ID. Thanks to the new design, the tablets look very modern, but also their price has increased. But the model with 1 TB of memory already has 6 GB of RAM.
Apple also updated the Mac mini lineup, now aimed at professional users and can handle complex tasks. The computer now has a Intel Coffee Lake processor, a T2 security chip, and HEVC video support. In addition, up to 64GB of RAM, 2TB of internal storage is available, and there is a slot Thunderbolt 3. The GPU has not been updated, but you can now use external processors.
This year the company has also updated the line MacBook Air. The laptop now has a Retina display and thinner bezels. In addition, it is thinner and lighter, despite a more powerful battery that lasts for 10 hours. However, the new MacBook Air is not much faster than the previous model. It is intended for general users and does a good job of everyday tasks.