Apple announces upgrades to the iPad lineup and new Apple TV+ content coming this fall

Apple hosted their annual event yesterday and contrary to many of the leaks going around, it was quite trimmed down and to the point, many would even say it was rushed. The flow of the program did not do anything to take the spotlight off the product announcements, some of which, were absolutely mind-blowing.

Let’s take a look at everything that transpired at the September 2021 Apple Event.

Apple TV+ announces a slew of upcoming tv-shows

The beginning of the event saw the current Apple CEO, Tim Cook announce a slew of TV Shows that were heading to the Apple TV+ service this fall. The montage included trailers of these shows including The Morning Show Season 2, Foundation, and John Stewart’s new TV show, The Problem with John Stewart.

Apple TV+ is still in the growth stage and has a long way to go before it can challenge the heavy hitters in the market, but we have checked out some of the content on the platform and right off the bat, in terms of the sheer quality of content, Apple is really hitting the right notes with their offerings. It will be interesting to see how Apple TV+ progresses in the years to come.

The Apple TV+ segment served as a build-up to the product announcement, starting with, the iPads.

The classic iPad upgrade and the iPad Air overhaul

The iPad has seen tremendous growth, with 40% more iPad devices being sold just the last year. The market is ready for an upgrade to this tablet and while the iPad Pro and the iPad Air got their overhaul in 2020, it was time for two other devices in the family to get the much-needed overhaul.

So, for this year, the iPads getting the 2021 treatment are the classic iPad and the humble yet powerful iPad Mini.

The classic iPad upgrade

The much loved and ever-popular iPad entered its 9th generation and although the design has not changed once again, the 10.2-inch tablet has received some major upgrades under the hood.

Starting at just $329, the new iPad features a 10.2-inch Retina display with True Tone, a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, support for Apple Pencil (1st generation), and Smart Keyboard, the intuitive iPadOS 15, and twice the storage of the previous generation.

 

 

The new iPad comes equipped with the powerful A13 Bionic chip, delivering a 20 percent performance boost over the previous generation. This makes the new iPad up to 3x faster than the best-selling Chromebook, and up to a whopping 6x faster than the best-selling Android tablet. The added performance will allow users to seamlessly run advanced apps and games on the most affordable iPad.

The Neural Engine in A13 Bionic also powers next-level machine learning capabilities, including Live Text coming in iPadOS 15, which uses on-device intelligence to recognize text in a photo that users can take action on.

The Center Stage experience on iPad Pro is now available on iPad, enabled by the new 12MP Ultra Wide front camera and Neural Engine, so users can enjoy even more engaging video calls. As users move around, Center Stage automatically pans the camera to keep them in view. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the conversation.

 

 

Center Stage makes video calls more natural in FaceTime as well as third-party video-calling apps. Whether catching up with loved ones virtually or using an iPad in a remote learning environment, Center Stage makes the experience of connecting more engaging than ever.

With its thin and light design and cellular option, the iPad gives users the freedom to work, learn, play, and connect at home or on the go. The new iPad starts with 64GB of storage — double the storage of the previous generation — offering even more value to iPad users. A 256GB option is also available for users looking to store more apps, games, photos, and videos.

The new 9th generation iPad will ship with iPadOS 15 out of the box, so people who buy this can enjoy the amazing features of the all-new iPadOS straight after unboxing.

The iPad Mini overhaul

Ever since its introduction, the iPad Mini has carved itself a niche in the tablet market. Its small profile combined with the trademark Apple performance has made it a popular choice for students as well as executives around the world. This mini monster was due for a much-needed 2021 overhaul, and Apple has absolutely delivered.

The new iPad Mini features the much-loved all-screen design that takes the screen size up to 8.3 inches within the same frame as the older iPad Mini. With advanced technologies such as 500 nits of brightness, a P3 wide color gamut, anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone, and full lamination, images and video will be vibrant and come right up to the surface of the glass. And new landscape stereo speakers, combined with the new display, deliver a great movie-viewing experience.

Add to that 4 amazing finishes (pink, starlight, purple, and space gray) and you can already see people lapping it up.

 

 

Featuring the brand new A15 Bionic chip, the new iPad mini delivers up to 80 percent faster performance than the previous generation, making it the most capable iPad mini ever. A new USB-C port allows faster connectivity, and cellular models with 5G bring more flexible mobile workflows.

New advanced cameras and support for Apple Pencil (2nd generation) enable new ways for users to capture photos and videos, communicate with loved ones, and jot down their ideas when creativity strikes.

The Center Stage experience on iPad Pro is now available on iPad mini, so users can enjoy even more engaging video calls. An updated Ultra Wide front camera with a new 12MP sensor and a much larger field of view enables Center Stage, which automatically pans the camera to keep users in view as they move around. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to easily include them in the conversation.

 

 

The back camera now features a 12MP sensor with Focus Pixels and a larger aperture to capture sharp, vivid photos. The back camera also features a True Tone flash, perfect for capturing images in low light. With a new ISP in A15 Bionic, users will also see remarkably natural-looking photos with Smart HDR, which improves image quality by recovering details in shadows and highlights.

The new iPad mini is available to order beginning today and will be in stores beginning Friday, September 24.