Sept. 9th Apple Announcement

Considering the iPhone 7 won’t be announced until September, we already have a pretty good picture of what we can expect. At least when it comes to the details we do. The rumor mill is confident Apple will lose the headphone jack, provide an even thinner design, add to its water resistance, and potentially see a dual-camera lens for the Plus model. However, what we don’t know is what it will look like. From the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6, we saw a major external redesign. But how much different can the iPhone 7 be?

I just received my new iPad mini yesterday and am liking it so far. Here's an in-depth look at the device, since Apple said so little about it during the September 9 event.

Two hands-on videos of the forthcoming Apple TV 4 give a good sense for how the new tvOS and remote work. Plus, you get an extended look at some of the games. The videos are accompanied by a long article filled with detail about the new device. 

If you’ve followed my Game Centered column, you’re likely already familiar with SteelSeries. The company makes some of the best gaming peripherals available for Apple devices and is a brand that I’ve included in my articles numerous times before, with good reason. Whether you are a casual Crossy Road player looking for an affordable but excellent pair of headphones, or a Vainglory gamer on the pro-circuit looking for a high-end pair of headphones, SteelSeries has you covered. The company also specializes in designing game controllers for the iPhone and the iPad, and now it's unveiled its latest controller, the Nimbus, designed specifically to deliver a console-type gaming experience on the new Apple TV. On the day of the Nimbus’ announcement, we interviewed the SteelSeries CEO Ehtisham Rabanni about the controller and his thoughts on the future of gaming.

One of the new features of the iPhone 6s is Live Photos. Turned on by default, this feature captures images for 1.5 seconds before and after the actual still photo that you take. When you tap on your still photo, you see what appears to be a three-second video of that moment. As you can see in the embedded video below, a still photo of rippling waves can show the actual rippling when you touch the display. Apple emphasized, however, that this is not a video, and that it doesn't greatly increase the file size. Any Live Photos you take can be viewed across iOS devices. And they appear as simple jpeg images when viewed on other devices.

If you didn't have the time or the opportunity to watch Apple's September 9 introduction of the iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, and new Apple TV, you can now watch the whole thing in less than 10 minutes. Even if you did watch it, several condensed versions that have been posted are a quick way to review the details.

Today's Apple Announcement was full of surprises! iPhone fans have been watching the rumor blogs (Siri told us to!) for months to see if we could get a glimpse of what the new iPhones–we now know them to be 6s and 6s Plus–would look like in terms of features and well, looks. Apple fans definitely didn't expect what was announced today. Here's a look at the rumors, the truths, and the surprises.

Many of the details had leaked ahead of time, but seeing them altogether in Apple's presentation gave a wholeness that was more than the sum of the parts. Each new device was astonishing, with Apple again taking the industry in new directions. 3D Touch on the iPhone, Siri integration in Apple TV, multitasking and a stylus on a 12.9-inch iPad, and the heartbeat of a baby and her mother viewed on a doctor's Apple Watch — all these things and more showed that Apple continues to have the vision that has made it the most highly valued company in the world.

Today during the Apple Event, we were able to peek at the newest updates to the Apple Watch. With the announcement of a Hermes partnership (hand-stitched leather bands, anyone?), Gold and Rose Gold anodized aluminum watch bodies, a fall collection of band colors, and the addition of (Product) Red bands, Apple made many Watch owners happy today. 

With over 10,000 Apple Watch apps in the App Store, Apple Watch users have been waiting for the next big thing: watchOS 2. What's new for Apple Watch? What's changing? What does it mean for you?

Here are your answers:

As a gamer I've had my eye on the new Apple TV for years now. Today on the world stage, Apple unveiled the new Apple TV (finally) and the potential for gamers and the gaming community is enormous!

Welcome to the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the “most advanced smartphone in the World,” according to Tim Cook, with an upgraded camera, 3D Touch, a new Rose Gold color option, and an A9 processor. 

The new Apple TV will come with with Siri Integration, Touch Remote, and tvOS for the new Apple TV App Store. It will also feature universal search, an ugraded processer, and more.

Tim Cook introduced an iPad Pro today, calling it the biggest thing in iPad, since iPad. The new device will be sold separately from the new stylus, dubbed Apple Pencil, and the Smart Keyboard.

The rumors were on again and off again, but in the end, Apple did indeed introduce an iPad Pro today. The 12.9-inch diagonal monster tablet is faster than ever, offering desktop-class performance thanks to the A9X 3rd-generation 64-bit CPU, with 2x memory bandwidth of the older A8X. Video editing, computer aided design, and more are now possible with 60-frame-per-second smoothness, in a touchscreen device with 10-hour battery life! The new iPad will be available in November.

Apple has confirmed our expected watchOS 2 updates: new watch faces, third-party complications, Time Travel, and Transit to Maps. However, the most exciting watchOS 2 innovation is access to Apple Watch hardware and Apple Watch features for for third-party developers. Apple also introduced new colors of Apple Watch Sport bands and leather bands.

In the past, all the major carriers offered new iPhones for $199 as long as you signed a two-year contract with them. But starting two years ago with T-Mobile and ending most recently with Sprint, all the major carriers have moved away from subsidizing phones. In fact, AT&T is the only one left still offering a two-year contract option. Instead, the carriers now structure their plans around data.  

We can safely say that the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be coming with Force Touch and a nicer camera, but what else does Apple have in store for its fans? Here are 12 things we hope to see during the September 9 iPhone announcement.