Apple is holding an event today in Apple’s own Cupertino HQ, in its Town Hall Theater. The event kicks off at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET, 5 PM GMT, 6 PM CET), and we’ll have a team covering the event. I’ll be handling the liveblog from Cupertino throughout the event, and you can also expect hands-on videos and up-to-the-minute articles unpacking all the announcements. Rumor has it that Apple is going to announce a smaller iPhone, a successor to the iPad Air 2 as well as software updates. This could also be Apple’s last event in the Town Hall Theater as the company is building a bigger auditorium for its new campus.
Cook talking about the history of the Town Hall and says it’s probably the last event here.
“It truly is the future of personal computing.” – Cook, on iPad Pro.
“This is the way we think that personal computing is going” – Apple video about iPad Pro 9.7”
Pretty straightforward projection.
The picture here is a great illustration of the way that iPad Pro that shows how people touching the screen with fingers and Pencil works.
Interesting that Schiller chose to go directly at Windows PCs with this new iPad Pro 9.7 announcement. They’ve previously danced around it. The screen showed, specifically, a Microsoft Surface.
The new iPad Pro comes in 32Gb for $599 and 128GB for $749 and for the first time, $899 for a 256GB in WiFi configurations.
“It’s the ultimate PC replacement for all of those old PCs in the world.”
The new iPad Pro also gets the 12MP camera and 4K video recording. 5MP front facing camera comes along for the ride.
A new lightning S card reader and USB Camera adapter are introduced. The camera adapter provides powered USB too for accessories like microphones.
Schiller introduces a new iPad keyboard for the 9.7″ iPad Pro and says that Pencil is compatible with the new tablet as well.
Schiller says that new iPad supports Hey Siri, but drags out the pronunciation so that he doesn’t accidentally trigger people’s phones in the audience.
This, btw, is a pretty big deal. Matching color temperature to your evaluation of color is something that artists and photographers have to worry about on a constant basis so that they’re making accurate color choices when correcting or designing.
If the color in the room is cooler or warmer, it matches the ambient light, giving you a more accurate color rendition.
Schiller announces the True Tone display which measures ambient color temperature and adjusts the screen to match.
Schiller says that the iPad Pro 9.7″ screen is 25% brighter, and is its least reflective screen.
Basically, says Schiller, Apple sees the iPad Pro as a transition device for Windows machine users. Many of those PC users are on machines 5 years old or older, he says.
“The majority of iPad 9.7″ buyers come from a Windows machine,” says Schiller.
Jos also announces a preview of new iPad software features for education and classrooms.
We’re blowing through new features like App Suggestions in Health, and more manufacturers supporting CarPlay. Apple Music gets New and For You on Carplay with iOS 9.3. Maps on CarPlay also improved with a ‘nearby’ feature.
Night Shift changes the color of your screen to make it feel more natural, especially in the evenings. There have been versions of this for iOS and Android for a while but now it’s built in.
Now Jos is talking about iOS 9.3 including features like Night Shift and password protected notes.
The iPhone SE launches March 31, and will be in 100 countries by the end of May.
The iPhone SE is also Live Photo compatible. It also uses the front display as a flash, like the iPhone 6s. And it records 4k video.
Jos asks Siri about recycling, and it makes a joke about Liam, the disassembly robot.
The A9 includes the Hey Siri function because it also has the motion co-processor.
He says that some people buy it because of the size, some because it’s their first iPhone.
Now we’re quickly on to the new iPhone and Greg Joswiak is out to chat about it. Jos hasn’t been a regular on stage in some time.
Cook essentially admitting that entering text sucks on the Apple TV by mentioning passwords and dictation.
tvOS is getting some new features like folders, Siri for App Store, iCloud Photo Library, Live Photos and Dictation — allowing you to enter text like user names and passwords.
We’re really booming along during this segment, brushing over highlights of apps. You get the feeling there’s not much in these beginning bits and that they’re rushing to get to the new stuff.
Cook promotes the NCAA Live app, where you can watch two games simultaneously.
Cook quickly moves on to Apple TV and says that there are 5,000 apps on the App Store now.
Cook introduce a Space Black Milanese loop, new sport band colors and a woven nylon NATO style band.
“About a third of our Apple Watch wearers regularly change their bands,” says Cook.
Of course, Williams brings up Privacy says that it’s important and that your data remains private— says that it is open source and will be available in April.
Williams brings up the sheet of paper you get when you have surgery about what you’re going to have to do to get better. Physical motion and progress, etc. He says it’s ineffective and notoriously un-adhered-to. He says that a Care Card presented by CareKit can provide more data and increase recovery.
CareKit is about ongoing care of patients, providing data for how their conditions are progressing, allowing doctors to evaluate how medications and surgery affect recovery and/or relief of symptoms.
It’s a pretty effective segment in illustrating how the scope of ResearchKit is enabling new kinds of data gathering for these scientists. It’s also impactful that it comes close after Cook’s comments on data privacy, which is fundamental to building trust for this kind of health data.
We’re seeing people from medical organizations like Johns Hopkins talking about health research.
Now we’re watching a video about ResearchKit, featuring testimonials from medical researchers and doctors talking about the way it has helped them diagnose and research illnesses and conditions.
Williams says that Apple was able to help launch the largest Parkinson’s study in history within 24 hours with the help of ResearchKit.
Now Jeff Williams is out to talk about ResearchKit and Health at Apple.
The robot segment was pretty slick and told the story of Apple’s renewability and recycling efforts well. It was good to see Lisa Jackson on stage as well.
Apple Renew is the name for Apple’s recycling and renewal program.
The robot disassembles iPhones down to their smallest components to improve recycling and recovery of materials.
Jackson introduces Liam, a robot that separates iPhone components to be recycled.
99% of Apple’s packaging is either recycled, or comes from sustainable forests. Will move to all paper packaging. – Lisa Jackson
Jackson says in China, it has built a solar farm that doesn’t disturb the local Yak population. In Singapore, it is 100% renewable because of solar panels on the roofs of buildings.
Lisa Jackson out on stage. Says 93% of facilities worldwide currently renewable energy.
Cook invites Lisa Jackson up to talk about Apple’s environmental efforts. A woman on stage.
“We will not shrink from this responsibility,” says Cook of privacy and security matters. Big applause from the audience.
“We need to decide as a nation how much power the government has over our data.”
Cook addresses security and privacy concerns right off the bat. Not pulling away from the controversy.
Cook reminds us that Apple’s 40th birthday is on April 1. He also re-states the 1 billion Apple devices in use statistic.
Now we’re getting a highlight reel of 40 years of Apple products in text.
So if you’re listening to Beats 1 at home you’re hearing what we’re hearing here.
The event is really packed here on the campus auditorium. It’s about time for them to move to the bigger campus because I’m surprised they even got as many people in here as they did.
Apple’s current soundtrack for event attendees is being provided by Beats 1
Apple’s Phil Schiller and many other executives are here on site for the event, which starts in around 10 minutes.
People are lining up and about to enter the auditorium. Here are a few shots of what’s happening outside of the building right now…
You’re here a bit early. We’ll give you a look at some of the pre-show fun in just a few hours. The event will start at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET, 5 PM GMT, 6 PM CET).
Matthew Panzarino
March 21, 201611:03 am
“We’re looking forward to moving” Cook says about the new campus, notes that there will be many announcements there.
