What's next for Apple after WWDC 2013
-What's happening?
Brian Tong here and welcome to the Apple Byte.
And you know, we'll talk about everything, good and bad from WWDC 2013.
And let's start it off with the rock star of the event, iOS 7. Now, we finally saw the new fresh coat of paint Apple has been working on and it looks like a cleaner and flatter iOS and the use of the slimmer font called "skinny jeans."
It's Apple's modern take that should make most Apple fans happy since it's a fresh look for them and they're finally starting to catch up with their Android peers.
Now, even our own CNET poll showed that, with over 30,000 respondents, over 66% of people liked what they saw in iOS 7. Now, my first impressions-- I like it and where they're going with this, but I don't love it.
Apple's sexy video share, their one thing, but using it, right now, it's a little too bright overall, even the icons kinda look kiddish
and texts can be really hard to read at times.
And let's just keep it real, it takes quite a few cues from Android, Windows Phone 8, and others.
Now, I'm not gonna judge it too hard right now.
It's still just the beta and it's coming out this fall, but I think the biggest thing that sticks out to me was the lack of any game changing features.
Now, the iOS in car interface might end up being the standout, but we've seen something similar from Samsung already.
Now, Siri is better integrated for telling at like things like turning on bluetooth, but
it's still the same Siri at its core.
It hasn't shown it's improved and it's a technology that's still behind to Google speech recognition.
Then, you have Apple's Map.
It's getting better and iTunes Radio also made an appearance with a little fan fare as an addition to the Music app.
iTunes Mac users will get an ad-free version and everyone else will still be able to use it for free with ads.
Then, we have here Control Center to get quick access to your services.
It's finally here and that might be the biggest thing for iOS users that aren't jailbreakers.
Well, Android users, they're kind of laughing.
All right, guys, one cool feature that has been talked about is that iOS 7 will include support for standardized MFi game controllers which will finally enable a handheld-esque gaming experience with iOS devices, and really, this has a lot of potential.
And one hidden feature that people have found is the ability to use a panorama picture in your lock screen here like Jeff Shin did and you could spin around and around to look at it until you throw up.
Now,
iOS 7 will be available in the fall and surprisingly work with the iPhone 4 and higher, the fifth-gen iPod Touch, the iPad 2 and higher, and the iPad Mini.
Now, Apple showed off what they've been working on with OS X and they're moving away from cats and calling this one OS X Mavericks.
No, not after the Dallas Mavericks, basketball fans, but the surfing location in Northern California where waves like routinely crest at over 25 feet.
They go like top out at 80 feet.
That's gnarly.
Thank you Wikipedia.
Now, some of the cool new features were Finder tabs that consolidate all those Finder windows into one -- I love that-- multiple display support with docks on every screen, the ability to tag files to help you sort them, and a dedicated OS X Maps app where you can send the directions you found directly to the Maps on your phone, and a bunch of other features and performance tweaks to increase your battery life.
So, Apple here is really hoping they can make some waves--
-Oh.
-with the new OS.
and it's also expected to release some time in the fall.
Now, we predicted a refresh for the Pro and Air lines, but surprisingly, we only saw new MacBook Airs.
There were no cosmetic changes and we didn't get a retina display even when there are plenty of other competitors out there with higher-res laptop displays like the Toshiba Kirabook and the Chromebook Pixel, so that's pretty much a bust.
Now, the main upgrade will be battery life.
They'll come loaded with the new Intel Haswell processors.
The 11-inch Air starts at $999 and goes from five hours of juice to nine
and the 13-inch goes from seven hours to 12 hours and starts at $1099 which is $100 cheaper.
But it looks like, for whatever reason, we'll have to wait for the MacBook Pro retina updates probably around the back-to-school season in the July-August timeframe.
And there is a new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule that looks like a squarish paper towel roll shape.
It supports the faster 802.11ac standard that's three times faster and stronger than current Wi-Fi and starts at $199.
But really, for me, the
biggest surprise was the sneak peak at the Mac Pro.
Yes.
Apple's powerhouse desktop finally showed itself with one of the most unique form factors that we've ever seen in a desktop, well, unless you use this coffee grinder.
Now, you know the internet went to town on this one with some amazing, let's just call them Mac Pro muck-ups like the Mac Pro tissue box or it could be a home for seal and I'm all for protecting animal habitats.
Check out this one.
It's really classy
for you, Shabu-Shabu fans out there, and you know, I love this one and Dimsum.
But seriously, this is a radical design that is really, unlike any other, using next-gen Intel Xeon E5 processors with up to 12 cores, two AMD FirePro GPUs, and a top-of-the line PCIe flash-based storage that's 10 times faster than desktop hard drives plus you get four-channel ECC DDR3 memory.
This beast can edit
full-res 4K video while rendering the effects in the background.
It has expansion with the next-gen Thunderbolt 2. It's one-eighth the size of the previous Mac Pro.
One-eighth!
And coming later this year.
Now, Phil Schiller wanted us to make sure we knew what we were looking at.
-Can't innovate anymore, my ass.
-But Phil, hold on, hold on now.
Don't get too ahead of yourself because then the interwebs are going to remind you that iOS 7 pretty much took elements from Windows 8 like the Call Screen.
The Control Center is pretty much like the notifications pull down with access to services from Android.
The Multitasking is almost a carbon copy of webOS and the Weather app, yeah, this is Yahoo's Weather app and this is Apple's in iOS 7. So, let's just slow your roll down a little bit.
Now, overall, if I had to give WWDC a grade, I'd give it a B+.
They really delivered with a new refreshing OS, it's solid, most of you guys will be happy, but I don't see it luring over Android users and it's enough to keep the Apple users that were getting frustrated on Team Cupertino.
See, I didn't say Cupertino kids, that YouTube guy.
Now, MacBook Airs were solid bump, but current owners won't be racing to get one.
iTunes Radio is nice but nothing special and the Mac Pro, well,
we might as well call that thing beast mode if you're in the market for one.
So, I asked you, "What do you guys think?" Well, Karen Stevens writes in with, "I know, I know.
iOS 7 isn't original, but the overall aesthetic has changed and Apple needed to reflect that change or die out like the dinosaurs.
Could it be less girly and pastel?
Yeah, it's almost too Hello Kitty even for me.
Is there even such thing as too much Hello Kitty?" No.
Julian on Twitter
says, "As a dove, I was hoping for a lot more than we got.
Failed to see how this is the game changer Apple needed." And the ever optimistic, Alex Carol, writes in with, "I can't wait to get iOS 7. Just waiting on the announcement of the iWatch and the iPad Mini too." So, there you go, guys.
That's gonna do it for this week's show.
Send me your e-mails to the Apple Byte at CNET.com and your tweets, @briantong, and let us know really what you thought about WWDC as well.
I'm Brian Tong.
Thanks for watching and we'll catch you guys next time for another bite of the Apple.
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