Things are starting to shrink at Apple, first it was the hype over a new Apple launch, now the Company has launched a small iPhone and Pro iPad which very few journalists are getting excited about, they have also lowered the price of their Apple Watch.
The only thing that is not shrinking is the Australian pricing with one of their new products $285 more expensive in Australia than for the same small iPhone in the USA.
At the first launch since the US Justice Department took the Company on over unlocking the phone of a terrorist, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook saying his company won’t relent on its stance to keep data on customers’ iPhones secure.
Cook said at what was a dull boring Apple event, “we need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and over our privacy,”.
“We owe it to our customers and we owe it to our country” to protect data, Cook added. “We will not shrink from this responsibility.”
Apple also introduced at the event a new version of its smallest iPhone, which it dubbed the iPhone SE. It said the newest iteration of the phone would be “the most powerful 4-inch phone ever,” with an A9 chip and graphics processor that would give it the same processing and graphics performance of its larger iPhone 6S, which made its debut last year.
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“Many, many customers have asked for this,” Mr. Cook said of the upgrade to the smaller phone.
The company also announced a new, smaller version of its iPad Pro-a 9.7-inch version that is the size of its main line of iPads. The iPad Pro, with performance designed to bridge the gap between tablet and PC, was announced last fall at 12.7 inches. The smaller version will begin shipping next week.
“It is the ultimate PC replacement,” said Apple executive Phil Schiller.
For Australians the only thing that has not shrunk is Apple pricing, this is despite Apple being a key market for the Company.
The iPhone SE will launch at $679 for the 16GB model in Australia Vs $394 dollars for the same product in the USA
The new Apple phones are available in grey, silver, gold and rose gold.
The iPhone SE will be up for pre-order in many countries around the world, including Australia, on March 24. It will be released next week on March 31.
The smaller iPad Pro will also come in rose gold, unlike its predecessor.
It will start at $899 for the 32GB model in Australia, while those who need more storage can go for the $1049 128GB model, or shell out $1399 for a whopping 256GB of storage.
The pricing for the new tablet compares favourably with the big iPad Pro – which also gets the optional bump to 256GB of storage – which ranges from $1099 to $1599.
Apple also announced updates to its TV OS and iOS software platforms for Apple TV and iPhone respectively, with the former getting the ability to dictate search text, usernames and passwords as well as the ability to place apps in folders. The latter will see a ‘Night Shift’ mode and additional functionality for the iOS Notes and CarPlay apps, in line with the 9.3 beta software.
