The iPad Air is one of several products to be released this fall. (Courtesy of Apple.com)
By Joshua Moore
Special to the AFRO
Apple held its annual big tech release event on Sept. 15. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was the host and showed off new products that will be hitting the shelves this fall including the Apple Watch Series 6, iPad 8, and the iPad Air. Along with these products, new features will be added such as Apple Fitness+ and Apple One.
One of the biggest let-downs of the event, however, was the omission of the speculated iPhone 12. Viewers were surprised that a usual selling point for the company was not mentioned in the worldwide release event.
Students in the DMV that own Apple products gave their perspectives on the event. They received a notification for their Apple products, yet didn’t care to watch.
“I don’t like how they slow down the phones once they release the newer versions. It’s annoying,” Lily Isley, 20, of Howard University explained.
Joseph Washington, 19, a student at the Community College of Baltimore County, said that although he has enjoyed Apple products in the past, he wasn’t too interested in watching the event. Washington said he loves using the iPad mainly for producing music along with writing notes, texting, and face timing others all on the product.
“I like the iPad because it’s all in one,” said Washington. “It’s like a laptop.”
Samuel Leonard, 20, a home help aide from Chicago, believed Apple dropped the ball by not mentioning the iPhone 12 as that is one of Apple’s biggest selling points.
“Everyone expects a new iPhone,” said Leonard. “It’s kind of disappointing to hear that. They messed up,” he added.
Yet he loves the efficiency of using Apple products and its features. He says that everything works together from Apple Wallet to iMessage, overall seamless use of features with little to no problems in efficiency.
Jordan Francis, 20, a student at Morgan State University, has an iPhone but doesn’t really care for getting a new product anytime soon. He takes a special liking to his MacBook because he can get more work done than a regular laptop and it’s more convenient.
Francis, of Long Island, New York, says that while Apple products are more efficient than its competitors, people don’t see the need to spend the money for them: “People don’t want to spend all that money if they already have something that does the same thing and it’s cheaper,” Francis said.
It has been 10 years since Apple first launched the iPad. In that time, over 500 million iPads have been sold and have consistently achieved No. 1 in customer satisfaction. Cook, ecstatic of the milestone, revealed the iPad Air and the iPad 8.
The iPad Air introduces Apple’s most powerful chip, the A14. This chip boosts performance and capability of the new item. This makes it easier to play video games, create immersive art and even to edit 4k videos. The iPad Air will release next month, starting at $599.
The iPad 8 showcases the A12 chip which unlocks capabilities such as Siri performance, more in-depth photo editing, and creates a leap in the product’s performance. The iPad with its new engine is two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop and up to six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook. The iPad 8 releases Friday, Sept. 18, starting at $329.
“Along with major upgrades to the iPad Pro and eighth-generation iPad this year, and the powerful new features of iPad OS 14, this is our strongest iPad lineup ever, giving our customers even more ways to enrich their daily lives,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of World Wide Marketing.
While many consumers were already satisfied with Apple, the Sept. 15 event wasn’t on the radar for most even with the release of new items.
The writer is a student at the Morgan State University School of Global Journalism and Communication.