Apple unveils its super fast five nanometer A14 chip, shipping in the new iPad Air next month

No iPhone 12 announced today, but Apple unveiled a new chip that will power the next generation of its hardware (including that phone whenever it’s launched). The A14 Bionic, which will ship first with the new iPad Air, is going to be Apple’s fastest yet.

Apple says that it will be the first to use five nanometer process technology, incredibly small-scale but powerful, with 11.8 billion transistors packed into the chip, up 40% on its previous generation seven nanometer chips. This will work out to 11 trillion operations per second.

This makes the iPad Air something that it will market the cheaper device not just at younger users but gamers and other power users. Photo editing will be faster, and so will any analytical applications, with the chip also featuring a 16-core neural engine, essential for machine learning but also any app that relies on AI processes.

All this translates into a more efficient chip: more power with less battery consumption, with more processes run in parallel across a six-core design. Apple also says this will make the chip up to two times faster than the most popular Windows laptop, three times faster than the fastest Android tablet and six times faster than the fastest Chromebook. (No, it doesn’t say which devices these are specifically.)

 

There is a reason why Apple spells out how fast the chip makes its new tablet compared to some other popular devices in the world of consumer electronics (without mentioning any brand names, of course).

It’s because chips are quite literally at the heart of how the consumer electronics industry competes. and the next generation of how that will play out will be very interesting indeed, with Nvidia this weekend announcing its intent to acquire ARM — an Apple partner — for $40 billion. ARM has positioned itself as a “Switzerland” in the industry, providing its designs to everyone on equal footing, but it has been increasingly taking on a more autonomous role in its chip design over the years, and this A14 is the latest product of that strategy.

More to come.

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Apple launches fitness subscription service for just under $80 a year

Apple is launching a fitness subscription service called Fitness+, which for a skosh under $80 a year will give users access to workouts and instruction delivered through the Apple Watch or iPad.

Fitness+ will cost $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Apple is offering the first three months free with the purchase of a watch. Family will also be able to use Fitness+ for no additional charge, the company said Tuesday.

The launch of Fitness+ builds on the growing number of health metrics already available on the Apple Watch, including heart rate, calories burned, pace and distance. This new service folds in a catalog of video workouts that can be viewed on a user’s iPhone, iPad or Apple TV. Once a user launches a video, it communicates with and starts the correct workout in their Apple Watch workout app.

The user’s health metrics are sent in real time to whatever screen they’re using to watch the workout video. Those metrics change as the workout progresses. For instance, if a trainer in a particular video tells the user to check their heart rate or check their running pace, those numbers get larger and make it easier to see.

Image Credits: Apple/screenshot

Apple’s in-house trainers will offer fresh workouts each week from its Fitness+ studio, according to the company. There are also videos geared for yoga, cycling, treadmill walking and running as well strength and core exercises. The aim is for these workouts to be done anywhere and with any equipment.

After the workout, users will get a summary of the data captured from a user’s Apple watch sensors.  Apple Music subscribers can also save music played during their workouts and then listen to them later.

Apple said Tuesday that all of this data will be protected. When using Fitness+, calories and the workouts will not be stored along with their Apple ID.

The Fitness+ service is the latest example of Apple building out an ecosystem of subscription products. Its creation also adds to the increasingly crowded field. Fitbit is just one company that has its own service that’s tied to its hardware. Then there are the host of fitness apps. For instance, Aaptiv, a Netflix-style app-based startup that connects people to a range of trainer-led indoor and outdoor fitness and wellness sessions, raised fresh capital back in April.

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This is the new iPad Air, with Touch ID build into the power button

At Apple’s (virtual) hardware event today, the company announced a significantly redesigned iPad Air with a new look and tiny bezels. In a move portentous for other Apple products, Touch ID has returned — inside the power button on the top of the tablet.

For the 10th anniversary of the iPad, the new 4th-generation Air is the biggest change to the device in a while. “This is a big year for iPad,” said CEO Tim Cook, before introducing changes to the non-Pro tablets in the lineup. “And today, we’re thrilled to introduce an all new completely redesigned iPad Air.”

The biggest change has to be the next-generation touch ID sensor built into the power button. Time will tell whether this is truly more convenient than having it in the “home” button, but it’s clear now that Apple has seen that demand for the fingerprint-based unlocking method has not abated.

Image Credits: Apple

Could the new Touch ID power button show up on the iPhone 12, or at the very least on the iPad Pro later? It seems likely, as while Face ID has become more reliable over time, sometimes people just prefer the hands-on approach.

The look is new to the iPad Air series, but mainly just resembles the Pro, with flat sides, rounded corners on the screen, and a prominent camera bump. There are also a bunch of hot new colors.

Image Credits: Apple

There’s a new display, with a 2360×1640 resolution, a little higher than the last generation. You probably won’t notice the difference unless they’re side by side, but Apple has always pushed to make sure its devices have among the highest quality screens out there, and the new Air is no exception.

The connector has graduated from Lightning to USB-C like its big brother the iPad Pro, so while on one hand you might need to throw away your cables… again… the new cables aren’t special Apple ones sprinkled with fairy dust, so you’ll be able to use $5 ones from Monoprice instead.

There’s an improved front camera, and the back one gets the iPad Pro’s 12-megapixel, 4K-capable shooter. But no lidar, unfortunately. Speakers also get a boost, with stereo audio in landscape mode.

You’ll be able to pick up the new iPad Air starting next month at $599 for the cheapest version (wi-fi only, with the least amount of storage, exact amount TBD).

The vanilla iPad, now in its 8th generation, also got a computing power bump to the A12 series of chips, but no big design changes. With 500 million iPad devices sold, the traditional design is proven to be just fine. It’ll set you back $329.

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Apple to release iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 14 and tvOS on September 16

Apple said its latest iOS 14 software will be released on September 16, ahead of the company’s release of the next-generation iPhones.

We saw our first glimpse at iOS 14 earlier this year at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, which included home screen widgets and reply threading in Messages. It also comes with new Maps features, including adding cycling as a transportation option, and routing for electric vehicle owners so they can find charging points along the way.

iOS 14 also comes with an in-built translator, an improved and redesigned Siri, and better security and privacy features in the Safari browser.

But one privacy feature promised by Apple will be delayed. Apple said it would allow iPhone users to opt-out of in-app tracking, which the company said would not be immediately enforced when iOS 14 is released. It follows an uproar from ad giants — including Facebook — which lobbied against the proposal. Apple said it would give developers until next year to adjust to the changes.

iOS 14 will be supported on iPhone 6s and later, and lands as a free download.

Apple said it will also release its upcoming iPadOS 14, watchOS 14 and tvOS 14 on September 16.

Apple won’t force developers to let users opt out of tracking until next year

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Apple’s new ‘Family Setup’ aims to make Apple Watch a kid tracker

Apple today announced a new feature that will allow families to stay better connected, even if some members of the family don’t have an iPhone. The company introduced a feature called Family Setup, available in watchOS 7, that allows a parent to pair their iPhone with a child’s Apple Watch in order to stay in touch, receive location notifications, use parental controls, and more.

With Family Setup, parents can set controls, like which contacts the child can communicate with over messages. It also allows family members to receive location alerts so parents will know where the child is and if they have entered or exited a geofenced area. For a child, this could be the school or a basketball practice, for example.

To some extent, that makes Family Setup a competitor to mobile family tracking apps, like Life360, which have become popular tools for families who keep track of one another’s location. (Or, as some would argue, apps for the helicopter parenting era of over-monitoring and surveillance.)

But Apple’s advantage in this market is that it positions itself as a privacy-focused company. That means parents may feel like they can trust Apple to not store their family’s location data or sell it to third-parties.

In addition to location tracking, Family Setup lets parents configure downtime settings, to limit interactions and notifications on the paired watch while the child is focused on schoolwork with a new “Schooltime” mode. Workout integration is available, as well, and offers an Activity Rings experience designed just for kids.

Meanwhile, children can create their own Memoji with just their Apple Watch that they can use and send in stickers and messages, or use in the new watchOS 7 Memoji Watch Face. They can also use their Watch to reach emergency services, if needed, through the built-in Emergency SOS feature.

Though the feature set is clearly designed for parents with children too young for their own phone, it’s unclear how well it will be embraced by parents, due to the Apple Watch’s higher price point. That’s something Apple attempted to address with the brand-new iPhone SE. However, the SE starts at $279 — not as affordable as giving a child a cheap Android device while they head out to run around the neighborhood with friends.

In addition, the new feature may make sense for parents who already have older Apple Watches that they can hand down to kids as they upgrade.

Apple also noted Family Setup may make sense for “older adults” — meaning aging relatives who, due to medical conditions perhaps, may need a bit more active monitoring.

The feature requires requires a cellular model of Apple Watch Series 4 and later and will be available at launch with select carrier partners, including AT&T, T-Mobile and (TechCrunch parent’s parent) Verizon.

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Apple One bundles iCloud, Music, TV+, Arcade, News+ and Fitness+ for $30 a month

Seems everything charges a monthly fee, these days. It also seems that every Apple event brings another way to fork over $10 a month to the company. This time out, it was the addition of Fitness+, which brings metric-focused video workouts to an Apple TV near you. To keep things simple (and to keep you subscribing), the company is offering up a trio of new Apple One bundles.

It’s not quite mix and match yet, but there are three pricing tiers. Individual offers Apple Music, TV+, Arcade and iCloud for $15 a month. The Family version will get you those four services for $20 a month. For the hardcore, there’s the $30 a month Premier tier, which bundles iCloud, Music, TV+, Arcade,  News+ and Fitness+.

Things get a bit more complicated from there, with various tiers of iCloud storage added onto the final total. The news confirms years of rumors that the company was working on a fully bundled solution for its services. Clearly Apple is hoping to be a one-stop shop for all of your software and service needs — no surprise, really, given how much of its earnings have shifted from hardware to services in recent years.

For those who have been putting off a given Apple subscription, such a bundle could certainly sweeten the pot — and make it even harder for users to escape the pull of the Apple software ecosystem.

 

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Apple introduces the Apple Watch SE, a cheaper Apple Watch

In addition to keeping old generation devices at an entry-level price, Apple is introducing a brand new Apple Watch at a cheaper price point. The new Apple Watch SE features the same design as the newly announced Apple Watch Series 6. But it costs $279.

“The second thing we're doing to make Apple Watch available to even more people is to create a new model that combines elements of Series 6 design with the most essential features of Apple Watch, all at a more affordable price,” Apple COO Jeff Williams said.

The Apple Watch SE uses the S5 system-on-a-chip, which was first released for the Apple Watch Series 5. However, it has the same, big display as the one on the Series 6. It also has the same accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and altimeter as the ones in the Series 6.

And because the Apple Watch SE shares the same design as the Apple Watch Series 6, you can use the most recent complications and watch faces that are going to be introduced with watchOS 7.

So we’ll have to look at the tech specs in details after Apple’s event because the Apple Watch SE looks like a good deal when you compare it with the Apple Watch Series 6 that costs $399. You might not get blood oxygen data like on the Series 6, but it’s a good watch for users who just want a watch to track their workouts, for instance.

Apple is still keeping the Apple Watch Series 3 at the same price ($199). This device is a few years old now and it features the older screen design. So the Apple Watch Series 3 is not compatible with the most recent watch faces and complications.

The company is also positioning the Apple Watch SE as a way to offer an Apple Watch to your kid. There’s a cellular model, which means you can communicate with your kid without handing them a smartphone.

The Apple Watch SE will be available on Friday. Pre-orders start today.

The Apple Watch Series 6 arrives Friday, priced at $399

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