12:52PM EDT - Today Apple is hosting its 2020 fall launch event. This year due to circumstances, we'll be going virtual and remote, however we'll still be live blogging the show for those who prefer non-video formats. Apple's WWDC online event had been a great success and we expect a similar format for today's announcements. What will we be seeing today? Rumours state that the new iPhone won't make it to the September event this time around, although we're still expecting a set of different other new Apple devices. Maybe a new iPad? New Apple TV? Stay tuned as the event starts off at 10am PT (17:00 UTC).

12:58PM EDT - Hello folks, the event is starting now. Excited to see what Apple has in store for us in these unusual times!

12:59PM EDT - Intro starting off with Tim Cook.

01:00PM EDT - Today's topics: Apple watch and iPad

01:00PM EDT - Starting off with the Apple Watch

01:01PM EDT - "The most beloved watch in the world"

01:02PM EDT - Video clips about Apple Watch users and how the device augments their daily lives.

01:05PM EDT - Still discussing the health benefits of using Apple Watch monitoring and identifying early issues before symptoms appear.

01:06PM EDT - WatchOS 7 recap with the new features.

01:06PM EDT - Ability to measure VO² Max

01:07PM EDT - New Apple Watch Series 6

01:08PM EDT - New health sensor with new abilities

01:08PM EDT - New blood oxygen sensor

01:09PM EDT - Blood oxygen measurement in 15 seconds through the new sensor

01:09PM EDT - Tracking in the health app, also during sleep

01:11PM EDT - I'm wondering if Apple has received certification for the new sensor outside of the US- Samsung previously had such a sensor capability in past Galaxy devices, but it was locked regionally due to regulatory limitations.

01:12PM EDT - New S6 SoC inside of the Apple watch, using Thunder CPUs from the A13

01:12PM EDT - Better always-on display that's more efficient. 2.5x brighter than the previous generation.

01:13PM EDT - Altimeter measurements that's constantly available.

01:13PM EDT - New watch faces

01:14PM EDT - Memoji faces, animated with touch

01:15PM EDT - New "Solo Loop" watch band - made out of stretchable silicon

01:16PM EDT - Also a braided variant (out of silicon still)

01:16PM EDT - "The most advanced Apple Watch"

01:17PM EDT - Family setup - pairing an Apple watch with different iPhones than your own - for example pairing your kid's Apple Watch with the parent's iPhone

01:19PM EDT - (Requires a cellular enabled Apple Watch)

01:19PM EDT - New Apple Watch SE

01:20PM EDT - Same large screen, but uses the S5 SoC chip

01:20PM EDT - Same sensors than on the Series 6, however seemingly without the blood oxygen sensor

01:21PM EDT - Starting at only $279

01:21PM EDT - Series 6 falls in at $399, Series 3 remains at $199

01:22PM EDT - Switching topic now to renewable energy and Apple's carbon footprint

01:23PM EDT - Apple is removing the USB power adapter from this year's Apple Watches.

01:24PM EDT - (I guess this means, if you don't have one, you'll have to buy it extra)

01:24PM EDT - Availability of the new Series 6 and SE starts Friday, pre-orders starting today.

01:28PM EDT - Intro about a new fitness service.

01:29PM EDT - Apple Fitness+ - a service for the Apple Watch in order to keep you fit.

01:30PM EDT - Integration with TV, iPad, iPhone for training sessions

01:31PM EDT - New workouts every week by a range of trainers and instructors

01:34PM EDT - Costly subscription and again very limited regional availability.

01:35PM EDT - Talking about subscriptions, now Apple is introducing Apple One amalgamating all their services under one single subscription....

01:36PM EDT - Scales from $15 per month to $30 per month.

01:36PM EDT - Moving onto iPads

01:37PM EDT - This year marks the 10th anniversary of the iPad

01:37PM EDT - 500 million iPads sold to date

01:37PM EDT - #1 customer satisfaction device

01:38PM EDT - "This is a big year for iPad"

01:38PM EDT - Updating the remaining iPad variants this year

01:39PM EDT - New iPad 8th generation, includes the A12 SoC

01:40PM EDT - Recapping various performance metrics about the A12 and how that augments the new iPad experience

01:41PM EDT - Works with the Apple Pencil

01:42PM EDT - Recap of new iPad OS features as introduced earlier this year at WWDC

01:42PM EDT - We recommend reading our overview article: https://www.anandtech.com/show/15873/apple-announces-ios-14-and-ipados-14-an-overview

01:44PM EDT - 8th gen iPad starts at $329

01:44PM EDT - Availability starting Friday, with pre-orders going live today.

01:44PM EDT - iPad Air next

01:45PM EDT - New redesign similar to the iPad Pro's

01:46PM EDT - New Liquid Retina 2360 x 1640 10" display

01:46PM EDT - Highest quality screen experience

01:47PM EDT - Touch ID - in a new capacitive fingerprint sensor format

01:47PM EDT - Uses a custom sensor to achieve better performance and accuracy

01:48PM EDT - New chipset

01:48PM EDT - Debuting the new A14 Bionic

01:48PM EDT - A14 is the first in the industry to use a 5nm manufacturing node.

01:49PM EDT - 11.8B transistors, 40% more than the 7nm A13

01:49PM EDT - 40% faster CPU performance

01:49PM EDT - 40% faster CPU performance

01:49PM EDT - I wonder if this is ST or MT performance?

01:50PM EDT - New 4-core GPU with +30% performance

01:50PM EDT - 2x performance over a comparable laptop

01:51PM EDT - New Neural Engine with doubled up core-count to 16 cores, with up to 11TOPs inference performance

01:51PM EDT - Second generation matrix-multiplication ML accelerators in the CPU cores

01:52PM EDT - "By far the most advanced chip we've ever made"

01:54PM EDT - USB-C connector in the new iPad Air

01:54PM EDT - USB-C connector in the new iPad Air

01:54PM EDT - Same cameras as on the iPad Pro

01:57PM EDT - Starting at $599 with availability starting in October

01:59PM EDT - iOS 14 will be starting deployments tomorrow.

02:00PM EDT - Tim Apple is wrapping up the show- that's all for it folks! Hope we'll be seeing the new iPhones be announced in the next several weeks.

02:00PM EDT - .

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  • mkaibear - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    $100 more expensive for the base model Air? What's the storage?
  • mkaibear - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    64Gb for the base model just like before.

    So $100 extra. Ouch.
  • Midwayman - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    If they had made the base 128gb it would be a lot more palatable.
  • sing_electric - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    This. At $499 it'd be a steal, and might tempt entry-level iPad buyers, but at $599 seems less compelling. I think they were worried about cannibalizing 11" Pro sales if they made it too much cheaper...
  • Alistair - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    yeap the price is now way too high
  • rrinker - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    I still us a 2017 iPad Pro. I tend to spend more because I keep these things forever - I doubt I would have even gotten this one had I not dropped my 4 year old (at the time) regular iPad and completely shattered the screen. $599 is crazy if you 'upgrade' every year - but why? What really doesn't work? Everything seems to work fine on my iPad, running 13.7 (just updated the other day). It's plenty fast enough. Changing the shape or other odd "aesthetic only" things do not warrant replacement. OMG, it looks so 2017! My bezzels are 2mm bigger than the new one. WHO CARES? $599 is a whole lot less painful if you figure a 4-5 year life, if not more. And yes, they CAN and WILL last that log (unless you smash it). My iPhones last me a good long time too, never had a problem with the battery not maintaining charge after a year or two. I have an 8 Plus now, I actually bought the previous model (but new) because it was lower in price after the new ones were out and it performs just fine. I don't expect to replace it for at least another 2 years. Because it works, and presumably will keep on working, just like all my previous ones. I've always skipped two or three upgrades before replacement, now these things are fast enough that I see no reason to upgrade unless it literally is broken. Sorry, I am just not a consumer whore who needs the latest and greatest on release day. Of ANYTHING - I went 8 years before recently replacing my main desktop, even hobby stuff - I refuse to pre order, every product that comes out with pre orders, a few months after the product is delivered, I see it all over eBay for less than the original asking price. I have never missed out on something I wanted - I ALWAYS find it later, no matter how much the manufacturer says "preorder now or you won't get it".
  • sing_electric - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    I've also got a 2017 iPad Pro, but I'm not sure what the comparison you're trying to make is - if you're shopping for a new iPad, for whatever reason (which, given that Apple's statement at the event that 50% of iPad buyers are 1st timers, means that most aren't upgrading from a recent model), you've now got a choice between the $329 (often $299, sometimes even $249) iPad.... or a jump up to the $599 iPad Air, or the $799 iPad Pro. The gap is large enough that basically no one will cross-shop the iPad and the Air, though some might the Air and the Pro. $599 seems like a lot given what else $600 buys, not given that the Air will likely last 6 years.
  • name99 - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    " I wonder if this is ST or MT performance?"

    Every time Apple has said this in the past it has been ST. But I agree, 40% ST at this stage of the game would be ASTONISHING!
    SVE/2 present, and AMX finally unlocked?
  • name99 - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    40% ST is in line with these rumors:
    https://www.notebookcheck.net/Alleged-Apple-A14-Ge...

    depending on exactly how you do the measuring (new compilers? new version of GB5 that' uses SVE/2?)
  • dudedud - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link

    Has ARM finally introduced arm v9?

    I don't see how they could make use of it without v9

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