Apple's Town Hall iPhone Event Live Blog
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on September 10, 2013 12:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
09:55AM PDT - Brian and I are seated in Apple's Town Hall at the Cupertino campus
09:55AM PDT - Brian is on photos, chiming in with his usual excellent analysis - I'll be on text today
09:56AM PDT - First, the obligatory speed test on Apple's WiFi
09:57AM PDT - 55.22Mbps down, 63.2Mbps up: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2957576268
09:57AM PDT - and 5GHz as always
09:57AM PDT - Al Gore is here again
09:58AM PDT - A shot of Brian and I from Engadget's live coverage: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/09/wp20130910093525pro.jpg
10:00AM PDT - Music stopped, event is about to begin
10:01AM PDT - Tim Cook just took the stage
10:01AM PDT - This is our first time at Apple's Town Hall - the venue is much smaller and more intimate than previous Apple events
10:01AM PDT - "Really excited to show you a few things this morning that we're really proud of"
10:01AM PDT - "Few things" as in more than just two phones? :)
10:01AM PDT - Recapping the iTunes festival
10:02AM PDT - "7th year in a row we've been running the festival"
10:02AM PDT - 30 nights of live performances in London
10:02AM PDT - iTunes festival is free
10:02AM PDT - That's pretty cool I didn't know that
10:03AM PDT - 20 million people applied for tickets
10:03AM PDT - "it's like an opening weekend for a product"
10:03AM PDT - We're live streaming the concerns to over 100 countries
10:03AM PDT - Playing a video of the concerts
10:04AM PDT - If you're just tuning in, no new hardware stuff yet - just recapping the iTunes festival
10:06AM PDT - Now on to retail
10:07AM PDT - Talking about new Apple store close by
10:08AM PDT - We've been hard at work on completing iOS 7
10:08AM PDT - Next month we will ship the 700 millionth iOS device
10:08AM PDT - "iOS 7 will quickly become the world's most popular mobile OS"
10:08AM PDT - Craig taking the stage to talk about iOS 7
10:09AM PDT - I wonder if Apple chooses Town Hall as its venue for updates that are more silicon focused rather than big device changes
10:09AM PDT - Talking about the iOS 7 lock screen
10:09AM PDT - Big focus on animations and new icon style in iOS 7
10:10AM PDT - Talking about the iOS 7 parallax effect
10:10AM PDT - iOS 7 learns when and where you commute, learns where you need to go and how long it'll take to get there
10:10AM PDT - Analogous to what Google does in Google Now these days
10:11AM PDT - Now talking about new weather app and styling for iOS 7 apps
10:11AM PDT - ...and new multitasking UI
10:11AM PDT - We went over all of this in our WWDC coverage earlier this year
10:11AM PDT - iOS 7 is definitely an updated face on the OS
10:11AM PDT - Demonstrating iOS 7 siri now
10:11AM PDT - Siri can now draw on the latest tweets
10:12AM PDT - "great new high quality male and female voices"
10:12AM PDT - Siri can now draw on info from wikipedia, inline websearch and photo search
10:12AM PDT - New iOS 7 ringtones as well
10:12AM PDT - Craig is demoing some of their new ringtones
10:12AM PDT - I can't really liveblog sounds yet
10:12AM PDT - New notification sounds being played now
10:13AM PDT - Classic sounds are also remastered (wee)
10:13AM PDT - Moving onto the camera app in iOS 7
10:13AM PDT - Collections of photos in iOS, grouped by location/time
10:13AM PDT - Managing tons of content on these mobile devices is a real issue
10:14AM PDT - Can share via AirDrop in iOS 7
10:14AM PDT - We finally have a way to directly send files between two iOS devices on the same WiFi network
10:14AM PDT - Music app demo is up next
10:14AM PDT - iTunes Radio is built in to iOS 7
10:15AM PDT - iTunes Music: Apple's Pandora competitor
10:15AM PDT - Playing Daft Punk (naturally)
10:15AM PDT - Create a new station based on artist, genre or song
10:15AM PDT - Over 200 features in iOS 7
10:16AM PDT - Now showing off 3rd party iOS 7 enabled apps
10:16AM PDT - Updating iOS apps to the new iOS 7 styling is very critical to the OS' adoption
10:16AM PDT - Moving on to iOS 7 on the iPad
10:16AM PDT - iOS 7 will be available for free, starting on September 18th
10:17AM PDT - Moving onto iWork
10:18AM PDT - Talking about Keynote (app) now
10:18AM PDT - ...and Numbers
10:19AM PDT - Now onto iPhoto, still nothing new at this point
10:19AM PDT - Just recapping how you can use iOS for productivity
10:19AM PDT - "iWork is a really key advantage for a customer's productivity, and iPhoto and iMovie are great for creativity"
10:19AM PDT - "No other platform has any apps like these"
10:20AM PDT - Today we are announcing that we're making all five of these apps free
10:20AM PDT - One touch - download all the free new apps
10:20AM PDT - When setting up any new iOS 7 device
10:21AM PDT - Talking about iPhone now
10:21AM PDT - iPhone 5 had most successful first year of any iPhone
10:22AM PDT - In the past when we've announced a new iPhone, we've lowered the price of the current iPhone
10:22AM PDT - This year, we're not going to do that
10:22AM PDT - Here comes the iPhone 5C
10:22AM PDT - Business has become so large that this year we're going to replace the iPhone 5
10:22AM PDT - Replacing it with not one, but two new designs
10:22AM PDT - This makes sense since the iPhone 5's construction likely doesn't scale down well in terms of pricing
10:22AM PDT - Phil Schiller takes the stage
10:22AM PDT - Phil is awesome, he gives an unusual amount of detail at these things
10:23AM PDT - iPhone 5C announced
10:23AM PDT - Playing a video, showing all the different colors of the iPhone 5C
10:24AM PDT - Green, white blue, red and yellow
10:24AM PDT - New color design
10:24AM PDT - Volume buttons, switches, all colored
10:24AM PDT - Back and sides are made of a single part
10:24AM PDT - (plastic)
10:24AM PDT - The front is one glass multitouch surface
10:25AM PDT - New line of custom cases for the iPhone 5C
10:25AM PDT - soft feel silicon rubber cases
10:25AM PDT - circular cutout patterns in the case so you can see the underlying 5C color
10:25AM PDT - Color/customization is becoming a big part of mainstream phone sales
10:25AM PDT - Hard coated polycarbonate material
10:26AM PDT - Steel reinforced internal structure
10:26AM PDT - Part of the antenna system as well as for structural integrity
10:26AM PDT - 4-inch retina display, full sRGB standard, integrated touch
10:26AM PDT - A6 SoC
10:26AM PDT - Battery inside the 5C is slightly larger than what was in the 5
10:26AM PDT - 8MP iSight camera
10:26AM PDT - backside illumination, 5 element lens, hybrid IR filter
10:27AM PDT - New FaceTime HD camera, larger 1.9µ pixels
10:27AM PDT - 1.9µm
10:27AM PDT - Props to Phil to talking about pixel size
10:27AM PDT - 100Mbps LTE
10:27AM PDT - 02.11a/b/g/n, 2.4/5GHz, BT 4.0
10:27AM PDT - 802.11 that is
10:27AM PDT - Runs iOS 7 obviously
10:28AM PDT - Five colors, blue, white, pink, yellow and green
10:28AM PDT - Starts at 16GB at $99 on 2 year contract, $199 for 32GB
10:28AM PDT - Cases are $29 each
10:29AM PDT - Playing a video talking about the 5C
10:30AM PDT - Ultimately the 5C is a way of tempting the mainstream and making Apple's two-iPhone strategy work while still shipping metal devices at the high end
10:30AM PDT - Apple has shipped two iPhones for a while, this time the iPhone 5 just didn't scale well cost-wise, so the 5C was necessary
10:31AM PDT - Taking us through the manufacturing process of the 5C
10:31AM PDT - "solid, dense feel"
10:32AM PDT - Apple has mentioned more LTE bands on the 5C than any other phone in the world a few times now, interesting
10:33AM PDT - Still watching the 5C video
10:33AM PDT - Video is done, back to Phil
10:33AM PDT - iPhone 5S
10:34AM PDT - Showing the gold trimmed iPhone 5S now
10:34AM PDT - I want a gold one (on a chain)
10:35AM PDT - iPhone 5S, made of a high grade aluminum with diamond cut, chamfered edges
10:35AM PDT - "The gold standard in smartphones"
10:35AM PDT - Silver, gold and a new space grey
10:35AM PDT - 1st innovation: performance
10:36AM PDT - Brand new A7 processor
10:36AM PDT - Here we go
10:36AM PDT - 64-bit!!!!
10:36AM PDT - WOW
10:36AM PDT - I can't believe they did it
10:37AM PDT - "64-bit desktop class architecture"
10:37AM PDT - modern ISA
10:37AM PDT - x general purpose registers, 2x fp registers, over 1B transistors, 102mm^2 die size
10:37AM PDT - iOS 7 completely re-engineered for 64-bit
10:37AM PDT - 64-bit kernel, libraries and drivers
10:37AM PDT - ll built in apps re-engineered
10:37AM PDT - Xcode support as well
10:37AM PDT - 32/64 compatibility is enabled
10:38AM PDT - Up to 2x as fast on CPU tasks
10:38AM PDT - Up to 2x as fast in GPU perf
10:38AM PDT - Up to 40X faster than the first iPhone
10:39AM PDT - OpenGL ES 3.0 support in iOS!!
10:39AM PDT - This is nuts
10:39AM PDT - Wow I seriously can't believe the 64-bit move
10:39AM PDT - Donald Mustard from Epic games is taking the stage
10:39AM PDT - You gotta bring out the big guns for new silicon
10:39AM PDT - Donald co-founded ChAIR entertainment - the infinity blade guys
10:40AM PDT - conclusion to infinity blade trilogy
10:40AM PDT - Showing a video demo of Infinity Blade 3
10:41AM PDT - If the 5S doesn't have a ton of RAM, then this move is purely to enable the dev community - Apple being very proactive on dealing with the 64-bit navigation
10:41AM PDT - 2 hours to create a 64-bit build of Infinity Blade 3
10:41AM PDT - once the 32-bit version was ready that is
10:41AM PDT - OpenGL ES 3.0 support in Infinity Blade 3
10:41AM PDT - "lens flares that would make JJ Abrams proud"
10:42AM PDT - Dragons in infinity blade 3
10:42AM PDT - Naturally need to add dragons since you have 64-bit
10:42AM PDT - Seriously I want the 5S now, need to dissect A7
10:42AM PDT - So just to be clear, the 2X increase in performance is not from the move to 64-bit
10:43AM PDT - It's clear that the 5S/A7 has an updated Swift architecture
10:44AM PDT - Infinity Blade 3 will be available alongside the iPhone 5S
10:44AM PDT - Incredible - I wish it had a built in benchmark :)
10:44AM PDT - M7, new part in the iPhone
10:44AM PDT - Motion coprocessor
10:44AM PDT - Continuously measures motion data, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass
10:45AM PDT - Analogous to Qualcomm's sensor fusion hub
10:45AM PDT - New CoreMotion API, identifies user movement, optimizations based on contextual awareness
10:46AM PDT - Battery life is equal or greater than the iPhone 5
10:46AM PDT - "That's the first of our breakthrough technologies"
10:46AM PDT - 2nd: camera system
10:47AM PDT - Huge advancements in 5S camera tech
10:47AM PDT - New 5 element lens, F2.2
10:47AM PDT - New sensor, 15% larger active area
10:48AM PDT - Larger pixels??
10:48AM PDT - Bigger pixels, Klug is happy
10:48AM PDT - 1.5µm pixel size
10:48AM PDT - Used to be 1.4µm
10:49AM PDT - When you launch iOS 7 camera app, the app automatically sets exposure and white balance
10:49AM PDT - Creates a dynamic local tone map around the image
10:49AM PDT - for better highlights and shadows
10:49AM PDT - AF matrix metering with 15 zones
10:49AM PDT - Multiple exposures when you take a picture, picks the sharpest and displays it
10:49AM PDT - New True Tone Flash
10:50AM PDT - When you take a flash picture, ambient light varies in its color temperature, whatever color your flash is it'll clash with room lighting color
10:50AM PDT - 5S flash solves for this by using two LEDs
10:50AM PDT - One is cooler white, the other is warmer amber
10:50AM PDT - Over 1000 unique color variations of flash
10:50AM PDT - World's first on a camera of any kind
10:51AM PDT - Showing impact of new flash on skin tones
10:51AM PDT - Auto image stabilization
10:51AM PDT - EIS likely, not OIS
10:51AM PDT - Multiple photos, combine them and select parts of the image that are sharpest
10:51AM PDT - New burst mode
10:52AM PDT - There's clearly a new ISP in 5S
10:52AM PDT - 10 fps burst mode
10:52AM PDT - In real time as you take burst photos, the photos are analyzed for sharpness, exposure, face detection, etc...
10:52AM PDT - In the camera roll it auto presents you with what it thinks is the best photo out of a burst shot
10:53AM PDT - Picks out a couple photos from action sequences
10:53AM PDT - all in real time, all automatically
10:53AM PDT - 120 fps slo-mo mode
10:53AM PDT - 720p120
10:54AM PDT - You can select both 30 fps and 120 fps portions of the same video
10:54AM PDT - Showing off unedited iPhone 5S photos
10:55AM PDT - Showing off 28MP panorama taken with the 5S
10:55AM PDT - Can adjust exposure level as you pan the scene in panorama mode
10:56AM PDT - 3rd feature: security
10:57AM PDT - Apple's Touch ID
10:57AM PDT - Fingerprint sensor
10:57AM PDT - Touch ID capacitive sensor, 170 microns thin, 500 ppi resolution
10:57AM PDT - scan sub epidermal skin layers
10:57AM PDT - 360 degree readability
10:58AM PDT - You can teach it about more than one finger (right/left handed for example)
10:58AM PDT - Rotation agnostic
10:58AM PDT - Sensor integrated into the home button
10:58AM PDT - Same tactile switch, touch ID sensor, then stainless steel detection ring, laser cut sapphire crystal cover
10:58AM PDT - Touch ID built into iOS 7
10:59AM PDT - Just touch the home button to unlock once you've taught it your fingerprint
10:59AM PDT - You can use it to make iTunes purchases instead of password
10:59AM PDT - Video of the iPhone 5S in action is next
11:02AM PDT - All fingerprint information is encrypted and stored in a secure enclave in the A7
11:02AM PDT - Accessible only by the Touch ID sensor, never stored on apple servers or backed up to iCloud
11:02AM PDT - "Technology is at its best and most empowering when it simply disappears"
11:03AM PDT - 16GB config at $199
11:03AM PDT - 32GB at $299, 64GB at $399
11:03AM PDT - all on 2 year contracts
11:04AM PDT - New cases for the 5S as well
11:04AM PDT - Leather cases, five colors
11:05AM PDT - The 4S will stick around at 8GB for free on contract
11:06AM PDT - Available September 20th
11:06AM PDT - preorders for the 5C start on the 13th
11:06AM PDT - 100 counties by the end of the year
11:06AM PDT - over 270 carriers
11:06AM PDT - I guess no LTE Advanced for iPhone 5S
11:06AM PDT - Tim Cook is back on stage
11:07AM PDT - Recapping the event now
11:08AM PDT - Playing some of the 5C/5S ads now
11:09AM PDT - Returning to music for a moment before we close
11:09AM PDT - "We do really love music and we love celebrating with great artists"
11:10AM PDT - Hmm special musical guest
11:10AM PDT - 3 decades, 29 albums, widely viewed to be one of the best singer/songwriters of our time
11:10AM PDT - hmm who could it be
11:10AM PDT - Elvis Costello takes the stage
11:11AM PDT - Listing to Elvis Costello now, the live blog is over, we'll be back with hands on time asap. Thanks for reading!
68 Comments
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nicsta - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
purse? LOL Anyway, why carry a bag to lug around a phone? I'f i'm carrying a bag, i might as well carry my laptop everywhere.darkhawk1980 - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - link
Drinking the Apple-Koolaid again?"Up to 2X"....so in 'some task' they managed to get a 2x performance increase. What was the average? For all we know, it could be a 30% increase on average, in which case your point is....well....wrong.
For what it's worth, it was another 'meh' launch. The things that did catch my eye, such as 64-bit, really mean absolutely nothing at this moment in time unless the 5S comes with 4GB of ram. Since I'm fairly certain it doesn't, it really doesn't do much in the overall scheme of things. The camera might look slightly nicer, but it's not enough to compel me to pay $300 more than the high end Android I would like which has other better features.
rocky12345 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
OMG that lock screen looks like the one on my Sony Xperia ZL ummm...ok so Mine was first lol but I will let Apple borrow it I guess.JDG1980 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
I still don't understand why Apple would want to imitate Microsoft's failed brutalist UI design.Give me shaded, textured icons and skeuomorphism any day.
Mondozai - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Whither, alone, in your assault on beauty and aesthetics.michal1980 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
plastic was bad, until now.robbertbobbertson - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
I wonder how often Donald Mustard has been falsely accused of murderjasperjones - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
Assuming 2GB RAM, 64-bit seems dumb. So it ships with 4+GB RAM?Zeratul56 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
That makes no sense. I highly doubt apple even changed their 1gig of ram from the 5, more RAM wastes power in mobile devices. 64 bit word length will be faster regardless of how much RAM the device has. I suggest you read up on what 64 bit word length actually is before making judgement calls.skiboysteve - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - link
what is the big deal with the qualcomm sensor fusion chip and now the apple sensor fusion chip. didnt the software APIs already allow access to all the data? who cares if its all in one chip (from the app perspective)