Apple Special Event 22 Oct 2013 Review

I have been busy the whole day. Just managed to watch the keynote from Apple. Almost all the things that I expected (link) to be launched on the day are there in the keynote. However some of my predictions were not quite right.

Things that happened:

• OS X 10.9 Mavericks launch.
• New 13" retina MacBook Pro with Intel Haswell chips.
• New 15" retina MacBook Pro with Intel Crystalwell chips.
• Mac Pro will launch by December 2013.
• iPad Air.
• iPad mini with Retina display.
• New iWork and iLife.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks was launched, with all the features that Apple promised. It is available for free. I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm still halfway downloading it. Another 2 1/2 hours before I can get to play with the new OS.

There were also announcement of iLife and iWork that I don't care so much. It is a good feature, however you'll only get it for free if you bought a new Mac or iDevice. For someone like me, I won't get the iWork for free for the time being.

I was quite surprised when Apple didn't drop the thick MacBook Pro lineup once and for all. (There is one type of 13" still available for purchase). I was more surprised to see that iPad 2 is still on the iPad lineup! That is good, but I was hoping that iPad 4 is the one that should be a cheap iPad. 

I'm quite disagree with the "iPad Air" naming. It goes out from the convention, and it is not thin enough to be called an "Air". I didn't get my hands on the device yet, but I might retract my statement once I feel the lightness of the product.  

I realised that there is no touch ID available in the iPad lineup. I can see the reasoning behind that. It's just that iPhone is a personal device (thus privacy), while iPads are usually shared with other people, therefore it would be difficult to register everybody's thumb print in it.

Now, the new Mac Pro. Some says it looks like Darth Vader's ash tray. I don't hate the design, but I'm afraid someone would try to throw a paper cup onto it because they might mistaken it with a dustbin. If I have a lot of money, that might be my target just for the sake of wanting one. However I don't think I really need that much processing power. Sour grapes? I hope not.

Well, I think that rounds up the review for today. Don't forget to rush into an Apple store as soon as possible.