September 12 Roundup: All the Little Things

Yesterday’s keynote event at the Steve Jobs Theater featured the debut of several major new products, but there were a lot of small details revealed outside the keynote as journalists got their hands on the new devices. Below is a roundup of some of the most interesting extra details from the day.

iPhone X

Unlike Touch ID, at this time Face ID can only be set up with one face per device. Though it’s possible this will change in the future, for now significant others will have to stick with using a passcode.

https://twitter.com/reneritchie/status/907724254652784640

The single standout hitch of yesterday’s keynote presentation was when Craig Federighi attempted to show off the iPhone X’s Face ID, and it didn’t work. Stephen Hackett shares some insights on 512 Pixels into why that likely isn’t Face ID’s fault.

Despite having a remarkably tall screen, according to developer Guilherme Rambo, the iPhone X will ship without support for Reachability, the iOS feature that brings content lower down the screen so you can reach it easier with one hand.

Before the keynote, The Next Web reported on what appears to be an A11 Bionic device’s GeekBench listing. Assuming the results are accurate, it shows just how dominant the latest iPhones are in the power department when compared to flagship smartphones from other vendors.

James Vincent of The Verge writes about how the iPhone X’s new neural engine perfectly encapsulates Apple’s approach to AI.

In case you missed it, the end of Alex’s iPhone overview contained a host of other interesting details about the iPhone X.

Apple Watch and Apple TV 4K

Apple Watch Series 3 is the first model to receive a bump in internal storage: the cellular model includes 16GB of storage, doubling the previous standard of 8GB. Unfortunately, the GPS-only Series 3 still comes with only 8GB of storage.

Out of the film studios Apple announced would have 4K content available on iTunes, there is one significant omission: Disney. Despite the company’s historically strong relationship with Apple, currently it appears that the Mouse House’s catalog will not be available to Apple TV 4K owners.

There are two notable I/O tweaks on the Apple TV 4K: the Ethernet port now supports gigabit speeds, and there is no longer a USB-C port at all. The latter change leaves unclear how unit testing or screenshot capturing will take place with the device.

Pricing and Model Changes

Surprisingly, Apple has raised the prices on some of its iPad Pro models, which were just released a few months ago. MacRumors reports that all iPad Pros with storage capacities higher than the base storage of 32GB have received $50 price bumps.

The iPhone SE didn’t receive an update yesterday, but it did receive a price drop alongside Apple’s other older iPhone models: it now starts at $349.

Introduced merely six months ago, the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models have been quietly discontinued. The five finishes available at the iPhone 7 launch last September are all still available.

Software

Apple released an update for iTunes yesterday that stripped a substantial amount of functionality from the app. Our John Voorhees has confirmed that you can still perform iTunes backups of iOS devices, however.

While it had already announced back in June that Files support was in the works, Dropbox has confirmed that it will integrate with iOS 11’s Files app at the time of iOS 11’s launch next week – good news for all Dropbox users looking to take full advantage of Files.

Apple Park

9to5Mac posted an inside look at walking through Apple Park’s Visitor Center, which includes both a cafe and an Apple Store.

Apple Park Visitor Center and store now open. Take a walk through with us. pic.twitter.com/SluMtg8KBr

— 9to5Mac (@9to5mac) September 12, 2017

Inside the Steve Jobs Theater, besides a gorgeously crafted set of stairs, there’s also a custom-built elevator for shuttling guests between the surface level and the Theater’s base.

Of course Apple has a specially designed twisting elevator. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/IooqgzSlCK

— Recode (@Recode) September 12, 2017

Apple distributed a set of enamel pins to all event attendees, including an Apple logo, a ring representing Apple Park’s main building, and a pairing of two different emoji-like characters.

https://twitter.com/panzer/status/907706412997865472