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Jason Hiner, global editor of TechRepublic and global publisher of ZDNet long forms, and Bill Detwiler, editor of TechRepublic, discusses Apple's latest mobile hardware, including the most expensive iPhone of all time and the Apple Watch Series 4 more and more health-conscious .
Bill Detwiler: At its September 2018 event, Apple unveiled new versions of the Apple Watch and iPhone, including a new iPhone 10-based LCD display. Were the new devices enough to convince business professionals to abandon their old devices and upgrade them? For TechRepublic and ZDNet, I'm Bill Detwiler, and here to give his ideas on this question is Jason Hiner, global editor of TechRepublic and global publisher of ZDNet long forms.
So, Jason, what has Apple announced on the new iPhone Xs, not on the XS, which will interest the professionals?
Jason Hiner: When you talk about iPhone X, iPhone XS, I think everything is INXS. Show my age Show my age
Bill Detwiler: Me too. That's all I think too.
SEE: Mobile computing policy (Tech Pro Research)
Jason Hiner: They announced the iPhone Xs and Max Xs. The Xs Max is the same size as the 8+ of last year, but with this edge-to-edge screen. It's a monster. And then, of course, they also announced the Xr, which is the cheapest version with an LCD screen. But it has many identical features and many companies will certainly want to think about it seriously because they have the same capabilities as larger devices.
But the real thing about these big devices is that Xs Max has a 6.5 inch screen. So there will be a lot more real estate for professionals, people who care about productivity. There is a lot more usable and usable space there. I am sure that many of these users who want the newest and the best, it will be their favorite device. The new A12 bionic processor, he says, can handle an upgrade from 600 billion processes per second in last year's model to five trillion processes per second in this model. So, what matters are things like machine learning, so the AR capabilities that these devices are trying to play. Well, it is said that it will also make the application speed, so the speed of the application is supposed to be 30% faster during the launch.
SEE: Apple iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR: Features and Comparative Specifications (ZDNet)
Bill Detwiler: So when you open and close your applications, it will be faster?
Jason Hiner: Yes, and then also to run some of the most powerful applications. And then, also in the camera. So, it takes a note similar to what we heard from Samsung in Note 9. It takes a note from Samsung's book in this case.
Bill Detwiler: A note of the note, agree.
Jason Hiner: Exactly. Where they use software, to help improve your photos. And Apple has always done that, but what it does is that it needs that image signal processor with its neural engine, which is really the software that allows a lot of machine learning, a lot of data, for understand the kind of photo you are trying to take, and then it will use the software to help make this image better. So in the dark areas, knowing if you're doing a close-up, of course, in its kind of bokeh-animated pictures where the background is blurry and puts the focus on the subject, so for portraits in portrait mode.
And he says he's doing what he calls "smart HDR". It will take up to four photos each time you take a picture in this mode, and this will combine these images. So, it will take a long exposure, it will take some sort of short exposure, and it will try to fill some of these shadows. He will try to make this photo really great without you having to do anything, change settings, or anything like that.
So, it is here that we will see some of this power manifest. People who really care about photography and use them as main cameras will of course like that. And we learned from Apple that more and more professionals are adopting them, and they pointed out that Time magazine was using the iPhone photo for its cover photo for the first time. we know. So it's a big problem.
SEE: 4 secrets: how to take professional photos with your smartphone (TechRepublic)
Bill Detwiler: So we will soon film all our ZDNet and TechRepublic videos on an iPhone, right?
Jason Hiner: I mean, we joked about it, –
Bill Detwiler: Well, maybe not, but …
Jason Hiner: … even before they start. We never know. We never know. So, it's a lot, a lot better.
Bill Detwiler: Right.
Jason Hiner: … it has a big impact. Again, this really concerns the X and Max X, who have this dual camera. The Xr, which is $ 750, so $ 250
Bill Detwiler: So, is it going to be the cheapest version of an X?
Jason Hiner: Yeah, it has an LCD screen. This one still has only one camera, but it still has a lot of built-in features. And when you saw the pictures they showed, the examples they showed in the keynote, it was hard to tell the difference between these Xr photos and the X and Xs Max. So I think you'll see a lot of people go for those. In addition, they have somehow nicer finishes. They have more colors, and the colors, especially those of red and blue, are red and blue all around the edges, as well as the glasses and everything else. And so, they look really, really neat. I think you're going to see a lot of people, and especially businesses if they are distributing devices, they're really going to consider them because you're saving $ 200 to $ 250 per device, when you add it, and you're distributing it hundreds or thousands of them. It makes a difference.
SEE: The 21 Most Important Applications of the iPhone of the Decade (TechRepublic)
Bill Detwiler: So let's talk about pricing for a little bit here.
Jason Hiner: D & # 39; agreement.
Bill Detwiler: We have the iPhone Xr cheaply, then we have the classic iPhone X, and these are all its variants.
Jason Hiner: Yep.
Bill Detwiler: And what I thought really interesting, it is the iPhone Xs Max high end, right? So, as expensive as you can get, we're pushing $ 1,500 here, right?
Jason Hiner: Well, $ 1,099 is the starting price.
Bill Detwiler: Well, for the 512, I really do not see anyone buying it.
Jason Hiner: 64, you know what I'm saying.
Bill Detwiler: If you lose $ 1,100 on a phone, that's fine …
Jason Hiner: You will update
Bill Detwiler: … why are you going to have a 64 GB phone? You're just going to go with 512, you'll do it all.
Jason Hiner: D & # 39; agreement.
Bill Detwiler: So, if you're all-in, around like what, $ 1,500, no? 14-
Jason Hiner: It will probably be $ 1,099, $ 1,299 and $ 1,499.
Bill Detwiler: … so what are you talking about?
Jason Hiner: $ 1,299 for 256
Bill Detwiler: Right.
Jason Hiner: Probably $ 1,499.
Bill Detwiler: So, we're talking about $ 1,500, so it seems like Apple sees it, you and I talked about their move from the Mac to the iPhone.
Jason Hiner: Yeah.
Bill Detwiler: It is not fair this year. But as their profits are made from their mobile devices, and even more so than their laptops and desktops. It seems that they only replace the cost of a Mac by an iPhone, right? You can now buy a Mac for less than an iPhone.
Jason Hiner: It's pretty crazy, yes. That's $ 1,499, their top-of-the-line iPhone Xs Max, with Terabyte's half storage at $ 1,499, which is more expensive than a laptop. It's pretty amazing. In fact, you only replace your laptop every three or four years. Sometimes five years now, while these phones usually replace this two to three year upgrade cycle. You see more people trying to keep them longer, so maybe we'll come to a four to five year replacement cycle, when you pay a lot for one of those devices. In addition, carriers do not subsidize them as before. So you rent or pay generally all that amount.
SEE: Why is the iPhone XS worth going into debt for 28 million Americans? (TechRepublic)
Bill Detwiler: And Apple mentioned it during the call. I thought it was really interesting. There was a part of the call, where they talked about their recycling efforts, manufacturing efforts to use recycled components, recycled tin in their main cards, recycled plastic, some plastics recycled in some components inside the phone. They talked about their programs so that you can get your old iPhones back, and you've seen them mention that a little bit in the past, at other events, but this year seemed a little different because the devices are expensive, but we expect you to keep them longer "message, and it seemed a little new to me.
Jason Hiner: Yeah.
Bill DetwilerYou know it's strange to see a device maker telling people, "It does not matter if you do not upgrade every year" at all these events. Its obsolescence is very technical, we want you to buy the newest and the most efficient every year. And there seems to be a bit of recognition now that because these devices are so expensive because they are computer replacements, it has become a bit unrealistic to expect Apple to buy every year a new iPhone from first level.
Jason Hiner: I think you're right, and I think the market has become so big, no, they sell so much, they have so many customers, that they can now bet on the fact that you're probably going to buy another one year. So, there are enough people in the upgrade cycle, it's a little surprising that they're like: "Okay, we'll sell you one if it's your kind of upgrade of the year. "
Bill Detwiler: And still do and still satisfy Wall Street.
Jason Hiner: They can still make enough profits on that. They achieve a very good profit margin on these devices. They sell so many and in 2018, about four billion people around the world have a smartphone. By the year 2022, this should be six billion. So, this market will grow by 50% over the next few years, so you think, if they can catch, as they do, the most valuable skim off, the most valuable piece of the top, that's all the time. is much more than iPhones for them to sell.
SEE: New Equipment Budget Policy (Tech Pro Research)
Bill Detwiler: Come on, let's get into gear, and let's talk about the Apple Watch, the other main event of the show. From your point of view, what enhancements of the Apple Watch have they been important for professionals or companies?
Jason Hiner: Yes, we know that many people who buy the Apple Watch are professionals, right? These are people who are of a certain age or who are professionals and who have disposable income when they are younger. And they like a device like this, like the Apple Watch, which is a fashion accessory, but they also like it for its physical capabilities.
When he came out for the first time, and I said it many times, but we often talked about it as if it was a computer on your wrist. It's really not that it's just a slightly smarter Fitbit. And Fitbit and others are getting closer now, right, with the Versa, Samsung has just released a new watch on its side. These devices are closer to the Apple Watch, but it is still the reference, always the best selling smart watches.
And Apple has found its niche in two areas: fitness and health. And fitness, it's a great job to serve the market runners, although a lot of hardcore runners still like things like GPS watches, Garmin, and those kinds of things. But the much more relaxed runner, of which they are much more numerous, is doing very well with them, as well as other people concerned about their physical condition. And now, they end up doing what I said to be great, even before you start the watches, they do it for you to go to your gym, and you can just tap your Apple watch, and it will record your workout out of this machine, if you go to another gym.
So, they work and do more things for fitness, but health care is where they really make a big bet. And this one had some really powerful things that they announced.
SEE: Apple Watch 4: Why the Future of Digital Health Depends on Apple Seeking a Cloud Partner (ZDNet)
First, with the new material announced and their software, they will detect falls. So if you fall, he can automatically call the emergency services, for example. It's a big problem, as we know it for people who
Bill Detwiler: Especially for people who have elderly parents-
Jason Hiner: … exactly.
Bill Detwiler: … or if they are subject to falls themselves. These risks of falling are a real danger, and it is therefore important to have a system that allows you to detect it. And if that can do it and alert someone, it can be a key selling point.
Jason Hiner: Yeah, it's a powerful thing. And obviously, this is a very different market from that of younger, middle-aged and fitness people.
The other thing that is a bit of a breakthrough with this, we've heard rumors about it, the new Apple Watch will actually take an ECG, an electrocardiogram. That's pretty important, you should go to a health care provider to get something like this. It takes about 30 seconds, it is not automatic. It can do an automatic detection of the heart in the background, can detect
Bill Detwiler: A low heart rate we saw.
Jason Hiner: A low heart rate, yes.
Bill Detwiler: He can also detect, they were talking about AFib.
Jason Hiner: AFib, yup.
Bill Detwiler: And again, as someone who has had a parent who has been through these events before, it would have been very helpful to have a device that monitors this heart rate over time and that quickly detects these problems because what you find is, even if you go see a cardiologist, if you go see your doctor, once a month, once a year, or every six months, whatever, the condition may not manifest during this visit, so that you can go in and out of atrial fibrillation, or you may have a low heart rate that comes back to when you are standing or in the doctor's office. So, have a device able to detect these conditions continuously, then show your doctor: "Oh, for six months, you have come in and out of AFib for that."
Previously, as you said, you could only detect devices such as a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator.
SEE: Gallery: The Apple Event in September 2018 in Pictures (TechRepublic)
Jason Hiner: … in some kind of very expensive, experimental or challenge and response methodology, where you have to go to a health care provider. They're like, "Great! We'll send someone to watch you during the day or we'll put you in a lab, and we'll monitor how that goes for a while." Very expensive, also limited in time, this kind of thing is very important.
You know, they have not announced the mother of some technological things, the screen itself is a lot bigger. It goes further, because there are more complications at the level of surveillance, others from six to eight or even nine. Thus, you can further customize the data of your watch.
So things like that, because it has a slightly larger screen in the same form factor, although it's actually a bit thinner, one of the arguments against the device is that it's not the best camera, that is. I'm sure that with time, the technology becomes smaller and more powerful. But they make small progress there.
Plus, the big red button is no bigger and comes off, but it looks more like a red circle. They announced haptic feedback on some of these buttons. So, some small adjustments and improvements that improve usability, make it a little smaller, design better.
So these things were there too, but the major improvements are health care. This is significant.
Bill Detwiler: D & # 39; agreement.
Well, this is great information for all our Apple news and analysis. Do not forget to check ZDNet, as well as our tips, and our Mac tips go to TechRepublic and make sure to subscribe to our Apple and Enterprise newsletter.
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