Yesterday, Apple announced a ton of new products. We’ll be getting our hands on them soon – in the meantime, here are our initial impressions:
iPhone 5: The bigger screen is pretty impressive. It’s the same width as before – so it fits comfortably in your hand – but it’s noticeably taller, which makes a big difference. It’s also twice as fast, with faster WiFi and a longer-lasting battery, which many Apple fans have been asking for. Plus, it’s thinner and lighter than before. In other words, what’s not to love? We’ll be setting our alarms tomorrow morning to put our orders in.
iPod touch (pictured): The A5 CPU (processor) is nice, even if A6 would have been even better. But the larger screen – just like the new iPhone 5 – is a great step forward. The iPod touch is one of our most popular items – it’s basically an iPhone without the phone (and without the monthly phone bill!), which makes it perfect for tons of our customers.
iPod nano: We love the fact that they returned to a larger screen – it’s just much more useful, in our opinion. Plus, it has built-in Nike+ support and a pedometer so you can track your steps, distance, calories, etc. Did we mention the FM radio? These are going to be hot for the holidays.
EarPods: Apple redesigned the earbuds that come with every iPhone, iPod touch and iPod nano. They’re now called EarPods, and they’re supposed to fit better and give better sound. We’ll be stocking them in our store, so you can check them out and buy a pair for yourself even if you’re not buying a new iPhone, iPod touch or iPod nano.
iOS 6: This is the new software for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and it’s getting an updated Siri, turn-by-turn navigation (!), Messages integration, and lots more. We can’t wait – and hopefully we won’t have to wait long, since Apple is supposed to release iOS 6 soon.
Lightning connector: OK, this is something we’re not quite as excited about, just because it’s going to be a painful change for anyone who has lots of the old connectors. In case you missed the news, Apple redesigned the power connector for the iPhone 5, iPod touch and iPod nano. The new connector (called the Lightning connector) is more durable, and it’s double-sided so you don’t have to figure out which side is up – that’s the good news. But if you have a car adapter, or clock radio, or treadmill, or anything that you plug your iPhone or iPod touch or iPod nano into, you’re going to need to buy an adapter if you want to plug your new iPhone 5, iPod touch or iPod nano into your old car charger, clock radio, etc.. We’ll have the adapters in stock, of course, as soon as they’re available.