Apple Tuesday unveiled a new Apple Watch, touting it as a comprehensive health and fitness device, a mobile wallet called Apple Pay and two bigger screen versions of the iPhone, the 6 and the 6 Plus.
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“What we didn’t do was take the iPhone and shrink the user interface and strap it on your wrist,” said Chief Executive Tim Cook dressed in a purple, untucked shirt at Apple’s splashy launch event at Flint Centre in Cupertino, California.
“It’s the most personal device we’ve ever created,” he said of the new watch with a traditional square watch face, calling it “a comprehensive health and fitness device”.
The Apple Watch pairs with the new iPhones to display notifications. It features a magnetic charger, health and fitness apps and a crown that controls zoom and scrolling with a twist. It also tells time.
Apple said it will sell three versions of the Apple Watch, including a sports model and an 18 carat gold model called the “Apple Watch Edition”.
The Apple Watch also comes in two sizes, one slightly smaller than the other.
Announcing its version of the mobile wallet Cook said: “We’ve created an entirely new payment process, and we call it Apple Pay.”
Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue described the basics of the payment method, calling it “fast, secure and private”. American Express, MasterCard and Visa are on board, he noted.
“Today, we are launching the biggest advancement in the history of iPhone,” Cook said as executives unveiled the iPhone 6 in two versions. “They are without a doubt the best iPhones we’ve ever done.”
The iPhones have curved edges and bigger screens that measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, up from just four inches on the iPhone 5S. The smaller one is 6.9 mm thick and the 5.5-inch version is 7.1 mm thick.
Senior Vice President Phil Schiller said the battery would be equal to or better than the iPhone 5s.
The larger iPhones have what Apple is calling “Retina HD” displays.
The iPhone 6 comes with more than 1 million pixels — a third more pixels than the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 6 Plus has 2 million pixels, double the iPhone 5S’ screen.
Both iPhones feature an 8 megapixel camera with a new sensor that Apple claims will help the camera focus faster.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus feature Apple’s new A8 processor, which is 25 percent faster than the iPhone 5S.
The M8 co-processor will allow fitness apps to tell the difference between walking and biking and even measure your relative elevation.
Apple said iOS 8 will be available Sep 17 to customers who have an iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C or iPhone 5S. Both iPhones will be available Sep 19 in the US and eight other countries.