Apple’s October event, 2013

After the iPhone 5S launch in September, this event was very eagerly anticipated – Since the iPhone 5S event did not cover another popular iDevice, the iPadToday’s event had some major updates. For those who couldn’t stay up, today’s event is summarized:

1. Mac OS X Mavericks – Apple’s Mavericks is a break from Apple’s convention of naming after the big felines (named after a surfing location in California). What the next name will be anyone’s guess. Apple’s Mac OS X Mavericks will release today, and it is a pleasant surprise that it is a free upgrade (even for Lion and Mountain Lion users). And for people complaining about battery lives, Mavericks, apart from other updates has significant improvements in battery life. There are tons of other improvements and features (like tagging files, photos etc). Apart from Mavericks, Apple has also decided to give iLife Suite and iWork Suite for free! (This is equivalent of Microsoft giving their Office free with Windows!)
2. Mac Pro: This device with insane specification will start shipping this year. Since we are pretty close to the end of the year, I think we can expect it for Christmas shopping. If you haven’t looked at the specs, please do yourself a favour and check out - http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/. Apple also is assembling the Mac Pro in US – With a 2999 USD pricing, they can afford to!

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2. iPad Air: You have to give it to Apple to come up with this name. I don’t know if any rumor site had this name. It is powered by the same 64-bit ‘Desktop Class’ (as Apple likes to put it) processor as the iPhone 5S. This is uber-light at about 450 gms, while also incredibly thinner than previous variant. Apple sure makes a lot of drool-worthy designs. I have no doubt that this device will be insanely popular this holiday season in US. iMovie, iPhoto, Garage Band, Keynote, Pages and Numbers are now free for iOS! This should make an iPad a serious contender for the enterprise + tablet space. In comparison to the iPhone 5S, the fingerprint scanner is missing. (We all need something to look forward to the next event.)
3. iPad Mini with retina display: This was predicted from the time iPad Mini was launched. So, finally we have it.

Overall, a good event from Apple, though on thoroughly predicted lines on the hardware, but a total surprise on the software pricing front; it is free!