In the media event today hosted by Apple, tech enthusiasts finally received solid information about the company's other offerings that will be rolled out this fourth quarter of 2014.
Apple Pay. The first product that was presented by Apple CEO Tim Cook is Apple Pay, the electronic payment system that uses Apple gadgets. According to Cook, 500 more banks have signed on to support Apple Pay. The system will launch on Monday, Oct. 20.
Apple Watch. The smartwatch will ship in early 2015.
WatchKit. The top executive also introduced the WatchKit, set for release in November. The WatchKit is a software development kit designed so app developers can produce apps for the Apple Watch.
iOS 8.1. Next in the agenda was the iOS 8. Aside from a recap of the mobile operating system's features, Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, said that the iOS 8.1 update will have added support for Apple Pay as well as access to the public beta of the new iCloud Photo Library. The update will be available on Monday.
OS X Yosemite. Moving on to the OS X Yosemite, Federighi said that the operating system is now available for download at the Mac App Store at no cost.
iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3. At 6.1 mm, the new iPad Air 2 is 18 percent thinner than its predecessor. It has an anti-reflective coating, and has an A8X chip with 2.5 times faster graphics. It boasts faster LTE and Wi-Fi, plus it will have TouchID. It will also have Apple Pay but only for online purchases.
The 16-GB version has a suggested price of $499, the 64-GB model will sell for $599, and 128-GB variant will have a starting price of $699, with the LTE versions more expensive by $130. Consumers can choose from silver, space gray, and gold variants.
The iPad Mini 3 will have a price tag of $399.
Both iPads will be open for pre-order on Oct. 17.
iMac and Mac Mini. The new iMac will have 27-inch 5K display, meaning it boasts 14.7 million pixels (67 percent more than 4K HD). It has a 3.5 GHz quad-core i5 chip, which can be upgraded to a 4.0 GHz quad-core i7. It costs $2,499, while the upgraded Mac Mini costs $499. Both are already available for shipping.
