What's New in the World of Apple?

It's been a while since I wrote a technology post so, without further ado, let's get up to speed on what's new in the world of Apple.

It's been a bit of an up and down month for them. They had a big keynote September 12th announcing, not unexpectedly, the new iPhone 5, as well as iOS 6 and a completely revamped iPod line ... including (finally!) a decent iPod Touch.

The iPhone 5 came out first, on the 21st, and from all accounts is a decent performer. It boasts a faster processor and bigger screen, it's thinner and lighter, and the camera has been updated, although it remains at 8 MP. Of course there are people who complain that it's not a significant enough upgrade but, honestly, you can only advance a phone in so many ways and the five million plus people who bought it the first weekend alone seem to suggest overall approval.

Next came iOS 6, and this hasn't turned out as well as hoped at all. You have complaints from people whose devices won't run some features - or be able to use it at all. (And this includes all iPad 1 users whose device may theoretically be less than a year and a half old and really shouldn't be considered obsolete in my opinion.)

Then you have the even bigger complaints from the people who did upgrade and, even with the newest iPhone and iPad, are not impressed at all. Apple hasn't been getting along with Google of late, so they removed both YouTube and Google Maps. The first isn't a huge issue; there are alternatives. The second, however, is a fiasco. Apple's own maps app is clearly not ready for the big time. There are whole web sites dedicated to some of the most egregious examples of mis-mapping imaginable - things like bridges sinking into the water and highways to nowhere. And woe betide the poor users who have tried to follow its directions to places like hospitals that don't exist! Tim Cook even issued a public apology and (gasp) suggested alternatives including Google until the situation can be remedied.

There are a few less serious complaints as well about things like wifi connectivity problems and of apps not working well with iOS 6 - including the popular photo editing app Snapseed that just happens to belong to Google. Coincidence anyone? Needless to say I'll be sticking to iOS 5 awhile longer. It's running along just fine and I've only seen a single app that actually requires iOS 6 ... and it was a YouTube replacement which I obviously don't need anyway. It is a little disappointing that Apple released what seems to be a subpar product though. We expect the best from them.

Next up are the new iPods and I'll be watching the iPod Touch reviews very attentively. If the camera is up to snuff, it could be THE item on my birthday/Christmas list this year. I was hoping for 5 MP and my wish came true ... although naturally I immediately wished it were 8 and that they'd bumped the iPhone up to 10. Anyway, even at 5 it is a very significant improvement and it has a lot of the mechanics of the iPhone camera and even an LED flash. I can hardly wait for those first photographs to start appearing!

Of course the Touch itself has to appear first and Apple is being uncharacteristically vague about the release date: currently it's just “October” which could be today (obviously not likely) or over four weeks from now. And then there is the wild card of the mythical iPad Mini. Whether the world really needs a 7” iPad is debatable. Personally I think the combination of the ultraportable Touch and the powerhouse full-size iPad is hard to beat, but I'm sure if Apple builds it the buyers will come. And if you only want one device, a Mini might be the best of both worlds for you.

So I'm still a little skeptical, but there is a rumour of a rumour that there will be another keynote on the 17th, at which time the Mini will be unveiled. The main reason I think it just might be a possibility is that it could explain them holding off on the Touch. They wouldn't want a whole bunch of unhappy people who had just bought a Touch only to discover they could have had the option of a Mini if they'd waited a few weeks more. So I guess I'll be hanging in there with bated breath watching for the next big news from the world of Apple. It's always nice to have something to look forward to, after all, even if you don't think you could possibly need it.