A year of retouching for Apple | The Press

Retouched standard and mini iPads, Apple Watch with a bigger screen, four iPhone 13 models with improved cameras, but no truly new products. For its annual September meeting on Tuesday, Apple has clearly placed the year 2021 under the sign of retouching and iteration rather than revolution.

iPad for conferencing

CEO Tim Cook kicked off the ads with the 9th generation ^iPad , for "a market that's never been stronger and has grown 40% this year," he explained.

Now equipped with an A13 Bionic chip "three times faster than the best Chromebook and six times faster than its closest Android competitor", assured the CEO, this iPad above all has a significant improvement: an ultra-large front camera. 12 megapixel corner.

This camera allows him to automatically adjust the frame while filming, to include all subjects in real time, a feature called "Centre Stage". The function is used both for Facetime, Apple's video application, and for teleconferencing platforms like Zoom and Webex or a social network like TikTok.

This tablet with a 10.2-inch screen is available for pre-order at a starting price of $429, and will be in stores from September 24.

Mini and USB-C

The brand new iPad mini has benefited from the first improvements for a long time, first with the integration of the new A15 Bionic chip. By reducing the borders as much as possible, it now offers an 8.3-inch screen and a power button that also acts as a fingerprint reader. It also has the ultra-wide-angle front camera and the Center Stage function. As we had already done with previous iPad models, the mini is now compatible with the USB-C socket, which is becoming a universal standard. It's also compatible with the second-generation Apple Pencil, which attaches magnetically and charges to the side of the tablet. It will be available in stores starting September 24, at a price of $649.

keyboard and bike

As for the Apple Watch, a product that Tim Cook has called without false modesty "the best smartwatch in the world", the all-new Series 7 essentially offers a larger screen, which can go up to 45 mm. We succeeded in this evolution while keeping a frame of the same size, by reducing the edges to 1.7 mm. The touch buttons on the screen have been enlarged, and we now have the possibility of using a mini-keyboard directly on the watch.

Finally, cycling enthusiasts will be delighted with a novelty that many other smartwatches offered: their favorite physical activity will now be detected automatically by the Apple Watch. The Series 7 will be offered “later this fall”, it says tersely.

Focus and 120Hz

Like last year, four iPhone models were presented, from the smaller iPhone 13 mini with its 5.4-inch screen to the 6.7-inch iPhone 13 Pro Max, all featuring the new A15 Bionic chip.

The less expensive, the standard and mini iPhone 13, stand out with a new system of two rear cameras placed diagonally. The iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max also have a telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom.

The big novelty, on which we insisted the most, is a video function called Cinematic Mode. The phone focuses on different points either automatically with AI or manually by tapping the screen. The focus can also be reworked after capture.

The iPhone 13 Pro introduces a new feature at Apple that is already familiar to some Android users: screens that can go up to a refresh rate of 120 Hz. Apple has integrated a function called "ProMotion", which increases the rate of 10 to 120 Hz as needed, saving the battery. These two priciest models will also offer 1TB of storage for the first time. for iPhone 13 Pro Max.