The Apple event today seemed a bit light on content. Could be part of the reason they had the event at the Apple Town Hall on the Cupertino campus to a very small and intimate crowd. We got pretty much just what we expected, two new iPhones, and bits of other things. Here's a quick recap of what we know:

iOS 7 - a quick recap of iOS 7, not showing anything we didn't see at WWDC. It looks good, but doesn't go far enough.

iOS 7 is out for the iPad 2 and later, iPhone 4 and later, and iPod touch 5th gen and later on next Wednesday, September 18th.

iPhone 5C - the new colorful and cheaper iPhone 5 -- that's not really that much cheaper. Just $100 cheaper than the current and new iPhone 5 models. It's basically the same as the current iPhone 5 but with a plastic back and a slightly better FaceTime camera on the front. It's $99 for the 16GB model on contract. Not a great savings.

The iPhone 5C will be available in red, yellow, white, green, and blue.

iPhone 5S - the new flagship iPhone adds a few interesting things, faster processor that also happens to be 64bit, 2-5x faster than the current model (both were quoted), motion co-processor, and fingerprint scanner.

The camera is faster, better, with a better flash. Does slo-mo video and burst photos. Cool, but not revolutionary.

A fingerprint scanner is hidden in the home button and it is great for security, if it works. Fingerprint scanners are notoriously unreliable. The scanner allows the phone to be unlocked and approval of iTunes purchases. That's about all we know right now. Hopefully it will allow locking of other things and lead to a multiuser system in the future.

The motion co-processor is a big deal as it allows apps to accurately track motion at all times. Think of it as turning an iPhone into a Nike Fuel band or Fitbit with a huge brain. Should mean a bunch of much better fitness tracking apps.

The iPhone 5S will be available in white, black, and gold.

The iPhone 5C only is available for pre-order on this Friday, September 13th and available in-store on the following Friday, the 20th.

iWork - is now free with a new iOS device purchase. Not sure what that means for current devices. We'll know more once the dust settles. That means Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, and iPhoto, but oddly not Garageband.

What's Missing - and that was about it. Nothing unexpected, nothing new, no mention of game controllers or Apple TV updates or iPads or a multiuser system to support family use of an iPad. Overall I was rather disappointed in the announcement. Not expecting too much more, but hoping there were some nuggets hiding in iOS 7 that hadn't surfaced yet. And the iPhone 5 to 5S update is a minor one that won't be needed for all but the most hard core iPhone fan.

This means we should expect to see more from Apple before the holiday rush. But what will it be?

Posted in: News
Tagged With: Apple, Apple event, IPhone 5S, IPhone 5C
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