wwdc 2017
WWDC 2017

THe keynote held on the first day of WWDC 2017 was full of announcements. Here’s my bullet list of the ones that I was pretty happy about:

  • Amazon Prime app on Apple TV
  • – I am millions of others have been waiting for this for a long ass time. About time that Apple and Amazon finally listened to their users. Fall is when they said it would be out. A more solid date would have been nice. Can’t wait to ditch my Amazon Fire Stick, which is only used now for Amazon Prime Video streaming.

  • Apple File System
  • – What IOS 10.3 brought to the iDevices, Apple File System or APFS, will be coming to macOS High Sierra. This should bring the file system on the Mac into the current, leaving the 30+ year old HFS+ behind where it should have been 10 years ago.

  • iOS 11 enhancements for iPad
  • – Very excited for the many feature adds like drag and drop, multitasking of apps, new Dock, new Control Panel and a Files app, bringing as close to true file management to the iPad after many years.

ipad pro 10.5
The iPad Pro 10.5-inch configuration I plan on getting later this year

  • iPad Pro 10.5-inch
  • – Finally! USB 3 speed transfers comes to the standard size iPad Pro. But switching out the standard 9.7-inch screen for a 10.5-inch screen, with minor increases in the size of the case is a great change. Also, faster A10X processor, 120Hz refresh on the Retina screen and 4gb of RAM is a great upgrade to this year’s iPad Pro. I have the iPad Pro 9.7-inch, so no immediate need to upgrade now, but at the end of the year, I plan to make the purchase.

Yow!! To New

What about the new stuff. Like the iMac Pro. At a starting price of $4999, it’s not for everyone. The specs are nice, sure, but unless you are a Pro and your company is buying upgrades, this is just a “wow” factor for us long time Mac fans.

The HomePod, which is esentially the Siri speaker that was rumored, is $399. It’s not in direct competition with Amazon Echo or Google Home, at least price wise and sound quality wise. It’s a nice addition to the Apple line up of products and I’m sure it will eventually find it’s way into some our homes, but not a first gen product for many of us. I’m curious to try one out.

The MacBook and MacBook Pro updates. Pretty much Kaby Lake processors are now a part of all models. A price drop on a couple 13-inch models, but no major changes. I have the 2015 MacBook, which was a first gen product. The new 2017 MacBook is tempting, but the configuration I want is $50 shy of $2k. Not this year.

Thoughts?

That’s my take on what I heard and saw from the WWDC 2017 keynote. I’m excited about the iPad Pro 10.5-inch model and the updates that iOS 11 will bring to the iPad. And of course Amazon Prime streaming on the Apple TV. Everything else is nice, but just not for me.

Anyone else watch the keynote? Excited for any of the new products?