This week Apple introduced several hardware products – 10.5-inch iPad Pro and new 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, Siri-powered HomePod speaker, refreshed iMacs and introduced new iMac Pro, Motorola launched Moto Z2 Play, Xiaomi introduced Mi Router 3G, OPPO unveiled R11 and R11 Plus and lots more that happened this week in our weekly roundup.
At the WWDC 2017 Apple introduced new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch Pad Pro models with Retina display, refresh rates of up to 120Hz and are powered by new Apple’s A10X Fusion chip that promises 30% faster CPU speed and 40% faster GPU speed compared to previous generation iPad Pro models.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro also has narrow bezels that reduces the borders by nearly 40% to fit into a compact package and weighs 469 grams. iOS 11 that will be coming this fall will bring all-new Files app, customizable Dock, improved multitasking and deeper integration of Apple Pencil.
The new iPad Pro models come in Space Gray, Gold and Silver colors and the 10.5-inch version also comes in Rose Gold color. The iPad Pro starts at Rs. 52,900 for the 10.5-inch 64GB WiFi version and goes up to Rs. 1,00,900 for the 12.9-inch 512GB WiFi + Cellular version.
Apple also refreshed the MacBook Pro lineup with faster 7th-generation Kaby Lake processors, iMac lineup with faster 7th-generation Kaby Lake processors, Thunderbolt 3, faster storage options and brighter Retina displays, and also updated 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor.
The 12-inch MacBook starts at Rs. 1,09,900, 13-inch MacBook Pro 2017 starts at Rs. 1,09,900 and goes up to Rs. 1,71,900 for the one with Touch Bar. The top-end 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2017 with Touch Bar costs Rs. 2,39,900. The 21.5-inch iMac starts at Rs. 90,900 and goes up to Rs. 1,89,900 for the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display.
Apple also announced iMac Pro, which is its fastest iMac ever. It features an entirely new design, 27-inch Retina 5K display with support for 1 billion colors, up to 18-core Xeon processors and up to 22 Teraflops of graphics computation. It has all-flash architecture and all-new thermal design, and promises up to 80% more cooling capacity with the same thin and seamless iMac design.
It comes in space gray, starts at US$ 4,999 (Rs. 3,21,635 approx.) and ships in December. Check out the hands-on here.
Apple also introduced a Siri-powered smart speaker HomePod at WWDC 2017. The 7-inch tall speaker is Apple’s answer to Amazon Echo and Google Home as it offers similar functions like playing music, checking the news and controlling other connected devices in the home. It uses spatial awareness to sense its location in a room and automatically adjust the audio.
HomePod comes in white and space gray, will be available for $349 starting in December, initially in Australia, the UK and the US.
Lenovo-owned Motorola just launched the Moto Z2 Play, as it had promised. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 626 processor, runs on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), has a 12-megapixel rear camera with Dual autofocus pixels plus laser autofocus that promises good low-light shots. It also has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and has dual-tone LED flash for both front and rear cameras.
It has a 5.99 mm ultra-slim aluminum unibody design, fingerprint sensor below the display with one button nav, similar to the Moto G5 series and packs a 3000mAh built-in battery with Turbo Charging. It also has water repellent nano-coating similar to other Moto devices.
It comes in Lunar Gray and Fine Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 27,999, is available for pre-order exclusively on Flipkart online and stores till June 14th and will be available from June 15th.
Nubia the week launched Nubia Z17 mini with dual 13-megapixel rear cameras, one with monochrome lens and the other one with RGB lens, offering crisp shots. It has ultra fast focus in 0.1 seconds and supports aperture adjustment from f/1.0 to f/16.0. It also has a 16-megapixel front-facing camera with 80-degree wide-angle lens.
It comes with a 5.2-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 processor, has a unibody metal design and is just 7.45mm thick. It comes in Black Gold color, is priced at Rs. 19,999 and will be available through Amazon from June 12th.
Samsung introduced Galaxy J5 (2017) and Galaxy J7 (2017) smartphones in Europe along with the recently announced Galaxy J3 (2017). Both the new J5 and J7 smartphones have 13-megapixel front and rear cameras, 4G LTE support with VoLTE, run Android 7.0 (Nougat) and also come with a fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button. These are 7.9mm thick and have unibody metal design with new antenna design.
The Galaxy J5 (2017) and Galaxy J7 (2017) come in Black and Gold colors and are priced at 270 Euros (US$ 304 / Rs. 19,600 approx.) and 339 Euros (US$ 332 / Rs. 24,615 approx.), and will be available in June and July, respectively.
Huawei introduced Y7 Prime with a 5.5-inch HD 2.5D curved glass display, Octa-Core Snapdragon 435 SoC, Android 7.0 (Nougat) with EMUI 5.1 top, 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, unibody metal design, fingerprint sensor on the back that can unlock the phone in 0.3 seconds and a 4000mAh battery.
It comes in Gold, Silver and Gray colors and is priced at HK$ 1880 (US$ 250 / Rs. 15520 approx.).
OPPO this week announced R11 and R11 Plus smartphones at an event in China. The R11 comes with a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED display with 1.6mm narrow bezels and 77% screen-to-body ratio and the R11 Plus comes with a 6-inch 1080p display. These also have a 20-megapixel front-facing camera, run Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with ColorOS 3.1, feature a unibody metal design and have a fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button.
Both these have a 16-megapixel camera with wide-angle lens (f/1.7) and a 20-megapixel secondary camera with telephoto lens (f/2.6) along with optical zoom, Hybrid Autofocus and other camera features. The OPPO R11 and R11 Plus come in Black, Gold and Rose Gold colors, we should know the pricing today.
Xiaomi introduced Mi Router 3G 802.11ac dual-band router in China, similar to the Mi Router 3 that we had unboxed recently, but this comes with a faster processor, more RAM and ROM compared to the predecessor. It also comes with USB 3.0 port for faster data sharing, compared to USB 2.0 port on last year’s Mi Router 3.
It comes in Black and White colors, is priced at 249 yuan (US$ 36 / Rs. 2355 approx.) and is already available in China.
Lenovo this week launched an array of products in its Think product lineup in India. Some of these premium laptops were introduced last year. The company has launched ThinkPad X1 Carbon, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, ThinkPad X270, ThinkPad Yoga 370, ThinkPad L470, ThinkPad T470, ThinkPad T470s, ThinkVision X1, ThinkVision P27h and ThinkVision T24i in India.
1More, popular for its headphones this week launched 1M301 Single Driver In-Ear Headphones with Mic in India. Each dynamic driver has a triple layer diaphragm with aerospace grade metal for clear highs, mids, and powerful bass. These have angled ear fittings and includes four sets of included ear tip sizes ensure a proper fit. The precisely designed shape of the resonant chambers promises excellent stabilization.
The 1More 1M301 headphones come in Space Grey and Red colors, is priced at Rs. 2799 and is available at Amazon.in, 1MORE INDIA webstore and retail stores across India.