Apple's 'Spring loaded' event was certainly loaded with a ton of new product and service announcements, and that means that there are some things the company is saying goodbye to as well.
So, what did Apple kill off at its April event? Let's dive in!
The Siri Remote
If there is one product that has been finally killed off, it's the last generation of the Siri Remote. Today, along with an update to the Apple TV 4K, Apple has also introduced a new Siri Remote that kills the things that people absolutely HATED about the last one.
"Apple TV 4K is in a category of its own, leveraging a deep integration of Apple hardware, software, and services that delivers a massive upgrade to any TV for the very best cinematic experience," said Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With the A12 Bionic and the all-new Siri Remote, Apple TV 4K lets customers enjoy their favorite shows, movies, and more in the highest quality, with simple and intuitive controls. And of course, Apple TV 4K offers easy access to Apple services, along with thousands of apps on the App Store for even more entertainment options."
The new Siri Remote, instead of featuring a completely touch experience for navigation, is bringing back buttons in a circular design that is actually reminiscent of the iPod click wheel. While everyone who has wanted button navigation back will rejoice, those who liked the current Siri Remote can still breathe easy as the click pad will still be touch-enabled.
Apple also has gone back to a gray aluminum color rather than the black color of the current remote, which should hopefully be easier to find.
A-series chips in the iPad Pro
Apple also announced a new iPad Pro today that brings the M1 processor, which was exclusively reserved for the Mac, to the iPad for the first time. Bringing M1 to the iPad Pro enabled huge performance gains according to Apple:
The 8-core CPU design features the world's fastest CPU cores in low-power silicon — delivering up to 50 percent faster CPU performance than A12Z Bionic. The 8-core GPU is in a class of its own, delivering up to 40 percent faster GPU performance.
The A-series chips are still present in the iPad Air, iPad mini, and base-model iPad...for now!
The old design of the iMac
Apple announced a completely redesigned iMac today that also brings color back to the Mac. The iMac has looked the same for a long time now and has been due for a major refresh, and Apple has delivered on that promise.
"M1 is a gigantic leap forward for the Mac, and today we're excited to introduce the all-new iMac, the first Mac designed around the breakthrough M1 chip," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With its striking design in seven stunning colors, its immersive 4.5K Retina display, the best camera, mics, and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID, combined with the amazing performance of M1 and the power of macOS Big Sur, the new iMac takes everything people love about iMac to an entirely new level."
The new design is sure to start a preference war, but you can't deny that the old design language of the iMac is dead. Long live color on the iMac!
The 720p FaceTime camera
Speaking of the new iMac, Apple has also killed the 720p "potato cam" that people have complained about for years now. The new iMac features a new 1080p FaceTime camera that works with the M1 processor to create a much clearer, higher-resolution image when you are on those FaceTime and Zoom calls.
iMac features a 1080p FaceTime HD camera — the best ever in a Mac — which delivers high-quality video and great performance in low light. iMac also takes advantage of the image signal processor in the M1 chip and the Neural Engine, enhancing camera image quality with better noise reduction, greater dynamic range, and improved auto exposure and white balance. So whether connecting with family or on a video call while working from home, users will always look their best.
I don't think anyone will miss the old FaceTime camera. Hopefully, today's announcement will mean a new FaceTime camera is coming to the rest of the Mac lineup as well.
Tile?
Okay, this is a little bit of a jab, but Apple may have just killed Tile with its announcement of AirTag, the company's own tracking device that works with the Find My app.
Tile is able to make its device compatible with the Find My app so that it could play in the same sandbox as Apple, but until it does, Apple has this space mostly to itself for iPhone users.
If Tile doesn't jump on board, it stands to lose a ton of customers in the Apple ecosystem as they will prefer AirTag due to its tight integration with Apple's software and hardware.
Anything else?
While these were the easy ones that came to mind, there are sure to be a lot of other things that Apple killed (or potentially killed) at its 'Spring loaded' event. Is there anything we missed? Is there anything you're particularly bummed about? Let us know in the comments!
