AppleInsider podcast digs deep into Apple's iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, Apple TV announcements

AppleInsider · September 11, 2015 7:30AM

Apple's biggest week of the year gets analyzed on the latest AppleInsider podcast, as Mikey and Neil share their thoughts on the newly announced iPhone 6s with 3D Touch, the revamped Apple TV, and the jumbo-sized iPad Pro and its new smart accessories.

AppleInsider staff members Mikey Campbell and Neil Hughes discuss these top stories:

iPhone 6s announced: 3D Touch, A9 CPU, rose gold color, coming Sept. 25.
Thoughts on 3D Touch and what it could mean for the future of iOS
New $149 Apple TV features Siri Remote, App Store, cross-service search
How serious is Apple about gaming on the Apple TV?
Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro boasts Smart Keyboard, Apple Pencil
How the iPad Pro's magnetic Smart Connector could change computing
Reader reaction to Apple's "Hey Siri" presentation, plus other event announcements
Mikey reviews Alex Gibney's "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"
Neil gives his thoughts on the Grip&Shoot iPhone camera accessory

The show is available on iTunes and your favorite podcast apps by searching for "AppleInsider." Click here to listen, subscribe, and don't forget to rate our show.

You can also listen to it embedded via SoundCloud below:

Show note links:

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @mikeycampbell81 and @thisisneil.

We'd appreciate your feedback and comments, as well as any questions that we can answer on future episodes. Send your responses to the AppleInsider podcast at news@appleinsider.com and follow or tweet at us @appleinsider.

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kidrock2199 · September 11, 2015 9:25AM

I love the podcasts. And now that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are out...let the iPhone 7 rumors fly! That's the one I'll be getting. ????

folk fountain · September 11, 2015 11:31AM

I think Apple TV apps present an appealing way to view apps as a group. It is very difficult to share the iPhone screen with others without handing the phone back and forth. With apps on Apple TV it is easy for multiple people to view the content. Planning a trip and picking the airbnb locations is simplified when everyone involved can view the options at the same time. I have created emails in the past with a lot of links to explain options for an upcoming trip that would have been much easier to do sitting together around the TV. Shopping with your friends is easier on Gilt on Apple TV. Again, rather than sending your friend or spouse a link to a jacket how much easier would it be to view together on the Apple TV? I think there is value but the question is how much does it cost to make the app compared to the value.

suddenly newton · September 11, 2015 1:42PM

+1 for Mikey as host!

suddenly newton · September 11, 2015 6:11PM

[@]nhughes[/@], at 45:10 you say you wish for an iPad Pro dock what would have a keyboard and could charge your iPad at the same time. Didn't Apple sell such a keyboard dock in 2010 for (only) the first gen iPad? As I recall, it didn't sell, and Apple stopped selling it after a year.

[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/62681/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

nhughes · September 11, 2015 11:38PM

suddenly newton wrote: »

[@]nhughes[/@], at 45:10 you say you wish for an iPad Pro dock what would have a keyboard and could charge your iPad at the same time. Didn't Apple sell such a keyboard dock in 2010 for (only) the first gen iPad? As I recall, it didn't sell, and Apple stopped selling it after a year.

It is for that very reason I suspect Apple probably will not make a docking station along those lines. But considering the Smart Connector is open to third parties, and the ease with which you can dock with the new connector (no need to line up a 30-pin or Lightning port), I suspect a desk docking station -- from *someone* -- will be an inevitability.

We don't yet know the MFi licensing restrictions, or the power capabilities, of Smart Connector 1.0. But it's not difficult to see where the new connector is headed down the road. Seems like an inevitable usage scenario for me.

lighteningkid · September 12, 2015 1:51PM

Also @nhughes: You said at one point that you hoped for some kind of cursor control on iPads, but if you and Mikey (and myself, and I'm confident many others) agree that %uF8FFPencil will come to the iPad Air eventually (probably in a couple of years), doesn't that serve the same purpose, and arguably more elegantly on a touchscreen device? Do you still see a use for a cursor despite that?

Edit: It's disappointing how the forums turn ? (the Apple logo) into %uF8FF ...

nhughes · September 12, 2015 2:12PM

lighteningkid wrote: »

Also @nhughes: You said at one point that you hoped for some kind of cursor control on iPads, but if you and Mikey (and myself, and I'm confident many others) agree that %uF8FFPencil will come to the iPad Air eventually (probably in a couple of years), doesn't that serve the same purpose, and arguably more elegantly on a touchscreen device? Do you still see a use for a cursor despite that?

Edit: It's disappointing how the forums turn ? (the Apple logo) into %uF8FF ...

A cursor controlled via a mouse or trackpad would seem to me to serve a very different purpose than an Apple Pencil. Apple is obviously reluctant (or just flat out not interested) to offer an optional cursor mode on iOS at the moment. But I could see that changing eventually, allowing a tried and true input method for more traditional computing. The important thing to stress is that these features are entirely optional, both an Apple Pencil and hypothetical mouse/trackpad support. I think that's how Apple expands the capabilities and potential of the iPad without abandoning the core vision.

lighteningkid · September 12, 2015 2:54PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhughes

A cursor controlled via a mouse or trackpad would seem to me to serve a very different purpose than an Apple Pencil. Apple is obviously reluctant (or just flat out not interested) to offer an optional cursor mode on iOS at the moment. But I could see that changing eventually, allowing a tried and true input method for more traditional computing. The important thing to stress is that these features are entirely optional, both an Apple Pencil and hypothetical mouse/trackpad support. I think that's how Apple expands the capabilities and potential of the iPad without abandoning the core vision.

I guess I just don't understand what that "different purpose" is. I mean, isn't a mouse essentially just a device to point, click, and drag? What other uses are there for it? I don't think you want a traditional mouse, because then you'd need a table and defeat the purpose of a tablet. For most point and click functions, or even zoom functions, you have your fingers and the multitouch screen. The only thing I've found really hard to do is highlight with a finger, or pick a specific spot in a line of text for editing. The ?Pencil can do that, and seems simpler than the software trackpad in iOS 9. Plus if you don't want to use your fingers, it would seem the Pencil can still perform all the point, click, and drag functions you would need. Is there some function of mice that I'm just not thinking of? Could you give me an example of what a cursor could do that fingers and a pencil can't?

nhughes · September 12, 2015 7:41PM

lighteningkid wrote: »

I guess I just don't understand what that "different purpose" is. I mean, isn't a mouse essentially just a device to point, click, and drag? What other uses are there for it? I don't think you want a traditional mouse, because then you'd need a table and defeat the purpose of a tablet. For most point and click functions, or even zoom functions, you have your fingers and the multitouch screen. The only thing I've found really hard to do is highlight with a finger, or pick a specific spot in a line of text for editing. The ?Pencil can do that, and seems simpler than the software trackpad in iOS 9. Plus if you don't want to use your fingers, it would seem the Pencil can still perform all the point, click, and drag functions you would need. Is there some function of mice that I'm just not thinking of? Could you give me an example of what a cursor could do that fingers and a pencil can't?

Fingers (and a stylus) don't work very well in a desk environment for extended use -- like, say, when you're working a desk job. It's tiring holding your arms out for that long to navigate. A mouse and trackpad work better for that setting. Mice and trackpads remain on traditional computers for a reason.

If the iPad is truly going to be the "future of computing" and serve as a possible Mac replacement in the workplace (as Apple is positioning the iPad Pro), it'll need to support traditional cursor input at some point. It may not happen for awhile, but I think it should happen. A desktop when it's docked, a tablet when you take it on the go. Just my two cents.

A stylus, though, is a very different type of precision input. Look at how Apple showed off the Pencil -- users sketching, drawing, doodling, taking notes. Try doing those tasks with a mouse -- it's terrible.

lighteningkid · September 12, 2015 10:12PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhughes

Fingers (and a stylus) don't work very well in a desk environment for extended use -- like, say, when you're working a desk job. It's tiring holding your arms out for that long to navigate. A mouse and trackpad work better for that setting. Mice and trackpads remain on traditional computers for a reason.

If the iPad is truly going to be the "future of computing" and serve as a possible Mac replacement in the workplace (as Apple is positioning the iPad Pro), it'll need to support traditional cursor input at some point. It may not happen for awhile, but I think it should happen. A desktop when it's docked, a tablet when you take it on the go. Just my two cents.

A stylus, though, is a very different type of precision input. Look at how Apple showed off the Pencil -- users sketching, drawing, doodling, taking notes. Try doing those tasks with a mouse -- it's terrible.

Ah, now I see what you mean - you're thinking of the day when the iPad isn't "just a tablet" anymore. I can see how a mouse would make sense in that context, then.

There is just one more hitch, though - how do you organize the two types of apps in that case? You'd need touch and pencil apps in tablet mode and cursor apps in desktop mode. Is that do-able without making a two-tiered operating system like Windows 8? Or does Apple just trust users to know which apps are which? Or is it up to the developers to design the apps so that they work well both ways, and the iPad just figures out it's docked and enables the cursor? It would seem hard to design apps to work both ways, but then, I'm not a professional developer...

nhughes · September 14, 2015 11:21AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LighteningKid

Ah, now I see what you mean - you're thinking of the day when the iPad isn't "just a tablet" anymore. I can see how a mouse would make sense in that context, then.

There is just one more hitch, though - how do you organize the two types of apps in that case? You'd need touch and pencil apps in tablet mode and cursor apps in desktop mode. Is that do-able without making a two-tiered operating system like Windows 8? Or does Apple just trust users to know which apps are which? Or is it up to the developers to design the apps so that they work well both ways, and the iPad just figures out it's docked and enables the cursor? It would seem hard to design apps to work both ways, but then, I'm not a professional developer...

Presumably all apps would continue to need to support touch input no matter what. I imagine the Pencil will work the same way — you can draw with your finger in an app if you want, but the Pencil offers a different and more precise method of input for apps that support it. It's entirely optional. A mouse or trackpad could work the same way — replacing touchscreen functions (clicking instead of tapping) for users who would prefer that input method.

AppleInsider podcast digs deep into Apple's iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, Apple TV announcements

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