Keynote Overview: Apple Watch, New MacBooks, and an Apple TV Price Change

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Today, Apple hosted yet another event with exciting news for gadget lovers. It was widely known that today's keynote would give the remaining details on the Apple Watch (pricing, availability, etc.), but Apple also unveiled a couple other items, including a new MacBook and a price reduction for the Apple TV. Read on below for the highlights:

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Apple Watch

Apple announced today that its new line of smart watches will be available on April 24. The Apple Watch allows advanced fitness tracking capabilities, as well as an extension for the iPhone, allowing users to do things like answer incoming calls from their wrists. The battery life, announced today, will be around 18 hours on average, so nightly chargin will be a must.

The breakdown of pricing is as follows:

  • Apple Watch Sport: This most basic line ranges from $349 to $399.

  • Apple Watch Collection: This stainless steel line ranges from $549 to $1049

  • Apple Watch Edition: This limited, 18K gold line ranges from $10,000 to $17,000

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New 12-Inch Ultra-Thin MacBooks

Apple also announced a new line of 12-inch MacBooks. These beauties are ultra thin (13.1 mm), and boast the following new features:

  • Weighs only 2 lb.

  • Retina display

  • Colors: Choose from gold, space gray, and silver

  • A new keyboard and trackpad

These will ship on April 10, and will run from $1299 to $1599, depending on options.

Apple TV

Apple TV: HBO Now and a Price Reduction

HBO's CEO was on hand at Apple's event to announce that HBO Now, the network's new streaming only service, will be available exclusively on Apple TV (at least initially) for $14.99 a month.

Perhaps more importantly, though, Apple reduced the price of its excellent content streaming device from $99 to $69. This is certainly good news for home users, who want to take advantage of services like HBO Now, but it's also good news for businesses, who we've found can leverage an Apple TV as a powerful presentation and collaboration tool in the conference room. Contact us today if you'd like to find out how!