* Special Note: Back in the office after a two week break. If you had left a message while I was away, and you haven't heard from me yet, please do try again.

Thanks!

Behold! The drought has ended!

It has been some time since I last released one of my newsletters. And in the interim, Apple finally has gotten around to updating a large portion of their product line. Hallelujah!

Two Major Events so far this year

1. Apple Developers Conference in June

There were two major events in which Apple announced major product updates. The first was at the Apple Developers Conference in June. A whole slew of products were updated, and some new ones announced.

Here's the list of updated products at the June Event:

• Macbook
• Macbook Air (but still no Retina display)
• Macbook Pro
• iMac
• 12.9" iPad Pro

Here's the new stuff announced:

• 10.5" iPad Pro 
• iMac Pro ($4,999 available December)
• HomePod (a 7" speaker for your home entertainment system, that also employs Siri. So it's Apple's answer to the Amazon Echo and the Google Home. Available December)

2. The September 12th Event

• iPhone X (This is Apple's next-generation phone, celebrating ten years of iPhone. It has a edge-to-edge OLED display, facial recognition, 3D camera, glass body, wireless charging and a new Apple-designed processor. Pre-orders Oct. 27, launches Nov. 3rd.)
• iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (Faster processor, glass body, louder speakers, wireless charging, upgraded camera. Launches Sept. 22nd)
• Apple Watch Series 3 (Cellular connection! Faster processor, 50-meter water resistance, LTE, Barometric Altimeter, new Sport Loop bands)
• Apple TV 4K (4K support, HDR support, new processor)

But wait, there's more!

The operating system for the iPhone / iPad was just updated to iOS 11. That's right, it goes to 11. You want to download this free update. It brings the iPad in particular closer to the Mac. It features Drag and Drop, as well as a browsable file system like the Mac's Finder. Yes!

On the 25th, Apple will unleash the new operating system for the Mac, macOS High Sierra. This release is not big on features, but is more of a performance tuning update. I welcome these incremental updates, as they tend to make your Mac a lot zippier, and jettison the dross. Lean and mean is how I like it.In the works
Apple actually conceded that they had dropped the ball on the Mac Pro. It's unique design prevented them from being able to update the video cards (Really!?!). So they took the unprecedented step of commenting on a product they haven't released yet. They let us know that they are indeed working on a new Mac Pro. The pro community can breathe a little easier to know that they aren't being left out in the cold for much longer. Sometime in 2018...

Lastly, whither the mighty Mac Mini? Apple confirmed that it's still "an important product". I will keep holding the torch for this nifty little machine. Updates in 2018?

Keep hope alive.

-MYMS! 9.21.2017