Diwali, the three-day festival of light, is just underway in India. And people believe it is an auspicious time to buy new things, be it clothes, home appliances or jewellery. Now, smart gadgets such as phones, laptops, fitness bands and tablets are also being considered as good gifts for family members.
In the last couple of months, Apple has been busy announcing new products such as iPhone XS, XR series, Watch Series 4, iPads, MacBook PCs and more. Most of them have made their way to the Indian market. All are premium and powerful that makeup as a thoughtful gift to your loved ones this Diwali festive season.
Here's the list of best of Apple products that are available in India:
Apple Watch Series 4:
This can be the most meaningful gift that tells you how much concern you have for parents. Apple Watch Series 4 is the most advanced smart wearable in the country. It comes huge upgrade over the predecessor including a new accelerometer and gyroscope, which are able to detect hard falls, and an electrical heart rate sensor that can take an electrocardiogram (ECG)using the new ECG app, which has been granted a De Novo classification by the FDA. Apple plans to get similar regulatory approvals in other regions from respective government agencies.
Yes, even the India-bound Watch series 4 has the same hardware seen in the Apple's smart wearable in America and once the company gets the local health agency's nod it will be activated with a minor software update.
With watchOS 5 onboard, the Watch Series 4 brings advanced activities, communications features and state-of-the-art health capabilities including new Yoga fitness tracker in the Workout app. It is powered by the next-generation Apple S4 dual-core chip, delivering twice the speed while maintaining the same all-day battery life. It also boasts new generations W3 wireless chip for stronger Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity with companion accessories.
It flaunts visually appealing curvy lozenge-like structure with the sleek body (just 10.7 mm thickness) and comes with more than 35-per cent increased display compared to the predecessor.
The Watch Series 4 looks stunning with near edge-to-edge screen and thanks to the new interface watchOS 5, it offers more information with richer detail. Apple Watch Series 4 comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm with prices starting at Rs 49,900.
Consumers can check out the Apple Watch Series 3 (review), as it is now more affordable than before. It also comes premium build quality, feature-rich health and fitness tracking capability including advanced heart rate scanner, activity rings (move, stand and exercise), in addition to the LTE connectivity support and a full day's battery life.
Apple iPhone XS, XS Max or iPhone XR:
Apple's latest iPhone XS(review), the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR come with proprietary A2 Bionic and is the most advanced and powerful mobile chipset for a mobile in the market. The benchmark scores are way ahead of all rival Android phones and even with a software update, they will never come close with their current hardware specs.
I have used all the three Apple mobiles and mighty impressed with all the aspects. I never faced any lagging issue whatsoever be it while playing graphics-intense games, Augmented Reality(AR) apps or and any power-intensive apps.
Even the camera features such as the adjustable depth control, Slo-mo video recording and stereo video recording and playback are magical.
Now, with the release of iOS 12.1, users can make real-time depth control while taking the portrait mode photos, the smooth blur effect transformation of the background and the subject in the front is mesmerising.
Also, e-SIM for Dual-SIM functionality is also now live for Reliance Jio and Airtel in India. Consumers can just to respective retail store and fill some formal application and within few hours it will be activated.
In terms of build quality, Apple has done a remarkable job. It has used ultra-premium surgical grade steel frame around the edges for the iPhone XS and the XS Max and for the XR, it has incorporated impressive aerospace aluminium material. All the models come with superior quality glass on top of the display and on the back offering stunning look to the mobiles.
All the three Apple mobile models—the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max (review) and the iPhone XR—are available with up to Rs 10,000 discount on several authorised brick-and-mortar retail shops. E-commerce firms are offering more cash back, in addition to lucrative exchange deals.
Apple iPad (6th Gen):
The new iPad Pro (2018) are expected come later in the year, but generic iPad (6th Gen), which was announced earlier in the year are premium and feature-rich too and they far better compared to any other Android tablets in the market. The iPad (6th Gen), is Apple's first-ever non-Pro tablet series to support Pencil stylus. It gives users the ability to be even more productive, from sketching ideas and jotting down handwritten notes to marking up screenshots. The new iPad sports an eye-friendly large 9.7-inch Retina display, a powerful A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors that help deliver immersive augmented reality, and provides unmatched portability, ease of use and all-day battery life.
Most importantly, the new iOS 12 offers Screen Time feature which allows parents set time for children to use the iPad and beyond which, they have to get permission from elders for extended sessions. Also, Apple's iOS is the most secured mobile operating system, so there are fewer chances of the device getting infected with malware or virus and also there are several parental control apps on Apple Store, which parents can install so that they can block access to age-inappropriate sites from the purview of the children.
Price starts Rs 28,999. It can be noted that Flipkart, Amazon and other Apple authorised sellers are offering lucrative festive cash back and exchange deals.
Apple AirPods:
Apple AirPods series very unique compared to rival brands. It comes with the company's proprietary W1 chip, which is designed to receive the signal independently to both the earpieces.
On the other hand, wireless earphones offered by competitors, only one among the two ear pods receive the direct signal from the media player, while the second one receives the audio from the primary earpiece.
Apple AirPods boasts optical sensors and accelerometers that work with the Apple's in-house built W1 chip to detect when earphones are in your ear, so they only play when you are ready to listen.
If the user removes the AirPods, iPhone automatically pauses the music. Users can also access Siri by double tapping the AirPods to select and control the music, change the volume, check your battery life or perform any other Siri task.
With an additional accelerometer in each AirPod, it intuitively knows if the user is speaking, enabling a pair of beam-forming microphones to focus on the sound of your voice, filtering out external noise to make your voice clearer.
Another noteworthy attribute of the AirPods is its ultra-low power consumption. Apple W1 chip operates at one-third of the power of traditional wireless chips, enabling the AirPods to deliver up to 5 hours of listening time on one full charge. The custom-designed charging case holds additional charge of more than 24 hours of total listening time, ensuring AirPods are charged and ready to go anytime. It costs Rs 12,900.
Apple TV 4K:
It is powered by Apple A10X Fusion chipset. And as the name suggests, it supports 4K content support and that too in HDR (High Dynamic Range) 10 Dolby Vision, which promises the highest standard of image/video quality on a television.
It also can automatically optimize the television's setup for the best quality picture and the 4K TV owners can pick and choose 60 services and also be able to invoke Siri via voice command to find your favourite TV shows or movies or live sporting event. Furthermore, Apple TV owners can also get live sporting updates or set reminders to catch the game on their Apple Watch.
Apple TV owners can also be control multiple wireless Bluetooth speakers via AirPlay 2 update coming soon. And also, Apple TV will soon be able to act as a smart home hub, which will allow owners to control ACs, lights and more (HomeKit accessories) in the smart connected house. It is available for Rs 17,430 ( 32GB) in India.
MacBook Air (2018):
The new MacBook Air sports a 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina display with 2560x1600p resolutions and 300 nits brightness. It has a smaller footprint, as it takes up 17% less volume, is 1a 0% thinner measuring just .61 inches at its thickest point, and at just 2.75 pounds (1.24Kg) is a quarter pound lighter than the previous generation.
Under-the-hood, it houses eighth generation Intel dual-core Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz CPU speed, Intel UHD Graphics 617, 8GB RAM, 128GB/256GB, macOS Mojave and 50.3 watt-hours lithium-polymer battery with support for 30W USB-C power adapter. Apple claims that the new PC will offer battery life up to 12 hours wireless web browsing and close to 13 hours iTunes movie playback.
It also supports two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology, FaceTime HD camera, full-sized backlit keyboard with Force Touch trackpad.
The interesting aspect of the new Apple MacBook Air is eco-friendly. Its body is made of custom, Apple-designed aluminium alloy that enables the use of 100 percent recycled aluminium for the first time, which has the same strength, durability and beautiful finish as the aluminium in all Apple products. Using this custom aluminium alloy helps reduce MacBook Air's carbon footprint by nearly 50 percent, making it the greenest Mac ever, Apple claims.
Mac Mini:
Apple's new Mac Mini comes with a visually appealing compact body in Space Grey shade. Though the design and dimensions are same as the predecessor, it is said to be five times faster performance, making it the most powerful Mac mini ever made.
It comes in two options—quad-core and six-core— 8th-generation Intel Core processors with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 4.6GHz and Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU, 8GB RAM (2666MHz DDR4 SO-DIMM), 128GB/256GB (PCIe-based SSD). The company claims that the Mac Mini will do hard tasks on Desktops such as photo and video editing, music creation and software development, and crushes pro workflows including video transcoding, code compiling and live musical performances.
And with up to 64GB of 2666 MHz memory, Mac mini can load larger files into memory, run more virtual machines or manipulate even larger data sets. Every Mac mini now features the speed and reliability of all-flash storage. With capacities up to 2TB, the SSDs on Mac mini are up to four times faster, so working with large files and opening apps is quicker than ever.
And with Thunderbolt 3 USB C ports (x4), HDMI 2.0 (x1), USB 3 (x2), 3.5mm audio jack, the Apple T2 Security Chip and a 10Gb Ethernet option, the new Mac mini is a faster and more capable desktop that can do so much more.
For those unaware, The Apple T2 Security Chip is an industry-leading security technology. The T2 features an SSD controller with on-the-fly data encryption so everything stored on the SSD is automatically and fully encrypted. The Secure Enclave in T2 ensures that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with. T2 also features HEVC video transcoding that's up to an incredible 30 times faster, enabling pro users to work more quickly with higher resolution video throughout their workflow.
Like the new MacBook Air, Mac mini too is eco-friendly device. It's enclosure uses Apple-designed aluminium alloy made from 100 percent recycled aluminium,which has the same strength, durability and beautiful finish as the aluminium in all Apple products. The Mac mini also features the use of more post-consumer recycled plastic in parts like the foot. All together these advancements help to reduce the carbon footprint of the new Mac mini by nearly 50 percent.
Apple MacBook Air and Mac mini price and availability:
The new MacBook Air (gold, space grey and silver) and Mac mini (space grey) will be available for order through Apple Authorised Resellers starting Wednesday, November 7 with prices starting at Rs 1,14,900 and Rs 75,900, respectively.
