14 DAY TRIAL // The Apple Store is officially down for maintenance ahead of the planned special event later today. This is customary for the Cupertino company in anticipation of any product unveiling.
Visiting store.apple.com today yields the usual message, “We’ll be back. We’re busy updating the Apple Store for you and will be back soon.”
New gizmos for everyone
First on the list of suspects for today’s product unveiling is a new range of iPads equipped with Touch ID sensors, a slimmer profile, and recessed buttons. The two tablets, dubbed iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, were leaked in the iPad user guide by Apple itself. The guide had been uploaded prematurely to iTunes and was subsequently pulled.
In addition to these features, the iPad Air 2 is also getting a more powerful camera and Burst Mode, for taking multiple shots at once to be able to pick the best one in a short timeframe.
Retina iMac
The first of its kind, a new iMac is said to debut at today’s event. It’s a 27-inch Retina iMac that promises to yield the best graphics ever seen on a desktop computer. Or at least the sharpest. The processor will also get a minor boost, according to industry chatter, and there might even be a new type of logo on the thing.
Both the iPads and the new iMac will probably fill the virtual shelves of the Apple Online Store whenever the company decides to plug the venue’s lights back into a wall socket.
OS X Yosemite
We’re also fairly certain that Apple plans to debut OS X 10.10 to the public at today’s ceremonious unveiling. The tech juggernaut has long promised a fall 2014 release date, and we wouldn’t imagine Apple not using today’s event to debut the software.
Yosemite brings an all-new look and feel that closely resembles iOS, Continuity features that let you start an activity on one device and finish it on the other, a much smarter Spotlight search, updated Mail, Safari, and Messages, the new iCloud Drive (Apple’s version of Dropbox), SMS and Phone calls, Instant Hotspot, and more.
Other potential announcements
Apple could also unveil a new Mac mini today, as the computer has been left unattended for a while, as well as a new version of the Apple TV set-top box with HomeKit integration. HomeKit is an API allowing developers to create apps and home appliances that can be controlled from the Apple TV’s remote, via the Apple TV interface.