Monday 8th June saw Apple’s WWDC 2015 start and amid much rumour and anticipation we were introduced to Apple Music, new iOS 9and OS X El Capitan and watchOS2.
Here we take a look at the key elements of those announcements to see how they benefit the Apple business user.
Just the name of the new OS X, El Capitan, is enough to make us smile. However, what we are really pleased about is that it seems like the new OS X isn’t trying to be ground breaking, more consolidation.
We think this is a great move by Apple. Recent releases of OS X and especially iOS have been somewhat overshadowed by bugs and problems, necessitating an almost instant upgrade. Hopefully, El Capitan will provide a more seamless transition.
That’s not to say that that their new features coming our way. New gesture controls will allow you perform a variety of functions, including deleting emails. We are excited about the SplitView which will allow Mac users to open and use two apps side by side in windows that can be resized.
Perhaps the most relevant to our customers however, is Apple announced that the Metal graphics technology is moving from iOS 8 to OS X. This will mean that apps will run 1.4 times faster than at present. It’s particularly important as Adobe has stated that it is committed to adapting Metal for its Creative Cloud apps. So expect to benefit from faster rendering times and general performance improvements.
If SplitView was a nice touch in OS X it was particularly significant is iOS 9. Apple referred to the technology as Multitasking and it will allow the user to split the screen in 3 ways.
Slide over will allow you to have one app taking up a 1/3 of the screen whilst the app fills the main screen behind.
This can best be described as when you are making a video call, you will still be able to work on an app in the background. In this mode you will be able to move the picture around your screen.
Splitview will all you to have two apps working side by side. Although this will only be available on the iPad Air 2 at present.
Whilst these changes will help iOS users the common perception is that the changes are a forerunner to Apple introducing a more business focused iPad, the iPad Pro. This model has been rumoured for some time now and it would appear that these types of changes are suggesting a move towards a more business orientated model.
Finally, with the recent changes to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with Retina Display and 27” iMac with Retina Display Models it wasn’t a surprise that we didn’t hear any announcements about new hardware. Fans of the Mac Pro may still be a little disappointed that the model hasn’t been refreshed since its launch 2 years ago at WWDC 2013.