Apple has released details of its upcoming hardware and software releases at
the
World
Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco.
The company unveiled a series of new products, including an upgraded iPhone
handset, new MacBooks and an updated Safari web browser.
The 13in and 15in MacBook Pro notebooks will sport the same battery and
processor improvements introduced earlier this year with the 17in version, and
Apple is promising a battery life of up to seven hours. The revised MacBook Air
portfolio will see new processors and a price cut.
Perhaps most importantly, Apple unveiled the new
iPhone
3GS handset which, as
previously
rumoured, will sport double the memory of previous models and a faster
processor with the ability to capture video.
The new 32GB and 16GB models will keep the current prices of $299 and $199
(£185 and £123), while an 8GB model will remain on the market at $99 (£61).
The iPhone 3GS will be released in the US on 19 June, two days after the
iPhone
3.0 software update goes live. Details of a UK release were not given, but
the company said that the model would be rolled out internationally "in the
coming weeks".
Company executives began the keynote by announcing the official released of
Safari
4. The browser has been available as a beta since February, and features a
faster JavaScript engine and the ability to run as a native 64-bit application
under the new OS X Snow Leopard release.
Apple also confirmed that Snow Leopard will arrive in September. The
operating system will be the first OS X build to be offered exclusively for
Intel-based Macs.
The company said that the update will cost just $29 (£18) for users of the
current 10.5 Leopard OS X build. Users running the older 'Tiger' software will
have to pay $169 (£105) for the update.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article