The New iPhone 6S Breaks Apple’s Own Taboos
By KATIE BENNER

SAN FRANCISCO — As it nears a size and scope never before approached by a technology company, Apple is doing things its executives said it never would.

Apple’s co-founder, Steven P. Jobs, once announced that using a stylus with a computing device was passé. But guess what? The company is now offering a stylus, called Apple Pencil, for $100.

And in a move sure to make Apple old-timers squirm, the newest version of the iPad, which has an optional keyboard that attaches to the tablet, is even imitating some of the features of Microsoft’s competing product, called the Surface.

Together, the tablet, stylus and keyboard make for a combination computing device that Apple executives had long said that they wouldn’t create, perhaps indicating the people running the company today are willing to forget about the past as they try to cater to shifting consumer tastes.

But the center of this ever-expanding Silicon Valley giant is still the iPhone, which accounts for 56 percent of Apple’s profits. And in a presentation that lasted more than two hours on Wednesday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium here, Apple executives emphasized several new iPhone features that — despite other announcements, ranging from an improved version of the company’s television controller to chic watchbands — are still the key to Apple’s success.

“Investors have been rewarded by assuming Apple can continually push the envelope on what a phone and the company can do,” said Michael A. Sansoterra, the chief investment officer at Silvant Capital Management, which owns Apple stock.

Because of the first iteration of the larger-screen iPhone 6 introduced last year, Apple’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, when the company had an $18 billion profit, was the most profitable quarter ever for a publicly traded company.

But meeting expectations is becoming a bigger challenge. In its most recent quarter, Apple posted quarterly revenue of $49.6 billion and a $10.7 billion profit; iPhone revenue was up 59 percent from the previous year. But those results still fell short of Wall Street estimates, and Apple’s share price tumbled 4 percent in the following day of trading.

Apple will hit this holiday shopping season with the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which include an upgraded, 12-megapixel camera and a new capability called 3D Touch. It can sense how hard a user is pressing a button, allowing for easier access to different menus and information. It also gives users tactile feedback when they touch their screens. Pressure-sensitive touch screens are already available on the Apple Watch and in the trackpad of the new MacBook.

The new iPhones will also come in a rose-gold finish, with a new glass that the company describes as the strongest in the industry.

The phone’s touch ID sensor has been upgraded, and the phone will feature iOS 9, the newest version of Apple’s mobile operating system.

The new iPhone 6S will cost $200, and the iPhone 6S Plus will cost $300 with a phone contract. Prices for previous versions of the iPhone will drop by $100.

Apple introduced its own payment plan. Starting at $32 a month, customers can upgrade their phones every year if they buy them through Apple. The new phones will be available in 12 countries, including the United States, on Sept. 25. They will be available to order starting Sept. 12.

But as was clear in the presentation on Wednesday, Apple is aggressively courting customers with other product lines as it competes with competitors like Microsoft, Samsung and Google to become the centerpiece of Internet-connected home entertainment systems.

“Apple gets a lot of credit for being innovators, but it’s about how they execute and improve on what already exists,” said Tuong Huy Nguyen, a Gartner analyst. “Everyone uses the same ingredients, but a great chef can use them to make a better meal.”

The makeover of the iPad is reminiscent of Apple’s decision last year to introduce the larger-screen phones, a move that many also had said the company would never make.

Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, called the new iPad Pro “the most capable” tablet the company has ever created. With a larger screen and optional keyboard, it becomes a device that is meant to be useful for both the creation and consumption of content.

“It makes sense for Apple to reveal a new keyboard along with new, larger-screen iPads with faster processors,” said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “The message being that Apple is trying to push the iPad to be more of a PC replacement, a converged device of a tablet notebook that has broader computing powers.”

But starting at $800 (not including the optional $170 keyboard and the $100 stylus), it is much more expensive than earlier iPads.

Mr. Sacconaghi added that Apple had long rejected the idea that it would create such a device, but now some of the pieces are in place. The new iPad runs Microsoft Office software and has a faster processor so it can handle more complex computing tasks.

Mr. Cook also presented a new, enhanced Apple TV, which represents the company’s most ambitious effort yet to become the focal point of home entertainment systems. Apple TV already streams videos and music. Now it is set to offer video games, shopping and travel tools through an expanded array of apps.

“Our vision for TV is simple,” Mr. Cook said. “We believe the future of television is apps.”

The new version of Apple TV also includes a remote control that could be used as a video game controller. The product now comes with a higher price tag that starts at $150, up from $70, indicating that the company is betting that consumers will think all of the new features are worth the higher price.

Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations, also talked about improvements to the Apple Watch, including a number of new apps like Facebook Messenger and AirStrip, a health care app that lets doctors coordinate patient care and monitor health data.

Drawing all of these devices together is Apple’s voice assistant technology, called Siri, with improved search capabilities that were prominently displayed throughout the event, especially on the new Apple TV.

“The market will decide whether it’s a good idea for Apple to do things that it has said it wouldn’t or that people don’t think it should,” said Mr. Nguyen. “So far the market has liked it.”

蘋果發表會 看3大亮點

蘋果公司於美西時間九日上午十點（台灣時間十日凌晨一點）在舊金山舉辦發表會，會中三大亮點將是小改版的iPhone，大幅更新的機上盒Apple TV，以及傳聞已久的大尺寸iPad。

這次發表會選在舊金山「比爾格雷姆市政禮堂」舉辦，除了六月已發表的新版行動作業系統iOS 9，Apple Watch作業系統及iPad mini也可能有小幅更新，但重頭戲仍是新款iPhone。

新版iPhone應承襲前款，取名iPhone 6S及iPhone 6S Plus，螢幕尺寸維持四點七和五點五吋不變，外型也不會有重大變化，不過有科技界人士透露，蘋果可能推出「玫瑰金」新色。

iPhone 6S最主要的改變在於相機和觸控，攝影鏡頭提升至一千兩百萬畫素，加上新的影像處理器。「感壓觸控」（Force Touch）是全新功能，藉由用戶輕觸或重壓功能鍵，可啟動不同的指令。外傳台灣將列入首波開賣名單中。

這次發表的新版Apple TV，將是自2007年問世後最大幅度的更新。除了原有的影音串流功能，新機上盒也增加支援Siri及App Store，且將著重遊戲功能。遙控器重新設計，增加觸控面板和體感遙控，玩法類似任天堂的Wii遊戲機，讓用戶體驗遊戲快感。

新版Apple TV的售價僅149美元（約台幣4,850元），可說是最便宜的遊戲機。

另一個備受期待的新產品是12.9吋的iPad平板電腦，外界猜測可能取名為「iPad Pro」。新iPad的螢幕尺寸比現有的9.7吋iPad還大，也使得iPad和MacBook筆電的界線更模糊。此外，大尺寸iPad可能配備Retina顯示器及觸控筆。

iPhone仍是蘋果的金雞母，上一季蘋果營收496億美元，iPhone就占了近三分之二。但TECHnalysis Research分析師歐唐納指出：「對蘋果而言，和自己競爭愈來愈艱難。」要維持銷售佳績恐怕不容易。另有分析師指出，在iPad銷售逐漸下滑的情況下，蘋果有意以大尺寸iPad爭取企業用戶，另闢蹊徑。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/technology/apple-tv-iphone-6s.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/technology/20150910/c10apple/zh-hant/

Video：

In San Francisco, Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, called the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus “the most advanced smartphones in the world.”
http://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000003900120/apple-executives-demonstrate-new-iphones.html

Apple used haptic technology in its watch to deliver notifications by tapping on a user’s wrist. Now tech firms are finding more ways to, as one researcher said, let “people feel things that aren’t actually there.”
http://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/personaltech/100000003875391/haptics-future-beyond-the-apple-watch.html

2015-09-10．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯莊蕙嘉