Recently concluded Apple special September product lunch event was full of announcements. It covered all product segments - iWatch, iPhone, iPadPro, AppleTV. Some of the upgrades are incremental, some are transformational and most importantly some are collaborative in nature to provide the best value to end customer. Here is my view on each of the product lines announcements and beyond:-

iPadPro - Collaboration with big software players

Apple realizes very soon they will max out in consumer space for iPad and need to enter enterprise segment. The collaboration with IBM to build enterprise apps was the 1st big step towards that, now with Apple is trying to imitate (sounds unreal, but true !!) Microsoft Surface product family and move to hybrid device space with iPadPro to capture the imagination of enterprise users. Microsoft was also invited to showcase its productivity tools like Office in the event to make iPadPro very apealing. Adobe was also invited to introduce Adobe Photoshop fix and other web design tools customized for iPadPro. This is clearly a sign that Apple is really keen to move towards the enterprise space with the hybrid device.

While, these are steps towards right direction, but the real issue with iPadPro is that, it is not a true multi-tasking device. It will be interesting to see if Apple is ready to combine Mac and iOS in ipadPro to make it a real enterprise device. But surely, Apple is finally stepping into hybrid device space. I would love to see more radical designs like iPaper (folding display), which has a potential to bring iphone, ipad and Mac devices in single device.

Apple TV - Device for Gen x,y,z and millennials

Apple believes the future of TV is App & it will drive growth in future. With the introduction of natural language capabilities with Siri TV remote, it is changing the experience in the living room. I believe it will potentially take long time for it to become wide spread hit like Apple phone. This is mainly due to 3 reasons. 1stly most household have one TV, hence ability to have multiple ownership in a single household is low. 2ndly, to get the type of experience Apple is talking abt requires high speed broadband at home. Broadband speed is still an issue in Asian and developing European market where apple is seeing growth in iphone segment. 3rdly, smart TV audience is very low in American and European market with generation X, and baby boomers still prefer to see the TV in the old fashion & generation y, z sees it on smart phone. Having said all of these, Apples decision to push Apps/Games in the Apple TV is a cleaver move where, they will try to capture the Generation Y, Z and millennial who would otherwise be left out. Also, Apple hope to take the completion to the likes of Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation in future with this move. Another acpect underlying to this is ecommerce and App revenue, Apple is clearly trying to establish TV as another channel to increase its revenue substantially.

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus- Touch with a depth and iCLOUD a new revenue stream

While ApplePay is making its entry into the world of contact less payments & biometric authentication technologies, its seems not enough for Apple & they are accelerating the pace of innovation. The new set of iPhones are unvailed with 3D touch and high definition picture and video capability. 3D touch technology is giving Apple the ability to provide an extra dimension to the touch technology with finger pressure. Usecases like viewing the details without losing the context are meant for higher productivity. In Gaming context, the ability to have more control will also give immersing gaming experience. Apart from the 3D touch another noticeable aspect is high definition image and videos capabilities in the new device with low storage spaces. Apple is trying to push the iCOULD as another revenue stream for these devices. iPhone platform could move into multiple direction. 1stly play a better role in IoT economy, 2ndly, it could do innovation in display (folding, laser etc), 3rdly it can play a pivotal role in Apple cross platform synergy by enhancing the capability of the devices like Apple TV, iPadPro or even Apple Watch.

 Apple Watch - What is beyond Visual and touch interaction

While Apple is pushing Medical usecases heavily through the watch, but I think there is a fundamental Design issue with the watch due to its over reliance on visual and touch. Smart watch is still seen as companion device than a fundamental device. When a device becomes smaller, ability to use other senses like voice and motion etc should increase to give more ways to interact with the device. I think the future of Apple watch or any other wearables will depend on how it uses Siri/Voice or motion technology as input. For now I feed Apple Watch is not progressed any further in the value chain apart from early use cases in medical care and payments authentication.