As the dust settled on Apple's last event of 2018, where it announced new iPad Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Mini, I was particularly interested by three key developments.
Apple's full embrace of the USB Type-C connector, its demonstration of how effortless wireless charging can be with the Pencil and iPad Pro, and its T2 hardware security chip for enhanced safety.
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I think these three developments will be instrumental in setting the agenda for the rest of the consumer tech industry for the coming year, following Apple's lead.
The 2018 iPad Pro -- both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch versions -- is the first non-Mac device to not have a proprietary charging port (Lightning or otherwise). Even the new 2018 MacBook Air does away with standard USB ports, fully embracing only USB Type-C ports on its shell. This is an important development, not to be dismissed lightly.
For a few years now, USB Type-C has shown it has all the ingredients of becoming a universal port on all our electronic devices. Android phones have been gradually adopting Type-C without any momentum. But with Apple throwing its weight behind USB Type-C, there's a very good chance it will also show up on next year's iPhones -- if Apple wants to keep doing business in EU.
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And usually, as we've seen with the iPhone, whatever Apple does the rest of the industry pretty much follows. This is great news for ensuring the success of USB Type-C in the long term. No more different charging cables, no more connectors, no more inconvenience -- our gadget-infused lives will be a lot more saner very soon.?
During Apple's keynote, the company demonstrated how the new Apple Pencil has a symbiotic relationship with the new iPad Pro, where the Pencil just magnetically sticks to the iPad Pro's edge and wirelessly charges itself. To borrow Apple's hyperbole, this is truly phenomenal, and I'll tell you why.
Wireless charging has three major hurdles to cross before it becomes huge. First, it needs to be fast -- no one wants to wait till their tea goes cold and see their phone charge by only 5%. Second, no one wants to buy just another accessory for wirelessly charging a phone. Third, everyone is perfectly happy charging their phone through a wire.
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I don't think the Pencil sticking to the iPad Pro will charge super quick, but it does present a use case which is intuitive, convenient and doesn't make you buy a new accessory for wireless charging alone. It may not be widely replicated, but Apple has demonstrated it can re-imagine wireless charging, make it more hassle-free and convenient.
During the MacBook Air presentation at Apple's keynote last night, for the first time the company provided more details on its T2 security chip. Long story short, it's a custom-made hardware chip that physically sits on the MacBook Air's motherboard, protecting the device's encryption keys, fingerprint data, and other sensitive data zones.
Among other things, the T2 security chip ensures?the MacBook Air's microphone is physically disconnected from the rest of the computer's hardware, every time you close the Air's lid. This will ensure that advanced spyware or eavesdropping tools won't listen in on you, even when you think your device is temporarily suspended.?
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Apple is no doubt responding to the rise in targeted malware on the Mac ecosystem of devices, and it's great to see it's trying to protect user's privacy and sensitive data at a hardware level on both the new Retina Display MacBook Air and Mac mini 2018.
Intel has similar hardware-level encryption through TPM -- a trusted platform module chip -- for professional and business PCs in the Windows world, but nothing for consumer devices. In fact, this level of security isn't normally seen on consumer-focused devices, so it's great to see this shift from Apple -- it will definitely force the rest of the industry to move in this direction, which is only great news for consumers.