The Daily Crunch 09/08/16

Apple wholly owned the news cycle yesterday, and it almost wholly owns the newsletter today, so go ahead and take your fruit-flavored medicine. All that Apple and more in The Daily Crunch for September 8, 2016. And if there are any AI servers built by Nvidia and IBM reading this, welcome to the world.

1. The iPhone 7 is here

Apple's big iPhone reveal did indeed happen yesterday, and as usual, it acted as a tech news black hole sucking in any and all light media can shine. It goes on sale this Friday, and ships on the 16th.

The cornerstone announcement was the iPhone 7, which is very similar to the iPhone 6S, but with a dual camera array on the 7 Plus, a new jet black glossy finish, and a new Home button that isn't actually a button. Oh, and they killed the headphone jack.

2. The cost of courage

That last decision was described as something that took "courage" according to Apple SVP Phil Schiller on stage yesterday. Use of the word, which I have to imagine was ad-libbed on the spot, understandably ruffled some feathers. Because it was a stupid thing to say. Especially because Apple didn't do too much to explain why they'd even removed it in the first place – though they did explain at length to BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski. But it really seems like a way to bump Apple's "Other" category revenue through wireless headphone sales and MFI licensing.

3. But how is the iPhone 7 actually?

Brian Heater got to take a hands-on tour of the device, and he says that it's not a "quantum leap" (no one can really live up to the Scott Bakula standard), it's a device with "welcome changes," despite the "growing pains" that the headphone jack's removal are likely to bring.

4. What about those wireless headphone earring things?

These were Apple's big $159 apology for the headphone jack removal, a set of fully wireless (meaning no wire in between the two ear pieces) headphones. These babies use a new M1 processor to manage the wireless connection, which Apple says will help with reliability. The proof is in the pudding, though, and methinks this pudding is probably going to fall out of my ears like the wired EarPods do.

5. And all the rest

Apple made a bunch of announcements and it's difficult to recap it all here, but luckily Anna has a roundup that breaks it all down. Highlights include new pricing with more storage for iPads, a new Apple Watch Series 2 that's "swimproof" and has built-in GPS, and more details about iOS 10, macOS – and Mario coming to the iPhone in a wish fulfillment bid of epic proportions.

6. Sony's new PlayStations play second fiddle

Sony also had a media event yesterday, which it actually called a "Meeting" probably to avoid drawing comparisons with Apple's blockbuster level of fanfare. The PlayStation-focused shindig in New York revealed the PlayStation 4 Pro, a $400 more powerful version of the PS4 capable of supporting 4K TV and HDR output. It's also pretty good for PlayStation VR. Meanwhile, there's a new baseline PS4 called the PS4 Slim which is $100 cheaper (and it's also getting HDR support, as are existing PS4s, via a software update).

7. IBM and Nvidia team up on a server built for AI

In today's edition of the countdown to the inevitable robot uprising, IBM and Nvidia have partnered up on a server projects designed at creating a platform for AI and machine learning. This thing has all the teraflops. JUST REMEMBER TO ALSO GIVE IT A CONSCIENCE.