九月的产品发布会上，苹果将给我们带来哪些惊喜？
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苹果（Apple）在上周四送出了一年一度的秋季产品发布会的邀请函。今年的发布会定于9月12日在苹果园区内举办，活动的焦点几乎肯定是新款iPhone，还可能有新的iPad或其他设备面世。苹果通常也会在9月的盛会上发布智能手表的升级款。不过尽管新闻报道已经透露了许多风声，苹果依旧可能在某些方面给所有人来点惊喜。他们究竟还会公布什么？以下是我们一些有根据的推测： 互联网视频服务 可能性：很有可能 苹果着力开发奈飞（Netflix）竞品的消息并非无中生有的谣言，他们一直在好莱坞大肆招兵买马。公司去年挖来了索尼影视电视公司（Sony Pictures Television）的联席总裁杰米·埃利希特和扎克·范·埃姆博格，还与瑞茜·威瑟斯彭、詹妮弗·安妮斯顿和奥普拉·温弗瑞等人签订了作品协议。然而，目前还没有关于苹果视频服务的细节报道。它可能会与Apple Music或是亚马逊（Amazon）Prime会员服务等捆绑，或是成为单独的订阅服务，还有可能免费开放给特定用户，例如iPhone或iPad的持有者。在下个月的iPhone发布会上公布这一服务绝对会吸引大家的关注。 低价版iPhone 可能性：较为可能 去年，苹果不仅推出了售价1,000美元的iPhone X，与2016年相比还稍微提高了新款机型（iPhone 8和8 Plus）的定价。由于售价提高，苹果iPhone产生的收入在新机型上市的前两个季度提高了14%，尽管卖出的手机数几乎没有变化。对于2018年机型的定价，消息源的传闻很多，不过至少一位华尔街的分析师在今年6月预测，升级版iPhone X的起售价会降低100美元至900美元。 圆形表盘的Apple Watch 可能性：有些可能 前三代Apple Watch的表盘都是方形的，尽管公司偶尔也会提交圆形表盘相关的专利。虽然这款手表在同类产品的销量上遥遥领先，却从未如一些分析师预期的那样产生巨大影响。苹果也并不介意以推翻重来的方式改进2015年的最初版本，例如他们去年就大幅调整了整个应用的显示方式。不过迄今为止，所有涉及第四代手表的传闻都声称它有着方形的表盘，尽管这块表盘比以往更大、更鲜艳一点。 全新款Mac Pro 可能性：不太可能 已经可以肯定，苹果正在重新设计颇有些年岁的Mac Pro台式机。根据今年4月我们最后一次得知的相关消息，全新版的Mac Pro将会推迟到2019年面世。不过鉴于太多消费者抱怨苹果忽视Mac产品线，他们若能提前来一次出人意料的发布，想必能赢得满堂喝彩。 屏幕升级、其他不变的新款MacBook Air 可能性：不太可能 据报道，苹果最畅销的笔记本电脑是老式的MacBook Air。该产品起售价不足1,000美元，但是搭载的因特尔（Intel）芯片却是三年以前的，配备的显示屏分辨率很低，也不是视网膜屏幕。彭博社（Bloomberg）上周报道称苹果终于有了升级产品，或至少是以1,000美元的价格配备更先进的组件的计划。这让人们燃起了一些希望：也许他们挚爱的Air可以拥有更好的屏幕和更快的处理器，同时配上许久以前就被移除，在最近几代产品中不复存在的多种接口（例如USB 3和SD卡槽）。很多人更喜欢Air的键盘，它的按键触发行程比那些新款机型长很多。不过苹果砍掉了这么多接口和功能，却从来没有恢复它们的先例。（财富中文网） 译者：严匡正 |
Apple sent out invitations on Thursday to its annual fall product unveiling. Slated for Sept. 12 on the Apple campus, the event will almost surely focus on new iPhones, with a possibility the company will also debut new iPads or other devices. Apple also typically announces updates to its smartwatch at its September events. But while much has already leaked in news reports, there are a few ways Apple could surprise everyone. Here are some of possibilities along with our educated guess on whether they will actually be unveiled. An Internet video service Likelihood: Quite possible Apple isn’t just rumored to be working on its own Netflix (nflx, +0.80%) competitor—the company has been on a hiring and dealmaking spree across Hollywood, snapping up the co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, last year and signing production deals with people like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Oprah Winfrey. No one has yet reported many details about the video service, however. It could be packaged with Apple Music and other services like Amazon Prime. Or it could be a standalone subscription. Or it could simply be made available free to, say, all iPhone and iPad owners. Unveiling the service at next month’s iPhone event would certainly get attention. Lower priced iPhone Likelihood: Possible Last year, Apple not only introduced the $1,000 iPhone X, it also modestly raised the prices of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus compared to 2016’s new models. Thanks to the price hikes, Apple’s revenue from iPhones rose 14% in the first two quarters that the new models went on sale, even as the number of phones sold barely budged. There are mixed signals in the Apple rumor community about prices for 2018, but at least one Wall Street analyst in June forecast a $100 drop in price to the starting price of the updated iPhone X, to $900. A round-faced Apple Watch Likelihood: Not very Through its first three iterations, the screen of Apple Watch has had a square design, even though the company has occasionally filed patents related to a round screen. Although the watch leads the entire category in sales, it has never become the huge hit some analysts expected. Apple has also had no qualms about going back to the drawing board to revamp aspects of its initial approach from 2015, like overhauling the entire app display last year. But so far, all of the rumors for the likely Series 4 version include a square screen, albeit one that’s slightly bigger and brighter. The all-new Mac Pro Likelihood: Unlikely It’s a certainty that Apple is redesigning its aged Mac Pro desktop computer. When last we heard from the company on this topic in April, the revamped computer was said to be delayed until 2019. But with so many customers complaining about Apple’s neglect of the Mac line up, Apple could win plaudits with an early, surprise announcement. A new MacBook Air with a better screen and no other changes Likelihood: Unlikely Apple’s reported best seller in its laptop line is the dated MacBook Air, which starts at less than $1,000 but runs on Intel chips released more than three years ago and still has a low resolution, non-retina screen. Bloomberg reported last week that Apple was finally planning to update the device, or at least offer something with more modern specs at the $1,000 price point. That led some to hope that their beloved Air would simply get a better screen and faster processor while keeping many ports (like USB 3 and an SD card slot) that have long since been eliminated from more recent models. Many also prefer the Air’s keyboard, which has keys with a lot more travel than those on newer models. But Apple (aapl, +0.92%) has killed off so many ports and features and never once brought one back. |
