Our new Apple hardware reactions, this week on The CultCast

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New iPads. New iPhones.  We react to Apple's new hardware!
New iPads. New iPhones. We react to Apple's new hardware!
Photo: @YSR50

This week on The CultCast: Apple’s new iPad is cheaper, fatter, heavier and underpowered, but you should still get one. Plus: Why the “iPad mini Pro” is kind of a ripoff; two reasons you should not buy a (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7; everything you can do with Apple’s new Clips app; our hands-on review of the new Pioneer SPH-DA120 budget Car Play stereo; and we test out the Think Tank Helipack V2, a gigantic backpack built for your DJI Phantom.

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This week’s links

Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad is more affordable than ever

  • Apple introduces a new, fatter 9.7-inch iPad that’s more affordable than ever before.
  • Macrumors calls the new iPad “a little bit iPhone 6s, a little bit iPad Air, and a little bit iPad Air 2.”
  • The device looks almost identical to the iPad Air 2 that it is replacing in Apple’s tablet lineup.
  • Starts at just $329 with 32GB of storage, $429 for 128GB.
  • Apple swapped out the older model’s A8X chip for a faster, 64-bit A9 processor that debuted with the iPhone 6s.
  • It uses an unlaminated screen, and is 7 percent heavier and 20 percent fatter than the iPad Air 2. But the screen is brighter.
  • Went on sale Friday.

iPad mini 4 gets 128GB of storage, still a total ripoff

  • The iPad mini 4 remains the same price, but you get more storage for free. The 128GB model with Wi-Fi now starts at $399, which was previously the price for the 32GB model.
  • It seems like a good deal, until you consider that the new 9.7-inch iPad, which offers a bigger and sharper display and a faster A9 chip, makes the iPad mini 4 a total ripoff.

iPhone SE now comes in 32GB and 128GB flavors

  • The iPhone SE is still the same phone, but it’s now available in 32GB and 128GB flavors, doubling the storage capacity of the previous versions. Prices are still $399 and $499 (unlocked).

This is the (RED) iPhone 7 Apple should have made

  • The special-edition (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cost the same as the regular models, but there is no 32GB option. So, prices start at $749 for a 128GB iPhone 7, and $869 for a 128GB iPhone 7 Plus.
  • Not everyone loves the color of the red iPhone.

Apple’s new Clips app muscles in on fun social video sharing

  • Apple announced the upcoming launch of a new app designed to make it fun and easy for people to create and share “expressive videos” on their iPhone and iPads.
  • Called Clips, the social app will work by combining video clips, photos and music into videos that can be shared with friends through the Messages app, or using Instagram, Facebook and other popular social networks.
  • Clips features “Live Titles” — text captions created by what you say in the video, timed to when you say the words.
  • You can splice in soundtracks.
  • Video is cropped to square.
  • App recognize faces of people if they’re tagged in your Photos app.
  • Clips also recognizes names spoken in your video if they’re in your contacts, and will suggest you share videos with those friends.

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