Apple launched its cheapest iPhone SE and other products at an online event on Tuesday.
Here are five takeaways from the event.
Green Apple
The new iPhone SE and iPad Air are designed in a sustainable manner, the company said.
The smartphone is made up of recycled materials, including 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements. Its redesigned packaging eliminates the outer plastic wrap, bringing the company closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging in the next three years.
iPad Air comes with a 100 per cent recycled aluminium enclosure and 100 per cent recycled rare earth elements in both the enclosure and audio magnets.
Apple is currently carbon neutral for global corporate operations and by 2030, it plans to have a net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and product life cycles.
Centre stage comes to iPad Air
iPad Air’s ultra-wide 12-megapixel front camera comes with the centre stage feature. It automatically keeps the users in the main frame as they move around. When others join in, the camera detects them, too, and smoothly zooms out to include them in the same frame.
With the addition of centre stage to the new iPad Air, all iPad models now feature this experience.
In addition, there is a 12-megapixel wide camera on the rear of the new iPad Air that lets users capture photos, record videos, scan documents and experiment with various augmented reality experiences.
M1 Ultra: Apple's most powerful chip yet
Apple unveiled the M1 Ultra, the next giant step in the chip industry. It consists of 114 billion transistors, the most ever used in a personal computer chip.
It can run up to 22 trillion operations per second, speeding through the most challenging machine learning tasks, Apple said.
The company launched its own M1 chip in November 2020 to reduce its reliance on other chip manufacturers such as Intel and to avoid supply chain-related disruptions. It launched the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in October.
Attracting baseball fans
Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) in the US announced “Friday Night Baseball” - a weekly double header with live pre- and postgame shows that will be available in eight countries on Apple TV+ as soon as the regular season begins.
“Just like all baseball fans, we can’t wait for the season to open,” said Peter Stern, Apple’s vice president of services.
“Baseball has a special place in the heart of so many Apple customers — not just in the US, but in many countries around the world. We are proud to make Apple TV+ the home for great baseball moments throughout the season,” he added.
Apple might launch new iOS 15.4 on March 18
Though Apple did not disclose the exact date of the launch of the consumer-version of its latest operation system, iOS 15.4, it indicated the update might be available from March 18.
This is the same day Apple’s new iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro with green finishes will become available to customers. In a media statement on Tuesday, Apple said these phones will be shipped with the latest iOS 15.4.
Apple recently rolled out the fifth beta of iOS 15.4. It will offer many new features, such as a Face ID facial recognition system that works with masks and can recognise unique features around the eyes for verification.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
