Apple event 2020: Tech giant unveils new products - but no iPhone

Company rolled out new smartwatches, iPads and subscription services to attract more customers

The Apple Watch SE. EPA

The Family Setup in Watch OS 7 brings Apple Watch features to family members. EPA

The all-new iPad Air featuring a completely new thin and light design. EPA

Apple Watch Series 6 featuring a revolutionary Blood Oxygen sensor. EPA

The Hermes Attelage Single Tour and slimmer Attelage Double Tour bands. EPA

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during a special event at the company's headquarters of Apple Park in a still image from video taken in Cupertino, California, U.S. REUTERS

Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams unveiling the Apple Watch Series 6 during an Apple Event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA. EPA

Deidre Caldbeck introduces Family Setup in watchOS 7 for Apple Watch during a special event at the company's headquarters of Apple Park in a still image from video released in Cupertino, California, U.S. REUTERS

Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson discusses how Apple plans to make all of its products carbon neutral by 2030 during a special event at the company's headquarters of Apple Park in a still image from video released in Cupertino, California, U.S. REUTERS

Jay Blahnik unveils Apple Fitness+ during a special event at the company's headquarters of Apple Park in a still image from video released in Cupertino, California, U.S. REUTERS

A graphic for Apple Fitness+ is displayed during a virtual product launch seen on a laptop computer in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S. Bloomberg

Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering Laura Legros unveils the all-new iPad Air during a special event at the company's headquarters of Apple Park in a still image from video released in Cupertino, California, U.S. REUTERS

Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson discussing how Apple will make all of its products carbon neutral by 2030 during an Apple Event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, USA. EPA

Apple's vice president of Platform Architecture Tim Millet debuts the new A14 Bionic chip of the all-new iPad Air during a special event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. AFP

Ted Merendino unveils the eighth-generation iPad during a special event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California. AFP

Apple launched a host of new products, including smartwatches, iPads, and subscription services, during an online event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California on Tuesday.

But the much-awaited iPhones were missing. That's not surprising given the disruptions to Apple's supply chain from the coronavirus pandemic.

It unveiled the Watch Series 6, which will run the latest operating system watchOS 7 with improved customisation tools and new health and fitness features. Prices start at Dh1,599.

The new smartwatch can measure users’ blood-oxygen levels in about 15 seconds and offers better parental control tools, sleep tracking and automatic hand-washing detection.

Apple said it was joining forces with researchers to conduct three health studies that include using Apple Watch to explore how blood-oxygen levels can be used in future health applications.

All data will be visible in the Health app, and the user will be able to track trends over time to see how their blood-oxygen level changes.

Apple says the watch can be fully charged in 90 minutes and has improved battery life.

It has collaborated with the government of Singapore on the health initiative LumiHealth, a personalised programme to encourage healthy activity and behaviour using Apple Watch.

This programme uses Apple Watch to encourage Singaporeans and residents to adopt healthy habits through personalised reminders, programmes, activity coaching and incentives.

For budget-conscious customers, the company also launched a lower-cost smartwatch Apple Watch SE, starting at Dh1,149.

It also introduced the eighth-generation iPad, featuring an A12 bionic chip that Apple says brings advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Starting at Dh1,349, the iPad comes with a 26-centimetre display, advanced cameras and all-day battery life.

“The new iPad is an incredible value at a time when, more than ever, our customers need powerful and versatile ways to work, play, learn and connect with loved ones,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

The A12 bionic chip delivers a 40 per cent faster processor and twice the graphics capability, Apple said.

“This makes the new iPad up to two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop, up to three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet and up to six times faster than the top-selling Chromebook,” the company claimed.

Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE and iPad are available to order from the company’s site and in the Apple Store app.

Delivery of the products will start from Friday in the US and 28 other markets.

For premium customers, Apple also unveiled a new iPad Air that starts at Dh2,499.

It comes with 27.7cm screen, a new integrated touch ID sensor and the A14 bionic chip for a boost in performance.

This will be available starting next month, the company said.

For health enthusiasts, Apple launched Fitness+, the first fitness experience built for Apple Watch, arriving this year.

It incorporates metrics from Apple Watch for users to view on their iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.

Users can access studio-style workouts delivered by world-class trainers and underscored by music from renowned artists.

It also announced Apple One, the easiest way to get all of Apple’s subscription services in one simple plan, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ and iCloud.

Apple was tight-lipped on the probable date for the launch of new iPhone 12 series.

But industry analysts expect the company to hold another online event in the last week of this month to unveil the phones.