蘋果公司新品發佈 iPad Air 2領銜

There were three big dates on Apple’s calendar this year. The first was June’s WWDC, where it presented iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, the second was a surprise event last month that presented us with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch. Thursday marked the third, and Apple got out the big guns in the run up to the holiday shopping tablet rush – the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.
今年蘋果公司有三個重要的日子。第一個是在6月份蘋果公司全球軟件開發者年會上，發佈了新一代移動操作系統iOS 8以及新版Mac系統；第二個是在上個月發佈了iPhone 6和Apple Watch，帶給大家各種驚喜。而本週四是第三個大日子，蘋果公司在這天發佈了平板電腦iPad Air 2 和iPad mini 3。

We went hands-on with the two new tablets to find out what’s new.
我們通過親自體驗，來爲您介紹這兩款平板電腦的創新之處。

The first thing you notice when picking up the iPad Air 2 is that it’s a lot slimmer and lighter than previous models. The iPad Air was last year’s best-designed tablet, but Apple has improved on it by carving 1.4mm from the already slender slate. It feels like a tablet you can hold for hours without getting tired, and it’s perfectly balanced whether you’re in portrait or landscape mode.
拿到iPad Air 2後你的第一感覺是比之前那款更輕、更薄。iPad Air被認爲是去年設計最佳的平板電腦，但是蘋果公司沒有滿足於此，在原有Pad Air的基礎上又將厚度減小了1.4毫米。這樣輕薄的平板就算你拿着它幾個小時都不覺得累，而且不論你帶着它去哪裏，它都能保持相當好的平衡度。

Battery life is always a worry with slim tablets because they have less room for, well, batteries — but Apple promises that the Air 2 will have the same 10-hour stamina of its predecessor, a claim we couldn’t verify during our limited hands-on time Thursday.
平板電腦越輕薄人們，會越擔心它的電池續航時間，畢竟輕薄就意味着沒有足夠的空間放大容量的電池。但是蘋果公司承諾iPad Air 2和其之前推出的平板電腦一樣，電池續航時間都能達到10個小時。但因爲週四體驗新品的時間有限，所以這點我們目前還無法證實。

It’s not just the body that’s had a tweak. The screen has also had a major upgrade, but not the one many observers thought was coming. The resolution remains the same, and that’s no bad thing – the iPad Air is plenty sharp. What Apple has done is fuse the different components of the screen together, eliminating all air gaps. So what, you might ask? Well, aside from helping reduce the thickness of the overall body, that process also means the screen is less reflective. Coupled with an anti-reflective coating, Apple claims that the iPad Air 2 is the least reflective tablet in the world. That’s good news if you like using your tablet outdoors, and it also makes images look like they’re almost painted onto the glass.
除了機身方面有所調整外，iPad Air 2的屏幕也有了較大的升級。雖然分辨率沒有變化，但這不是問題，因爲iPad Air已經足夠清晰了。蘋果公司對iPad Air 2重點改進的是將LCD屏幕、觸屏玻璃、觸控傳感器緊密融合在一起，使其沒有任何縫隙。你可能會覺得這沒有什麼大不了的。但其實這樣做不僅有助於減小機身的整體厚度，還可以降低屏幕反光率。再加上一層特殊的抗反射薄膜，蘋果公司宣稱iPad Air 2是世界上反光率最低的平板電腦。如果你喜歡在室外使用平板電腦，那iPad Air 2絕對更適合。而且這種屏幕還能讓畫面看起來像直接塗在玻璃上的那樣。

All these, however, are iterative improvements — there’s nothing radically innovative on the new iPad. One new feature for the iPads is Touch ID, a feature Apple introduced on the iPhone 5S that lets you access your phone with your thumbprint rather than a four-digit passcode. On an iPhone, Touch ID is fantastic, and within a few days of use you wonder how you ever lived without it. We’re not convinced it’s quite as compelling on a tablet, though. You don’t unlock tablets with as much regularity and they’re not at constant risk of loss or theft like your phone, which is always out and about with you.
當然所有這些改變都只是在之前的基礎上更進了一步，新版iPad並沒有什麼根本上的創新。iPad系列的一個新特點就是Touch ID，這是蘋果公司在發佈iPhone 5S時提出的功能，這個功能能代替之前的四位數字密碼，而通過你的指紋來解鎖手機。Touch ID這個功能在iPhone上使用既有趣又有用，使用幾天後你會發現自己根本離不開它。可是在平板電腦上，似乎並沒有達到同樣的效果。因爲平板和手機不同，平板不需要頻繁的解鎖，也不像手機那樣因爲一直隨身攜帶、隨手拿着容易丟失所以需要保證安全性。

But Apple hasn’t included Touch ID on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 for the sake of unlocking them with ease — this is a big retail play. Touch ID is integral to Apple Pay, which is in part a slick and easy way to buy products online with the touch of a finger. Judging from how many more apps we buy since Touch ID purchasing was introduced to the App Store, we think this could eliminate multiple drop-off points in the buying process. No wonder retailers are clamoring to get on board – these tablets are the highest-tech shopping carts around.
但是蘋果將Touch ID引入iPad Air 2和iPad mini 3並不僅是爲了增強安全性，同時也是爲了Apple Pay服務的推廣。Apple Pay是一種手指觸碰的快捷移動支付服務，而Touch ID是這項服務中的關鍵一環。根據從指紋觸摸支付功能被引入蘋果商店以後購買的app數量，可以看出該服務非常便捷。難怪衆多零售商也都吵着要加入，這樣的平板電腦確實是最高科技的購物車了。

The iPad Air 2 also got a new processor. This isn’t like the slightly tweaked iPhone 5S chip we saw on the iPad Air. Instead, Apple has designed it specifically for the iPad Air 2, and Apple claims some staggering performance improvements – up to 40% better CPU speeds and 2.5 times the graphical grunt. That’s big news if you edit photos or videos on your tablet or if you’re a mobile gamer.
iPad Air 2還配備了新的處理器。這和之前發佈的僅在iPhone 5S 芯片基礎上稍作調整的iPad Air不同。蘋果公司專門爲iPad Air 2設計了處理器，並宣稱這會帶來難以置信的改變—與之前相比，CPU快40%，GPU快2.5倍。這對平時喜歡用平板電腦編輯圖片或視頻、玩遊戲的人來說是個好消息。

To take advantage of the extra power, Apple has also upgraded the iPad Air 2’s iSight camera. It’s now an 8-megapixel affair, but the real benefits come from additional software features. You get all the tricks that iPhone users have enjoyed for a while. There’s time-lapse, burst shooting and the impressive slo-mo video capture.
另外蘋果公司還升級了iPad Air 2的iSight攝像頭，像素達到800萬，但是最大的優勢還是來自於新增加的軟件特點。iPhone使用者早就體驗到的拍攝功能，包括延時拍攝、連拍以及很吸引人的Slo-Mo慢動作拍攝等，現在在新款平板上也可以用到了。

The iPad mini 3 is less interesting than its bigger cousin — It’s essentially last year’s tablet with the inclusion of Touch ID.
The iPad mini 3與以往相比，沒有太多大變化，只是在去年的基礎上引入了Touch ID功能而已。

Both of Apple’s new iPads look and feel great on first play. They will likely remain the tablets to beat in terms of quality and usability, but Apple had another surprising announcement. The iMac, Apple’s all-in-one desktop, got a refresh. It looks the same in terms of design, but the highest-end model now packs an incredibly sharp 27-inch 5K Retina display. The sharpness is immense — it will make graphic designers froth at the mouth with anticipation.
蘋果發佈的這兩款新平板電腦剛拿在手裏時，看起來感覺都很棒，它們在質量和適用性方面都堪稱平板電腦的佼佼者。但是蘋果公司在昨天的發佈會上還發布了另一款產品--全新iMac。iMac是蘋果公司的一體式電腦。新款iMac在設計上與之前類似，其最大的特點是搭載全新的27英寸、分辨率達到5120×2880像素的Retina屏幕。這種屏幕清晰度超高，即使是平面設計工作者們也會對它垂涎欲滴。

The new iPads are available to preorder now in 16/64/128GB models for $499/$599/$699 respectively for Wi-Fi only. Add $130 on top if you have a hankering for 4G connectivity. The Retina iMac will run you $2,499.
目前，新款的平板系列有16/64/128GB三種容量版本，WiFi版售價分別499/599/699美元（國內定價人民幣3588/4288/4988元）。如果想要4G網絡版，則需再加130美元，即售價分別629美元/729美元/829美元（約合人民幣3851/4463/5076元）。Retina iMac的售價爲2499美元（約合人民幣15307元）。