Apple Unveils iTunes Radio, American-Made Mac Pro and Cheaper MacBook Air

Apple AAPL kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference event with a developer- and media-focused presentation regarding the next iteration of OS X and iOS 7.

The big product-related news came when Apple announced the long-awaited Mac Pro update. Scheduled to ship later this year, the next-generation Mac Pro will come with Dual Workstation GPUs – FirePro Graphics from AMD AMD – and a next-generation Xeon chip from Intel INTC, amounting to more than twice the processing power of the previous generation.

"Can't innovate anymore, my a**," Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, told attendees after the announcement.

Not to be outdone, the MacBook Air got another refresh. While the Haswell ULT chip may not have sounded overly exciting when it first hit the rumor mill, the new Intel-made chip has allowed Apple to greatly increase the Air's battery life. Instead of a maximum of five hours for the 11-inch model, the new Air will jump to nine hours of battery life.

The 13-inch model will leap from a max of seven hours of battery life to a whopping 12 hours. While the 11-inch model will still sell for $999, the 13-inch iteration will now retail for $1,099 ($100 less than last year's model, and $200 less than the 2011 edition).

Apple also unveiled a new look for iOS 7, which seems to be more about visualization and customization than innovation. The reports were true – Apple is adopting flat icons. To make the new operating system appear more dimensional, Apple is adding transparent layers to each screen.

On the home screen, for example, the wallpaper will sit underneath app icons. If a user tilts the phone, iOS 7's new parallax-scrolling feature will go into effect. It's an interesting visual, to say the least, but it does not redefine the way users will interact with their smartphones.

There are a number of attractive tweaks, however, that are likely to appeal to iOS users while simultaneously frustrating diehard BlackBerry BBRY fans. For starters, some of BB10's clever swiping features are being borrowed – and implemented in Apple's own special way – for iOS 7.

iOS 7 will also include multi-tasking for all apps with "great" battery life. Apps will also intelligently learn to update automatically based on their popularity. Thus, if a user frequently clicks on the Facebook FB app, it will update in the background without needing to be told.

Safari is getting some tweaks as well, including a 3D scroll effect for tabs that is reminiscent of the scrolling windows feature in Windows Vista. While the Vista scrolling proved to be sluggish, cumbersome, and put a strain on PCs, the new Safari looks promising.

The beloved iPhone camera is also getting an update that will allow users to swipe between modes (panoramic, cropped, etc.) and receive an instant list of photo filters (a la Instagram) after images are taken.

One of the more impressive iOS-related announcements involved automobiles. Starting in 2014, General Motors GM, Kia, Hyundai, Honda HMC, Nissan, Ferrari, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Acura, Infiniti and a couple of other automakers will bring iOS to select vehicles.

Ford F, whose vehicles feature SYNC® from Microsoft MSFT, was not on the list of iOS 7 supporters. Toyota TM, which has its own multimedia system called Entune, was also absent from the list.

In an effort to provide better protection, Apple announced that if a thief finds an iPhone, turns off the "Find my iPhone" feature or wipes the device, they won't be able to re-activate it because they don't have the user name or password.

Last but not least, Apple confirmed the long-rumored iRadio service, which is now officially being referred to as iTunes Radio. It is exactly what it sounds like – an iTunes version of radio. iTunes Match subscribers can listen without ads; everyone else will have to endure the commercial breaks. Apple did not say how often ads will appear, but you can bet that will be a great topic of discussion this week.

Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ