Apple Pay became a significant benefactor at Apple's new product presentation Oct. 27, as the mobile wallet's Touch ID authentication is incorporated into a flashy new MacBook Pro keyboard.
In touting the keyboard's dynamic Touch Bar as a way to replace function keys with context-sensitive icons, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said Apple Pay payments are a part of this vision.
Apple introduced Touch ID on its iPhones three years ago, marking one of the first widespread uses of biometrics on consumer handsets. Shortly after bringing that technology to its phones, Apple launched Apple Pay, which relies heavily on Touch ID authentication.
Apple had recently introduced Apple Pay as an option through the
Cook also introduced new features of Apple TV, stressing the use of apps for TV viewing. Though a connection for Apple Pay to Apple TV has not been established, it stands to reason that it would fit into an app-based TV scenario sometime in the future, similar to the company's development of an app store for its
The product presentation came three days after Apple delivered optimistic comments during its earnings call about Apple Pay's quickly growing popularity in Japan, helping fuel what CEO Tim Cook called a tremendous month of September for Apple Pay transactions.
The company's mobile payment transactions through iPhones in September topped the figure for the entire fiscal 2015 year, Cook said, though he did not provide specific numbers.
