Apple’s major announcements and the BIG surprise no one saw coming by Kim Komando

All eyes were on Apple today for its spring product rollout and as usual, the company didn't disappoint. But while most were anticipating an elaborate premier for the Apple Watch, it's everything that happened BEFORE the watch announcement that has everyone buzzing.

Apple Live didn't just end with a bang; it was explosive almost the whole way through. Today's show will probably change which gadgets you end up buying this year. The Apple Watch was present, but felt like more of a footnote than the star of the show. Instead, the stage was stolen by dramatic improvements in the newest MacBooks, an exclusive partnership with HBO coupled with an impressive Apple TV price slash.

The most important thing that came out of Apple's event is one date: April 10th. All of Apple's announcements, including updates to the MacBook Pro and Air line, will be available in stores on April 10th. Except for the Apple Watch, for a very important reason.

This week's Apple tip will tell you everything that you need to know about what was announced at Apple Live and what it all means.

Cord-cutters rejoice: No cable needed for HBO streaming

The coolest announcement that's coming at you this April is HBO Now, a standalone streaming service offered exclusively through Apple devices. This is HBO's first foray into offering streaming subscriptions without requiring a cable subscription, and that's something to talk about.

Getting access to premium HBO shows is one of the biggest reasons that many wishful cord-cutters maintain their expensive cable and satellite subscriptions, and they won't have to do that anymore. A $14.99 subscription will get you instant access to all of the critically acclaimed HBO content that used to require a cable subscription.

Apple paired this announcement with a 30% price slash to its Apple TV streaming set-top box, from $99 to $69.

The new MacBook

If you've ever wanted the power of a MacBook with the handy size of little brother, the MacBook Air, then this year's MacBook is the notebook that you've been waiting for. The most exciting thing that Apple announced during its press conference was that the new MacBook's battery will last for 9 hours while connected to Wi-Fi.

Apple's engineers pulled out all the stops for those 9 hours, too. Instead of your run-of-the-mill battery brick, the new MacBook actually fits multiple batteries stacked on top of each other. Oh, and its fan-less design means that the computer runs in complete silence.

The new MacBook starts at $1,299 with a 12-inch Retina display, 1.3 GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256 GB Solid State Drive. If that SSD doesn't sound big enough to you, then you might want the $1,599 version that comes with a 512 GB model for $1,599.

The new MacBook will hit stores on April 10th. Not a very long wait if you're in the market for a new Apple laptop.