Apple unveiled four new iPhones during a press event on Wednesday, along with three new Apple Watches, an updated AirPods Pro and a feature that could save lives when cell service isn’t available.
Here’s a closer look:
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus: Apple fans can now buy a larger-sized iPhone without paying the Pro price. The new iPhone 14 (6.1 inches) and the iPhone 14 Plus (6.7 inches) feature longer battery life, the same chip as last year’s iPhone 13 Pro model (the A15) and a new camera system, including a 12 MP main camera with bigger pixels, a faster aperture and improved sensors. Other features: front-camera auto focus capabilities; a new action mode that lets users keep videos stable while moving; and the removal of the physical SIM card, opting instead for a digital, “e-SIM” card.
Cost: iPhone 14 starts at $799 and the larger iPhone 14 Plus model starts at $899. Colors: midnight, starlight, blue, purple and Product Red.
iPhone 14 Pro: Apple’s premium iPhone line redesigned the polarizing notch in favor of a pill-shaped one. Inside holds the true-depth camera, and includes a brand new feature that Apple is calling “dynamic island,” for interactive widgets on your lock screen and access to music controls, timer and other features. The models will come in four colors: space black, silver, gold, and deep purple.
AirPods Pro 2: The latest wireless earbuds have a longer lasting battery, feature a button at the bottom of the case that alerts you to its location and improved and dynamic noise-cancellation technology. Cost: $249; hits stores on Friday.
Three new Apple Watches:
Apple Watch Ultra ($799): The high-end smartwatch is designed for outdoor enthusiasts. Think: deep sea scuba divers and triathletes. It features a brighter display, is more water resistant, comes with an advanced compass and gets 60 hours of use time.
Meanwhile, the Series 8 — which starts at $399 for GPS model and $499 for cellular — narrows in on women’s health, with revamped period cycle tracking tools that can predict ovulation. It can also detect when a user has been in a car crash.
The Apple Watch SE, which starts at $249 for GPS models and $299 for cellular, also features crash detection technology, and is faster than the previous model.
Satellite connectivity: Emergency SOS via Satellite could be a life saver for people needing to communicate when off the grid. By pointing an iPhone 14 toward a satellite in the sky, which the phone will help locate, users will be able to send and receive information to get emergency help even if cell service isn’t working.
The iPhone 14 Pro will come in four colors: space black, silver, gold, and deep purple.
The device’s front eliminates the much-maligned notch, has a true-depth camera, and includes a brand new feature that Apple is calling “dynamic island.”
The feature will be like a widget on top of your home screen, where you’ll be able to see alerts in a concise way without distracting you from what you’re already doing on your phone.
You can get a game’s updates or know when your ride share has arrived without leaving the app you’re in, Apple’s Alan Dye said.
“Each alert has its own personality so they are easy to identify in a glance,” he added, saying it “displays dynamic activity, always active and visible.”
The island is interactive so you can have easy access to controls for music, a timer, and other tools.
The iOS 16 lock screen will also work with dynamic island, Dye said.
Apple also revealed a 48-megapixel camera with a quad-pixel sensor that will “optimize for detail.”
The new sensor groups every four pixels into one large one, according to Apple, and there’s an up to two-times improvement in low light compared to the iPhone13 Pro.
The latest iPhone 14 will start at $799, Apple announced, which is the same starting price as last year’s iPhone 13 but with all of the new features. The larger iPhone 14 Plus model will start at $899.
The news brings relief for those who were worried about price hikes. Ahead of the event, some expected Apple to jack up the price of the latest iPhone 14 due to supply chain hiccups and inflationary pressures.
Apple unveiled the long-rumored satellite connectivity feature called Emergency SOS via Satellite. The tool is intended to help people communicate when their cell service isn’t working – a process that Apple said years to make a reality.
The company said it designed and built specific technology so iPhone 14 devices can connect to satellites when not near a terrestrial tower. By allowing users to point their device toward a satellite, which the phone will help locate, users will be able to send and receive information to get emergency help.
The company said it created a short text compression mechanism to condense messages that take about 15 seconds to send if a user has a clear view of the sky. (It may take a few minutes longer if something like foliage is in the way.)
Apple said local providers will be alerted to help call for help.
Apple announced that its latest iPhone lineup eliminates the need for a physical SIM card and instead uses a digital, “e-SIM” card.
With this option, you can store multiple e-SIMs on the same device and have multiple cellular plans and phone numbers on the same phone. It also prevents others from removing the physical SIM card if your iPhone is lost or stolen.
Apple said all US models of iPhone will no longer have the SIM tray.
Apple’s latest generation of AirPods Pro will be available for $249 starting Sept. 9.
Here’s what’s new:
The new AirPods Pro also come with improved and dynamic noise-cancellation technology, Apple’s Mary-anne Rau said Wednesday. The Airpods are able to cancel out double the amount of noise than the original AirPods Pro.
The device’s H2 chip “delivers advanced computational audio previously unable to run on a device this size,” she added.
There’s an adaptive transparency mode, which dynamically reduces harsh environmental noise. The AirPods Pro will react instantaneously to any high decibel noise you’re exposed to.
Apple also touted more detail and clarity in sound, personalized spatial audio profile options and a smaller ear tip for listeners.
Apple unveiled its new smartphone lineup on Wednesday, including the new iPhone 14 with a 6.1-inch screen and the iPhone 14 Plus with a larger 6.7-inch screen.
“As you can see we’re going big with iPhone 14 and even bigger with iPhone 14 plus,” CEO Tim Cook said as he introduced the lineup.
The latest iPhones feature longer battery life and “ceramic shield” smartphone glass.
The new iPhone 14 uses the same chip as last year’s iPhone 13 Pro model (the A15), the first time it’s repeated a chip in years. It comes with a 12 MP main camera with bigger pixels, a faster aperture and improved sensors.
For the first time, the new front camera has auto focus, allowing it to focus at multiple distances in low light for better individual and group selfies. It also has a new action mode that lets users keep videos stable while moving.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro comes in five colors: midnight, starlight, blue, purple and Product Red.
Apple unveiled a new higher-end $799 smartwatch designed for outdoor enthusiasts,
The new model, called the Apple Watch Ultra, is the “most rugged Apple Watch ever,” COO Jeff Williams said on Wednesday. It’s designed for “exploration, adventure and endurance,” he said, adding that it “has been in the works for years.”
The watch features the biggest, brightest display ever on Apple Watch, making it easier read in the harshest sunlight. It is more water resistant, can be used while wearing gloves and gets 36 hours of battery life on a single charge – and 60 hours if used with the new battery optimization setting coming this fall.
Apple Watch Ultra will also feature a wayfinder. It includes compass in the dial to work in night, ocean and other topographical conditions, according to Williams.
Apple unveiled updates to the more affordable Apple Watch SE. These smartwatches have the same crash detection tech and WatchOS 9 operating system, but come at a starting price of $249 for GPS models and $299 for cellular models.
The new Apple Watch Series 8 will be able to detect when a user has been in a car crash, according to Ron Huang, vice president of Sensing & Connectivity at Apple.
During the Apple event, he said the company spent years studying car crashes, including front, side, rear-end collisions and rollovers.
It can detect the “precise moment of impact” using the watch’s barometer, GPS and microphone, and it can be used in the most popular type of vehicles, according to Huang.
“We truly hope you never need it, but feel a little bit safer every time you get into a car,” Huang said.
Remember: An Apple car has long been rumored. Read more about it here.
Tim Cook introduced the Apple Watch Series 8 on Wednesday, the first big hardware product unveiled at the event.
“We’re previewing our best Apple Watch lineup yet,” Cook said.
Like prior versions of Apple’s smartwatch, the product is intended to motivate users to stay active and fit, Apple executives said.
Apple also noted the Watch’s emphasis on women’s health, with revamped period cycle tracking tools that can predict ovulation. The tracking data is on each device and only accessible through a passcode or face ID, according to the company. Apple does not have key to encrypted data and so it cannot access it without your express permission.
The announcement comes as data security for women has become a major flashpoint in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
The watch will cost $399 for GPS model and $499 for cellular model.
CEO Tim Cook opened the Apple event Wednesday saying the focus will be on iPhones, AirPods and Apple Watch.
“Today we’re here to talk about three products that have become essential in our lives,” Cook said. “And today, we’re going to make these products and these experiences even better.”
Apple is expected to announce an official release date for iOS 16, the latest version of its mobile software, which was first unveiled in June.
The software update will let user personalize their iPhone lock screens, similar to Android. It will also feature changes to iMessage, including the ability to edit or unsend messages and to mark messages as unread. The company previously said these options are among the most requested features from users.
Many expect Apple to nudge up the prices for its latest iPhones as inflation and supply chain hiccups put new pressure on the tech giant. But deteriorating economic conditions are also squeezing consumers, forcing Apple to balance the need to hike prices with the risk of deterring people from upgrading their iPhones.
Some analysts expect the price of at least the higher-end Pro and Pro Max models to go up by some $100. There is also an expectation that Apple will use payment installment plans, trade-ins and other tools to keep the cost of a new device lower.
Apple customers, however, are famously loyal and many folks are increasingly viewing smartphone purchases as an “essential” for work and life. In July, CEO Tim Cook said there was “no obvious evidence of macroeconomic impact” to iPhone sales.
Apple is widely expected to give a first look at its latest iPhone lineup on Wednesday, as the tech giant has done every year in September for about a decade.
The latest iPhone is expected to be slimmer, but with a larger screen. It’s rumored that Apple will debut a 6.7-inch phone that is not a Pro model – meaning it will have the bigger size but not carry the higher price tag. That much-disliked notch around the front-facing camera system is also expected to go away. And Apple watchers forecast the company will ditch its cheaper, mini-sized iPhone as part of the 14 lineup.
Finally, expect a potentially major upgrade to camera quality with the latest iPhones, as some Apple watchers predict the 14 lineup will be the first of the company’s flagship smartphones to shoot 8K video.
It’s not just the iPhone. Apple is rumored to be unveiling multiple new Apple Watch models at Wednesday’s event, including a higher-end Pro model aimed specifically at sports and fitness enthusiasts.
Apple is also reportedly planning to roll out upgraded AirPod Pros, its higher-end wireless earbuds. The AirPods line has proven to be one of Apple’s bigger breakout successes in recent years.
Apple’s event invites are always closely scrutinized by Apple watchers for hidden meanings This year, the invite features a night sky with a constellation of stars forming the Apple logo and the tag line: “Far out.”
This has led some to speculate there could be major camera upgrades to the iPhone, potentially allowing for better nighttime or long-distance photography. Apple, of course, has been sparse on details.
For close to two decades, Apple and China have been inextricably linked. The world’s most populous country not only accounts for the bulk of Apple’s manufacturing of iPhones and other devices, but also a significant portion of its sales.
This year, however, several cracks have started to appear in an otherwise mutually beneficial relationship. Much of the turmoil has been driven by China’s “zero-Covid” strategy, with strict lockdowns in major parts of the country earlier this year halting production at several factories — including those of Apple’s manufacturing partners Foxconn and Pegatron — and disrupting global supply chains.
Apple appears to be hedging some of its bets. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that the company is looking to boost production in countries such as Vietnam and India, citing China’s strict Covid policy as one of the reasons. Apple also reportedly plans to start production of its new iPhone 14 in India earlier than usual this year.
But no matter how bad the situation gets, experts say the tech giant is unlikely (and perhaps unable) to completely disengage from China for the foreseeable future.
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While the iPhone 14 is expected to be front and center, some other hardware announcements are less likely.
Many analysts believe Apple will wait to unveil new iPads and Mac computers at a separate event, possibly next month. Apple is also generally not expected to unveil its long-rumored and much-anticipated AR headset.
