I am so sorry, dear readers, for abandoning you for almost exactly a month after my vacation ended on the 11th of August!!! Anyway, I started back up again in the nick of time for the Apple Event, so it's time to tell you all about it!!!!!
iPhone 16
First, the regular iPhone 16. It is basically a hand-me-down iPhone 15 Pro with a different camera module (we have a sleek new camera module with roots in the iPhone 11/12, just with a vertical iPhone XS-like camera pill with flash next to the module) in two ways, spatial video (enabled by the new camera setup) and the Action Button, while also hosting a small Camera Control button on the edge to adjust, well, camera controls with a finger swipe or click, Wi-Fi 7, a better Ceramic Shield and the new A18 chip that can handle Apple Intelligence and AAA games just like the 15 Pro. For the camera, Apple mostly highlights Apple Intelligence/iOS 18 features (oh, and, speaking of Apple Intelligence, it's coming in beta in October!) and old iPhone features, but there is also AI to remove video wind noise, a "Fusion" feature in the main camera, and autofocus in the Ultra Wide as well as main. Finally, peak HDR brightness has brightened up to 2,000 nits. Colors are Black, White (Black and White are strangely simple for Apple and its loving of "Midnight" and "Silver"), Teal, Ultra Marine, and Pink (interesting name for Ultra Marine!). Preorder from Friday the 13th (oh noooo!!!!!!) on, and you will get your device at availability time the Friday after that (the 20th).
iPhone 16 Pro
The iPhone 16 Pro has all of the iPhone 16's features and more. The Pro-specific new features are the A18 Pro with 2x faster ray tracing, 4K 120fps video, Audio Mix to remove not just wind noise but all types of background voices and noises in videos, a newly remade Photographic Styles feature, a 5x optical zoom on both Pro & Pro Max, and a whopping 33 hours of battery life on the Pro Max (combined with 27 for the Pro), all in a 6.3"/6.9" form factor (hey, you could once find 6.9" Android tablets online). Colors are White Titanium, Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, and the new Desert Titanium. Preorder from the 13th on, and the 16 Pro will become available on the 20th.
AirPods Max
The AirPods Max is finally getting another rendition!!! We haven't had one since 2020!!!!!! Well, sorry to let you down, but this is just a USB-C and hue update, with the different hues (in promotional images, they don't look good together, and the orange looks way too pale, but that's just my opinion) being Purple, Orange, Blue, Midnight and Starlight. Luckily, this is part of a whole AirPods lineup remake, so don't worry: there's more coming. You can preorder right now, and you will get your not-so-brand-new AirPods Max on the 20th.
AirPods 4
The AirPods 4 have been updated just in time to stay in tune with their 3-year upgrade cycle! The update includes a fine amount of features (unexpected from a series which just had a redesign last rendition!), spread out across two versions (the entry-level one replaces the role AirPods 2 had in the lineup). Both versions include the H2 chip, speaker improvements (as always), slightly better-fitting design, 30 hours of case battery life and 5 hours of AirPod battery life, and the force sensor, while the high-end version includes... (get ready for this) ANC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, the basic feature is not limited to the AirPods Pro 2!!!!!!!!!!! You also have the Transparency and Adaptive Audio features that come with it, plus Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, nod/shake Siri interactions, a Find My speaker on the case and support for charging via Qi and your Apple Watch charger (latter not new, but unavailable in entry-level version). You can preorder right now, and the AirPods 4 will become available on the 20th.
AirPods Pro Hearing Improvements
If it's ever been annoying to use both AirPods Pro and hearing aids at the same time, the AirPods Pro can now function as a hearing aid. If you're using Hearing Protection (it's on by default, so you don't have to sift through settings), you won't need that feature, though, and if you're ever unsure, just take the 5-minute hearing test (which requires your iPhone). You can show the test results to your doctor as well, and whether you do that or not it's always in the Health app.
Apple Watch Series 10
Now on to the watches. The highlight of the Series 10 is how thin it is (in fact, it's the thinnest ever, at 9.7mm!), but other features include the long-rumored sleep apnea detection feature, a wide-angle display with a brighter off-angle, S10 chip with AI to remove background noise, even faster charging (you can go from 0 to 80% in just half an hour!), the ability to play audio without anything connected (something Apple should have put in on the Series 2!), and a water temperature sensor, all in a 42/46mm package (hey, the small size is now exactly the same as the Series 3's big size!) made of either aluminum or the new titanium and potentially in the iPhone 7-nostalgic and beautiful Jet Black. Also, the Depth app now has a companion Tides app for checking tide level throughout the day, but that's not just for the Series 9. Colors are Jet Black, Rose Gold and Silver for the aluminum version and Natural, Gold and Slate for the titanium addition. Preorder starting right now, and on the 20th you will get your brand-new Series 10!
Apple Watch Ultra 2
You might be thinking, "Hey, you made a typo there, that's Apple Watch Ultra 3!". But no, Apple is doing a strange thing this year, adding a new Ultra 2 finish instead of upgrading it to the Apple Watch Ultra 3. And the new finish is... (just trying to sprinkle some excitement into all this annoyance) Black Titanium! Preorder now, and availability will start on the 20th.
Outro
This year's September event has had two let-me-downs: the AirPods Max and the Apple Watch Ultra (or three if you count that the Series 10 is thinner only, not a whole new design like the trend seems to be). The coolest parts were the Camera Control button, ANC in AirPods 4 and the new hearing aid functionality of the AirPods Pro 2. Overall, it was a regular September event, with the big stuff not happening in the most-watched and most-interest category: the iPhone.
Source: 9to5Mac
By Leo
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