Apple held its annual iPhone launch event on Sept 12 at Apple Park, the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The company announced that prices for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, complete with USB-C charging, start at US$799. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max start at US$999, though the iPhone 15 Pro Max will cost a whopping $1,199. Another key announcement was the Apple Watch, made with 95% titanium and with 72 hours of battery life, as well as updated AirPods with USB-C. Let’s take a closer look.
The iPhone 15 Pro
Forged in titanium.
• The iPhone 15 Pro is the first iPhone to feature an aerospace‑grade titanium design, using the same alloy that spacecraft use for missions to Mars. Apple reports that the iPhone 15 Pro has the “lightest” and “thinnest borders” on an iPhone ever. You’ll notice the difference the moment you pick one up.
• Its A17 Pro game-changing chip is the biggest redesign in the history of Apple GPUs. The A17 Pro is an entirely new class of iPhone chip that delivers the best graphics performance. Mobile games will look and feel immersive, with incredibly detailed environments and more realistic characters. A monster win for gaming.
Apple announces iPhone 15 with USB-C, a camera upgrade, and the Dynamic Island.
• The most powerful iPhone camera system that captures your wildest imaginations, clearly not all (Ha!). From dramatic framing flexibility to next-generation portraits, there are multiple focal lengths to work with. It’s like having seven pro lenses in your pocket. The 48MP main camera is more advanced than ever, capturing super‑high‑resolution photos with a new level of detail and colour.
Apple is replacing its mute switch with an ‘action button’ on its iPhone 15 Pro model.
• Get in on the customisable Action button. Get in on the Action button. The all‑new Action button is a fast track to your favourite feature. Once you set the one you want, just press and hold to launch the action.
Up to 20x faster file transfers.
• Gigablast your gigabits with the iPhone 15 Pro, the first iPhone to support USB 3.6 for a huge leap in data transfer speeds and faster pro workflows than ever before. The new USB‑C connector lets you charge your Mac or iPad with the same cable you use to charge iPhone 15 Pro. Bye‑bye, cable clutter.
• Even with so many advanced new features, iPhone 15 Pro still gives all‑day battery life. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has up to nine more hours video playback than iPhone 12 Pro Max. Up to 29 hours video playback on iPhone 15 Pro Max13 and up to 23 hours video playback on iPhone 15 Pro13.
• The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will come in four different colours — black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium and natural titanium. The iPhone 15 and iPhone Plus will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue and black.
• Apple announced its iPhone 15 Pro will start at its same price as last year, $999, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max will cost $1,199, a price increase, but with a storage bump of 256 gigabytes. Order the phones on Sept 15 for delivery on Sept 22.
Apple Watch Series 9
A watch case and band combination that’s carbon neutral.
Smarter, brighter and mightier is how Apple is promoting the new Apple Watch Series 9… It does have the most powerful chip in an Apple Watch ever. A magical new way to use your watch without touching the screen. A display that’s twice as bright. And you can choose a watch case and band combination that’s carbon neutral.
Gestures make Apple Watch even easier to use anytime, especially when your hands are full. Just double tap your index finger and thumb together to answer a call, open a notification, play and pause music, and more. The advanced display system in Series 9 boosts the maximum brightness up to 2000 nits — double Series 8 — so it’s easier to read in the glare of the sun. It’s also better in low‑light situations, like a cinema, because it dims to just 1 nit.
However, the main thing is that it is Apple’s first carbon neutral product. That’s all that matters. The Apple Watch sets the journey for Apple to make all their products carbon neutral by 2030. “Because the earth won’t wait. Neither will we.”
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Powered by the same breakthrough chip in Series 9. The brightest Apple display ever. The most accurate GPS in a sports watch in dense urban environments. Available in case and band combinations that are carbon neutral. Powered by the all-new S9 SiP, the Always‑On Retina display is 3000 nits at its peak, making it even more readable in harsh sunlight. In low-light situations, it dims to 1 nit. Night Mode activates automatically in the dark. A new watch face shows dynamic info like altitude, depth, or seconds along the outermost edges. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is priced at $799.
watchOS 10
Apple’s watchOS 10 arrives on Sept 18. The update may be the biggest change to watchOS since Apple released its smartwatch, overhauling the former honeycomb grid and adding glances, as Apple calls them, that you can swipe through and customise. The company also announced that, for the Apple Watch Series 9, Siri commands will be processed on-device. Apple says that the privacy-preserving nature of on-device processing means users can now ask questions related to personal health and fitness data from the Health app.
AirPods Pro
Apple is switching the AirPods Pro charging case to USB-C. This will let buyers of the new iPhone 15 charge their earbuds using the same cable for both devices. You’ll also be able to charge your AirPods from an iPhone, Apple reports. Aside from the case, the second-generation AirPods Pro will get new software features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and more. Though you’ll have to wait till the iPhone 15’s Sept 22 release date to get them, and it doesn’t look like the USB-C case is available as a standalone purchase. Keeping true to form, Apple.
Visit apple.com.
