Apple infused its take on GenAI, what it calls Apple Intelligence, to take the fight to the competition with its new iPhone 16 series, announced on Monday, September 9, 2024, at the “It’s Glowtime” event at its headquarters in Cupertino. Tim Cook (CEO) gives us a round-up of all the new products.
Apple has unveiled its latest device lineup, introducing the iPhone 16 series, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4. Apple’s most significant iPhone OS update, iOS18, will likely roll out on September 20 on eligible devices. The Apple iPhone 16 series is likely to come with iOS18 pre-installed.
Let’s check out the key highlights of this Apple Event in detail.
Apple Watch 10?
Apple Watch Series 10 starts at ?46,900. Apple Watch SE: Starts at ?24,900. With the biggest-ever display and thinnest design, the Apple Watch features a 40 percent brighter display for glances at any angle. Series 10 packs Apple's first-ever wide-angle OLED display.
The redesign of Series 10 makes it better for workouts. It's lighter and has a bigger screen, so you can easily see workout stats. The workout app will show the water temperature during swims. The new Tides app will help track times of day for changes to water level and includes data for coastlines worldwide.
- Series 10 is the most refined expression of the Apple Watch yet. The titanium option replaces the stainless steel version with features like a double tap, emergency SOS, fall detection, and more.
- There's also a new color option: Jet black. The case is made from "a durable aluminum alloy and polished." William says that it goes through a 30-step anodization process. Silver and Aluminum case options remain for those interested.?
- Apple Watch 10 health features include loud environment warnings and medication reminders. The Apple Watch can also track body temperature overnight and cycle. With the Series 10, it can help with sleep apnea. Also, Sleep apnea features are coming to 150-plus countries later this month.
- Apple Watch Ultra is Apple's smartwatch designed for athletes. But mind it, there is no third-generation version of Apple Watch Ultra. It is an updated Apple Watch 2 with a new finish. Apple Watch Ultra 2 Starts at ?89,900 and is available in natural and black titanium.
NEW AirPods
AirPods 4 will cost $129 and $179, and they will be available for preorder starting today and going on sale on September 20. The new AirPods colors are black, blue, purple, and orange. There's also the update to USB-C, but so far, no mention of an H2 chip has been made.
- The New AirPods are called AirPods 4, not 4th gen. Apple explained how important the shape of AirPods is and that it enables earbuds to fit as many people as possible. Apple says it analyzed thousands of ear shapes for "the most comfortable AirPods ever" with the H2 chip inside.?
- The AirPods 4 has two variants: a standard model at Rs 12,900 and an ANC-equipped version at Rs 17,900. Both feature improved audio quality and the H2 chip for advanced features. The higher-end model introduces active noise cancellation to the non-Pro line. The redesigned case now uses USB-C and offers wireless charging and Find My capabilities.
- There are no new AirPods Pro, but there are new exclusive features for AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro will get new features to improve hearing health-focused Prevention, Awareness, and Assistance. Apple says AirPods 2 can now be used as a clinical-grade hearing aid.
iPhone 16 series
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus pricing - iPhone 16 is $799, and iPhone 16 Plus is $899. iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 for 128GB and $1199 for iPhone 16 Pro Max, which has $256GB base storage. The preorder starts Friday, September 13, and the sale is on September 20.
- iPhone 16 series—New buttons, new camera layout and controls, and more. First iPhone 16- iPhone 16 comes with new ceramic shield glass, which Apple says is 50 percent tougher than the previous generation and 2x tougher than other phones. It has 2,000 nits of brightness, 6.1 inches for the iPhone 16 and 6.7 inches for the iPhone 16 Plus. We can see a lot of rich colors. iPhone 16 looks rounder with deeper colors—pink, Ultramarine, White, Black, and Teal.
- The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max boast larger displays—6.3" and 6.9", respectively—and the more powerful A18 Pro chip. The camera system sees significant upgrades, including a new 48MP ultrawide lens and a 5x telephoto on both models. Advanced video features include 4K 120fps recording and frame-by-frame color grading.?
- A18 chip to power iPhone 16: Apple gives you a big reason to go for the iPhone 16: the new A18 chip. It is said to be 30 percent faster than the CPU in the iPhone 15. It is a Six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores.
- iPhone 16 Pro and Apple 16 Pro Max run on the A18 Pro chipset, so A18 Pro for the Pro Apple iPhones. There are specs and numbers to talk about Faster and more efficient than the A18, the 3nm second-gen process, and the 16-core neural engine "excels at generative AI workloads." Apple Intelligence runs 15 percent faster than the iPhone 15 Pro. There are two performance cores and four efficiency cores. It is 15% faster than the A17 Pro and 2x faster ray tracing than the A17 Pro.
- iPhone 16 Pro camera specs: It has a 48-megapixel Fusion Camera with a quad-pixel sensor and a 12MP 5x telephoto camera like before. You'll also get the new Camera Control on the Pro series. It'll capture 4K 60p video with HDR support. The iPhone 16 also has an Ultra-wide camera. Camera control will be updated later this year with a two-state focus feature to lock autofocus.
- iPhone 16 takes gaming to the "next level". A18 in iPhone 16 has hardware-accelerated ray tracing for names -- Honor of Kings World coming to iPhone 16. iPhone 16 can also support AAA games like Resident Evil Biohazard and Assassin's Creed Mirage. The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers the best iPhone battery life ever, a tall boast but hardly surprising with the A18 Pro chipset.?
- The iPhone 16 has four "studio-quality" mics, which Apple says are great for vocal and acoustic recordings. The iPhone 16 Pro will also support Spatial Audio recording. This will enable "creative sound editing with our new audio mix feature." Apple claims this to be an industry-first feature.
Apple Intelligence?
Apple Intelligence can help you prioritize and focus, making sense of your notifications. It also reinvents Siri in iPhones. "Apple Intelligence is integrated throughout the system, across many apps you use daily. Get ready for Writing tools, new features in Photos, and more with Apple Intelligence on your iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
That's a wrap on the latest Apple iPhone launch event highlights. What do you think about the new updates? Drop a comment below. Stay tuned for more...Thanks!
