Apple September Event 2024
iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and more!
Monday was Apple’s September event and needless to say, there was a lot of new hardware announced! Apple announced the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Watch Series 10, and a bunch of other hardware devices.
iPhone 16
The first hardware item that Apple announced is the iPhone 16. I know a lot of people say that not much changes each year with the iPhone (which is true some years), but that is not the case for this year! First, let me talk about these colors, which as you can see in the image above are absolutely stunning! The iPhone 16 comes in white, black, pink, teal, and ultramarine (my personal favorite). These colors are much more vibrant than last year, and I’m here for it! The iPhone 16 also features a vertical camera orientation, which will allow users to shoot spatial photos and videos for the Apple Vision Pro. This leads me to the camera, which gets some substantial upgrades this year…
The iPhone 16 features a new Camera Control button on the side of the phone, which gives users a new intuitive way to quickly access the camera. For example, users can click to launch the camera app and click again to take a photo. Holding the button will start a recording, a light press opens zoom, and a double press will allow you to open the camera settings menu. I’m a huge fan of this new Camera Control button, and I think it will make using the Camera app a lot more intuitive. The camera module on the iPhone 16 contains a 48MP Fusion camera and an updated Ultra Wide camera. Apple also introduced some camera software updates, such as the next generation of Photographic Style and updated audio effects.
Now, let’s get down to the power of this device. The iPhone 16 has the new A18 chip, which is a powerhouse of a chip. It has a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU, which will be great for intensive tasks, such as using Apple Intelligence. Of course, Apple is pushing Apple Intelligence very hard with this phone and spent an extensive amount of time talking about all of the Apple Intelligence features (which I will be talking about in a future post). They also announced a new Apple Intelligence feature called Visual Intelligence, which will allow users to get information about something in their environment by holding the Camera Control button and pointing their phone at it.
What is my overall take on this phone? The iPhone 16 is a solid phone! If you haven’t upgraded your phone in a while, this might just be the year to do so. This phone has a powerful chip, stunning display, great camera system, and great battery life. The iPhone 16 starts at $799, while the iPhone 16 Plus (which is the bigger version of this phone) starts at $899. Both phones are available for preorder today. If you’d like to learn more, you can visit the Apple website or leave a comment.
iPhone 16 Pro
The iPhone 16 Pro, Apple’s flagship phone, of course has all of the features of the iPhone 16, but it has a few more upgrades. As with the 15 Pro, the 16 Pro is made with titanium and comes in different colors than the base model. The Pro models come in Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Desert Titanium. While these colors aren’t as fun as the iPhone 16 colors, they still look really nice. When it comes to the cameras, the iPhone 16 Pro has a 48MP main camera, a 48MP Ultra Wide camera, and a 5x telephoto camera. The pictures (and especially the videos) taken on this phone look very professional. In fact, the iPhone 16 Pro can shoot in 4k at 120fps, which is extremely impressive for a smartphone. The iPhone 16 Pro has the A18 Pro chip, which has a 16-core Neural Engine, 6-core CPU, and 6-core GPU. The A18 Pro is going to make this device extremely powerful!
This is clearly Apple’s best iPhone, but should you buy it? For the average person, I would say no, simply because of the price tag. The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1199. Although, if you need/want titanium, an enhanced camera system, a more powerful chip, and a better battery, then this would be the phone for you. If you are looking to upgrade and want suggestions, leave a comment, and I will do my best to assist you! Additionally, if you would like to read more about the iPhone 16 Pro, you can read about it here.
Apple Watch Series 10
Apple Watch Series 10 was the announcement that I most anticipated since I’m looking to upgrade my Apple Watch this year. There is a lot of exciting new features with this new Apple Watch. First, Apple Watch Series 10 has a wide-angle OLED display, which creates a stunning and bright display, making it easier to view Apple Watch from an angle. This watch is also thinner and lighter than previous generations of Apple Watch. Apple Watch Series 10 is made of aluminum with jet black (which looks amazing), rose gold, and silver. Something I didn’t expect though is that this Apple Watch also comes in titanium, but the titanium version is very expensive. On the health side, the Series 10 will get all of the past health features, as well as the new Sleep Apnea detection feature (which will also come to the Series 9). Finally, Apple Watch Series 10 can charge from 0-80% in 30min, which is pretty impressive!
Is this Apple Watch worth buying? Well…I’m considering buying it myself. I currently have an Apple Watch SE (1st Generation), which is getting pretty old. I’m either going to upgrade to the SE (2nd Generation) or this Series 10. The Series 10 has a better display, lots more health features, a powerful chip, and faster charging. These are all things that you want on a watch, but is it worth the $399 price tag? If this is your first Apple Watch and you don’t need all of the features listed above, I would just get the Apple Watch SE (which is a great watch). Whichever one I end up buying, I will do an in-depth review sometime in the future. Learn more about the Apple Watch Series 10 here.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Well, this is kinda disappointing…Apple did not update the Apple Watch Ultra 2, except for giving it a new black titanium color. Don’t get me wrong, the Black Titanium on an Apple Watch looks amazing, but there are no other changes. It is still a great watch, but it still starts at $799.
AirPods 4
The AirPods 4 bring some interesting updates to the AirPods lineup. The first change is a slightly updated design that should fit into the ear better. The AirPods 4 contain the powerful H2 chip, which allows for Voice Isolation and other powerful features. Of course, the charging case now has USB-C. Apple also upgraded the sound in the AirPods 4 from the AirPods 3. The biggest change is that AirPods 4 now has a noise cancellation model, which starts at $179 instead of the $129 without noise cancellation. I find this a little strange since the AirPods 4 don’t have the silicon tips on the end, which creates the noise seal. Therefore, I don’t think this will sound as good as on the AirPods Pros, but I have yet to try it.
What’s great about the AirPods 4 is that Apple significantly brought down the price. The AirPods 3 were $169 at retail, while the AirPods 4 are now $129 (or $179 for the noise cancellation model). Would I recommend these AirPods? Absolutely! These AirPods sound great, have great battery life, and have powerful noise cancellation features. Although, I will say that if you want the best version of noise cancellation, you should opt for the AirPods Pro. You can learn more about the AirPods 4 on the Apple website.
AirPods Max
When I heard Apple start talking about the new AirPods Max, I got excited because they haven’t been updated in about four years. While I had no intention to buy these expensive headphones, I was excited to see what new updates they had come up with. Sadly, Apple disappointed big time. All they announced was USB-C and new colors for the AirPods Max. While both of these are welcome changes, Apple could have done a whole lot more to update the AirPods Max. They still start at $549, and unless you need the best of the best for your headphones, I would not recommend these. You can learn more about the “new” AirPods Max here.
That isn’t even everything that was announced at this event or all of the features these devices have, but that gives a pretty good overview. If you would like, you can watch the full event here. Of course, if you have any questions about any of these devices, be sure to leave a comment! Thanks for reading!
Nice issue! Now I need to figure out when Android releases their products