Yesterday Apple held their annual iPhone event, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to write down some thoughts.
Apple Watch
They started the event by talking about the new Apple Watch Series 10. First, I’ll take the opportunity to say that Apple Watch rumors are the sketchiest out of every device Apple makes. The Series 7 a few years ago was rumored to be getting a big redesign that didn’t happen. This time last year, the rumor was that the Series 10 would get a major redesign (making old bands incompatible as well), and that didn’t happen. More recently, it was rumored Apple would drop the smaller 41mm size and add a larger 49mm Watch to go along with the 45mm. That did not happen. Instead, each Watch merely got one mm bigger, up to 42mm and 46mm. It’s gotten to the point where Apple Watch design rumors can nearly be thrown out. (Additionally, a plastic, cheaper Apple Watch SE was rumored for this event, but there was no mention of a new SE).
The Series 10 is a “redesign,” but very little is different with its appearance compared to the Series 9. It is 10% thinner and 10% lighter, which is nice. I’m very onboard with the idea of Apple making their devices thinner like they seem to be doing across multiple product categories.
The battery life of the Series 10 seems unchanged. If my memory is correct, that marks the 10th year in a row that Apple Watch battery life remains the same “18 hours” (per Apple’s website). It seems to have gotten better since then, but it is still very much a 1 day watch (perhaps 1 1/2). At this point, there is basically no hope for a regular Apple Watch with longer battery life. They have had many opportunities to improve it instead of adding various battery-draining features over the years, but they are content with 1 day. Presumably, most people don’t care that much about longer battery life either, or else Apple would have added it. I personally wouldn’t mind better battery, but I’m fine with the 1 day they currently provide.
Additionally, this 10th generation of Apple Watch still supports the same bands as the 1st generation! If they were going to change the connector design, presumably they would have done it by now. This is absolutely fantastic.
The polished titanium model is interesting. I believe this material was available on previous models (I don’t remember if it was last year), and it starts at $699 for that material, just like for previous stainless steel models. This means, if my memory is correct, that this is merely a $100 cheaper titanium model, and the stainless steel model is discontinued. Apple has been adding (and advertising) titanium in more products recently. I wonder if this material is merely for marketing (which I doubt because of its high price). I instead think it will somehow help them meet their environmental goals. This year is the first that every Apple Watch Series you can buy (with the proper band) is advertised as carbon neutral. They also market the Titanium as 95% recycled, so that helps my theory. Maybe they couldn’t keep selling a stainless steel watch and still meet their environmental goals.
The Apple Watch has settled into its role pretty well, but I feel it is still changing some, as seen by some of the WatchOS 11 updates. Hopefully, I’ll write about the role of the Apple Watch soon.
AirPods
I’ll start by saying the AirPods Max are incredibly disappointing. A color update and USB-C are all they get. This was merely an update forced by the EU to meet the USB-C mandates by the end of the year. I wonder if Apple is working on a new version but had to push these out before the end of the year. That would partially explain why they didn’t even get the H2 chip. (On a positive note, orange AirPods Max are very nice).
The AirPods 4th Generation look like a great update, and I love the $129 price tag for the base model. Great deal. The $179 model adds Active Noise Canceling and some other niceties. That is also a good price for AirPods with ANC. I’m curious, what is different with the hardware of the earbuds themselves that allow for ANC, since both models have the H2 chip?
The 3 ear health improvements to AirPods Pro 2 are amazing. I’m not sure how the new “hearing protection” works and what makes it different from the other noise reduction features on AirPods Pro, but if it does what it says that is a great new feature. The second feature, being able to detect hearing loss, is also fantastic, but then the third, acting as hearing aids, is incredible. Being able to check if you have hearing loss with your $250 AirPods and then have those AirPods then offer to function as a hearing aid is great design, and all this being pushed out as a free software update is almost as good. This could be life changing for someone. It does make me wish that battery life could be all-day so that someone could use the feature without having to charge, though.
iPhone
The base iPhone 16 models are a nice upgrade. At this point I wouldn’t mind upgrading to a base model phone except for the nicer display features of the Pros.
The Pros are a more minor update this year, but the regular Pro getting 5x optical zoom is nice (compared to only the Pro Max last year).
One thing I will say about colors. I’ve noticed Apple says the base models have colors, whereas the Pro models have “finishes.” Interesting terminology that reflects how Apple sees the two.
This year, the Pro model IPhones are more “pro” than they’ve ever been. New camera features are a staple every year, but this year more than usual they are the main selling feature of the device (compared to the 15 Pro, which also has Apple Intelligence. If compared to an older Pro model, AI is a big feature). I wonder how many meaningful non-camera features are left to add. There’s always something that can be improved, but for Pro models there aren’t a lot of distinctions compared to the base models. In contrast, the base 16 and 16 plus are quite the upgrade this year. Disregarding advanced camera features and ProMotion displays, they don’t seem to lack very much (and ProMotion is rumored to come to base 17 models next year). It may be getting to where Pro phones are mainly marketed for their “Pro” features, which is to say features that the regular person won’t care about as much. Lastly, iPhones are getting huge. 6.9 inches is massive for a phone.
Overall, it wasn’t a super exciting event yesterday, but there were some nice, iterative updates that will be welcomed by people who choose to upgrade. I wrote this on my iPhone, so forgive any typos that are in this (and maybe point them out in the comments 😅). I also wrote most of this on Tuesday, the day after the event, even though I’m publishing this on Wednesday. That’s why I said “yesterday” throughout. Thanks for reading!