At its annual fall event on Tuesday, Apple revealed new hardware, including the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9, and new AirPods.
The company has also abandoned its Lightning port in favor of a USB-C port, for the sake of ease of use and respect for the environment. The last time Apple made such a monumental change was with the release of the iPhone 7 in 2016, when the brand moved from a headphone jack to a Lightning port for audio.
Whether you watched the event and want a recap or missed it and need a full brief, ZDNET has put together a list of all the products announced here, including their new features, specifications and pricing .
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro Jason Hiner/ZDNET
The iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max were the stars of the event, with new form factors, new processors and also new features in the iPhone’s cameras.
The biggest change, at least in appearance, is the thinner, lighter design, with new contoured corners, Grade 5 titanium, and the thinnest bezels ever seen on an iPhone.
The iPhone 15 Pro is equipped with the fastest mobile processor: the A17 Pro. This new processor can run up to 10% faster than the A16 Bionic chip in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro. Compared to Apple’s previous iterations, the neural engine is up to two times faster, and the GPU is up to 20 times faster, optimizing the overall performance of the smartphone.
Coming to the cameras, the Pro variants feature a 48MP primary camera, which allows users to switch between 24mm, 28mm and 35mm focal lengths and supports HEIF images from 48 Mpixels with up to four times higher resolution.
The Pro Max also features a 5X telephoto lens, the longest optical zoom ever on an iPhone.
Like the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, users won’t have to switch to Portrait mode, but the phone will detect the depth information of the subject of the photo, allowing users to later transform any what a photo in portrait mode.
The quality of low-light photos will also be improved thanks to a night mode which offers sharper details and more vibrant colors.
Besides the cameras, another major selling point is the action button, which replaces the traditional alert slider. The action button functions as a ring and silent button by default, but can be customized to become a mappable hotkey to activate the camera app, flashlight, Siri, shortcuts, and more Again.
In terms of safety, the phones feature collision detection, satellite emergency SOS and a new roadside assistant.
With the European Union requiring electronics manufacturers to adopt USB-C by 2024, new iPhones finally support charging and data transfer via USB-C.
The Pro and Pro Max will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 15 and in stores on September 22.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be offered in Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium finishes. The iPhone 15 Pro is available from €1,229 (Apple resale price) in storage capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is offered from 1,479 € (Apple resale price), in storage capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB1.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. June Wan/ZDNET
Not to be outdone, the standard iPhone 15 series, including the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, is getting some highly anticipated updates, including the USB-C port, improved cameras, and the Dynamic Island functionality, now characteristic of the brand.
Apple has in fact replaced the notch with its Dynamic Island, last year’s pill-shaped camera that seamlessly adapts to the software and apps running on the device. In doing so, Apple is finally standardizing the new Dynamic Island interface across all of its flagship iPhone models, not just the Pro.
The screens are brighter (up to 1,600 nits) and come in the same sizes: 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches.
This year’s iPhone 15 also inherits a similar main camera sensor as last year’s iPhone 14 Pro, moving from a 12-megapixel lens to a 48-megapixel lens. The camera will also feature a 2X telephoto lens, a first for a dual-camera iPhone.
If you like taking photos in portrait mode, the phone brings features that enhance the portrait experience, like the ability to adjust blur and focus after taking the photo, even if portrait mode doesn’t work. was not used.
In terms of safety, like the Pro series, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus feature collision detection, satellite emergency SOS, and the new Roadside Assistant.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue and black with 128 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, starting at €969 (Apple resale price) and €1,119 (Apple resale price), respectively.
Apple Watch Series 9
June Wan/ZDNET
Apple Watch users who were hoping for something radically different with this year’s model may be disappointed. As expected, the Apple Watch Series 9 has some fairly slight improvements over the Series 8.
The Watch Series 9 features a new SiP S9, the most powerful watch chip Apple has ever made. This chip will boost the performance and efficiency of the watch, giving it faster graphics, smoother animations and a brighter 2,000 nits screen.
The Neural Engine will allow Siri commands to be processed on the device rather than in the cloud, making commands faster and more secure, which is especially important for recording health data. Even with the new chip, the watch maintains its 18-hour battery life.
The watch also features a quad-core neural engine capable of performing machine learning tasks almost twice as fast as the Series 8.
WatchOS 10 will also elevate the smartwatch experience, bringing features like Name Drop to Watch Series 9, which lets users share their contact information with a single click.
The Watch Series 9 features a new gesture – double-tap. — which lets you control your watch when your hands are busy. With this feature, users can touch their index finger and thumb to perform actions such as answering a call, scrolling through widgets, etc.
Another handy feature is the ability to track your iPhone with precise location and direction thanks to a new Ultra Wideband chip.
The watch itself will be available in Pink, Starlight, Silver, Midnight, or Product(Red), as well as Gold, Silver, and Graphite for the stainless steel cases.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is available at Apple resale prices starting at €449 and the Apple Watch SE is available at Apple resale prices starting at €279. They are available for pre-order today and will ship from September 22.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Jason Hiner/ZDNET
The Apple Watch Ultra was the most innovative product of last year. It’s sturdy, multi-functional, and strikes a chord with even the most adventurous Apple Watch users.
A year later, Apple unveiled a new model, which is equipped with the S9 chip, double tap function, precision search for iPhone and on-device Siri processing, like Series 9.
The Ultra 2 also features a new 3,000 nit display architecture (the brightest display Apple has ever made for a watch), a new Modular Ultra watch face that can display more essential information, a flashlight and a customizable action button.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available for the Apple resale price of €899. It is available for pre-order today and will ship from September 22.
AirPods Pro (sort of)
iPhone 15 and AirPods on white background. Jason Hiner/ZDNET
Apple very quietly announced its new AirPods, probably because there were no other changes to the device other than the new USB-C charging port.
With AirPods moving from the Lightning charging standard to USB-C, which matches its new iPhones, Apple has presented both as seamlessly connected devices that require only one type of cable, and which can even charging at each other, as shown in the photo above.