Apple’s annual September event has concluded and as expected, the Cupertino giant has unveiled new entrants to its iPhone and Watch ranges. What’s worth noting is the switch to USB Type-C ports, which will be adhered to by all devices launched by the company from here on.
Apple iPhone 15 And iPhone 15 Plus
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus ship with the Dynamic Island, which was reserved only for Pro models last year. It will complement the advanced 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panels that are equipped with Dolby Vision support and 2000 nits of peak brightness.
The A16 Bionic chip from last year’s Pro models powers the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. There’s a change in the camera system as well. You get a 48MP main camera now, which enables 2x telephoto thanks to the large size of the sensor.
Moreover, the Camera app will no longer require you to switch to Portrait mode. If it recognizes your photo to be portrait-worthy, it will capture it in that style nonetheless, yet give you the option of having a normal image as well.
The iPhone 15 and its Plus model receive a slight change in their design that’s defined by lightly tapering edges on the front and back. Moreover, these phones are made from 75 percent recycled aluminium and boast IP68 dust and water resistance.
The new iPhone 15 models will be available for pre-order from September 15 and will start being sold from September 22 onwards. The iPhone 15 will be available at $799, while the iPhone 15 Plus will go for $899.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro And iPhone 15 Pro Max
Some big changes make their way into this year’s Pro range. Firstly, they have swapped aluminum for a much more durable and lighter titanium material for their bodies. These models are also the beneficiaries of the Action button, which replaces the good old Mute switch.
This highly customizable button can still be long-pressed to activate and deactivate Silent mode, however, there are a number of other things you can have it do, including launch the camera, turn on the flashlight, run shortcuts, start voice memos, activate Focus mode and more.
Both iPhone 15 Pro variants will be powered by the Apple A17 Pro chip, which features the “biggest redesign in the history of Apple GPUs.” The advanced nature of this 6-core GPU leads to 20 percent faster speeds and 4x faster ray tracing.
And did we mention that the A17 Pro also features a 3nm processor that gives it 10 percent faster speeds compared to the A16 Bionic? All this has led to the shocking announcement that games Resident Evil 4 Remake and Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro range soon.
The camera system onboard these phones includes an upgraded 48MP snapper meant to take better low-light photos and reduce lens flare. The Camera app now allows you to change your default lens and shoot at multiple focal lengths, namely 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm, within the main camera.
Moreover, up to 5x optical zoom is also on offer. As for videos, the iPhone 15 Pro models can shoot 4K60 ProRes clips that can be stored directly on external hard drives thanks to their USB Type-C ports. Lastly, they can capture spatial videos that will be optimised for the Vision Pro headset.
Pre-orders of these handsets will start on September 15 and they will go on sale from September 22 onwards. While the iPhone 15 Pro’s price is a familiar $999, the Pro Max model gets a bump to $1199 but it comes with 256GB of storage as standard.
Apple Watch Series 9
Apple’s new watches are powered by its fresh S9 SiP chip. This custom SoC gives the Apple Watch Series 9 a dual-core CPU with 5.6 billion transistors, making it 60 percent more powerful than its predecessor. There’s even a four-core Neural Engine to make ML tasks up to two times faster.
The most exciting addition to this new series is called Double Tab and it allows you to perform several tasks on your device, including answering calls, scrolling, pausing music etc. with just a simple pinching action using your fingers.
Series 9 watches get a screen with a brightness of 2000 nits and they even get the second-gen Ultra Wideband chip, which brings fresh HomePod integrations and lets you precisely find your iPhone when you’ve forgotten where you placed it.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is available for pre-order right now and will be released on September 22. Like its predecessor, it starts at $399.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes with a bigger Always-On Retina display with 3000 nits of peak brightness. It’s powered by the S9 SiP chip and grabs support for Double Tap gestures. Both new Apple Watch devices are completely carbon neutral and the first Apple products to hold this distinction.
Starting today, interested buyers will be able to place pre-orders for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at $799. Like the iPhone 15 models and the Apple Watch Series 9, this device will also be released on September 22.