On Monday, Apple’s “Glowtime” event saw the unveiling of four new iPhone 16 models, the Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4 earbuds, and a surprisingly modest set of new AI features. The company also highlighted the new iOS 18, which will soon be coming to all iPhones that can currently run iOS 17.
Of all the new features in Apple’s phones, watches, and earphones, the recent sleep apnea detection feature in the Apple Watch and the noise cancellation feature in the high-end AirPods 4 seem to have resonated most with Apple users, but there was even more announced on Monday. Read on to read all of the biggest news announcements from yesterday’s event.
Looking to pre-order the latest Apple devices? We’ve rounded up the best deals on the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 at launch.
Check it out: Everything announced at Apple’s iPhone 16 event
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Battery life is what people care about most about the Apple Watch and iPhone, and we haven’t heard much about it. However, the iPhone has some flashy new colors, including a bright pink, a bright blue, and a bright pastel green (ultramarine). And the Apple Watch’s sleep apnea tracking and notifications seem to be a big hit.
The big new software features enabled by Apple’s new Apple Intelligence won’t be delivered all at once, or even at the hardware launch.
For detailed, minute-by-minute coverage of Apple’s September 2024 event, check out CNET’s iPhone 16 event live blog archive.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus come in vibrant new colors
The iPhone 16 models were the first iPhones “built from the ground up” for Apple Intelligence, a lengthy summary was written (despite the relatively low public interest in AI features), and the only thing that was said about the battery was that it was larger and more optimized.
Featured: Apple’s iPhone 16 to feature camera control button
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New colors: Ultramarine, Teal, and Pink. Water and dust resistant for overall durability. Screen brightness is 2,000 nits max and 1 nit min. Now with customizable action buttons and a camera control button for touch control only. Camera control lets you click and see information about what the camera sees, like Google Lens. Branded as Visual Intelligence, it will be released later this year.
It has a 48MP main camera that produces 24MP photos after pixel binning and a sensor crop for 2x telephoto shooting. A new 12MP, 13mm ultra-wide camera has autofocus, better light sensitivity and macro support. A new side-by-side camera design now enables spatial photos and videos.
Inside is the A18 chip with a 16-core Neural Engine, two P-cores and four E-cores in the CPU, a 5-core GPU, and higher memory bandwidth. To house all this, second-generation 3-nanometer technology is used. Apple says it consumes less power overall. AI features will be released in beta next month. For gaming, there will be a new thermal design and ray tracing support, plus a new mobile game, “Honor of Kings World,” coming next year.
Prices start from $799 (£799, AU$1,399) and $899 (£899, AU$1,599), Available for pre-order now.
Continuation of the Apple event
Pro video expands for iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
With a 6.3-inch screen for the Pro and a 6.9-inch screen for the Pro Max, the new flagship iPhones feature a new texture that makes them more durable than the aluminum iPhone 16 (made from titanium). New colors have also been added, including a darker black, a lighter silver, a rose gold pink, and a silver. They also feature improved heat dissipation, a larger battery, and better power optimization.
Building on features available on lower-tier models, these iPhones are powered by the new A18 Pro chip, enabling features unique to these iPhones. In addition to the A18’s technology, a larger cache and a new advanced display engine speed up encoding/decoding and more. These camera controls add a two-stage shutter for features like exposure lock.
Check it out: Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max deliver 4K 120 FPS video
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It has a new 48MP camera with faster sensor readout, as well as a 5x 12MP telephoto lens with on-pixel focus. For video, it now adds 4K 120fps slow-mo, more professional color grading controls and HDR editing, selectable speed preview playback, grid framing on the camera control buttons, and more.
The new quad microphones improve capture quality and now also enable spatial audio capture, and the audio mix separates vocals from all other sounds so they can be layered separately.
Apple’s own MagSafe case supports Qi 2, and of course the camera control buttons, and wireless charging is faster.
Pricing for the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,799), while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 (£1,199, AU$2,149). Pre-orders start on Friday.
Apple Watch Series 10 and Watch Ultra 2: Only one redesign
The watch has been completely redesigned with a larger display and a thinner profile (7mm). It’s larger than Ultra and has an extra line of text. It has a wider aspect ratio, rounded corners and a wider angle OLED display. It’s brighter even when viewed at an angle and is more power efficient, but the second hand still updates once per second. Flux is a new watch face designed for the larger display. New colors include Jet Black, Rose Gold and Silver.
The speaker system is smaller, more water resistant, and charges faster (80% of the battery in 30 minutes).
Titanium joins the lineup as a new carbon-neutral alternative to stainless steel, making it lighter and available in natural, gold and slate gray with matching bands and faces.
Watch: Apple unveils Apple Watch Series 10
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Under the hood is a new S10 chip with a quad-core neural chiplet to speed up all the AI-driven features like sound reinforcement, fall detection, real-time translation, and health features. Sleep apnea Tracking, new sensors to monitor and notify you of sleep disturbances. US Food and Drug Administration approval is pending “soon.” Notifications will also be coming to the Series 9 and Ultra 2. There are also new snorkeling-related updates, and new bands from Nike and Hermes.
Check it out: New black Apple Watch Ultra 2 unveiled
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Prices start from $399 (£399, AU$649), or $499 with cellular capability, and pre-orders start today with the device shipping on September 20th.
The Ultra mostly receives updates that come with WatchOS, but it also gets a new color: satin black with a matching band made of corrosion-resistant titanium, making the Watch more durable and less prone to scratches. Preorders start today, with the phone shipping on September 20th.
Apple AirPods 4, Max, Pro 2: Better sound quality
The design has been improved, with a new acoustic architecture and support for spatial audio. It also introduces the H2 chip, support for head gestures, a new charging case with a USB-C port, upgraded microphones, computational audio, active noise cancellation, and wireless charging of the case.
Watch: Apple unveils AirPods 4 and new AirPods Max
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Prices start from $129 (£129, AU$219) for the base model, and $179 (£179, AU$299) for the noise-cancelling model.
The AirPods Max come in new colours and add USB-C support, but the price remains the same at $549 (£549, AU$899).
The AirPods Pro 2 come with new ear tips. Hearing protection, testing and support The latter is a “professional” hearing aid feature. Hearing aids and hearing tests will be available later this year. Pre-orders start today.
