It’s that time of year again, when we get our first official look at what the new iPhone is. At the Apple Wonderlust event, the tech giant revealed the iPhone 15, along with all the different variants that will make the best iPhone for all kinds of people.
But that’s not all we got. From Apple Watch to the next iPhone, Apple showed us exactly what the iOS mobile experience is going to look like for the next year. So, we went ahead and gathered up everything announced at the event right here.
Apple Watch Series 9 Gets Double-Tapped
A new year, a new Apple Watch. Powered by the new S9 chip, with 60% more transistors than the Apple Watch 8, is going to be a huge upgrade, even if you already have an Apple Watch. This time around, the Apple Watch Series 9 has a new Neural engine, which helps with both battery life, and allows Siri to be much more responsive, as you don’t have to rely on the cloud or your phone.
This neural engine also allows Siri to access health data stored locally on your device, so you can ask the AI assistant questions about your health and actually get accurate answers. It also powers the new “double tap” feature.
Basically, you’ll be able to tap your thumb against your hand twice to perform relevant tasks in whichever app you’re currently using.
Apple also upgraded Find My on the Apple Watch, making it much easier to find your phone when you misplace it. It’ll use sound, haptics and an on-screen display to guide you to exactly where you left your phone.
The Apple Watch Series 9 comes in a wide variety of colorways across a couple of different finishes. You can order it September 22, starting at $399
Apple Watch Ultra 2 – Bigger, Better, Brighter
If you want an Apple Watch with a bigger display, you’re going to want an Apple Watch Ultra, and luckily we’re getting a new one. It uses the same S9 chipset as the Apple Watch 9, so all the improvements that come to the basic phone are coming to the Ultra 2 as well.
But more importantly, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has a brighter display, rated up to 3,000 nits of brightness, and comes with an exclusive watch face that displays much more information than the Apple Watch 9 would let you.
You’ll also be able to connect Bluetooth fitness devices, which will make the watch perfect if you’re into extreme sports or adventuring.
More impressive, though, is that even with the brighter display and Bluetooth capabilities, Apple expects it to have the same battery life as the Apple Watch S9, up to 36 hours of typical use, or 72 hours on low battery mode.
iPhone 15 – USB-C, Finally
Apple debuted the iPhone 15 with a montage showing all the bright colorways it offers, and showing off its all-new design. And, yes, the iPhone 15 uses USB-C. Finally you can use the same charger for every single device. Apple has officially caught up with Android devices in 2017.
The basic iPhone 15 uses the dynamic island introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro last year. That dynamic island is much better than the dreaded notch that plagued earlier iPhones, so bringing it to more phones is awesome.
The iPhone 15 comes in two sizes, 5.7-inch and 6.1 inches for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, respectively. They will come in 5 different colors, and this time around Apple embedded the color directly into the glass on the back of the phone, so you won’t have to worry about your phone ever looking off-color.
Apple is also upgrading the camera to a 48MP main sensor, which will make photos even more detailed. But if that wasn’t enough, Apple is using the neural engine in the phone to enhance every photo you take, so you can get higher resolution photos on your phone than ever before. The camera also includes a 12MP telephoto lens, which allows for automatic zoom, which is going to be great for anyone taking a lot of videos with their phone camera.
That machine learning capability also allows the camera to automatically sense what you’re shooting, so it can optimize the camera to take the perfect photo for your subject. No more fiddling with annoying settings (unless you want to).
Of course, all of this requires a lot of power. Luckily, Apple has upgraded from the A15 chip to the A16 chip, with an included 16-core Neural Engine and a 10-core GPU. Everything from gaming to mobile video editing is going to be way faster. Apple was also able to optimize the chip to add more battery life for the device.
The iPhone 15 also has the second generation ultra wideband chip, which allows not only for precision tracking of your phone, but can even lead you to your friends in a crowded marketplace. There’s a lot of room for abuse here, though, so hopefully Apple has safeguards in place to prevent this tech from being used by stalkers or other abusive people.
Apple’s also upgraded its emergency satellite program, which you can now use to contact AAA if you're stranded in the middle of nowhere.
iPhone 15 Pro – RTX On
If the iPhone 15 isn’t enough phone for you, the iPhone 15 Pro might be more your speed. This Titanium powerhouse is lighter than ever, but also more durable. If that wasn’t enough, Apple trimmed the bezels even more, so you get more screen in the same form factor.
The iPhone 15 Pro comes in two sizes – 6.1 inches for the Pro and 6.7 inches for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
There were rumors that Apple is removing the ring/silent switch, and that’s only true for the iPhone 15 Pro. The switch is being replaced with a programmable button. Right out of the box, it’ll toggle between ring and silent, but you can program it to do anything from starting a stopwatch to opening your camera.
Apple is also introducing a new standby mode. By turning the iPhone 15 Pro sideways while charging, it’ll show a new full-screen display. At the event, Apple demoed it as a desk clock, but it’ll be interesting to see what else you can do with it – if you can even do anything else with it.
The iPhone 15 Pro isn’t going to be using the standard A17 chipset, instead it’s using an A17 Pro chip, which is built on a 3NM manufacturing process – the first of its kind. Apple is claiming that the 6-core CPU in this chipset is fast enough to compare with the best desktop CPUs. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not the performance can actually back up that claim when we get the device in for review.
Skepticism aside, the higher performance of the A17 Pro allowed Apple to include a USB 3.0 controller, which allows for faster charging and transfers. It’s not quite Thunderbolt, but your phone should be able to do much more intense computing work.
For the GPU, Apple has included a 6-core GPU, that the company calls a “Pro GPU”. That means you should be able to do more intense video work with it. But what’s more impressive is that just like the RTX 4080, the A17 Pro has a dedicated ray tracing chip. Ray tracing is coming to mobile gaming, finally.
Of course the camera gets a big upgrade too, up to a Quad-Sensor camera. You can shoot in 48MP Raw. And as with the iPhone 15, Apple’s Computational Photography allows you to shoot high-resolution 24MP photos by taking the photo you shoot and using machine learning to optimize and upscale the image to a beautiful high resolution photo.
You can order The iPhone 15 Pro on September 22, starting at $999 for the iPhone 15 Pro and $1,199 for the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
