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By: Joe Cardoso
Nothing says fall is coming like an Apple Event. The tech leaders break out all the stuff they have been working on and hope you start saving up to grab it. Sometimes these events are a snooze fest with small changes and upgrades but nothing is worth calling Amex or Visa to increase that spending limit. We saw some really exciting stuff with the release of iOS18 and WWDC as mentioned by Courtney Walsh in her piece a few months back. Now the hardware upgrades come and they brought out their “A” game. So what was showcased and is it it worth the move for you the consumer?
Apple Watch Series 10
It was only a matter of time before a bigger display came around and here it is. To compare it this screen is 30% larger than the series 6, and I am not mad at it I can’t be the only one who struggles to see the damn thing let alone type a message. And Apple says the display is also brighter old people who love tech rejoice. Might seem petty to you but for some of us it is important new colors drop as you get rose gold, sleek black, and silver aluminum. Forget your AirPods? No worries you can now play podcasts and music through the watch. The charge gets a bump and promises to hit an 80% charge in 30 minutes. We get the S10 chip under the small hood to pick up the pace. Where I see some great improvements is in the way of health and wellness Sleep Apnea can now be detected stats are saved for 30 days and the next steps are shared when the results are final. Some cool features for swimmers and divers even show water temps in real-time. Pricing for the watch starts at $399 and a satin black Ultra II was announced with a $799 price point all available for pre-order starting now and shipping September 20th.
Air Pods Worldwide
The entire platform was upgraded. Air Pod 4 gives us 30 hours of battery life and a new design for a more comfortable fit. Apple will have a second version of the 4’s with active noise cancellation and conversation awareness which sounds pretty cool to me. And if you are like me and lose AirPods and the case a speaker is now on the case so you can hear the “Find My” alerts. Thank you, Apple. Check the graphic below for more of the features and the price point for these is $129 with no ANC and with ANC $179. Air Pods Max got nothing except new colors wow, yeah and those are $549.
You can also use the AirPods as earplugs! And use both the pods and your phone to perform hearing tests, be honest when was the last time you had your hearing checked? Yeah, that part. The AirPods Pro 2 has been cleared to be used as a grade 2 hearing aid and that is not a typo. It will adjust to fit your hearing needs based on your tests and results saved in the health app. It will adjust for music and movies as well I mean talk about unreal. All of this will be part of the fall update so no need to buy new AirPods Pro 2’s. At this point, I was speechless at how far we have come and I thought about how much my mother could use this. Technology is amazing.
iPhone 16 Lineup
New Colors! Five total and a new customizable action button and camera control button as well making selfies and quick shots a breeze. The A18 chip keeps things running. If you have anything less than an iPhone 15 the power boost will shock you, we also heard more about Apple Intelligence and how it goes hand in hand with the new phones. All of which was laid out at WWDC. Next month in North America Apple Intelligence will be released and the robot takeover begins. I kid, I kid. Visual Intelligence is a fun feature you point at a restaurant and use the camera control button and an info card pops up, point it at a flyer and all the info can be saved and added to your calendar. They even snapped a pic of a dog to figure out the breed. ChatGPT can even be used to help with research or homework. The button can move to different options depending on how hard or fast you press the button.
The 16 and 16 plus starts at $799 for 128 GB and $899 for the plus 128GB model. Now, why you would not want to get a Max is beyond me they are the BMW of iPhones and the 16 Pro and Pro Max are a shiny new model. The Pro is 6.3″ and the Max is 6.9″ it is said to have the best battery life ever I will let you know once I get mine. The fastest CPU in any smartphone ever, the camera on this thing is SICK and will make you want to be a content creator even if it kills you. Styles have been added to change the colors and look of photos and videos we get 4K 120FPS slow-mo video you can adjust FPS AFTER you record! Yes, I am screaming as I type this the hype is real. New studio features make it so you can film a movie with your phone and have the look and sound of an MGM production. Audio mix uses machine learning to separate background sounds from subjects. There are standard, in-frame, studio, and cinematic. I use voice memos for podcasts and Youtube promos adding layering is a God send and will make for a faster workflow. The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 for 128 GB and $1,199 for 256 GB 16 Pro Max. Pre-orders start this Friday.
Needless to say, if you are a loyal member of #Teamiphone these improvements are major and worth the upgrade unless you have a 15. I can’t wait to take my 13 in and grab the 16 Pro Max. As a content creator and someone who loves to capture moments the camera and its features alone are what makes it worth it for me. What do you think? Are you hitting up the local Apple store? Why or why not? Until next time keep it locked for more from us #WhatTheTech
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