Predictions for the Apple iPhone event were on point this year. Apple did not suprise and they also did not disappoint. And predictions were wrong in one important respect. Apple did not raise prices.
My thoughts in no particular order:
- iPhone 15 gets the Dynamic Island that was introduced last year on the 14 Pro. It also has the A16 Bionic processor found in the 14 Pro. The main camera gets upgraded to 48 MPixel, also found in … the 14 Pro. What it does not get is the variable refresh rate display, which Apple calls Promotion. Hence, not always-on.
- iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max get a new A17 Pro processor which once again blows past all other smartphones from any vendor. It also has a new internal architecture, much like the non-Pro 14 last year, that makes it more repairable. The frame drops the stainless steel which is replaced by Titanium, making the Pro model lighter than any before. Good change. Pro has a 3x telephoto lens and Pro Max goes to 5x.
- The photo/video features are just blowing my mind. I need to wrap my head around all the details.
- Apple drops Lightning and replaces it with USB-C. That is going to be popular with the Android crowd and tech nerds, but most regular iPhone users could not care less. Lightning is still superior in terms or durability and mechanical construction. Old accessories might no longer work. Apple will be happy to sell you new ones like the EarPods with USB-C connector. (EarPods are still the best casual microphone you can use, far superior to Bluetooth).
- USB-C is a plug that can be used in many ways. On iPhone it supports USB 2, on iPhone Pro USB 3 with 10 Gbit/s. That is still not Thunderbolt like the iPad Pro uses. We will see what the charging cable will deliver. On iPad Pro it only support USB 2, so you need to buy a better (and thicker) cable.
- Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 use a new chip based on the A15 making them faster. Peak display brightness goes up, but the design remains the same. A major design overhaul is expected for next year, when the Apple Watch turns 10.
- Apple talks quite a bit about their progress towards their goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Apple Watch is the first product to get there. Apple is increasingly using recycled material and now is also dropping leather from all accessories. No more leather bands or leather cases. I like.
- A neat party trick is the ability to double tap your index finger and thumb to execute the default option on Apple Watch, like dropping or answering a call, snoozing you alarm etc. This has been announced for the new watches only.
Did you see any suprises? What did you find interesting?
Most important new product: EarPods with USB-C. Have been waiting for this for my iPads for years. Already ordered two of those.
I am a little disappointed that the colour predictions were accurate. Choosing a handset colour based on the web site images is a terrible joke. Why can Apple not provide images that show the handsets in natural lighting so that we can actually see the colour as it would appear in our hand.
I have a natural titanium series 7 watch and I just love it, the colour the finish, just wonderful. If I could get a colour matching phone…. wow.
Hmm.
Titanium! For me the Pro’s stainless steel frame has always been too heavy and too bling-bling shiny, so I deliberately chose the regular iPhone with aluminium over the Pro despite the missing camera features. Titanium is a game changer.
Will there be a VOWE buying guide?
Luckily nothing that draws into the apple reality distortion field this year. I was a little afraid of that. The only thing i THINK ist really cool is the new finger gesture for the new watches. We will see, if it is really cool in real life or if it will give us lots of false positives.
Only briefly mentioned on https://www.apple.com/iphone-15-pro/ in the details under „Gigablast
your gigabits.“/„Explore connectivity“: „ iPhone 15 Pro is the first smartphone with Thread radio“
Not sure how relevant this will be, given that most people interested in Thread will already have Thread routers. Still might make the connectivity more reliable.
“Carbon neutral” while inviting dozens, if not hundreds, of journalists, bloggers and influencers to California for an event that works perfectly well online.
Not only did the prices stay the same in $ but they decreased for the € amount in Germany.
If I recall old prices correctly the Watch Ultra 2 is €100 less. iPhone 15 Pro decrease is in the same range.
As I went for a Ultra 2 this time this was a nice surprise 🙂
There weren’t any big surprises, but the 15 Pro Max looks interesting to me. I think I’ll give it a closer look. I found it a shame that there wasn’t really anything new for the watches.
Surprise: no surprises, maybe except Thread capability in iPhones.
I had hoped that the 15 Pro would also get the tele lens, but Apple product marketing chose their usual approach (or are there physical constraints preventing a tele lens in the 15 Pro?).
I need to play around with the 15 Pro Max to see if the tele lens is worth living with the larger body.
I like the slim form factor of my 12 Pro – which still does a very good job.
I’d love to know how much the camera bump on the Pro grew this time. Looking at the pictures without a iPhone 14 Pro next to it, it is hard to judge. And I found no concrete information on that yet. But it roughly looks like it got bigger _again_.
They didn’t say anything about it. So it probably grew a lot. We will see.
Das mit “tappen” von Zeigefinger und Daumen geht auch jetzt schon, Bedienungshilfen -> Schnellaktionen … aber vielleicht mit dem neuen Chip besser/schneller/cooler 🙂
„Spatial Video“ für die Wiedergabe in der Vision Pro kann man mit den neuen iPhones auch schon vor deren Release und, vermutlich wichtiger, ohne die „Ein Mensch mit Gesichtsmuffe läuft am Strand lang“ Situation aufnehmen.
Das hatte AFAIK niemand vorher auf dem Zettel.
Oh, ja, mit Aufnahme von Spatial Video auf eine iPhone Pro schon dieses Jahr habe ich auch nicht gerechnet. Und ich war überrascht, wie sehr dies Apple – fast schon verschämt – nebenbei erwähnt hat.
Vielleicht weil es, der Beschreibung nach, auch wirklich ausschließlich auf der Vision Pro möglich sein wird, die Videos wiederzugeben? Sollte es wirklich nicht auch auf dem iPhone (z.B. per Kippen des Geräts) möglich sein das Video dreidimensional zu sehen?
Bin gespannt was die Upgrades im A17pro für die Mac-M3 Modelle bringen, dass das Ding Hardware-Raytracing kann bedeutet ja, das dieses Feature auch (im erweiterten Umfang) auch in den größeren Chips sein wird – da kommt Gaming auf dem Mac auch wieder ein Stück weiter.
I thought the finger-thumb ‘rap’ was already a thing?
Yes. Well hidden, but not working well.
I was most interested to see, and actually expected the upgrade to 6 and 12 TB iCloud storage. I was afraid that I had to find a different cloud storage provider for my (too) many raw photos and our family documents (and other things, of course).
The 2TB limit now was getting too little for a while.