iPhone Event Recap, New Operating Systems are Here

Hey there!

I hope all is going well! Here’s what I have for you this time around:

• Everything Apple Announced During Its Glowtime Event

• All the New Operating Systems Are Here

• Basic AF: iPhone Event Recap with Joe Moyer

• Reader Poll: Which New Apple OS Are You Most Excited About?

• The News Feed: iPadOS 18 Pulled For M4 iPad Pro, iWork Apps Updated, and More

Let's get into it!

📱 IPHONE EVENT RECAP

Apple’s Glowtime event has come and gone and here’s what you need to know!

Also, you won’t want to miss the latest episode of Basic AF, where we have a great in-depth discussion on the event announcements with Joe Moyer from 24letters.net. More on that below. 👇️ 

AirPods 4

• Two versions - with and without Active Noise Cancellation

• Personalized Spatial Audio

• $129 base, $179 with Active Noise Cancellation

AirPods Pro 2

• Hearing Test, Hearing Aid Feature, and active Hearing Protection coming this fall with a free software update

• $249

AirPods Max

It was a disappointing update for the top-of-the-line (by cost, at least) model. Apple replaced the Lightning port with USB-C and added some new colors. That's it. And, they’re still $549.

Apple Watch Series 10

• Thinnest ever with the biggest display

• Apple’s first wide-angle OLED display

• Sleep apnea detection (also on Series 9 and Ultra 2)

• Faster charging - 80% in 30 minutes

• New Jet Black aluminum and three new titanium finishes, plus other colors

• 42mm and 46mm

• Prices start at $399 for aluminum and go up from there

Apple Watch Ultra 2

No, that's not a typo. Apple chose not to release an Ultra 3 this year. Instead, they gave us a new and seriously good-looking Satin Black model. As mentioned above, the Ultra 2 also picks up the new sleep apnea detection feature.

Camera Control on iPhone

Apple has been in the mood to add buttons to the iPhone. Last year, the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max got an Action button, and this year, the entire lineup of the iPhone 16 series is getting a new button that Apple is calling Camera Control.

Camera Control is a dedicated button for, you guessed it, the iPhone camera. Simply press the button to launch the Camera app and press it again to take a photo. That by itself is handy, but Apple has added a few other touches. Once the Camera app is open, a light press on the button opens controls such as Depth. With a double light press, you can select another camera setting and slide your finger along the button to adjust that setting. It looks really slick!

iPhone 16 and 16 Plus

• 6.1” and 6.7” displays

• A18 chip

• New Camera Control button

• USB-C charging port

• Action button

• Apple Intelligence

• Storage starts at 128GB, max 512GB

• Great colors! Black, White, Pink, Teal, Ultramarine

• iPhone 16 starts at $799, 16 Plus at $899

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max

• 6.3” and 6.9” displays

• A18 Pro chip

• New Camera Control button

• 5x telephoto on both Pro and Pro Max

• USB-C with USB 3 transfer

• 4K Dolby Vision up to 120 fps

• Even longer battery life on Pro Max

• Apple Intelligence

• Storage starts at 128GB on Pro, 256GB on Pro Max; tops out at 1TB

• Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, Desert Titanium

• Pro starts at $999, Pro Max $1199

Everything Apple announced at the event is available for pre-order now and will hit stores and front porches tomorrow, September 20th.

Final Thoughts

I love that Apple continues to push forward with its health-related initiatives. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aids feature on AirPods Pro 2 could be significant developments. The Apple Watch Series 10 looks really nice, and though we didn’t see an Ultra 3, the Satin Black model looks great. With the iPhones, the Camera Control button should be a nice addition, and I'm glad Apple didn't make it a "Pro only" feature.

The product lines are getting solid updates, even if they are a bit underwhelming. In fairness, though, the products are mature, and while we aren't seeing monumental advances each year, after 3-4 years of incremental improvements, it adds up.

🆕 APPLE RELEASES ALL THE NEW OPERATING SYSTEMS

The summer of betas has come to an end! This past Monday, Apple released:

• iOS 18

• iPadOS 18

• watchOS 11

• macOS Sequoia

• visionOS 2

• tvOS 18

• HomePod Software 18

Where's Apple Intelligence?

If you're looking for Apple Intelligence, you'll have to wait a bit longer for the first features to be released. And even then, it will only be a small set of features as Apple will be rolling them out incrementally well into next year.

Starting with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 in October, we should see some improvements in Siri, the writing tools, the "Clean Up" tool in Photos, and summaries in different apps.

Additional capabilities will arrive in later updates, including the revamped Mail app, which I’m excited to have, Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT integration with Siri, and even more Siri improvements, including Personal Context, where Siri understands more about things specific to our data.

🎙️ BASIC AF SHOW: IPHONE EVENT RECAP WITH JOE MOYER

It's the Apple Glowtime event recap! Jeff and I are joined by Joe Moyer from 24Letters.net to recap all the announcements at Apple's recent annual iPhone event. Is it a September to remember?

Join us as we break down the new AirPods and hearing-related features for AirPods Pro 2, the Apple Watch Series 10, and Ultra 2 in Satin Black. The new iPhone 16 looks excellent, and the iPhone 16 Pro lineup is more "pro" despite its dull colors.

Listen and follow the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all the other podcast apps, as well as on YouTube and YouTube Music.

🚨 APPLE PULLS IPADOS 18 FOR M4 IPAD PRO

This is not good. It just goes to show that even big players like Apple can have problems after testing, testing, and more testing. I imagine Apple will resolve this quickly.

🦻 APPLE HEARING AIDS FEATURE AUTHORIZED

Not long after Apple announced the Hearing Aids Feature for AirPods Pro 2, the FDA officially authorized it in the US. The feature will be released in an upcoming software update.

⚙️ IWORK APPS UPDATED

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote have all been updated with new features for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. You can install the updates through the App Store.

🤳 SPATIAL PHOTOS COMING TO IPHONE 15 PRO

The iPhone 15 Pro, which has been able to capture spatial video, will be gaining spatial photo support. It's part of the latest iOS 18.1 developer beta.

💻️ STILL RUNNING AN INTEL-BASED MAC?

As Apple continues to advance Apple silicon and more Macs are running Apple chips, support for Intel-based Macs will continue to dwindle. There are a couple of features in macOS Sequoia that will not be available on Intel-based systems. Unsurprisingly, Apple Intelligence will not run on them, and neither will live audio transcriptions.