Apple event overview: meh

[jordanbuilds1]

 

 

Summary

Few good features but nothing amazing...

let's start in order:

Apple watch

 

This was the first announced product today and what we got was an 100$ price hike, no joke no scam it's now 400$. One new feature announced was a bigger screen, we still have the bezel though, but at least we have a decent(ish) sized screen. toward the end of the reveal we got some accessibility features such as:  We also got a few new colors... yay... Then after a short heart attack of the price we got this:

The "brand new" apple watch ultra. nothing too big here accept a few hermes variants, improved battery life, and apparently proven to be "the #1 sports watch" prices are still 799 so nothing crazy there. 

Airpods

First airpods were introduced to is the apple airpods 4 (or regular airpods for short), nothing to big here accept a smaller design and introduction of noise cancellation (an option 50$ more).

Rest of the airpods section was just addon features such as: new colors for the airpods max(now usb-c), hearing protection for airpods pro, and fda approved hearing tests (no more doctors visits!). nothing big but still nice to have.

 

iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro And Pro Max

Best(ish) part of the event and were already introduced to the new iphone 16. 

coming in at 800$ the camera might look reminiscent (at least to me) of the iphone XR with dual camera design. The current screen size for the 16 is 6.1" and 6.7" for the plus.

also introduced was camera control, on the side of the iphone you might notice a dark oval. this allows you to precisely control things such as zoom with a sliding motion. apple decided to skip a chip generation and go straight to a18 (hey, no ones complaining!). inside this chip we have 6 cores (2 performance, 4 efficiency) and is "30% faster" than the previous iphone. the gpu performance is 40% faster than previously and quote of the day:

Quote

"supports hardware accelerated ray tracing"

biggest lie here as they proceed to show laggy gameplay. cmon apple at least try to make it look appealing!

other features introduced were:

True depth camera with auto focus

48 mp camera

advanced (really just android features) Ai features such as Ai photo clean up, Ai data protection, and image generation.

as tim cook said "next lets talk our pro models!"

basically the same with a "better" titanium, a18 pro and advanced camera features...

all jokes aside the camera features were actually pretty good.

for starters now you can film at 4k 120fps and now camera quality is enhanced with dolby vision. there's 5x telephoto on both models (no more privilege!). the new screen sized are 6.3" and 6.9" with the new cpu having  16 core neural engine and 6 core gpu. it also supports wifi 7 and machine learning audio that helps improve audio on videos.

My thoughts

 Overall, the event was meh. you should never spend 400$ on an apple watch and the "ray tracing" features on the iphone was sub-par. but other than that it wasn't half bad. we got tons of updates to apple intelligence, better camera features, and noise cancelation on regular airpods! this is not to say that apple isn't greedy but its something. lets hope october isn't a disappointment...

 

Sources

apple.com, theverge.com

[Lightwreather]

2 minutes ago, jordanbuilds1 said:

apple.com, theverge.com

Apple

TheVerge

ArsTechnica:

Watch

AirPods

iPhone 16

iPhone 16 Pro

SoC

Software

[TempestCatto]

I won't lie. As a tech enthusiast, I actually prefer iPhone over Android. It's just a personal preference. That said, they got rid of the home button, even on the new SE line. I have autism and with that comes a lack of fine motor skills, which means I am unable to properly perform the micro-guestures required to interact with the device (in terms of closing apps, accessing open apps, switching apps, etc). I also tend to activate the wrong gesture when trying for a different one. Them getting rid of the home button is a huge blow, but people like me are probably 1% of the market, so they wouldn't notice otherwise. It's a real shame because now if I want a phone with a physical home button, it's gonna be a piece of shit (if I can even find one). At least with Android I know you can lock the soft-buttons to be always on. So I won't have too much to worry about there. But it's basically the end of an era for me personally. Granted, most of my phone life was with BlackBerry. (Just wanted to get this off my chest, I've been holding this in for some time now)

[GuiltySpark_]

6 minutes ago, TempestCatto said:

I won't lie. As a tech enthusiast, I actually prefer iPhone over Android. It's just a personal preference. That said, they got rid of the home button, even on the new SE line. I have autism and with that comes a lack of fine motor skills, which means I am unable to properly perform the micro-guestures required to interact with the device (in terms of closing apps, accessing open apps, switching apps, etc). I also tend to activate the wrong gesture when trying for a different one. Them getting rid of the home button is a huge blow, but people like me are probably 1% of the market, so they wouldn't notice otherwise. It's a real shame because now if I want a phone with a physical home button, it's gonna be a piece of shit (if I can even find one). At least with Android I know you can lock the soft-buttons to be always on. So I won't have too much to worry about there. But it's basically the end of an era for me personally. Granted, most of my phone life was with BlackBerry. (Just wanted to get this off my chest, I've been holding this in for some time now)

Have you looked through Settings > Accessibility? Apple is generally quite pro-accessibility and the menu has quite a few options in there. AssistiveTouch sub-menu, for one. Poke around if you haven't already.

[jordanbuilds1]

6 minutes ago, TempestCatto said:

I won't lie. As a tech enthusiast, I actually prefer iPhone over Android. It's just a personal preference. That said, they got rid of the home button, even on the new SE line. I have autism and with that comes a lack of fine motor skills, which means I am unable to properly perform the micro-guestures required to interact with the device (in terms of closing apps, accessing open apps, switching apps, etc). I also tend to activate the wrong gesture when trying for a different one. Them getting rid of the home button is a huge blow, but people like me are probably 1% of the market, so they wouldn't notice otherwise. It's a real shame because now if I want a phone with a physical home button, it's gonna be a piece of shit (if I can even find one). At least with Android I know you can lock the soft-buttons to be always on. So I won't have too much to worry about there. But it's basically the end of an era for me personally. Granted, most of my phone life was with BlackBerry. (Just wanted to get this off my chest, I've been holding this in for some time now)

actually an easy fix for that, check out this article: 

https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/how-to-set-up-an-on-screen-home-button-on-iphone0

[TempestCatto]

5 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Have you looked through Settings > Accessibility? Apple is generally quite pro-accessibility and the menu has quite a few options in there. AssistiveTouch sub-menu, for one. Poke around if you haven't already.

Yeah, it's not much use to me. I do disable gestures where I can (not just on Apple devices).

 

6 minutes ago, jordanbuilds1 said:

actually an easy fix for that, check out this article: 

https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/how-to-set-up-an-on-screen-home-button-on-iphone0

I've used this before, on an older iPod Touch. It's okay, but not really a replacement for the home button. I don't like how it takes up screen space (the same goes for the island thingy at the top of the newer phones). If it wasn't for that, I'd likely stick it out. Right now I'm rocking an older iPhone 6s, and I'll keep using it till apps are no longer supported for it. (which might not be much longer)

[emosun]

Can't wait for iPhone 47 with a slight camera improvement 

[Lurick]

7 minutes ago, emosun said:

Can't wait for iPhone 47 with a slight camera improvement 

With no ports and screen, it's completely water proof!

[Needfuldoer]

Are we really surprised at this point? Phone n+1 launches have been incremental for years now.

[Dracarris]

22 minutes ago, Lurick said:

With no ports and screen, it's completely water proof!

29 minutes ago, emosun said:

Can't wait for iPhone 47 with a slight camera improvement 

Even for this forum and the usual suspects, these "jokes" arrived at a new low.

[Electronics Wizardy]

15 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Are we really surprised at this point? Phone n+1 launches have been incremental for years now.

Was the 15/15 Pro a big jump? I'd say iPhones have slowed down a good amount in big jumps for a while now.

 

Ive daily-ed the 13 pro, 14 pro max, and 15 pro max and there all pretty small jumps. Other than playing with the new features on the first day they all feel about the same. USB C was nice on the 15 series so less cables are needed, but other than that feels like another phone.

 

For all the talk about cameras, they have been in the same boat for me for a while. Good enough on the go, but a 'real' camera feel better to use, and gives much more control.

[dilpickle]

23 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Are we really surprised at this point? Phone n+1 launches have been incremental for years now.

Which is true of every phone manufacturer but you only hear whining about Apple.

[dilpickle]

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Was the 15/15 Pro a big jump? I'd say iPhones have slowed down a good amount in big jumps for a while now.

That's exactly what he said. There hasn't been any major phone innovation in years.

[will0hlep]

I have only skimmed the keynote... did they announce a 3rd gen Apple Watch SE?

[saintlouisbagels]

Well that event was a huge bummer.

 

I've been waiting all year to see what the Apple Watch Ultra 3 would bring since the Ultra 2 was a whole lot of nothing. They didn't even update it I'm coming from a Series 4 and it looks like I'll be upgrading to the Series 10.

 

I've been considering buying the AirPods Max and was hoping this would be the year they finally unveil some kind of update. Nope.

 

I have an iPhone 14 Pro and I typically upgrade every year. It didn't make sense to upgrade to the 15 Pro last year because it used the same camera sensor, and I don't care about USB-C. Now that the 16 Pro has been unveiled, I still don't see a reason to upgrade. It's still the same damn sensor from the 14 Pro!* The camera button is cool and it'll save me 5 seconds from having to Google something. I had my fingers crossed that maybe they would at least pull an iPad Pro and make it unnecessarily thin or be crazy and put the M4 chip in. But nope. Nothing. sigh.

 

^{*it's a 2nd generations sensor, so it has a faster readout. I care about photo quality.}

[Electronics Wizardy]

25 minutes ago, dilpickle said:

Which is true of every phone manufacturer but you only hear whining about Apple.

I will argue that Apple doesn't make a lot of SKUs, so generally plays it safe. On the other hand other brands are trying out folding phones and other designs as they make low volume SKUs they kinda experiment with.

[saintlouisbagels]

2 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

I have only skimmed the keynote... did they announce a 3rd gen Apple Watch SE?

Nope!

[will0hlep]

3 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Nope!

Well that's a shame. I've been dailying a series 3 for a while now and I really like it as a tool to keep me off my phone, but it is so old I can't update it to the newest watchOS. I was hoping they would release a new generation of the SE watch so I could upgrade on the cheap to a device I knew would get upgrade support for a while. (I don't really need or want the extra sports related features).

[jordanbuilds1]

Just now, will0hlep said:

Well that's a shame. I've been dailying a series 3 for a while now and I really like it as a tool to keep me off my phone, but caues it is so old I can't update it to the newest watchOS. I was hoping they would release a new generation of the SE watch so I could upgrade on the cheap to a device I knew would get upgrade support for a while.

id reccomend looking at the series six for now, seem to be going for bellow 150$ sometimes 130$

[saintlouisbagels]

3 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

Well that's a shame. I've been dailying a series 3 for a while now and I really like it as a tool to keep me off my phone, but caues it is so old I can't update it to the newest watchOS. I was hoping they would release a new generation of the SE watch so I could upgrade on the cheap to a device I knew would get upgrade support for a while.

Why not just go for any of the main Series Apple Watches? Renewed and Refurbished models are as cheap as getting a new SE.

[will0hlep]

3 minutes ago, jordanbuilds1 said:

id reccomend looking at the series six for now, seem to be going for bellow 150$ sometimes 130$

Just now, saintlouisbagels said:

Why not just go for any of the main Series Apple Watches? Renewed and Refurbished models are as cheap as getting a new SE.

I probably should look into it, however to my knowledge apple tends to only support products for about 7 years.

So for example, if I bought a series 6, it probably has 3 more years left before it is also EoL. Therefore, I'd only want to pay 3/7 of the price of a new one (minus a bit more cause it is used and I wouldn't get the warrenty). So it would have to be less than £90.

[Monkey Dust]

1 hour ago, emosun said:

Can't wait for iPhone 47 with a slight camera improvement 

Surely the iPhone 47 will have a needlessly complicated assassination mode?

 

Tech only seems to be able to manage tiny incremental improvements these days. Often accompanied by less tiny price rises. Feels like it's been years since the last big jump.

[saintlouisbagels]

27 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

I probably should look into it, however to my knowledge apple tends to only support products for about 7 years.

So for example, if I bought a series 6, it probably has 3 more years left before it is also EoL. Therefore, I'd only want to pay 3/7 of the price of a new one (minus a bit more cause it is used and I wouldn't get the warrenty). So it would have to be less than £90.

Series 6 (2020), GPS, 44mm is $170

SE 1st gen (2020), GPS, 44mm is $142

Series 7, GPS, 45mm is $200

Series 8 (2022), GPS, 45mm is $250

SE 2nd gen (2022), GPS, 44mm is $220

Series 9, GPS, 45mm is $329

 

Seems like the sweet spot is probably just buying the SE 2nd gen.

[saintlouisbagels]

39 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

I probably should look into it, however to my knowledge apple tends to only support products for about 7 years.

Apple watches haven't really been out long enough to give you a good estimate of a typical lifecycle.

 

Series 4 has the record of 6 major updates - WatchOS 4 (2018) to WatchOS 10 (2023)

Series 5 also ended on WatchOS 10 with 5 major updates.

 

You can assume a typical Apple Watch will only receive 5 major updates before downgrading to just security updates.

So if you buy the SE 2nd gen, you're guaranteed to at least receive WatchOS 14 (2027).

[will0hlep]

6 hours ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Apple watches haven't really been out long enough to give you a good estimate of a typical lifecycle.

 

Series 4 has the record of 6 major updates - WatchOS 4 (2018) to WatchOS 10 (2023)

Series 5 also ended on WatchOS 10 with 5 major updates.

 

You can assume a typical Apple Watch will only receive 5 major updates before downgrading to just security updates.

So if you buy the SE 2nd gen, you're guaranteed to at least receive WatchOS 14 (2027).

Based on that, the value of a used apple watch (or even a new one in the case of the 2nd gen SE) is even lower than I calculated earlier…

 

Apparently, Mark Gurman seems to believe that the SE gen 3 is merely delayed and will be announced soon (according to a few news articles from last week). He also thought the Ultra 3 would be delayed.