Apple has moved the proximity sensor behind the display, and notifications will now pop out of the notch in an animation. Apple calls this system the Dynamic Island. Notifications and alerts will adapt and move around the pill-shaped notch, and Apple is really leaning into how it animates and uses the system for new notifications.
The latest smartphone can shoot 48-megapixel photos, record 4K video at 30 fps, and has a Photonic Engine that powers all the computational photography behind the scenes. In simpler terms, it’ll let you shoot in practically any scenario, low-light or not.
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On top of its upgrade to 48 megapixels, the iPhone 14 Pro’s new Main camera uses the pixel binning method where it can combine four pixels into a 2.44 µm quad pixel. This method lets you get 48-megapixel photos when the lighting conditions are fine, but combines four pixels into one when poor lighting conditions call for it.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max measure 7.85mm in thickness, compared to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max at 7.65mm.
This feature is designed to clearly present new information without distracting you from the app you’re in. In one example, someone is able to see from the Dynamic Island that their Lyft ride is two minutes away, and they don’t have to navigate away from their text conversation. In another use case, when you connect your AirPods, the Dynamic Island can also show you what percent charge your headphones are at. It’s a bit more elegant than a messy banner notification that clutters your screen.
The Dynamic Island likely won’t solve that problem the notch originally presented, but it does seem to suggest that Apple realized we want that stuff and we don’t want to have to zoom around the phone UI like a wizard to get it all. The Dynamic Island (I will never stop laughing at that name) feels almost like an exaggerated notch. Instead of dancing around the black bit at the top of the phone, Apple is expanding it, morphing it on a whim to help it address problems the notch used to create.
The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature an always-on display for the first time on iPhone, which lets users glance at their phone to see key information, including the time, their wallpaper, and iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets and Live Activities.
Apple announced the service in a Wednesday keynote, and Globalstar confirmed in SEC filings that it will provide the satellite connectivity. Apple did not mention Globalstar by name in the keynote.
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Globalstar said it is allocating 85% of its current and future network capacity to support the services and has agreed to prioritize the services on its network.
Apple has announced that the regular iPhone won’t be getting a new processor this year — instead, the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus will be powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, the same chip that’s in the iPhone 13 Pro — though it does have a bit more grunt than the A15 that was in the regular iPhone 13 and the $429 iPhone SE from earlier this year, thanks to an extra GPU core. This is the first time that Apple’s not updating to a new processor for one of its flagship iPhones since the 2008 iPhone 3G, which featured virtually the same internals as the original iPhone.
The iPhone 14 Pro, meanwhile, has an A16 processor, which the company says is more power efficient, even when doing intensive tasks.
An eSIM is a digital SIM that allows users to activate a cellular plan without having to use a physical nano-SIM card. eSIM availability is rapidly expanding, but the technology is still not available in all countries, which explains why iPhone 14 models will remain available with a SIM card tray outside of the U.S. for now.
Given how useful this would be as an accessibility feature, and that this is a change spotted in the operating system code, some iPhone owners have expressed hope that it might be offered to all handsets capable of running iOS 16. But it appears not. Aquino says he was told it’s for iPhone 14 only, and some commenters have even predicted that it might be limited to this year’s Pro models.
Filmed at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York City, the tour highlights the four available sizes, new camera features like Action mode, Lock Screen customizations, the iPhone 14 Pro’s Always-on display and A16 Bionic chip, Crash Detection, and more.
With the Apple Store app on the iPhone, prospective buyers select their preferred phone, confirm their status with their carrier, add accessories, select an AppleCare+ plan, and add a preferred payment method to prepare for the iPhone launch. Payment in full and other payment options are supported.
Previously, AppleCare+ allowed for two incidents of accidental damage cover every year.
Starting today, that cap has been lifted. Apple now touts unlimited repairs for accidental damage protection, for as long as you keep paying.
At its Far Out event, Apple introduced three new Apple Watch models, a modestly enhanced Apple Watch SE that holds down the low end of the line, a solidly upgraded Apple Watch Series 8, and the massively capable—and physically massive—Apple Watch Ultra. All are available to order now and will ship on 16 September 2022 (for the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 8) or 23 September 2022 (for the Apple Watch Ultra).
The 49mm titanium case has the brightest Apple Watch display yet, and a bigger Digital Crown that’s more rugged and capable. It features 36 hours of battery life, and will be capable of up to 60 hours of battery life with a new battery optimization setting coming later this fall.
There’s also a new Dark Mode, a Wayfinder watch face for showing rich sets of stats, a built-in depth gauge, and a new dual-frequency GPS with custom position algorithms to receive GPS signals in hard-to-reach locations.
The Oceanic app – called Oceanic Plus – promises to include dive planning, tides, water temperatures, and community-contributed details divers care about, such as visibility, currents, and other dive notes. The Oceanic app runs the Bühlmann algorithm, which is used by quite a few dive computers out there. The app can warn you of surfacing too quickly, or staying at too deep a depth for too long — both important aspects of keeping yourself safe underwater.
If you’ve already invested in Apple Watch bands for bigger screen models in the past, those bands will continue to work with the extreme sports version of the new Series 8. Bands designed for the Apple Watch Ultra also work with larger versions of non-Ultra Apple Watches.
In true Apple style, the company has designed the device’s retail packaging in a way that reflects its vision. As shared by 3D artist Ian Zelbo, the box depicts a snowy and sublime mountain vista surrounded by foreboding atmospheric clouds, with the wider landscape overlapping into the inner packaging.
Using two sensors on the Apple Watch Series 8, the built-in menstrual cycle tracking app will check users’ temperature at the wrist every five seconds overnight. This should allow for ovulation tracking since body temperature changes over the course of the menstrual cycle and rises in response to ovulation.
watchOS 9 and iOS 16 will also include changes to the cycle tracking app that flag any abnormalities in a user’s menstrual cycle based on the data they input about their periods. Deviations from someone’s normal cycle — like more spotting than usual — can be a signal of health conditions like fibroids or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), Sumbul Desai, vice president of health at Apple, said during the launch event.
Apple today announced that watchOS 9 will feature a new Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer. When the Low Power Mode is enabled, the Apple Watch will be able to get up to 36 hours of battery life per charge.
The Apple Watch Series 3 has finally been discontinued, some five years after it was launched back in 2017. The watch had remained on sale right up to the day before the event.
Instead of suggesting a gleaming world where everything is only getting better, instead, today we saw Apple’s vision of a future where everything is literally trying to murder us, and death lurks around every ring-closing outdoor jog. And frankly, it’s turning me into an iPrepper.
The earbuds look exactly the same as their predecessors, but they offer some improvements nonetheless. The new H2 chip facilitates enhanced noise cancellation that Apple says is twice as powerful as the previous AirPods Pro. A new adaptive transparency mode can also offer more dynamic tuning with what it allows in. Personalized spatial audio will also help listeners tune the sound to their ears.
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Along the stem of the pods are new touch controls. In addition to the squeeze controls that can pause and play music or accept phone calls, swiping along the stem can also skip back and forth between songs.
For months, we’ve been prepared for extremely high prices due to a variety of factors: inflation, supply chain and production issues, and a greater emphasis on high-end products. But despite all that, this year’s new products won’t cost any more than they did yesterday. And in some cases, they’ll actually cost a lot less.
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The biggest pricing surprise, however, is with the Apple Watch Ultra. It’s absolutely loaded with features—precision dual-frequency GPS, depth gauge with water temperature sensor, EN13319 certification, 100m water resistance, 86-decibel siren, cellular connectivity, and 36-hour battery life with a 49mm sapphire crystal display wrapped in a titanium case with three specialized bands—but doesn’t have the $899 or $999 price tag that we were expecting. The Apple Watch Ultra costs $799, which is $100 less than the 45mm titanium Apple Watch Edition.
Buyers of the basic iPhone 14 in Japan - where the yen has slumped 24% since September - will pay 20% more than they did for the iPhone 13 when it was launched a year ago at 99,800 yen ($692.81).
We have an official release date for iOS 16, Apple’s next major software update for iPhone users. During today’s Apple event, the company announced that iOS 16 will be released to the general public next week on September 12.
[I]n a footnote at the bottom of its iPhone 14 press release, Apple says “iCloud Shared Photo Library will be available in a future software update.”
With the new version of the operating system, iPhone and iPad will alert users when they try to pair counterfeit AirPods. “These headphones could not be verified as genuine AirPods and may not behave as expected,” the message reads.
A “Learn More” button should redirect users to a support article on Apple’s website with more details on how to identify original AirPods. The alert will also give the user the option “Don’t Connect.” However, at least for now, there are no signs that Apple will block these counterfeit AirPods from working with iPhone and iPad.
iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura pages on Apple's website confirm that both software updates will be released in October.
In addition to unveiling the second-generation AirPods Pro today, Apple made the third-generation AirPods available with a Lightning charging case that lacks MagSafe wireless charging. This version of the case can be charged with a Lightning cable only.
At its iPhone 14 event today, Apple indicated that, later this fall, Apple Fitness+ would be available to all iPhone users regardless of whether or not they owned an Apple Watch.
Following the announcement that iOS 16 will be officially released for iPhone users next week, Apple has now made iOS 16 RC (Release Candidate) available to developers and beta users. This means that anyone running iOS 16 beta can now install the build that is likely to be available to everyone in a few days.
Apple’s advice to developers was to, in effect, simply ignore the notch and pretend it does not exist. But then WWDC this year brought a brand new HIG and, while we were all distracted by its redesign, Apple subtly updated its layout guidance to remove restrictions on how to deal with sensor housings.
The friends and family of Apple founder Steve Jobs have launched the Steve Jobs Archive, an organization that celebrates the technology titan. You can visit the archive at stevejobsarchive.com.
Right now, the site is simple. At the top, there’s a poetic email Jobs sent to himself about his admiration for humanity. Scrolling down reveals some notable quotes from Jobs, including some from his famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford. At the end, there’s a short “About Us” description for the archive. Video and audio clips of Jobs are laced in along the way.
“I think at Apple I believe and hoped that he would be proud of a day like this when we bring out a lot of innovations that are very much on the principles that he articulated so well,” said Cook in a joint interview moderated by Kara Swisher.
“His understanding and reverence of the creative process was extraordinary,” said Ive.“He was masterful at helping people not ignore the problems but remain focused on the promise and vision of the actual ideas.”
“I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point,” Cook said when asked how Apple founder Steve Jobs would feel about using the RCS standard in iMessage during Vox Media’s Code 2022 event on Wednesday night. Instead, Cook said, “I would love to convert you to an iPhone.”
But the person who asked the question, Vox Media’s LiQuan Hunt, came back with a valid complaint, saying that his mother can’t see the videos he sends her. It all comes down to a lack of interoperability between iMessage and RCS, both messaging systems that could allow higher-quality images and videos — if they worked together. If you’ve tried to send a video from Android to iOS (or vice versa) using your regular text messaging app, then you know that your videos come out completely fuzzy on the other end. Cook’s suggestion to fix this annoying issue? “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
During a panel with the former Apple design lead, Tim Cook, and Laurene Powell Jobs at Vox Media’s Code conference tonight, journalist Kara Swisher asked Ive what he thought of current design trends. Ive said that there were “fabulous affordances with interfaces like multitouch,” but said that they may have gone too far in places — and it might be time for a shift back toward more physical controls.
“Potentially the pendulum may swing a little to have interfaces and products that are more tactile and more engaging physically,” Ive said. Swisher suggested that cars were an example of where multitouch has been overused, and Ive responded “for example.”
This year, Apple gave us quite a few new names for its products and features. The return of iPhone Plus is probably the plainest and boring-est of all the names. Mac Studio and Apple Watch Ultra are not as boring, but are also not as exciting to my ears. Stage Manager is merely functional and is not as good as Mission Control or Exposé.
And then, here we have Dynamic Island.
Wow.
(I am very interested what other names that Apple's crack marketing team rejected before settling on Dynamic Island.)
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Thanks for reading.