At Apple’s ‘Far Out’ event on Wednesday, the American giant announced the launch of four new smartphone models – iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple’s new phones come with crash detection, emergency satellite communications and improvements to cameras and overall performance. The company unveiled the Apple Watch Series 8 and the new Apple Watch SE model along with the new rugged Apple Watch Ultra smartwatch. And finally, the AirPods Pro 2 truly wireless (TWS) earphones were launched by Apple as the successor to 2019’s high-end TWS earphones.
On this week’s episode of the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host Akhil Arora talks to executive editor Jamshed Awari, currently based at Apple’s headquarters in California, reviewing editor Roydon Cerejo and senior critic Sheldon Pinto. We discuss some of the highlights from Apple’s latest product launches, from the new iPhone 14 models to the company’s TWS earphones.
What does the new iPhone 14 series offer?
While this year’s iPhone 14 retains the same pricing as its predecessor launched, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max come with a higher price tag. Meanwhile, in the US, Apple’s latest phones debuted with prices similar to last year’s iPhone 13 lineup. According to Jamshed, Apple has decided to keep the price of the iPhone 13 the same, while the increase in the price of the iPhone SE (2022) may be disappointing for some users.
But what will that extra money get you? The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max sport Dynamic Island, Apple’s fancy software integration for the “unified” hole punch and pill-shaped cutout. This is the biggest change to Apple’s smartphone since the iPhone X was introduced in 2017. May change Roydon is useful for users who do not need to access the Notification Center on podcasts. Thanks to the software, Apple has enabled additional functionality around the cutouts, and developers can use the API to offer more capabilities here on top of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
On the camera front, Apple has added a new 2x telephoto mode to the camera on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, thanks to a new 48-megapixel camera. Apple says users will only be able to access this mode in Pro Raw mode, according to Jamshed. We’ll have to wait and see how Apple’s claims of improved camera performance hold up in our review of the new phone.
Jamshed says the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feel very fresh and could inspire people on the fence or waiting to upgrade from older iPhone models. The new Always On Display (AoD) mode isn’t just a minimalist text-only screen like Android phones — it’s an iOS lock screen that refreshes at 1Hz to save battery life. It almost changes the paradigm of locking your phone, he says.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus come with the A15 Bionic chip that debuted on last year’s iPhone 13 models, along with a five-core GPU for improved performance. The iPhone 14 Plus is significantly lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, Jamshed notes. But the changes are minimal — and Roydon thinks it’s a good time to buy the iPhone 13 for most of India.
Apple goes ultra with the new Watch
Apple’s first device with the word ‘Ultra’ was launched at the ‘Far Out’ event as the new Apple Watch Ultra. Along with the new Apple Watch SE model, the company also launched the new Apple Watch Series 8 lineup. While Sheldon says the Apple Watch Ultra is a confusing product, Jamshed — who tried it after the launch event — says it’s a heavy wearable. While features like dive computer integration are interesting, Sheldon says the 60-hour battery life doesn’t compare to expedition watches that run for days on a single charge.
Upgraded fancy AirPods
That leaves the AirPods Pro 2 — the second generation of Apple’s high-end TWS earbuds. They feature improved active noise cancellation and audio quality. Apple hasn’t announced support for Hi-Res audio, but Jamshed says people who tried the earbuds at events said active noise cancellation was significantly improved. We will know more about how they work as part of our upcoming reviews.
You can hear it all in detail and more in our episode by hitting the play button on the Spotify player embedded above.
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