Apple event: Everything unveiled from iPhone 16 to new watches and Apple Intelligence [VIDEO]

Tech giant Apple teased users with a number of new products including the new Apple Watch 10, the iPhone 16 lineup,  and a slew of AI-related updates for iOS 18.

The event was held at the Apple Campus Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino on Monday under theme “It’s Glowtime.”

Apple’s biggest event of the year showcased Apple Intelligence which was the star of event like it was at World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

Watch: Apple CEO Tim Cook opening the Apple event

#AppleEvent Good morning @tim_cook @TheCitizen_News pic.twitter.com/I5pd3m8LF0

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The company’s Apple focus on artificial intelligence (AI) as a core part of its vision moving forward is clear as it joins the party with other brands that unveiled their product earlier this year.

iPhone 16

As expected, the iPhone 16 “has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up,” in the words of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

One of the biggest updates to the iPhone 16 lineup comes in the form of the camera control button. The feature responds to clicks and different physical gestures, with light presses showing clean previews while a hard click can take a photo.

Trailing a finger along the button lets dials and settings to be changed.

The iPhone 16 features the new A18 chip which Apple claims makes the iPhone 16 up to 30 percent faster than the iPhone 15.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in five colours: black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine.

Pricing starts at $799 for the 128GB model, with the 16 Plus starting at $899 with the same amount of storage.

ALSO READ: Get ready for new gadgets from Apple and Huawei to geek over

iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Max

Apple’s premium iPhone models come with expected screen changes, with the screen taking up 6.3 inches on the Pro, 6.9 inches on the Pro Max for the biggest screens on an iPhone yet.

The devices have a new A18 Pro chip, an upgraded camera with faster shutter speeds, the ability to capture 4K video at 120 fps.

Additional advancements include a new 48MP Ultra-Wide camera for higher-resolution photography, including macro; a 5x Telephoto camera on both Pro models; and studio-quality mics to record more true-to-life audio.

Apple said the titanium design is strong yet lightweight, with larger display sizes, the thinnest borders on any Apple product, and a huge leap in battery life − with iPhone 16 Pro Max offering the best battery life on iPhone ever.

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium.

Pricing start at $999 and the 16 Pro Max starts at $1,119 with both up for preorder Friday and launching in stores September 20.

South African availability

In a country first, iStore South Africa said it will be launching the iPhone 16 range on the same day as the United States and other major markets.

This milestone puts South African consumers at the forefront of tech innovation, ensuring they are among the first to experience the world’s most anticipated smartphone release.

The iPhone 16 range will officially be available from 20 September 2024, with pre-orders opening on 13 September.

Apple Watch Series 10

Apple kicked off the launch with the Watch for the line’s tenth anniversary, rolling out a series of updates within the Apple Watch Series 10 line, including a tweaked design with more rounded corners and an updated aspect ratio, with Apple’s first wide-angle OLED screens.

The Apple Watch Series 10 features a larger, brighter OLED display, now 40% brighter and 10% thinner and lighter.

The Series 10 introduces polished Titanium as a replacement for stainless steel, and offers new bands to match.

AI features in the Apple Watch Series 10 reveal include a new photos watch face using AI to curate the photos shown on the display, and translation tools using machine learning to improve output.

Apple Watches are also getting an update to detect sleep apnea, which is pending FDA clearance. The feature will come to both the Series 10 and Series 9 watches.

The Apple Watch Series 10 will start at $399, and it launches September 20.

Apple Watch Ultra

Long touted the as a device for fitness aficionados, Apple’s Watch Ultra boasts custom workouts, running track detection, bike rides as live activities. On Monday, Apple dropped that there won’t be an Apple Watch Ultra 3 yet, instead announcing a new satin black colour for the Ultra 2.

South African availability

The iStore in South Africa said the Apple Watch Series 10 and the updated Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be available online and at all stores from 20 September 2024. Pre-orders will open online on 13 September 2024.

#AppleEvent Apple Watch Ultra 2 in a nutshell. #AppleWatchUltra2 @TheCitizen_News pic.twitter.com/mpUlsd9JlY

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AirPods 4

Apple claims the new AirPods 4 are the “most comfortable AirPods ever,” with a new A2 chip under the tweaked design. Personalized Spatial Audio is coming to the AirPods 4, along with the addition of machine learning for Siri to pick up head shakes as responses to prompts.

The new AirPods 4 will be available September 20, starting at $129 with active noise cancellation added for the $179 tier.

AirPods Pro 2

There were updates for the AirPods Pro 2 as well: prevention, awareness and assistance. For prevention, hearing protection will be added and on by default for passive noise reduction, managed through machine learning.

For awareness, Apple is adding a “clinically validated” hearing test that owners can take at any time. And then for assistance, hearing aid features are launching for those whose hearing tests identify them as potentially benefiting from hearing assisting features.

AirPods Max

A series of incremental updates came to AirPods Max during the Apple Event, with USB-C added in, and a series of new colors coming to the updated headphones September 20 for the same price of $549. Get the full rundown here.

#AppleEvent The new AirPods Max finally gets the update with new colours and USB C!

Midnight, Blue, Purple, Orange and Starlight – @TheCitizen_News pic.twitter.com/LRCWW27NxO

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Voice Memos

Apple showed off a new feature for the Voice Memos app, which allows vocal tracks to be layered on top of pre-recorded music or instrumentals.

Apple Intelligence

Apple also announced Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that combines the power of generative models which will start rolling out next month with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features launching in the coming months.

First revealed at WWDC, Apple Intelligence is mostly being presented as a more private large language model operating behind the scenes to improve existing apps and features.

Apple touted Intelligence’s ability to survey inboxes, with summaries surfacing for emails, and notifications altered to provide summaries as well with priority notifications elevated to the top of their stacks.

It features writing tools, users can refine their words by rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps.

Apple boasted that its Intelligence upgrades allow Siri to understand requests that are less than eloquently delivered, walk users through specific tasks within the iPhone and gain on-screen awareness of actions taking place on the phone.

Apple Intelligence is launching as a beta in the US with localized English coming to several markets in December. Additional languages like Chinese French, Japanese and Spanish are targeted for 2025.

Visual search

Apple also showcased visual search, which is powered by Apple Intelligence and combines the functions of a reverse image search with text recognition to add the details of an event to your calendar from a photo, or pull information about a restaurant directly from a photo of it.

New macOS Sequoia launching September 16

In an untraditionally swift launch for its macOS updates, Apple announced that the update first showcased at WWDC 2024 will launch in a week, with a series of updates built upon Apple Intelligence that you can run through here.

#AppleEvent #AppleIntelligence #iPhone16 @TheCitizen_News pic.twitter.com/5umKSaGcJ5

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Pressure

Apple faces immense pressure to prove that new AI features and other iPhone updates are worth chilling out for an upgrade and convince investors that it hasn’t fallen behind in the AI arms race, as rivals like Samsung, Google and Huawei have already released similar features with new technology.

Since the launch of the iPhone 12 with 5G connectivity back in 2020 the company has given users few exciting reasons to buy the latest generation, and as a result, iPhone sales, which make up half of the company’s revenue, have been sluggish.

Apple’s shares have also been relatively stagnant as a result, and investors are continuing, or counting rather, on AI to convince people to buy new iPhones.

About three hundred million iPhones worldwide haven’t been upgraded for more than four years. So, if Apple delivers on what it says it will, it could cash in pretty big, and the company has already hinted at some of the things that Apple Intelligence will be able to do.

For the last four years, the starting price at the launch for the new iPhones was at about $799 with enthusiasts having debated for years whether the iPhone models should be cheaper, while investors would prefer maximum profit.

Apple has to take into account the fact that a major price hike could make it very difficult for the consumers to grab those iPhones.

ALSO READ: AI-driven: Apple set to launch new iPhone lineup in September