The most awaited day of iPhone fans finally passed and we were greeted with significant changes. There are new product iterations not just for the iPhone, and the devices definitely got smarter in keeping you safe and helping you in case of accidents. Without further ado, here’s what’s new this September with Apple.
Apple Watch Series 8
The new Watch Series 8 gets a few improvements from the previous iteration. Most notable is the introduction of temperature sensing which can help with retrospective ovulation estimate and period cycles. Crash detection was also added, which will call emergency numbers in 10 seconds if the user is unresponsive after a detected crash. There’s also a low power mode which extends the Watch S8’s battery life up to 36 hours.
It will be available in starlight, midnight, silver and (PRODUCT) RED aluminum cases or silver, graphite, and gold for the stainless steel finishes. There are also new bands available. Prices for the Watch Series 8 start at P25,990.
Apple Watch SE (2022)
On the more attainable side of things, the Watch SE becomes more affordable and now starts at P15,990. It gets the same processor as the one in the Series 8 and Ultra giving it a 20% boost in performance, while also having Crash Detection. It’s compatible with all Watch bands and is available in midnight, starlight, and silver finish.
Apple Watch Ultra
New in the lineup is the Apple Watch Ultra, possibly the toughest smartwatch in the world right now. It’s made with the extreme athlete in mind and has features to complement their activities. It has a significantly larger 49mm face made of titanium for lightness while keeping ruggedness and corrosion resistance. Unlike the other Watches, the Ultra has a flat sapphire front crystal to keep the edges away from corner damage. The crown is more coarse and there’s an additional ‘Action’ button on the left side that can be customized to your preferred function. It also comes with new bands that are designed for different activities you do.
It gets an exclusive ‘Wayfinder’ Watch face that shows a compass and has space for up to 8 settings. Its brightness reaches up to 2,000 nits – similar to the new iPhones but can still last up to 36 hours or 60 hours when in low power mode. Turning the crown will also activate Night Mode that turns the face red for better visibility at night.
The Watch Ultra is designed to withstand extreme temps at -20 degrees celsius and up to 55 degrees celsius. It also gets new precision dual-frequency GPS for accurate location tracing in different apps, and all of the new features in the Series 8. All of this will be available starting at P52,990.
AirPods Pro 2
For the audio experience, Apple has finally upgraded the AirPods Pro. It received a new H2 chip for better sound obviously, but this also improves the noise cancellation capacity of the device. It takes the transparency setting further by simultaneously doing selective noise cancellation while still allowing normal noise like conversations into your hearing, while your music plays. This is accompanied by a new low distortion driver and custom amplifier for a more high-resolution experience.
Personalized Spatial audio was also introduced in the AirPods Pro 2. Together with your iPhone, it traces the shape of your head and ears to give you your custom stage-like listening experience.
As with the hardware, it retains the same form factor and charging case as before. There’s only an additional extra small tip for those people with smaller ear canals. It still retails for the same price of P14,990.
iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
Going big is now not limited to the Pros. The iPhone 14 still has a 6.1-inch screen but it’s now paired with a 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus while ditching the ‘mini’ option. The two use the same processor as the previous version but its battery life is extended to 20 hours, compared to the 19 hours of the 13 series. The 14 Plus goes even further with a 26-hour battery life.
Cameras were also improved in the 14 series. It received the sensor-shift stabilization that was once exclusive in the Pro line. The front camera is also now capable of autofocus.
The 14 series is available in Blue, Purple, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) RED. The 14 starts at P56,990 while the 14 Plus begins at P63,990 – same prices as before. Storage options remain at 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.
iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
While many are requesting the notch to be removed, Apple went ahead and utilized it for something else. The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max now has a ‘Dynamic Island’. Apple made the front camera assembly smaller and detached from the top bezel, resultin in a pill-shaped hole on the screen. Dynamic Island makes use of this by extending it’s space on the screen to show notifications and activities. Since the screen is OLED, it looks like the notch itself extends and contracts.
Another long awaited feature is the Always-On Display which will show the time, notifications, and other settings you might want on the lockscreen. The Super Retina XDR display was also upgraded to be capable of displaying up to 2,000 nits of brightness which is twice of the previous iteration and is the same as the Pro Display XDR monitor.
Just like in the 14, the 14 Pro lineup has their cameras upgraded. The main camera now houses a 48mp quad-pixel sensor. This makes the pixels grouped into 4 and in low-light situations, these grouped pixels will act as one larger pixel for better capability in such situations. The higher resolution sensor also allowed for 2x zoom by cropping on the high resolution image allowing for more versatile range in photography. The stabilization was also improved with a second generation sensor-shift.
The front cam has a slightly bigger aperture than the non-Pro iPhone 14 and also gets autofocus. Other camera improvements include better telephoto camera, new ultra wide camera for macro photography, and a new TrueTone flash with changing patterns depending on the lens used for the image.
For video, there’s now an action mode for extra smooth clips even in the most rugged situations. The Cinematic Mode that allows for deep depth of field in videos ala Portrait Mode is now available for 4K in 30fps and 4K at 24fps.
Powering the iPhone 14 Pro is the new A16 Bionic chip that’s made from a 4-nm process. This allows for more performance while also being power efficient in its usage. This allows the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max to have one more hour of battery life from their previous version, now able to go 23 and 29 hours on a single charge respectively. It’s 40% faster in general usage while the same 5-core GPU is 50% more powerful in handling its visual tasks.
The new iPhone 14 Pro is priced at P70,990 while the 14 Pro Max starts at P77,990. They’re available in Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black. Storage options remain at 128GB, 256Gb, 512GB, and 1TB.
Prices mentioned are based on Apple’s PH website. Pricing and availability will vary with your preferred local seller.
