Hey, It Folds!
This past Wednesday saw Apple’s annual unveiling of its newest iteration of products that it typically does every September. More often than not, it’s mostly spec bumps for the most part. But this year, they had one device that seemed to ignite the tech sphere into all kinds of chatter and conversation, which I am not at all surprised to see. But if you missed the event, you can find it right here and spend 80 minutes to see if anything jumps out at you. I’m going to go over the products, and tell you which one I’m debating on getting. You may be surprised to know it’s not the everyone is talking about.
iPhone 18 Pro & Pro Max
For me, there wasn’t much here to sway me to want to rush out and get either of these new models. The biggest change is the fact you have a variable aperture on the main 48MP wide angle camera. There’s also 4 new colors. I guess orange didn’t quite pan out the way they hoped,. Now they come in burgundy, light blue (Apple calls this glacier), silver and black. (Google invented black, you know? At least that’s what their Pixel event revealed.)
Will I upgrade?
No. I already have a white 17 Pro, and there’s not really much about the next iteration of this phone that greatly captivates me. Or at all.
AirPods 5
I have never owned a pair of the OG AirPods. This year, they included Active Noise Cancellation with the model instead of making a separate SKU to charge you more for it. That’s excellent, and I can appreciate that. It didn’t mean they wouldn’t offer an upgraded model. Because for $20 more, you can get a wireless charging case and volume control stems like they have on the more premium models
Will I upgrade?
No. I already have AirPods Pro 3 and this would be an unnecessary expenditure, not to mention a bit of a stepdown from what I already have.
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4
No matter which one of these models you go with, they look practically identical to their previous models. The changes include Health Sensing with newer chipsets to monitor your heart and physiological changes. There’s also a Readiness app that looks at your training and workout routines and vitals and your sleep score to help you get an idea of how much you can push yourself that day. The feature I liked that was brought up is Siri Recap, which recaps conversations in a day and Live Rewind that lets you see the previous 15 seconds of a conversation. Both of those features interest me, especially the latter. If I’m out in public with someone, they can get drowned out by the noise coming from all around and this is easier than asking them to say it again. I know MKB is nervous about this feature, but Apple has said again and again that it’s not storing anything or sending it back to Apple. Until someone gives me proof that they are lying about that, I’ll trust them with it.
Will I upgrade?
On the Ultra? No. That watch is designed for people with far more active lifestyles than the one I currently experience. If I were constantly running or biking or anything of the nature, then maybe. But the Series 12? Yes, that’s a strong possibility. I already have the Series 11, which is the one thing keeping me from ordering it immediately. But I can see that upgrade being a strong possibility, and also because I credit having an Apple Watch to making me far more active than I was before I had one way back when.
iPhone Duo
For anyone who follows my socials (and you should), you know that I have yet to find a use case for a folding phone. As a result, I just see them as gimmicks. If I need a bigger screen for something, I have an iPad Air that accomplishes that with aplomb. But after watching some clips from other reviewers, I realize carrying around an iPad isn’t conducive for a lot of people. The phone itself is the size of a passport, and I appreciate the little touches I saw in the event that don’t mean much on their own but just make it feel a little bit more…Apple. While these kinds of phones aren’t huge in America, they are in China and Apple really would love to expand their footprint there.
Will I upgrade?
Unlikely. As I said, I don’t have a use case for a foldable phone in my current life. And for me to plunk down two grand for a device, I’m going to need a few more compelling reasons beyond “Hey, it folds!”
Where’s iPad?
There was nothing about iPads at this event. As someone who loves and uses mine daily, that was a bit of a letdown. I know they just released new versions which are basically spec bumps, so maybe they weren’t as high a priority for coverage at the event, especially as it was clear this was the iPhone Duo’s show to shine.
Also missing were the entry level iPhones, which I understand are going to be unveiled a bit later. There were no new MacBooks of any stripe either, but they also just had a spec bump recently too, so maybe there wasn’t much there worthy to add extra runtime.
All in all, I enjoyed watching this event far more than I have seeing what their competition in this space produces. Google continues to embarrass themselves with these Pixel events. Meta bores me to tears, and requires a fair bit of caffeine to keep focused. Samsung is somewhere in the middle of all that for me.
I’d be interested to hear what stood out for you. Was there anything on the show that made you think “Hey, I want that!” or even make you consider switching from Android? Let me know on my socials. Let’s have a chat.
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