Apple Watch Series 9

The new S9 SiP Chip is 30% faster than Series 8. Siri requests are now processed on the Watch, making them faster and more secure. 

You can ping your iPhone thanks to new Ultra Wideband support. Easier to find your iPhone when you set it down somewhere and forget. 

The Watch 9 has double the brightness of Series 8, so the always-on display is more useful. It also darkens down to only 1 nit, so won’t bother if you wear when you sleep. 

Series 9 will get a new gesture that only uses the watch hand, and doesn’t need the other. You tap your index finger and thumb together twice. You can use this feature to pick up a call or end a call for example. You can also use it to stop a timer, snooze an alarm, or play and pause music. Double tap will be available next month. 

Watch 9 will be available in new Pink aluminum case. 

Apple claims the new Watch 9 is 100% carbon neutral, certified by a third party. As predicted, Apple is dropping all leather in Apple accessories. Leather watch bands will be replaced with ‘Fine Woven,’ made of 68% post-consumer content. 

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How about the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Well, it also has the new S9 SiP. In addition, it gets the 2nd gen Ultra Wide Band chip. Brightness is up to 3000 nits, so readable in bright sunlight. A night mode activates automatically. 

The Ultra still gets 36 hours on a charge. 

Apple is crowing about 95% recycled titanium. 

The Apple watches…the SE is still available, and is $249. The Series 9 starts at $399. The new Ultra starts at $799. You can order today, they will be available September 22nd.

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The iPhone 15s get the Dynamic Island from the Pros—as expected. Dynamic Island can display a couple different items now. 

Peak brightness is up to 2000 nits in bright lights, twice as much as iPhone 14. 

Sizes stay the same…6.1” and 6.7”, and they have contoured edges to feel smoother. Color is infused right into the glass on the back. Colors are now pink, yellow, green, blue ,and black. 

Apple is using 75% for recycled aluminum in enclosure. 100% recycled cobalt in battery, and 100% recycled copper foil in main logic board and MagSafe charger.

48MP  comes to the iPhone 15 main cam. As some Androids, it can merge some of the pixels into one, giving a 24 MP photo with good resolution. They also use the middle pixels to give 2X telephoto…also like some Androids.

Machine learning allows the phone to take a shot in portrait mode automatically if there is a person in it.

The iPhone 15s get the A16 chip from last year’s Pro models. 

The battery is bigger than last year’s model…as usual, Apple didn’t specify the actual capacity.  

iPhone can connect with other devices up to 3 times further than last year with new generation Ultra Wideband chip.

Audio quality…new machine learning keys in on voice, and you can select a feature to cut down on background noise.

Emergency SOS via satellite. In addition to emergency, they are adding Roadside Assistance via satellite. This will get you help if your car conks out when’re you are somewhere that doesn’t have cell service. It is available from Triple A as part of member service. 

Satellite is free for 2 years with iPhone 15. 

As expected, USB-C comes to iPhone 15 (since the EU has required it.)

The phones will work with Qi or MagSafe for plug less charging. 

iPhone 15 starts at $799, and 15 Plus from $899…no price increase from the 14s.

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iPhone 15 Pro

As expected, the Pro gets grade 5 titanium with a PVD coating. Black, white, blue, and natural finishes for the titanium.

Titanium is stronger and more durable, but lighter in weight. The phones get contoured edges and the thinnest bezels ever. 

Sizes stay the same….6.1” for the Pro and 6.7” for the Pro Max as last year. The screens will be a bit bigger due to the smaller bezels. 

The mute switch becomes a customizable Action button, as predicted. It is mute by default, but you can chose using it to start recording or launch the camera. 

New Standby mode…if you turn the phone on its side while charging, Standby stays on…it can be your digital clock on your nightstand. You can also customize the screen for other information. 

The 15s get the A17 Pro chip, which is a 3 nanometer chip…the first in the industry. 

The Pros also get the USB-C connector, but it will transfer data much faster. 

Apple claims that with their software, and combining cameras, you get the equivalent to 7 cameras.

The Pros get a more advanced 48MP main cam. Larger sensor. Reduces lens flare with new coatings, and better night mode. You can shoot in 24, 28, or 35mm focal lengths. Apple claims double low light performance in Portrait mode.

The Pro Max gets 5x optical zoom at 120mm focal length. 25% larger sensor, and f2.8 aperture…most of any phone this size. It features a ‘tetra-prism’ design and better stability. For macro zoom, it will do a 10x optical zoom. 

With 15 Pro you can capture spacial videos, combining two cams to do it. This will be useful mainly for the Vision Pro headset when it comes out early next year. 

As for pricing, the Pro remains $999. The Pro Max gets bumped $100 to $1199, but you get an increased 256 gigs storage standard. Preorders Friday Sept 15th, available September 22.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.