Apple just announced a new slate of iPhones including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, the all-new iPhone Air and updates to the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro at an “Awe Dropping” unveiling event on Sept. 9. With the new Apple items available for pre-order this week and heading to stores on September 19th, here’s more details on everything the tech giant announced.
iPhone Air
Harkening back to Steve Jobs’ introduction of the MacBook Air, the all-new iPhone Air looks to be impossibly thin while also boasting the power of previous iPhone Pros, an impressive feat given the insanely diminutive form factor. It’s also really, ridiculously good looking with a mirrored finish that might make pro users more than a little jealous. While the super thin body is stuffed full of battery, Apple seems to have jammed all the actual brains into the top plateau which houses chipset, camera sensors and antennas.
On a glance, durability looks like it might be an issue but Apple’s use of front and rear ceramic shields will ostensibly counteract the flimsiness that should come with such a thin design. The base model iPhone Air features 256GB of internal storage and all-day battery life but specialized accessories can boost that even further. Preorders are open on September 12th and the iPhone Air starts at $999.
iPhone 17 Pro
Just two years after convincing us of the utility and efficiency of titanium, Apple has reverted their most powerful iPhone offering back to an aluminum unibody design, presumably in service of thermal requirements for their cornerstone phone to deliver maximum power while balancing battery life. It also explains the inclusion of a new thermal vapor chamber that helps dissipate heat through the body of the phone.
Front and rear cameras are again receiving the biggest boosts with this year’s iPhone Pro line getting a camera array where all sensors are now 48 megapixel and the optical zoom of the telephoto lens increases to 8x. Overall, a 56% increase in sensor size makes the iPhone 17 Pro the most versatile imaging system ever available in an iPhone, able to take on truly professional projects whether being used in a movie studio or in a content creators home. The iPhone 17 Pro comes in three finishes with the Deep Blue and Cosmic Orange being immediately recognizable as new additions. The base model packs in 256GB of internal storage and the 17 Pro Max can be configured up to 2TB. The iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1099 and pre-orders will open on September 12th.
iPhone 17
No iPhone announcement is complete without the regular iPhone getting a spec bump to put it on more level footing with last year’s Pro offerings and this year is no different. The colorful iPhone 17 line, the one that will likely fit most people’s needs, gets boosts to display with ProMotion, a new Center Stage front facing camera that will detect selfies and format to portrait or landscape automatically and boasts moderate improvements throughout. Also starting with 256GB like its siblings, the iPhone 17 starts at $799 and pre-orders will begin on September 12th.
AirPods Pro 3
Apple’s AirPods Pro in-ear headphones are simply incredible. The tiny buds seemingly fit better and deliver comfort than any competitor out there, while also boasting premium sound. While Apple’s claims about the new Pro 3 Airpods remain to be seen with hands-on testing, the smaller size and new foam tips (now with five options instead of the previous three) will help deliver better audio and a snugger fit. That means active noise cancelling, which was already great, will be even more powerful. A new heart-rate sensor and higher waterproofing standard make the AirPods Pro 3 even better for working out. The final feature, and possibly the most exciting, is that the AirPods Pro 3 can now be used for live translation, listening to people speaking in other languages and giving the English translation live into your ear. That feature does leverage Apple Intelligence which has largely fallen flat of Apple’s promises on that front but the proof will be in the pudding when the AirPods Pro 3 arrive on the scene next week. Pre-orders are open now and the new buds will retain the price of their predecessors at $249.
Apple Watch
All three of the Apple Watch lines, the Series 11, the SE3 and the extra-rugged Ultra 3 got refreshes today too. Increases in battery life, more capabilities in the health department including hypertension and sleep score tracking, new finishes and new colored bands are the highlights here. Anyone looking to make the Apple Watch a part of their daily routine will find these new watches to be the best ever but not wholly unfamiliar from what came before. The Series 11 starts at $399, the SE3 starts at $249 and the Ultra 3 starts at $799.