Sep 13, 2018
Do you remember the 21st night of September? Well, you will because that’s when new iPhones will be available! Apple Watch aims to help us when we’ve fallen down and can’t get up. Full show notes are at InTouchwithiOS.com
Recap of Apple Event Announcements from September 12th
Apple eats a bit
of “humble pie” in the opening film to their “Gather Round” event
which is a spoof on Mission Impossible. They know they haven’t been
able to keep their product announcements so secret anymore, so they
made it look as though there was going to be some really extra
special super secret product in a briefcase and it turned out to
be...well, you can watch it here: September Keynote 2018 —
Opening Film and view
all of the announcements here.
This keynote was especially polished. The opening graphic as Tim
Cook walked out on stage was that of a rose gold circle to
represent the architectural design of their new digs. Throughout
the event, you see that circle design prominently featured on
product close-ups like the back of the new Apple Watch and on the
single camera of the iPhone XR. They’re really emphasizing soft and
curvy edges.
Apple Watch Series 4 was
announced first with even more health features including the
built-in ability to take an ECG (electrocardiogram) and Fall
Detection. The digital crown now has haptic feedback when turned
and the surface of it is a sensor where you place your finger to
take an ECG. The speakers have been improved and the microphone was
moved to the other side to make using Siri more effective. There
are two hardware configurations available in two sizes. The
entry-level aluminum 40mm GPS model starts at $399. For an
additional $100 you can get the GPS + Cellular model and leave your
iPhone at home. Add on $30 more for an additional 4 mm of watch to
get the 44mm if you like to live large. Upgrading the bands or case
material to stainless steel adds to the price and overall fashion
statement you can make with an Apple Watch. It should be noted that
you will be able to use all of your existing bands with the new
hardware. Here is a link to Apple’s
shopping page where you
can experiment with combinations to find the right Apple Watch for
you or someone special. You can also still get Apple Watch Series 3
which is now down to $279 for the base aluminum GPS model. Adding
cellular costs $100 more plus whatever your carrier charges you per
month for that ability.
Earth Wind and Fire Watch Faces
In addition to Earth, we’ll now have “Wind” (in
the form of “vapor” and “breathe”) and Fire watch faces from which
to choose.
Here
are four new watch faces coming to existing Apple Watches with
watchOS 5 — 9 to 5
Mac
watchOS 5 is coming to an Apple Watch near you on
September 17th and it’s available on all models except the “Series
0.” Here is Apple’s complete watchOS
Feature Availability listing.
Good Things Come in Threes Including New
iPhones
There are
now three new iPhone offerings in addition to all the previous
models still available. There’s now more choice than ever before
with a price point and form factor for just about anyone. Despite
all the hardware offerings available, by making iOS 12 available
on 28 models of iPhone and
iPad going back the span of FIVE years, we still can’t really call Apple’s device
lineup “fragmented” because of how they are managed and updated so
elegantly.
Each base price begins at the 64GB size which
has become the sweet spot of hard drive sizes for the budget-minded
and storage-conservative users. Even the beloved iPhone SE is still
available in 32GB for $349 at authorized resellers for comparison
on the low-end and even more budget-friendly.
iPhone XS 5.8 inch display $999 and iPhone XS Max 6.5 inch display $1099 — both are available in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold finishes.
iPhone XR
6.1 inch display
$749 is the
“budget” model of this year’s lineup. It’s a vast improvement on
the iPhone 5c from the last time they designed a “fun” phone.
(Preordering begins October 19th at 12:01 PDT) It is available in
White, (PRODUCT)RED, Coral, Yellow, Blue, and Black finishes.
We Spent Some Time
With Apple’s Colorful iPhone XR. Here’s What You Should
Know — Time
Melissa’s Budgeting
Breakdown
When
iPhone 8 Plus came out, it was $799 which is $50 more than what
iPhone XR costs now. If you’re in need of an upgrade and are on the
fence between the now $699 iPhone 8 Plus yet really want the iPhone
X experience, consider that for $50 more, iPhone XR has a faster
chip and Face ID. It’s also a smaller, more pocketable form factor
with a slightly larger display so there’s no sacrifice there. While
it only has a single camera system, it’s still capable of snapping
pictures that feature Portrait mode
and Depth
Control. You’d be
sacrificing telephoto and wide-angle capabilities of iPhone XS, so
if you’re a traveler or birdwatcher, you may not want to lose out
on those features. There is no 3D Touch, but many would argue it’s
an underused and underappreciated feature that may end up being
replaced with Haptic touch in the future anyhow. There’s also no
need to be concerned about picking out a black or white front with
that edge to edge screen.
If you’re trying to
decide between iPhone XR and iPhone XS, an extra $250 ($999 iPhone
XS compared to $749 iPhone XR) will get
you:
- Best camera to date: wide angle and telephoto vs single camera
- Best display to date: 6.5 inch Super Retina HD (OLED) vs 6.1 inch Liquid Retina HD (LED)
- One additional meter of water resistance depth (2m vs 1m)
- Even longer battery life
- 3D Touch vs Haptic touch
It’s
like buying a really good phone but then paying an extra $250 for
the luxury and convenience of not also needing to carry a bulkier
DSLR camera. You’re actually buying a camera that makes phone calls
and enables you to have a mobile office. You have to ask yourself
what you want and need in a pocket supercomputer capable of
performing actual work tasks vs a camera that makes phone calls vs
a phone that takes decent pictures.
$569 iPhone 7 Plus 32GB is still available through Apple unlocked. $349.99 iPhone SE is the lowest priced iPhone at the smallest size of 32 GB. Apple is no longer selling it unlocked from their site so you’ll need to purchase from an authorized reseller now like your cell carrier and know that this model is no longer being manufactured.
I
love this
reference sketch of different iPhone sizes posted on Twitter by Kate
Matthews 
The Green Report
Lisa Jackson’s report on all Apple is doing for
the environment and introduces Daisy the Recycling Robot. Apple
makes products that last.
Why it’s a big deal that Lisa Jackson spoke at Apple’s iPhone XS event — Cult of Mac
Apple’s new recycling robot Daisy will rip
apart iPhones — Cult of
Mac
HomePod update: Stereo pairing is now available.
AirPlay 2 now makes it possible for you to: search for your
favorite songs by lyrics, create multiple timers (a long-awaited
feature), and make and receive phone calls right from your HomePod.
You can now use HomePod to ping your devices to help locate them
using Find My iPhone just like you can from your Apple Watch. Siri
shortcuts will provide flexibility to more apps coming to the
HomePod in the future.
AppleCare+ now adds loss and theft
prevention
Apple Debuts New AppleCare+ Theft and Loss Plan
Priced at $299 for iPhone XS and XS Max — MacRumors
Other Device Updates
tvOS update on
September 17th will provide a Dolby Atmos update to the 4K model
and macOS Mohave will be available September 24th.
Apps &
Gear
Compare all three iPhone
X models —
Apple
See ALL
models –
Apple
Meta:
034 Apple Watch and iPhones in
September was recorded
September 13, 2018. Any pricing listed is in US dollars and what
was available at the time of this post. “Please Listen Carefully” by Jahzzar
is licensed under CC BY-SA
4.0. In Touch with iOS
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