In a whirlwind of announcements at its Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino, Apple unveiled three new iPhones, an iPad, Apple Watch and more.
All in all, it was a wild and fast-paced afternoon. If you missed all the buzz, or if you just need to catch up on everything that happened, we’ve rounded up the essential Apple news in one convenient spot.
So kick back, relax and read on to see everything new in Cupertino.
New iPhones
First and foremost, Apple unveiled three new iPhones with speedy new processors, improved camera systems and more.
To start, the company showed off its colourful new iPhone 11, a significant upgrade over last year’s iPhone XR. The 11 features a more muted pastel colour palette and a machine-glass back with a larger and more refined camera bump.
Aside from the nice looks, the new iPhone 11 also packs Apple’s latest silicon, the new A13 Bionic for improved performance, better machine learning and significantly better battery life.
You can learn more about the iPhone 11 here.
The iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max also sport a refreshed design with a machine-glass back panel, but the Pro series features a matte texture. The edge of the phone is wrapped with surgical-grade stainless steel.
It also sports the A13 Bionic for better performance and battery life.
Finally, the iPhone 11 and the two Pros all have a new, ultra-wide camera (the Pro models still have the telephoto camera as well). The new camera allows users to take exceptional ultra-wide shots that capture incredible detail, great for landscapes or taking photos in tight spaces where you can’t back up.
Apple also talked up its new ✨Deep Fusion✨ technology, which combines input from all the cameras and takes multiple photos before, during, and after you press the shutter button. It stitches the images together and analyzes some 2.4 million pixels with the A13’s Neural Engine to improve lighting and detail.
You can learn more about the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max here, or check out the Canadian pricing and availability for all three new iPhones.
New iPad
Apple just revamped its entry-level iPad and made it a little bit bigger. It now has a 10.2-inch screen size compared to the classic 9.7-inch design we’ve had for years.
Beyond changing the screen, the company also added its smart connector to the bottom of the device if you hold it in landscape, so it now works with Apple’s Smart keyboard.
Other than that, the device is remarkably similar to the iPad it replaces, right down to support for the first-gen Apple Pencil.
Either way, this still seems like a great entry point into the iPad ecosystem and with iPadOS slated to come out on September 30th, it could even replace some tasks you’d do on a computer.
Find out more by reading our announcement post.
New Apple Watch
The new Apple Watch Series 5 builds on the great design of last year’s Series 4 and adds new display technology to keep the screen from shutting off with affecting the devices 18-hour battery life.
This time around Apple has done a lot of work to make the always-on display technology work as seamlessly as possible. This includes a new ambient display sensor and a display technology called low-temperature polycrystalline oxide. The company even reworked its watch faces to make sure they use less battery.
If you’re interested in the Apple Watch Series 5, check out our earlier coverage for more details.
Services
Apple is adding two new subscription services to its growing portfolio of digital platforms and they might be the two most exciting additions since Apple Music.
Apple TV+ is launching on November 1st in Canada and costs $5.99 per month. It has a one-week free trial as well. It’s going to launch with a handful of shows with three episodes each, and more episodes will come out every week after that.
If you buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod Touch, you get a free year of the video streaming service.
Apple Arcade, on the other hand, is launching on September 19th and offers users a 30-day trial. After that, it costs $5.99 per month as well.
It offers users over 100 high-quality games that can be played on Apple TV, Mac, iPhone or iPad — all for the monthly subscription cost.
Fast Charger. In the box.
By far the most significant announcement from the event was that the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max would include a fast charger in the box.
Yup, that’s right. It’s official: the iPhone Pros come with a USB-C to Lightning cable and an 18W power adapter. In the box.
This is huge for a couple of reasons. First, you can finally connect your iPhone to your Mac again, without having to shell out $25 for a cable. Considering Apple introduced USB-C as the one and only way to connect to its MacBooks back in 2015, it’s surprising Apple didn’t move to USB-C earlier.
But really, who actually connects their phone to their computer these days? The more critical factor is that this enables fast charging out of the box for the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max.
iPhones have had access to fast charging technology since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X came out in 2017. Fast charging allowed the phones to receive significantly more power and, therefore, charge more quickly. However, Apple continued to include its 5W USB charging brick and USB to Lightning cable in the box, which didn’t have enough output to charge iPhones quickly.
In other words, unless you went out of your way to pick up your own fast-charging kit (like Apple’s ludicrously expensive $25 cable and $39 brick), you were stuck with a sub-par charging experience.
Thankfully, iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max customers won’t have to make that choice anymore. If you go for the iPhone 11, you still get the 5W charger in the box — lame.
All in all, it was a pretty exciting day in Cupertino. New announcements, awesome new products and some important steps forward.
Keep your eyes on MobileSyrup for all the latest news, hands-on and reviews of Apple’s latest and greatest.
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
