I’ve already discussed the new iPhone and new Apple Watch models announced by Apple this week. The third announcement from Apple this week was the new AirPods Pro 3. They improve everything that matters about AirPods. As noted by Raymond Wong of Gizmodo and Joe Rossignol of MacRumors, there are numerous changes. First, they are. made to fit your ear better, using foam-infused tips, five different silicone tip sizes, and a more compact size that fits better in your ears. Second, the active noise cancellation is twice as good. Third, the sound is better. Wong said they “sounded very clear with clean and deep bass, and crisp vocals.” Fourth, they can now last eight hours on a single charge (up from six hours). Fifth, there is improved sweat and water resistance with an ingress protection (IP) rating of IP57 (versus IP54 for AirPods Pro 2). Sixth, the new Ultra Wideband U2 chip makes it easier to find lost AirPods using the Find My app. Seventh, when you are working out, if you are not wearing an Apple Watch, you can use the AirPods Pro 3 to monitor your heart rate. And on top of all of that, these new AirPods Pro 3, as well as the current AirPods Pro 2, have a Live Translation feature, so if someone else is speaking in a different language, your AirPods will repeat what they are saying in your ear in English (or whatever your native tongue). These are incredible improvements to a device that many people—like me!—use every day. You can pre-order them now for $249, and they go on sale a week from today. And now, the other news of note from the past week:
- On his Spyglass website, M.G. Siegler compiled a good list of hidden features from Apple’s presentation this week.
- Stephen Hackett of 512 Pixels provides some interesting thoughts on all three new iPhone models announced this week.
- Should you get an iPhone Air or an iPhone 17 Pro? Jason Snell of Six Colors offers some thoughts on how to make that decision. (I went for the iPhone 17 Pro Max with 1TB of storage, the Deep Blue color.)
- Considering how thin the iPhone Air is, is there a danger that it might bend and break, such as when in a back pocket? Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar notes that he tried to bend it, and while it did bow a little, it bounced right back into shape, which is exactly what Apple designed it to do.
- As noted by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, all of the new iPhones announced this week include a feature called Memory Integrity Enforcement, which protects the memory in an iPhone from attack by someone trying to break into an iPhone.
- Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica discusses the new N1 chip in the iPhone Air. That is the chip that provides Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread support, and it replaces a chip that Apple would typically purchase from Broadcom for the iPhone. The N1 chip is not used in the iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro models, but I suspect that future versions of the N1 chip will eventually spread to all iPhone models.
- Photographer Tyler Stalman released a great video that explains and shows what is better about the cameras on all of the new iPhone models.
- When Apple released the iPhone 14 in 2022, Apple said that there would be no extra charge to connect to satellites for the first two years. Dan Moren of Six Colors notes that Apple has once again extended that free period for the iPhone 14 and 15 models. In other words, Apple is not yet charging anyone, using any iPhone model, for accessing satellites.
- Why get an iPhone 17 Pro Max instead of an iPhone 17 Pro? Juli Clover of MacRumors notes four differences: (1) the larger display (6.9-inch instead of 6.3-inch), (2) more battery (e.g., 39 hours of video playback instead of 33 hours), and (3) the option to get 2TB of storage, although that brings the cost of the iPhone up to $1999.
- Which new iPhone will Apple CEO Tim Cook use? Sam Schube of the Wall Street Journal reports that Cook said: “It will depend on how I feel.” He will pick up the iPhone Air whenever “I want to float through the air.”
- Apple announced a new iPhone accessory this week: a Crossbody Strap. Ben Lovejoy of 9to5Mac explains why this strap will be quite useful for many people.
- Apple announced another new iPhone accessory this week: the $39 Dynamic Power Adapter. As explained by Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac, it is a 40W adapter, but it can go up to 60W to provide a faster charge for the iPhone Air or any of the iPhone 17 models.
- Although AirPods Pro 3 can last even longer on a single charge than AirPods Pro 2, Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac notes that the overall battery life is less (24 hours instead of 30 hours) because there seems to be a smaller battery in the battery case.
- Mayo also notes on Threads that a new change coming next week is that when you start a workout on your Apple Watch, your iPhone screen shows a Live Activity that can mirror what you are seeing on your Apple Watch (calories, distance, etc.). I guess this means that if you are on a treadmill, you could share that iPhone screen to a large TV that is in your line of sight to see your statistics while you are running without having to look down at your wrist? Interesting.
- iOS 26, iPad OS 26, and Apple’s other operating system updates will be released on Monday, September 15. Juli Clover of MacRumors explains what to look for in watchOS 26.
- Aaron Ritchie of PC Guide notes that with visionOS 26, your Apple Vision Pro can adjust the Prism value, which may mean that certain people with a vision impairment can use the device without wearing contacts. Note that this does not mean that you no longer need prescription lenses. Prism value (which corrects for eye misalignment) is only one factor of a glasses prescription. Other values include Sphere (which corrects for nearsightedness / farsightedness), Cylinder (which corrects for astigmatism), Axis (also used to correct for astigmatism), Addition (a magnification for reading glasses or bifocals), and Pupillary Distance (how far apart your eyes are). Having said that, it would be neat if, at some point in the future, a Vision device could correct for all of these values so that they could have the right prescription for all users without needing extra lenses. Maybe one day.
- While the tech world is focused on Apple, the entertainment world is focused on the Emmys this Sunday. Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski of Reuters talked to a number of creative professionals to discuss what they like about working with Apple to create shows.
- Callie Holtermann of the New York Times explains why many students are taking iPods—yes, I said iPods—to school to listen to music.
- And finally, here is a video released by Apple this week (and shown during the Keynote on Tuesday) about how the Apple Watch has saved lives: