This week’s episode of the In the News podcast is all about Apple’s announcements from this past week. First, we talk about the four new iPhones, including the impressive new features in the iPhone 14 Pro models. Next, we talk about the new Apple Watch models, including who the new Apple Watch Ultra is designed for and who it will appeal to—which is not necessarily the same thing. Finally, we discuss the new second generation version of the AirPods Pro.
In our In the Know segment, we talk about the release of iOS 16, coming this Monday.
Today, Apple starts taking pre-orders for the new iPhone 14 models and the new AirPods Pro. Given the supply constraints around the world that have affected every industry, but especially the electronics industry, get your order in early if you don’t want to have to wait a long time for delivery. Or, you can skip the pre-order and just plan to show up at your local Apple Store on the morning of September 16 (or September 23 for the new AirPods Pro) because Apple traditionally sets aside a small number of units for Apple Store shoppers. I pre-ordered an iPhone 14 Pro, 256GB, Space Black, a leather case, and the new AirPods Pro. And now, the news of note from the past week:
While you are thinking about spending money on new Apple products, how about throwing in a few bucks to help kids with cancer? Simply go to the page, click the big green DONATE button, and donate any amount. Thanks in advance!
Jason Cross of Macworld discusses the new iPhone 14 models. He notes in the article that many had expected Apple to raise prices this year because of inflation and supply constraints, and while Apple did do that in some countries, it did not do so here in the United States.
The satellites that work with the iPhone 14 models are operated by Globalstar, a company from Covington, LA, which means it is just across the lake from where I live. In an article for the New Orleans newspaper, the Times-Picayune, Timothy Boone says that Globalstar has been working with Apple for years to prepare. The article says that “Apple will pay 95% of the costs Globalstar incurs launching new satellites to build out the network,” and Apple “will spend $450 million to build out satellite infrastructure to support the feature,” with most of that money going to Globalstar. “Because of the Apple deal, Globalstar has dropped the development of its second-generation duplex service, which provides two-way communications,” so that the company can instead concentrate on Apple.
The new iPhone 14 Pro models support the Dynamic Island, which looks like a great new feature. Felipe Espósito of 9to5Mac explains how it works.
Three new Apple Watch models were announced this week: the Apple Watch Ultra, the Apple Watch Series 8, and the second generation Apple Watch SE. Michael Potuck of 9to5Mac compares the new models.
California attorney David Sparks wonders if the Apple Watch Ultra might be the start of other new versions of the Apple Watch. Now he has me wondering what features I’d want to see in an “Apple Watch J.D.”
Can you use the new bands designed for the Apple Watch Ultra with other versions of the Apple Watch, and vice versa? Zac Hall of 9to5Mac explains the band compatibility issues.
Dan Moren of Six Colors labels certain features as winners, losers, and in-between based upon the Apple announcements this week.
Jason Snell of Six Colors discusses some of the bold moves by Apple that were revealed this week.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball notes that the iPhone is extremely popular in the United States, Japan, and in many English-speaking countries like Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, but Android phones are more popular than iPhones in countries like Germany and France.
The Steve Jobs Archive is a new website created by friends and family of Steve Jobs that is devoted to the core ideals that motivated Steve Jobs throughout his life.
Kara Swisher interviewed Tim Cook, Jony Ive, and Laurene Powell to discuss Steve Jobs. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac provides some highlights of what they said.
Mitchell Clark of The Verge notes that Apple’s Lightning port is now 10 years old. I remember being impressed when Apple introduced it with the iPhone 5; it was so much smaller than the 30-pin connector, and the plug worked no matter which way you inserted it.
Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that Apple Pay now handles over $6 trillion in transactions each year, which is more than MasterCard.
And finally, if you didn’t already watch the Apple video introduction on Wednesday, I encourage you to watch this three minute video from the beginning of the show. In it, real people explain how an Apple Watch enhanced or saved their life as they describe—and recreate—what happened. Some of these stories are amazing.
Yesterday, Apple introduced the 2022 versions of the iPhone, and there is a lot to love about these new models. There are four new iPhones in two sizes. If you want the regular size with a 6.1-inch screen, you can get either the iPhone 14 or the iPhone 14 Pro. If you want the larger size with a 6.7-inch screen, you can get the iPhone 14 Plus or the iPhone 14 Pro Max. This is the fourth year that Apple has introduced a “Pro” model of the iPhone, and while I’ve always enjoyed the extra features, in the past, they may not have been worth the extra expense for many folks. This is the first year that the Pro version has substantially more features, and I suspect that this will result in more folks getting the Pro model even if they didn’t do so in prior years. Let’s jump right in and talk about the features that lawyers and other professionals are going to love about these new devices.
Safety thanks to satellites
There are two different ways in which the new iPhones can help to keep you safe, and the first safety feature is provided by satellites.
If you find yourself in times of trouble, it has always been comforting to know that you can use Wi-Fi or cellular to send a message to friends or families—or, in a real emergency, to 911. But what if you are “off the grid” and cannot get even a cellular signal? I’ve certainly had situations in the past when I was driving to a remote location to interview a witness or take a deposition and there is suddenly no cell phone coverage, and I find myself wondering what would happen if I had car trouble with no way to call for help.
All four of Apple’s new iPhones can communicate with satellites to send an emergency message, should you need it. It works best when you have a clear line of sight to the sky; those emergency messages take about 15 seconds to send. If you are under trees, Apple says that it could take over a minute to send a message (and bigger obstructions might block the satellites completely).
The way that Apple is implementing this feature is interesting. When you use Emergency SOS via Satellite, your iPhone will ask you a series of questions to figure out what is wrong. It can then communicate, in the most efficient way possible, from your iPhone to a satellite to a ground station (that communicates with the satellite) to a relay center. People at the relay center then contact the appropriate emergency services.
If you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, this feature can be a real lifesaver. But you can also take advantage of this feature even if you are not in an emergency. The iPhone already has the ability to share your location with family members or friends that you designate. So long as you are on the cellular grid, this feature works great. But if you are off the grid, the new iPhone will use the satellite feature to communicate your location to Find My. That way, your designated friends and family members will still know where you are located.
Apple hasn’t said how frequently your location is updated via satellite, and I have to imagine that it doesn’t happen very often. In the example photo (above) provided by Apple, the person’s location was as of 4 minutes ago, which is great. Hopefully, the locations are updated frequently enough for this feature to be useful, but I’m sure that Apple took that into account.
The ability to communicate with satellites is a service that costs money. Apple says that the service will be free for the first two years that you use one of these phones. After that, you will have to pay a fee that Apple has yet to disclose. (Currently, satellite communication services from companies like Garmin cost over $100 a year depending upon the features, but who knows what Apple will charge.)
Safety in a car accident
Another safety feature with all four new models of iPhone is that they can use the improved accelerometer and gyroscope to detect when you are in a severe car crash. If the iPhone detects this, it will automatically call emergency services (giving you about 10 seconds to stop this, in case of a false alarm) so that your iPhone can call for help even if you are unconscious or unable to reach your iPhone.
Dynamic Island for improved notifications
If you lead a busy life and are a heavy iPhone user, then your iPhone always has a lot going on. You are dealing with lots of incoming messages, and you have different apps running that sometimes need your attention. One of my favorite features of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max (not available on the other two models) is called Dynamic Island. Apple has taken what used to be a notch at the top of the screen (where a front-facing camera and sensors are located) and turned it into something the size of a pill. But the size of the pill changes dynamically to display different messages.
The best way to understand this feature is to see it in action. Here is a very short, under-one-minute, video from Apple that shows how the Dynamic Island feature works. (You can keep the sound turned off if you want; it is just background music.)
Having useful information displayed at the top of an iPhone seems like a fabulous idea, and I cannot wait to try it out myself. This feature looks amazing. And you have to love that Apple has taken something that used to be considered a hindrance—the notch—and found a way to turn it into a feature for which people will want to pay extra.
Impressive camera improvements
Every year, Apple does something to improve the iPhone camera. There are a few new features that come to the cameras on all four new iPhones. First, Apple is using technology that Apple calls the “Photonic Engine” to improve the quality of low-light images. Second, a new Action Mode will use sensors to improve the stabilization of video when you are recording video as you move around. These are both nice improvements.
For the major improvements, you need to use a Pro model. Instead of the 12-megapixel camera that has been standard in the iPhone for a long time, the Pro models use a 48-megapixel camera. Normally, the iPhone will treat this like a 12-megapixel camera, and the 4x pixels will be used to capture maximize the amount of light that is captured, resulting in sharper pictures. Apple will also use the increase in pixels to offer a true 2x optical zoom using the main camera (which is in addition to the 3x optical zoom using the telephoto camera that is on the Pro model). But if you want to take a 48-megapixel picture (which will be huge!), you can do that as well when you use the ProRAW model on the iPhone. Apple has also improved the lenses, so all of them should produce better pictures even with less light. And there are other improvements too, such as the ability to use Cinematic mode (introduced last year) for 4K video, not just 1080p video.
Thus, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will have very nice cameras that should take great pictures. But the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will have truly incredible cameras, and I cannot wait to see the resulting picture quality. Considering that low-light is always such a problem for taking pictures with a cellphone camera, it is great to see that Apple is doing so much to make pictures look much better even when you are not outside with lots of sunlight.
A display that is always-on, and more
Another feature that only comes to the two Pro models is an always-on display. I’ve mentioned in the past that the lock screen in iOS 16 will be vastly improved with the ability to display lots of useful information in widgets. With the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, you can see those widgets even when your iPhone is just sitting on your desk. This works similar to the always-on display on the newest models of the Apple Watch; after a short period of time, the image dims and the refresh rate goes down substantially—which means, for example, that a timer will stop displaying seconds, although it will still countdown minutes. I’ll have to try this out to see how useful it really is, but I imagine that, in some circumstances, it will mean that you can get the information that you need with a quick glance instead of taking the time to pick up and use the iPhone.
The peak brightness is also improved on the Pro models, going up to 2000 nits when you are outside, twice as bright as the iPhone 13 Pro. This should make it much easier to see the iPhone screen when you are outside on a sunny day. If you are inside, the iPhone 14 Pro can go up to 1600 nits for displaying HDR photos, an improvement from the 1200 nits of the iPhone 13 Pro.
A16 Bionic: a faster processor
Yet another improvement that only comes to the two Pro models is Apple’s newest, fastest processor: the A16 Bionic. (The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus use the same A15 Bionic chip that was used in all four of last year’s iPhone 13 models.) I’m sure that one of the things that this new processor does is enable some of the features noted above that are unique to the iPhone 14. But in addition, the new processor should make the iPhone even faster and more responsive, which is always nice. Apple says that the biggest improvements that come from the A16 Bionic are in power efficiency, the display, and camera features.
Goodbye, SIM
One interesting change for all four new models is that the devices no longer have a SIM Card slot. Instead, they use an eSIM. I’m sure that not having a SIM Card slot is useful for several reasons: cost, one less point of entry for water, a little extra space for battery, etc. But if you are someone who likes being apple to swap a physical SIM card in and out of your iPhone, you can no longer do that. However, the new iPhone does support up to two eSIMs at a time.
Colors
The iPhone 14 comes in Blue, Purple, Midnight, Starlight, and (PRODUCT) Red. The iPhone 14 Pro comes in Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black.
Storage and Price
The iPhone 14 starts at $799 for 128GB, which is the same price as the iPhone 13. For an extra $100, you can double the memory to 256GB. Or you can pay $1099 for the 512GB model. If you want the larger iPhone 14 Plus model, each of those price points is $100 more expensive.
The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999, so you are paying an additional $200 over the iPhone 14 for all of the extra features noted above: Dynamic Island, better cameras, always-on display, and the faster processor. From there, the pricing tier is what you would expect. For an extra $100, you can double the memory to 256GB. Or you can pay $1299 for the 512GB model. Or you can pay $1499 for the 1TB model. If you want the larger iPhone 14 Pro Max model, each of those price points is $100 more expensive.
International – an update
After I initially published this post, “John” noted in a comment that there are, for now at least, some differences between the new iPhone in the U.S. and in other countries. First, the satellite feature is only available in the U.S. and Canada. That is true for now, but I’m sure that Apple will change that soon. As I understand it, the issue is not the satellite itself but instead what happens here on Earth. Apple has a call center to handle the emergency requests it receives from a satellite. If the appropriate emergency services department can receive messages via text, then Apple forwards the emergency text message to that service. But if not, then Apple has a person call the appropriate emergency services department to explain what is going on. Apple needs time to get a similar service available in other countries. I strongly suspect we will see other countries added soon.
Second, the removal of the SIM Tray is, for now, only on the U.S. phone. There have frequently been differences between the U.S. iPhone and international iPhones on issues like SIM cards, cellular band compatibility, etc.
Pre-pre-order
If you know that you want to get a new iPhone, the new models go on sale for pre-orders starting Friday, September 9, at 8am Eastern. But a nice change is that you don’t need to wait until then to start your order. If you use the Apple Store app on your iPhone, you can choose a model (and any accessories) and make most of your decisions now. That way, once pre-orders begin on Friday morning, you should be just a few button clicks away from completing your order.
Conclusion
I’m very excited about the Pro models of the iPhone this year. The improved cameras along would have made this a nice improvement. The Dynamic Island features looks amazing, and the always-on display and faster processor could be quite useful. For folks who are often on the fence between the Pro and the regular models, it is going to be very tempting this year to spend the extra $200. But even if those Pro features don’t appeal to you, the safety improvements that come to all new iPhones could be useful to anyone. Plus, the idea that an iPhone can communicate with a satellite in sky is pretty darn impressive. The 2022 models of the iPhone are very impressive. I look forward to using an iPhone 14 Pro soon.
Today at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern, Apple will announce the 2022 versions of the iPhone. A limited number of members of the press were invited to come to the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, for the announcement, presumably so that they will have the ability to get some hands-on time with the new products after the announcement. Nevertheless, there is a good chance that much of the event itself will simply be a video stream, much like Apple has been doing for the past two years. In addition to a new iPhone, the rumors are that we will see a new Apple Watch and perhaps new AirPods. But you never know what surprises Apple may have.
I suspect that almost everyone reading this has experienced first-hand the horror that cancer brings to a family. I watched my mother die of cancer a few years ago, and it was devastating. And before that, both of my grandfathers died from cancer. But if there is anything worse than watching a loved one with cancer, I have to imagine that it must be a watching a loved one who is a child with cancer. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been researching cures and means of prevention for pediatric cancer since before I was born. St. Jude has more cancer clinical trials than any other children’s hospital. And when children are treated at St. Jude’s, there is no cost to the family, which is amazing because goodness knows that the family has had to endure countless other economic and emotional costs as a result of a child with cancer.
For many years, I’ve donated to St. Jude during September as a part of a fundraising campaign run by the Relay FM podcast network, home of many of my favorite podcasts such as Automators, Clockwise, Connected, Downstream, Liftoff, Mac Power Users, Rocket, and Upgrade. Many of those podcasts address technology topics, and the information that I learn from those podcasts frequently becomes a part of what I do here on iPhone J.D.
This year, Relay FM has asked folks in the Relay FM community to help with the fundraising effort, so I have created a fundraising page. Simply go to the page, click the big green DONATE button, and donate any amount. It just takes a few seconds and could not be easier. You will be helping families who are directly affected by childhood cancer now, and you will be helping to find a cure for cancer in the future.
Cancer is horrible. But by contributing to this fundraising campaign, you can do something about it. I just made a donation, and I hope that you will do so too.
In this week’s episode of the In the News podcast, Brett and I start by discussing features that might be coming to the iPhone a few years down the road. Then we talk about using an iPad display right next to a Mac display. We discuss how one person’s life was saved by an Apple Watch and others use an Apple Watch to communicate with young children. We also pay tribute to Microsoft’s “Clippy” and discuss a new trivia game from Tom Hanks.
In our In the Know segment, Brett shares a tip for checking the battery level on your AirPods or AirPods Pro. I discuss lots of different Apple Watch bands and explain why you need to be careful with the Solo Loop, even though it is a fantastic band.
I am very excited for next week. No, it is not because of the holiday on Monday (in the United States); it is Wednesday that I am looking forward to. On Wednesday, September 7, Apple will announce the 2022 line of iPhones, and perhaps also a new Apple Watch and other new products, software, and services. If the rumors are true, we will see an iPhone 14, a larger version of the iPhone 14 (iPhone 14 Plus? iPhone 14 Max?), an iPhone 14 Pro, and an iPhone 14 Pro Max. There are conflicting reports about what the new features will be, but I feel safe predicting that the Pro models will have the best iPhone cameras yet. I’m counting down the hours until the announcement. And now, the news of note from the past week:
Attorney John Voorhees of MacStories reviews Captionista, a simple app for adding subtitles to videos on the iPhone or iPad.
In an article for Macworld, Jason Snell discusses what might be coming in a future iPhone … not necessarily the one being announced in a few days, but in the coming years.
David Snow of Cult of Mac discusses using an iPad Pro and the Sidecar feature to make a 5K display even bigger. Even if you don’t read the post, click to see the cover photo with the clever use of desktop wallpaper.
Back in 2016, Apple invested $1 billion into a company called Didi, which was basically the Uber or Lyft of China. Apple even got a seat on the board of directors as a result of the investment. Now, six years later, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reports that Apple has given up its board seat after the Chinese government is now cracking down on the service and has forced the app to be pulled from mobile stores. It’s a rare bad investment for Apple.
Michael Chen of KGTV in San Diego reports on a man who had a horrible accident on a mountain bike that rendered him a quadriplegic. But he still lived, thanks to his Apple Watch. Although he couldn’t move his body after the crash, he was able to say “Hey Siri, call Peter,” and his friend described his location to 911 so that he could be rescued.
Kalley Huang and Brian X. Chen of the New York Times report on parents buying Apple Watches for children as young as 8 or even 5 years old.
Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that USB 4 2.0 is coming and will support speeds up to 80 Gbps. That’s very fast. I don’t expect to see USB-C on the new iPhone that Apple will announce next week, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple replace the Lightning port with a high-speed USB 4 2.0 port next year.
Long before Siri was our virtual assistant, we had Microsoft’s Clippy. Benjamin Cassidy of Seattle Metropolitan uncovers the history of the paperclip that people loved to hate. One fact that I did not know: Clippy was designed by Kevan Atteberry using a Mac.
If you subscribe to Apple Arcade, starting today you can play a new game from trivia buff and movie star Tom Hanks. It is called Hanx 101 Trivia, and according to Todd Spangler of Variety, it “features an initial set of some 58,000 questions across a range of categories such as history, science, geography, food, art, business and technology.”
And finally, while I don’t plan to create my own Alter Ego version of myself, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the creative process in this Today at Apple video. Artist Temi Coker and Apple Creative Pro Anthony meet up at the beautiful Apple Store in Chicago to use the Procreate app on an iPad with an Apple Pencil to add color and style to portrait photos. This video also reminds me that a cool feature of the Procreate app is the ability to create a video, sped up, of the process of creating a photo, which can be pretty neat:
