John Voorhees

5409 posts on MacStories since November 2015

John is MacStories' Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico. John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.
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AppStories - Ep. 350 - 1 hour 0 minutes

Apple’s 2023 Watch and iPhone Event

FedericoJohn
AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

AppStories Episode 350 - Apple’s 2023 Watch and iPhone Event

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59:59

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AppStories+ Deeper into the world of apps

This week, Federico and John are joined by Alex live in the Club MacStories+ Discord community for a special episode covering their initial impressions of Apple’s Wonderlust media event, which introduced new iPhones, Apple Watches, and more.

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Apple’s September 2023 Event: All The Small Things

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Apple covered a lot of ground today, and since the event concluded, more details have emerged about everything announced. We’ve been combing Apple’s product pages, social media, and other sources to learn more about the new iPhones, Apple Watches, and services, which we’ve collected below:

iPhones

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

AirPods Pro

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The new AirPods Pro (2nd generation) include a USB-C port for charging and can be charged by connecting the earbuds directly to an iPhone with a USB-C port
  • The AirPods Pro case is now IP54-rated for added dust protection.
  • The AirPods Pro update supports Lossless Audio at low latency for use with the Apple Vision Pro.
  • An eagle-eyed person on Mastodon spotted an iPod HiFi in the keynote.
  • The AirPods Pro and Apple Watch can be charged by plugging their charger into an iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, or 15 Pro Max phone.

You can follow all of our September 2023 Apple event coverage through our September 2023 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated September 2023 Apple event RSS feed.

Apple’s September 2023 Event: By the Numbers

Today’s Wonderlust event was packed with facts, figures, and statistics throughout the presentation and elsewhere. We’ve pulled together the highlights from the event that was at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California.

The New iPhones

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are 19 grams lighter than their predecessors
  • The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus can reach a peak HDR brightness of 1600 nits, which can reach 2000 nits in bright sunlight, which is 2x the iPhone 14’s brightness
  • The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities
  • The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have 3 ‘optical-quality’ zoom levels: 0.5x, 1x, and 2x
  • We hoped for Thunderbolt 4, but we got USB 3 as the new connector on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but it’s still 20x faster than before at 10Gbps
  • iPhones now support Wi-Fi 6E
Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The A17 Pro SoC that powers the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is built using a 3-nanometer process with 19 billion transistors
  • The A17’s Neural Engine can handle 35 trillion operations per second, has 16 cores, and is up to 2x faster than before
  • The A17 Pro’s GPU is capable of 4x faster ray tracing and is up to 20% faster
  • The iPhone 15 Pro features an improved 48MP sensor that takes 24MP images by default with 24 mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm focal lengths
  • The iPhone 15 Pro Max features a 5x Telephoto lens thanks to the lens’ tetraprism design
  • The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can shoot ProRes video in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second
  • The image stabilization of the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s camera is capable of 10,000 microadjustments per second
  • The iPhone 15 Pro is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities.

The New Apple Watches

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The Apple Watch Series 9 can go from 1 nit to 2000 nits of brightness
  • The S9 chip that powers the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra 2 has a 2x faster Neural Engine with 4 cores and a 30% faster GPU
  • The Neural Engine allows for dictation that’s up to 25 percent more accurate
  • The Apple Watch Series 9 is 100% carbon neutral
Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The Apple Watch Ultra has a 3000 nits brightness, which is 50% greater than the original Ultra
  • The Series 9 gets 18 hours of normal battery life and 36 in low-power mode
  • The Ultra 2 gets 36 hours of normal battery life and 72 hours in low-power mode

Services

  • New 6TB and 12TB iCloud+ storage options were introduced by Apple

You can follow all of our September 2023 Apple event coverage through our September 2023 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated September 2023 Apple event RSS feed.

Apple’s iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Models: The MacStories Overview

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Today, Apple introduced four new iPhone models: the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The new iPhones pack a wide array of new features to cover, so let’s dig in.

iPhone 15 and 15 Plus

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

As in the past, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in a greater array of colors than the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, with pink, yellow, green, blue, and black options this year. The design on the new iPhone 15 and 15 Plus is similar to last year’s models but with a new contoured edge and a glass back that embeds the iPhones’ color throughout the glass that’s etched for a matte finish.

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Apple’s September 2023 Wonderlust Event: Replay Today’s Keynote and Product Videos

If you didn’t follow the livestream or announcements as they unfolded today, you can replay it on Apple’s Events site or YouTube and catch the product videos on Apple’s YouTube channel.

The keynote video can be streamed here and on the Apple TV using the TV app. A high-quality version will also be available through Apple Podcasts as a video and audio podcast. An American Sign Language version of the event keynote is available on the Apple Events page too.

Product videos from today’s event are available after the break.

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Intel Announces Thunderbolt 5→

Source: Intel.

Source: Intel.

Today, Intel announced the next iteration of its Thunderbolt connectivity standard. According to a company press release:

Thunderbolt 5 will deliver 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bi-directional bandwidth, and with Bandwidth Boost it will provide up to 120 Gbps for the best display experience. These improvements will provide up to three times more bandwidth than the best existing connectivity solution, providing outstanding display and data connections. Thunderbolt 5 will meet the high bandwidth needs of content creators and gamers. Built on industry standards – including USB4 V2 – Thunderbolt 5 will be broadly compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB.

Thunderbolt 5 can also deliver 240W of power, a big jump from Thunderbolt 4’s 100W power delivery. Intel says computers and accessories that use Thunderbolt 5 are expected to ship in 2024.

It’s a safe bet that Thunderbolt 5 will find its way into Macs at some point, although perhaps not in the first M3 models. The new connector would allow Macs to drive more and higher-resolution displays and mean faster file transfers, but what I really want to see is a return of Mac eGPU support. Apple’s integrated graphics are great for many tasks, but it’s hard to imagine the Mac ever competing with Windows-based gaming without a boost from an eGPU, and Thunderbolt 5 looks like it would be perfect for that.

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