The summer has been long, hot – and also dry of any new Apple gear. But that is all about to change…
A drought in many ways
Apple Event season is nearly back…and it can’t come soon enough!
Within this past week in the UK, it has officially been declared a period of drought. Of course, the Met Office were merely referring to the climatic conditions. Honestly, though, that has only been a part of the drought that I, and many fellow tech creators, have suffered over the past few months.
It has been the normal pattern this summer. In June, we had WWDC, which gave us our first glimpse at the latest incarnation of Apple Silicon – the M2 chipset which has now been used in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the stunning, all-new MacBook Air.
Of course, we all jumped on that M2 bandwagon, and wrote, or made videos about those devices as much as possible. But then…then the tumbleweed came blowing through tech corner!
If you’ve wondered why you’ve been seeing so many, Cheap Accessory, Back To School, and 2 Months with…types of video recently, well, now you know. We have had to dig deep, and be creative through these summer months.
But, we know that things are about to change, and from September onward, there should be a bevy of Apple Events and products for us to buy, dissect, and review. The first of those is but weeks away. From everything I have learned, we should have the first of this autumns Apple Events on Tuesday 6th September.
So, as we are the start of a new week, why not wander with me over to Cupertino, and take a gander at what we think we’ll get at the first of two, or maybe even three autumn 2022 Apple Events.
The star of the show
According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, recording of the event started in earnest last week at Apple Park. From that, I guess, we can assume it will be an all virtual event once again. I am actually a fan of these, as the live events had a tendency to drag on and feel a wee bit bloated. The pre-rec’d events, though, are sharper, shorter, and punchier. I know my friends at MacRumors find them mighty stressful, due to the pace and sheer content, but they are, a great watch even-so.
The star of this event, will of course, be iPhone 14. I was speaking with, renders genius, Ian Zelbo over the weekend, he agrees, that we pretty much know everything there is to know about this year’s new iPhone. You can listen to our conversation, in-full, this coming weekend on my Minus Sixteen podcast. It’ll be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and as a video podcast on YouTube as well.
If the event goes out as planned on 6th September, without any unforeseen delays, then the phones will start to ship ten days later – on Friday 16th September.
The iPhone 14 this year will consist of just four models, and only two sizes, which will be 6.1-inches & 6.7-inches. The lineup this year is;
- the basic 6.1-inch iPhone 14 – $799
- the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max – $899
- a 6.1-inch 14 Pro – $999
- and the biggun’ – the 6.7-inch 14 Pro Max – $1099
The most popular of these, is expected to be the larger non-Pro 14 Max. It will be the first time that the largest screen iPhone will be on sale for under $1000. Demand will be high, but it will be lacking several features of the Pro iPhones.
This year, more than at any other time, a big chunky line, has been drawn between the Pro and non-Pro iPhones. Only the two Pro models will receive the new A16 Bionic chip. Also, purely the domain of the Pros, will be the new pill and hole layout on the front of the phone. They will be the first iPhones to ship without the infamous notch. The new layout will mean more screen real-estate and thinner bezels. The other standout, Pro-only feature, will be the 48megapixel camera. The giant camera will necessitate a much larger camera-bump on the back. You’ve been warned!
Overall, though, the changes & upgrades are pretty minor from the current iPhone 13. I have thought hard about whether to get one…but, the jury is still out. Next year, though, iPhone will finally get USB-C charging, so I may hold-out until then.
Anything else?
Yup – there are two other products we can probably look forward to in September.
Apple Watch 8 will be released. Again, much like iPhone, the basic range, will look very similar to the existing offering. Only two new features seem to be catching the headlines for Apple Watch 8. Firstly, the long-awaited temperature sensor will make its debut.
Skewed heavily towards woman, and fertility planning, the health feature will not give precise readings of body-temperature. Rather, it will inform you of an elevated trend in your temperature, and encourage you to take a reading with a thermometer. Given the post-COVID times in which we live, and all sorts of new virus that are seemingly floating about, this new feature is an exciting development for wearables.
The battery, unbelievably, has remained unchanged in Apple Watch since 2015! Rather than change the battery itself, Apple, has elected to re-work the low-power mode to give you an improved battery-life experience.
The new Apple Watch on the block, at $1000, will be the Apple Watch Pro. It’ll feature a 7%-8% larger screen, improved battery-life and be made of tougher external materials. Aimed at (wealthy) extreme athletes, I’d have thought uptake on this watch to be slower than others in the range. It’s a niche product, but a product-gap Apple had been keen to fill.
The final product release we’ll see at the September Apple Event, will be a revised, entry-level, iPad. The refreshed iPad will feature the A14 Bionic chip, 5G connectivity, and, finally, a USB-C port. The display is anticipated to increase from its current 10.2-inches to 10.5-inches. The body of the iPad, may also receive the ‘squared-off’ look of iPad mini. Prices will start at $329.
More to come
That little lot is expected to drop in only three weeks time, but other Apple Events and product releases are thought to be coming in October, and possibly, even November. Some of the highlights I am excited for are the new HomePod, AirPod Pro II and AirPod Max II. Mac Pro will be unveiled at some point this year as well. Although out of my league, I am still looking forward to seeing what they do with it…particularly after my chat with Ian over the weekend – nod, nod!
Wrapping up
Pretty soon, it will not be a case of what to write about, rather what to cover first! The silly season is almost here, and I am so ready for it in every way.
What about you, though? What are you most looking forward to from the Apple Events, between now, and the end of the year?
Getting involved
Guess what – if you look forward to my articles & blogs landing each day, you can help that happen! By clicking via this link, you can join Medium, and get my blogs every day, the moment I publish them. And, you can even get email notifications about them too. Go on – one little click of the Magic Mouse, will make a big difference to both you and me! 😋
Fancy receiving my weekly video newsletter?
It’s free, and simple to join. Just leave me your details here, and every Sunday lunchtime, I will drop in to your inbox, catching up on the last week.
Finally, I keep all my Mac as new with CleanMyMac – my go-to tool for making sure my Mac stays match-fit (affiliate link)