A Few Thoughts Following Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” Event

Today Apple announced its latest crop of Apple Watches, AirPods, and iPhones. Here are a few thoughts.

The Video Events

  • Apple has perfected these video presentations. There are so many nice small touches throughout the videos and I like the way they are featuring bits of the Bay Area beyond Apple Park.
  • Another thing about these video presentations is how information dense they are. So much information comes at you so fast. No more silly demos.
  • That said, I still miss the anything-can-happen tension of the live events. These million-dollar executives should have to sweat once in a while. Although I expect actual live events from Apple are a thing of the past.

Apple Watch Series 10

  • The thing about Apple Watch saving lives is real. I know two people that experienced that. I’ve heard more from my audience. That’s got to feel pretty great if you work on the Apple Watch.
  • The new design doesn’t look like the revolution we’d been hearing about. Thinner and bigger but, generally, the same.
  • I’m relieved they didn’t change the band system.
  • 80% battery in 30 minutes. Nice.
  • The Sleep Apnea feature looks to be a nice improvement. The white whale, however, remains blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring.
  • I love that they brought titanium back to the standard Watch. It’s such a great case material. Strong and light.
  • I’m not a fan of polished titanium. Well, I’m generally not a fan of any polished metal. They show so many more scratches than other finishes. I’m guessing they wanted the titanium watches to look different from their aluminum variants.

Apple Watch Ultra 2 (again)

  • There were last-minute rumors that there would not be an Apple Watch Ultra 3 but instead a black variant of the Ultra 2 and that’s what we got.
  • I know a lot of folks are going to love this, but I prefer the natural titanium. Looks like I’ll be holding on to my Apple Watch Ultra another year. It’s still doing great.
  • It seems odd to me that the Ultra didn’t get a proper update this year. Now it’s behind the standard (and less expensive) Apple Watch Series 10. I don’t think they are backing away from the Ultra (I see them on people’s wrists everywhere) but maybe something went wrong in development?

AirPods 4

  • This feels like a substantial update to the standard AirPods. A lot of the features from the AirPods Pro trickled down this year and that’s great. Increasingly the AirPods are tiny computers in our ears.
  • There are a lot of people that don’t like the fit of the AirPods Pro. This will bring them a lot of the Pro features and at a lower price.
  • This is the first time there have been two flavors of standard AirPods in the same release. The Active Noise Cancellation version will run another $50.

AirPods Max

  • New colors and a USB-C port for charging. That’s about it.

AirPods Pro

  • AirPods Pro 2 as Hearing Aids: This is one of those great angles that only Apple seems interested in. Create a consumer technology and then use it to solve a health problem. Granted, they are awfully big for hearing aids, but a lot of people can benefit from this feature.
  • Note that they also are now doing hearing testing, which will also be a big deal.

iPhone 16

  • The new iPhone looks great. I prefer the stacked lens layout.
  • Apple continues to push the envelope on unbreakable glass. I’d love to see some scientific tests against the different glass iterations Apple’s used over the years.
  • I haven’t heard any blowback from members or listeners about the bigger size. I still wish they made a small one every year.

The New Camera Control Button

  • I hd hoped that this button would be programmable, but it sure seems dedicated to the camera based on the presentation.
  • There are a lot of camera controls once you master the new button. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it.
  • The combination with the Apple Intelligence looks interesting. I didn’t expect that.

iPhone 16 Pro

  • I was in the MacSparky Labs Discord during this event and there was a lot of talk about how the big difference every year is just the camera. But the fact is that cameras improvements sell phones.
  • That said, I am looking forward to an improved Ultra Wide lens.
  • “The Largest iPhone Display Ever” plus the ever shrinking bezels will be fun to test. It seems like Apple is leaning into something with the way it’s increasing screen sizes across the board.
  • I think all that talk about improved microphones is as much aimed at Apple Intelligence as anything else. The better the voice input, the better AI result.
  • There are some big claims about the increased battery life (33 hours on the Pro Max!). I’m looking forward to testing that.

The Apple Intelligence Sales Job

They spent a lot of time talking about Apple Intelligence. That’s probably necessary given the market pressures. But these promises for an undelivered product also raise the stakes. Ultimately, there has to be more than hype behind Apple Intelligence, and soon.