Everything Announced at Apple’s ‘Glowtime’ Event: iPhone 16 Models, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and More
Apple’s “Glowtime” event on Monday introduced four new iPhone 16 models, the Apple Watch Series 10, the AirPods 4 earbuds and a surprisingly restrained list of new AI features. The company also shed light on the new iOS 18, which is coming soon to all iPhones that can currently run iOS 17.
Of the new features coming to Apple phones, watches, and earbuds, sleep apnea detection for recent Apple Watches and noise cancellation features on the higher-end AirPods 4 seemed to resonate most with Apple users, but there were plenty more features announced on Monday. Read on for all the big news from yesterday’s event.
Want to pre-order the latest Apple devices? We’ve rounded up the best launch deals for the iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 for you.
Check this out: See everything announced at Apple’s iPhone 16 event
While battery life is the big deal for the Watch and iPhone, we haven’t heard much about it. The iPhone does get some flashy new colors, including hot pink, hot blue, and bright pastel green (ultramarine). And a big hit seems to be the Apple Watch’s sleep apnea tracking and notifications.
The major new software features driven by Apple’s new Apple Intelligence won’t be available all at once, or even at the hardware’s launch.
For more minute-by-minute details from Apple’s September 2024 event, check out our archive of CNET’s iPhone 16 event live blog.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus come in bright new colors
The iPhone 16 models are the first iPhones to be “rebuilt from the ground up,” according to Apple Intelligence, which got a lengthy summary. (Despite people’s relatively low interest in AI features.) The battery was only said to be bigger and have optimizations.
Check this out: Apple’s iPhone 16 gets camera control button
New colors: Ultramarine, Teal, and Rose. It’s water and dust resistant, and generally more durable. The screen brightness goes up to 2000 nits and as low as 1 nit. They now have the customizable action button and a dedicated camera control button for touch control. The camera control lets you do a Google Lens-like click for info about what the camera is looking at, branded Visual Intelligence — coming later this year.
There’s now a 48-megapixel main camera, which can produce a 24-megapixel photo after pixel binning, and a 2x telephoto via sensor crop. A new 12-megapixel, 13mm ultra-wide camera has autofocus and better light sensitivity, plus macro support. A new side-by-side camera design now lets you shoot spatial photos and video.
Inside, it gets the A18 chip, with the 16-core neural engine, two P-cores and four E-cores in the CPU, and a five-core GPU, plus more memory bandwidth; it uses second-generation 3-nanometer technology to fit it all in. Apple says it uses less power overall. AI features are rolling out in beta next month. For gaming, there’s a new thermal design and support for ray tracing — plus a new mobile game, Honor of Kings World, coming next year.
They start at $799 (£799, AU$1,399) and $899 (£899, AU$1,599) and are now available for pre-order.
More from the Apple event
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max expand pro video
At 6.3 inches for the Pro and 6.9 inches for the Pro Max, the new flagship iPhones are more durable than the aluminum iPhone 16 (they’re made of titanium) with a new texture. There are also new colors: darker black, brighter silver, rose gold pink and silver. It dissipates heat better, has a larger battery and better power optimization.
Building on the features found on the lower-end models, these are powered by a new A18 Pro chip that enables features unique to these iPhones. On top of the tech in the A18, it has larger caches and the new Advanced Display Engine for faster encoding/decoding and more. Camera controls for these add a dual-stage shutter for things like exposure lock.
Check this out: Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max get 4K 120 FPS video
They have a new 48MP camera with a faster sensor readout. They also include a 5x, 12MP telephoto lens with on-pixel focus. For video, there’s now 4K 120fps slow-mo, more professional color correction controls and HDR editing, selectable speed preview, a camera control button, grid framing, and more.
New quad microphones have improved recording quality and also provide spatial audio capture. Audio Mix separates vocals from all other voices and allows you to layer them individually.
Apple’s own MagSafe cases support Qi 2 and of course the camera control button. Wireless charging is faster.
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,799), and the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 (£1,199, AU$2,149). Pre-orders start on Friday.
Apple Watch Series 10 and Watch Ultra 2: Only one gets a new design
The Watch has been completely redesigned, with a larger display and a thinner profile (7mm). It’s taller than the Ultra and can accommodate an extra line of text. A wider aspect ratio and rounded corners, plus a wider-angle OLED display; it’s brighter when viewed from other angles and more power efficient, but still updates once per second for a seconds hand. Flux is the new watch face, designed for the larger screen. New colors include jet black, rose gold, and silver.
The speaker system is smaller, more water resistant and charges faster (80% battery charge in 30 minutes).
Titanium has been added to the collection and is the new CO2-neutral version replacing stainless steel. The watch is lighter, available in natural, gold and slate grey, with a matching strap and dial.
Check this out: Apple introduces Apple Watch Series 10
Inside is a new S10 chip with a four-core neural chiplet to accelerate all of its AI-powered features, like sound enhancement and fall detection, real-time translation, and health features. The latter includes sleep apnea tracking; a new sensor that monitors sleep disorders and provides notifications. U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance is pending — “very soon.” Notifications are also coming to the Series 9 and Ultra 2. There are also new updates related to snorkeling, and new bands from Nike and Hermes.
Check this out: New black Apple Watch Ultra 2 unveiled
Pricing starts at $399 (£399, AU$649) or $499 with mobile data. Pre-orders start today, with the phone shipping from September 20.
The Ultra primarily gets the updates that come with WatchOS, but it also comes in a new color: Satin Black with matching corrosion-resistant titanium bands. The Watch is more durable and scratch-resistant. Pre-orders start today and it ships September 20.
Apple AirPods 4, Max and Pro 2: Better sound and more
The design has been refined, and includes a new acoustic architecture and spatial audio support. They also introduce the H2 chip. This supports head gestures. The new charging case has a USB-C port. Upgraded mics, computational audio and more also bring active noise cancellation, plus there’s wireless charging for the case.
Check this out: Apple announces AirPods 4 and new AirPods Max
Prices start at $129 (£129, AU$219) for the base model and $179 (£179, AU$299) for the noise-cancelling models.
AirPods Max come in new colors and gain USB-C support, but retain the same $549 (£549, AU$899) price tag.
The AirPods Pro 2 get new earbuds and hearing protection, testing and assistance functions. The last is a “professional” hearing aid function. The hearing aid and hearing test will come later this year. Pre-orders start today.
