The "Technology Spring Festival Gala" of 2024 has arrived as scheduled.
At 1am Beijing time on September 10th, Apple's autumn press conference was held at Apple Park. At this press conference called "Highlight Moment", in addition to the three regular protagonists of the iPhone 16 series, the new generation Apple Watch, and the new AirPods, the application of Apple Intelligence on devices also attracted industry attention.
AI powered iPhone 16 series' camera button 'or biggest design highlight
As the biggest focus of Apple's press conference, iPhone 16 is undoubtedly the protagonist that global Apple fans are most concerned about. This year, Apple still launches four iPhone 16 series models, continuing to create differentiation in size and functionality to meet the needs of different users.
Although the appearance of the new iPhone is quite similar to previous generations, the screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max has increased from 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches respectively, and the bezels will be reduced by about one-third.
In terms of hardware, these four upcoming phones are all equipped with the brand new A18 chip. However, the A18 chip on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus has been upgraded from 6GB to 8GB of memory. The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are equipped with the more powerful A18 Pro chip.
Shell Finance reporters have noticed that the standard 8GB RAM across the entire series is the first of its kind among Apple products, which helps support the use of Apple's artificial intelligence feature Intelligence and other functions on iPhone 16 series phones.
In addition to the improvement of chips, Apple has also upgraded its imaging technology this time. The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, in addition to upgrading their ultra wide angle cameras from 12 million pixels to 48 million pixels to ensure better shooting effects in low light environments, have also added a capacitive button that works similarly to a DSLR shutter button for taking photos and recording videos. This design has been praised by Gurman as "the biggest selling point of the new iPhone besides artificial intelligence".
The back camera of iPhone 16 and 16 Plus has been changed from a diagonal arrangement to a vertical arrangement. Some analysts believe that the purpose is to make the two phones consistent with the Pro series, in order to shoot spatial videos for the Apple Vision Pro.
According to the press conference, the iPhone 16 series phones will be released on September 20th, with the Chinese version starting at 5999 yuan, the Plus version starting at 6999 yuan, the Pro version starting at 7999 yuan, and the Pro Max version starting at 9999 yuan.
Apple Watch screen area increases by 30%, Ultra3 absent
As the Apple Watch celebrates its tenth anniversary, its latest series of watches naturally becomes another industry focus after the iPhone.
At the press conference, Apple officially launched the Apple Watch Series 10. Compared with previous generations of products, the S10 has increased its screen area by 30%, reduced the thickness of the case by 10%, and adopted a wide viewing angle OLED screen, with a brightness increase of up to 40%.
In addition to changes in appearance, the Apple Watch Series 10 is also equipped with a brand new S10 Sip chip. The built-in depth gauge and water temperature sensor enable it to be used while swimming or diving, while also adding a tidal detection function that can display data from the past month. Compared to the previous generation, this chip will have significant improvements in performance, especially its enhanced AI computing capabilities.
But earlier, Gulman issued a warning that the AI features of Apple Watch are more related to functions such as health coaches.
In the field of health, the new generation of watches has added sleep apnea detection to determine whether the wearer has sleep apnea. If abnormal conditions are detected, the watch will promptly remind the user and advise them to consult medical professionals for further testing.
In terms of price, the starting price for the Apple Watch Series 10 is 2999 yuan and it will be launched on September 20th.
In addition, Apple did not release the expected high-end version Ultra3 at the press conference, but only added a black titanium case version of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which starts at $799.
AirPods 4 adds active noise cancellation version AI function, will be launched in October
At this press conference, Apple also launched two new AirPods 4 earphones.
Shell Finance reporters noticed that Apple distinguishes between the two headphones in terms of noise reduction function. Among them, the standard model does not support wireless charging and adopts passive noise reduction. The other model, for the first time, supports active noise reduction function, which can automatically reduce various low-frequency environmental noise according to the environment. And the prices of the two are 999 yuan and 1399 yuan respectively.
At the press conference, Apple also strengthened the hearing protection and hearing aid functions of the AirPods Pro2, which was released two years ago, as well as added clinical grade hearing testing and hearing aid functions. It also supports various listening modes such as personalized spatial audio and adaptive audio.
For the AirPods Max that more music fans are paying attention to, Apple has not released a new version. Just made many improvements to it, including better noise reduction performance, adaptive audio function, and a more colorful appearance. It also uses a more convenient USB-C interface for charging, further enhancing user convenience.
But the Apple Intelligence, which is of great concern to the job market, will be launched in October along with iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1. It will be tested in American English first and will launch a localized English version later this year. Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish versions will be released next year.
New Beijing News Shell Reporter Qin Che