iPhone 15/15 Pro Impressions: Not Just USB-C!

- Okay, so Apple's Wonderlust event happened. It was quite interesting. Honestly, not many things were announced. I mean, we knew it would be iPhone, Apple Watch, USB-C and not many other things. But it was more the stuff between the lines that was interesting and some other random stuff that I don't think a lot of people are talking about. So let's talk about it. Now, first of all, I have to say that it was a complete surprise to me when one of the first things they did was quote my MacBook Air review. So, you know the beginning of the keynotes they usually do, where they recap a bunch of things that happened previously?

One of the things they did was talk about the MacBook Air, and this happened. - And Marques Brownlee said: "The 15-inch MacBook Air will instantly shoot to the top of the line to become the most popular 15-inch laptop." We love the new MacBook Air and the entire Mac line. - And that was great. I have to say, they didn't tell me they were going to do that. They didn't ask. They didn't pay it. They

just

did it. Greetings to Tim. I guess in this case it's totally fine. I guess there's an element of pride in knowing you've come a long way from the beginning.

I remember like 6, 7, 8 years ago when there weren't any YouTubers at any of these events, and then there was one and then there were three or four and then there were 12 or 13 and right now we're all

just

a part of it. of the media, independent creators doing our thing. So I feel like it's a cool moment to see it come full circle. But anyway, after that, they just got to the ads, the flagship of which is the new iPhone. So I made a whole separate video about iPhones, my first hands-on and

impressions

of all the little details and my first thoughts on everything.

So I'll link it under the like button if you want to check it out if you're interested. But here I will only do a brief summary for you. So the iPhone 15 gets the A16 Bionic chip from last year's iPhone Pro. Of course, you also get the Pro's Dynamic Island. Some new colors and a slightly updated design with slightly better curve radii, a slightly nicer feel in the hand and a soft-touch satin back and a slow USB-C port. Same starting price and screen sizes as last year, 799 for the iPhone 15 and 899 for the iPhone 15 Plus. So the iPhone 15 Pro receives a new three-nanometer A17 Pro chip.

There's these new lighter, brushed titanium rails to replace the stainless steel, a faster USB-C port, a customizable action button on the side to replace the mute switch, a new set of cameras, and just the 15 Pro Max gets a new 5x telephoto lens. camera. And the prices are a bit misleading. So it's still 999 for the 15 Pro, but the Pro Max now starts at 1199 because it also starts at 256 gigs. There are a lot more details and interesting things about the iPhone in that hands-on video, so you know where to find them. But then there are the other things about this event.

Also, I thought it would be cool to film here since this is part of where they filmed some scenes at the keynote, but now I'm realizing it's a real place. There are like chainsaws in the background. I'm very sorry for the noise. Anyway, we have Apple Watch stuff, right? So, Series 9 and Ultra 2. And one of the most interesting things about these new watches is that visually, just by looking at them, there's almost no way to really know that you're looking at the new watch. It is very different from Apple. So I think there is a new pink color with the Series 9, but other than that it looks identical to the Series 8 and the Ultra 2 looks identical to the Ultra.

But instead, under the hood, there is a big process upgrade for this new S9 system on a chip, which is more powerful and more efficient, and which allows them to push the watches to a higher maximum brightness while maintaining the same battery life. cited. So the Series 9 will get a maximum brightness of up to 2000 nits now and the Ultra 2 will go up to 3000 nits, which is actually now the brightest display ever on any Apple product. And they also moved all the Siri requests on the watch now to stay on the device instead of always having to make a round trip to the internet, which I think could help, because there are a lot of Siri cases where, Like, ask him, "What time is it in Cupertino?" And he's like, "Wait a second.

Wait for it. I'm thinking about it. I don't know yet," and it's just frustrating and it doesn't work. So that should be faster and more efficient. It doesn't mean Siri is going to be good. It just means it will be bad but faster. But there's also a new ultra-wideband chip that can communicate with iPhones to make Find My iPhone much more accurate and actually point a direction to help you find your phone instead of just playing a sound. I think it will be very useful for many people. But the most interesting and sneaky update to the watch is this new double-tap gesture.

So, okay, you have the new watch on and it's basically always able to detect if you do this double tap with your thumb and index finger together. So I was able to try it out several times at the event with a demonstration in the practical area. In fact, it seemed very accurate. Basically, you lift it to wake it up, give it a split second, and then double-tap to press the main button of whatever app you're in that's on your screen at the time. So you can accept or reject an incoming phone call, stop a stopwatch, or scroll through the smart stack of widgets on the watch face.

And yes, it worked very well for me very quickly. This would clearly be very useful if my other hand is busy or I'm holding something or I just want to do something quickly. Honestly, normally I'd try to do that with my nose. So this is much better. Now, the reason I say this is misleading is because I don't know if you remember, just a few weeks or months ago, this is the same gesture that is used to select things while using Apple Vision Pro. In the VR headset, the selection of things is like that. And now, on the watch, selecting things is like that.

Now, some of you have already pointed out on Twitter that this isn't exactly new. If you've ever looked into the Apple Watch's accessibility settings, you've probably come across a slightly different name for basically the exact same feature and been able to double-tap and do all sorts of other things. Now, why isn't this new double-tap feature for selecting top items coming to other Apple Watches, you might ask? Apple says that basically this new S9 chip is much faster at processing all the information from all those sensors, so you'll be able to do it more easily. And that's why it will only come to the new S9-powered Apple watches.

It is convenient. But let's talk about AirPods real quick because this could be the ultimate stealth upgrade. So the fact is that these were barely mentioned during the keynote, right? They just casually dropped that there would be a new USB-C case for the AirPods Pro 2 in a quick slide and that was basically it. Therefore, you might be led to believe that there is nothing new with AirPods and that they are exactly the same. But you would be wrong. Basically, for all intents and purposes, the AirPods Pro 2 with the Lightning Wireless Charging Case and the AirPods Pro 2 with the USB-C Wireless Charging Case are the same product with a different port unless you have Apple Vision Pro, in which case, the USB-C version will be able to produce lossless audio with low latency with this new codec that Apple has created just for this purpose, this incredible immersive experience.

So if you don't have the Apple Vision Pro, then they are basically the same product with two different ports, but there is actually new hardware and new architecture to make this feature possible with the new USB-C version. I don't think they want to talk about it too much so as not to make the people who bought them last week feel really bad about it, but they are actually different headphones. So that's a sneaky behind-the-scenes update from Apple to one of its most popular products. But that's a nice transition to get to the last seemingly important pillar of this announcement, which was carbon neutrality and the environment.

So Apple couldn't stop talking about the environment throughout this keynote, including a huge, overly self-congratulatory 10-minute parody in the middle of the keynote video with Tim Cook and Apple employees talking. with Mother Nature about how much progress they have made. I have developed the environment with its products. Basically I want to go more into this later. I would say that I am not an expert on this, so there is no way I can fully appreciate and understand now everything that was said. A lot of specific language is used. Some things are very clear, like simply no longer using leather in any Apple products, using recycled materials instead of new virgin materials, things like that, having more sustainable energy sources.

But then there are other things that, I mean, there were a lot. There was a lot going on and some of it is not that simple. But they've clearly made a lot of progress and changes and finally got to this moment where they said, "The Apple Watch is the first fully carbon neutral product that Apple actually markets," on the way to being, ideally, fully carbon neutral as a company by 2030. So there is still a lot of progress they need to make. And as much as we've talked about how much Apple still needs to do, I feel like I can't get mad about this.

You know what it feels like, have you ever seen those YouTube videos where a YouTuber on the street gets a microphone and gives a homeless person a hundred dollars or something and half the comments are like , "Oh come on, you clearly didn't have to do it on camera. If you really cared, then you wouldn't do it on camera." And all of that is probably true, but also, that person in need just received a hundred dollars. So it's like something net positive has still been done. And this seems the same to me. Well, Apple is actually doing a lot of things to use recycled materials and have a lower impact on the environment and then they're making a big song and dance about it for everyone to see, for everyone to see. .

And then you'd say, "Okay, if they really cared, they'd do a lot more things." And that's still true, but I can't get mad at the improvements they're actually making. Hopefully that makes sense. Anyway, like I said, I'm not an expert. I want to go deeper into this. I want to talk to some people who are really experts on the topic and who can help me and maybe that will be a future topic for another video. But those are just my thoughts and reactions from the 2023 Wonderlust event. Let me know what your thoughts are below. There's a lot to talk about and a lot of random, sneaky stuff and the comments section is always open to talk about it.

And the techtember continues. So stay with us. Subscribe if you haven't already. Thanks for watching. See you later. Peace. (upbeat music)