Apple sure kept us waiting to unveil the newest additions to its product lineup. But based on the September 7th Far Out event, the technological advancements seem well worth the extra anticipation. From innovative health sensors in the Apple Watch Series 8 to an entirely new Plus iPhone model, there’s a lot for loyal Apple fans to get excited about.
Let’s dive into all the important announcements and see how these shiny new gadgets measure up.
Overview: Focus on Safety Provides Peace of Mind
While the external designs stay familiar, most upgrades focus squarely on health, durability and safety.
The Apple Watch Series 8 stands out with two potential life-saving features: car crash detection to automatically call for help after an accident, and female cycle tracking to better predict ovulation dates.
Meanwhile, the rugged new Apple Watch Ultra offers adventure seekers and extreme athletes a more damage-resistant design to hold up in tough environments. Enhancements like better GPS and a built-in siren aim to provide backup support when you‘re far off the beaten path.
And across the new iPhone 14 models, Apple continues expanding their emergency SOS capabilities by adding satellite connectivity for sending messages in remote areas.
While performance improvements like faster chips and camera upgrades remain appealing, products increasingly doubling down on safety provide extra peace of mind.
Apple Watch Series 8 Adds Crash Sensors and Women‘s Health Tracking
On the surface, the Apple Watch Series 8 looks nearly identical to last year‘s Series 7 model. But inside, Apple has packed in sensors and software to make it a lot smarter about your health.
Crash Detection Calls for Help When You Can‘t
Leveraging a new three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, the Series 8 watch now detects when you‘ve been involved in a severe car crash. If the watch registers impacts and high forces indicative of an accident, it will check for movement.
- If you‘re immobile for about 10 seconds afterwards, it will trigger Emergency SOS—calling emergency contacts and services on your behalf. This hands-free experience removes the need to manually trigger an SOS call when injured or unconscious.
To develop this algorithm, Apple conducted extensive crash data collection and testing equivalent to over a million miles of driving. So you can feel confident in its assessment capabilities to only activate when truly needed.
Women‘s Cycle Tracking Provides Deeper Insights
The other marquee health feature gives women deeper insight into their menstrual cycles and related symptoms.
- A new temperature sensor detects subtle skin temperature changes to identify ovulation with higher accuracy than calendar estimates alone. Women can better understand their personal fertile windows for family planning purposes.
- In addition, they can observe deviation outside baseline temperatures that may indicate fever or illness.
- When syncing cycle data to Apple‘s Health app, users can also track aspects like period regularity, cramps, headaches and more. Over time, they may find correlations between different parts of their cycle and physical symptoms reported.
Arming women with more personalized reproductive health statistics remains an underserved area of wearables. Apple taking strides to expand cycle tracking capabilities brings welcome improvements for female users.
| Tech Specs | Apple Watch Series 8 | Apple Watch SE 2 | Apple Watch Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display size | 41mm or 45mm | 40mm or 44mm | 49mm |
| Case material | Aluminum | Aluminum | Titanium |
| Water resistance | 50 meters | 50 meters | 100 meters |
| Battery life | 18 hours | N/A | 36 hours |
| Price | From $399 | From $249 | $799 |
Apple Watch Ultra Targets Adventurers with Ruggedness
At the opposite end of the spectrum from the Series 8 sits the all-new Apple Watch Ultra – designed specifically for extreme sports and adventures well off the grid.
The 49mm titanium casing gets a major durability upgrade, now boasting:
- 4x better impact resistance from falls and bumps
- 2x brighter screen reaching up to 2000 nits for improved visibility in full sun
- Waterproofing doubled from 50 to 100 meters – enough for recreational scuba diving
Apple clearly intends it to stand up to salt water, sand, snow and other rough conditions.
It also provides key tooling for explorers and athletes. The redesigned compass and maps app supports adding waypoints and tracking back logging. Dual-frequency GPS improves tracking around obstacles. Enhanced metrics like heart rate zones cater towards high intensity training.
Even the casing includes a built-in 86-decibel siren in case you need to signal for emergency help when stranded.
Add up to 36 hours of battery life (60 hours in low power mode) and the Ultra watch seems equipped for handling multi-day excursions completely off-grid. It caters well for the niche of outdoor enthusiasts pushing farther past cell signals and power sources.
AirPods Pro 2 Take on Noise Cancelling Crown
The AirPods Pro also get their first revamp since launching in 2019. While keeping the same overall design, internally Apple made room for some major audio upgrades.
The inclusion of the new Apple-designed H2 processing chip enables:
- 2x better active noise cancellation capabilities using extra microphones to block external sounds
- Improved transparency mode to selectively allow ambient sound like safety announcements to filter through
- Enhanced speech detection to automatically adjust volume of music and calls based on your environment
That additional noise-blocking prowess also aims to upgrade call quality in windy situations – no more having to repeat "can you hear me now?"
The other major innovation lands in audio fidelity. Apple developed an entirely custom low-distortion audio driver and tuned a smart amplifier specifically for the AirPods Pro 2.
- Reviewers praise the sound profile improvements delivering much clearer details across low, mid and high frequencies – fixing one of the only drawbacks of the original Pros.
- Many testers rank the new Pros as rivaling Sony and Samsung‘s latest earbuds for overall sound quality, a definite win.
While $249 remains pricey for buds, the meaningful bumps to noise cancellation and audio precision make the AirPods Pro 2 appeal worthwhile if you can afford the premium quality.
iPhone 14 Lineup Adds Larger Plus Model
Beyond aesthetic changes, the latest set of iPhones usher in faster performance, satellite messaging capabilities and most surprisingly – the end of the "Mini" line in favor of an all-new large Plus edition.
| Model | Storage | Colors |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone 14 | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Blue, purple, midnight, starlight, red |
| iPhone 14 Plus | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Blue, purple, midnight, starlight, red |
| iPhone 14 Pro | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Space black, silver, gold, deep purple |
| iPhone 14 Pro Max | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Space black, silver, gold, deep purple |
Let‘s break down the key characteristics across the models:
iPhone 14 and 14 Plus
- Retain last year‘s A15 chip (with 5-core GPU) providing a performance boost over iPhone 13 versions
- Feature improved 12MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras plus Photonic Engine for better low light shots
- Add support for sending SOS messages via satellite to access emergency services in remote areas off-grid
- Plus model has same 6.7 inch screen size as iPhone 14 Pro Max but $200 cheaper
iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max
- House brand new A16 bionic chip made on cutting edge 4nm process for increased speed and efficiency
- Upgraded rear camera system led by 48MP main sensor enabling sharper images and 4K video
- Trade notch for pill-shaped cutout and always-on display that previews widgets and notifications without unlocking
- Enjoy smooth 120Hz high refresh rate screens great for gaming and video
- Pro Max delivers best-in-class battery life reaching 29 hours of video playback per charge
The Pro series brings more transformational changes like the Dynamic Island cutout and always-on display. But the iPhone 14 Plus emerging as a jumbo-sized cheaper alternative without small tradeoffs could disrupt sales splits.
Positive Reception Expected by Analysts
According to JP Morgan analysts, preorder data shows strong initial demand for both the iPhone 14 Pro models and Apple Watch Ultra. Consumers seem drawn towards the higher-end models most differentiated from previous releases.
They forecast the Ultra watch will make up 10% of Apple Watch sales in its first year – impressive for such a niche product. And expectations for 20% of iPhone 14 buyers opting for more expensive Pro models align with current preorder splits.
JP Morgan projects overall year-over-year growth in iPhone volumes around 2% based on these early trends. Despite inflation and other economic concerns, Apple continues resonating with its fanbase enough to support moderate expansion.
As reviews roll in fully testing real-world performance, analysts expect largely positive receptions especially for the Pro smartphones and rugged Ultra watch. Their innovative designs and upgraded camera systems in particular will likely garner attention.
While familiar aesthetics haven‘t changed much across the board, meaningful quality-of-life improvements make Apple‘s fall 2022 product portfolio compelling for devoted customers ready to upgrade. Stay tuned for hands-on assessments and further analysis!
