APPLE’S NEXT GAME CHANGER?
Apple has unveiled its new line of watches that can detect heart problems, along with its largest iPhone ever. The Apple Watch Series 4 line has bigger edge-to-edge displays, like its latest phones. It is positioning the new watch as a more comprehensive health device amid stagnant global demand for smartphones.
CUPERTINO, CALIF. Apple Inc. introduced its largest iPhone ever and a new line of watches that can detect heart problems on Wednesday as it looks to get users to upgrade to more expensive devices in the face of stagnant global demand for smartphones.
The relatively small changes to its lineup, after last year’s iPhone X, were widely expected by investors, who sent its shares down 1.5 per cent.
The strategy has been successful, helping Apple’s stock up more than 30 per cent this year and making it the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit a market value of more than US$1 trillion.
Apple’s new phones are the XS, with a 14.7-cm screen, starting at US$999. The XS Max, the largest iPhone to date and one of the biggest on the market, has a 16.5-cm screen, and starts at US$1,099.
The company uses the ‘S’ suffix when it upgrades components but leaves the exterior of a phone largely the same. Last year’s iPhone X — pronounced “ten” — represented a major redesign.
It also introduced a low-
This update really establishes the company’s increasing efforts to push the watch as a serious medical device.
er-cost 15.5 cm iPhone Xr made of aluminum, starting at US$749.
With two phone models starting at US$999 or higher in the United States, Apple appears to be taking advantage of a strong U.S. economy, low unemployment, and rising household wealth.
Apple, which is looking for ways to lessen reliance on phones for revenue, announced the new Apple Watch Series 4 range with edge-to-edge displays, like its latest phones, which are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models. It is positioning the new watch as a more comprehensive health device, able to take an electrocardiogram to detect an irregular heartbeat and start an emergency call if it detects a user falling down.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it worked with Apple to develop apps for the watch and has been working to ease the regulatory path for digital health-care products.
“This update really establishes the company’s increasing efforts to push the watch as a serious medical device. Apple seems to be diving into heart disease first, the most common cause of death around the world, making serious moves as a health company,” said health-care tech analyst Ross Muken.