Apple's iPhone event: 4 things we learned (or didn't)
Apple on Tuesday made its annual updates to its iPhone models and to the Apple Watch. Here's a rundown, and catch our blow-by-blow recap.
What's new with the iPhone and Apple Watch
Relatively modest changes, a new type of charging cable and higher prices. iPhone: If you haven't bought an iPhone for a while, a reminder that there are four new models.
● iPhone 15: Starts at $799 in the United States, the same as last year's model.
● iPhone 15 Plus: This is a larger-screen version of the iPhone 15. It again costs $899 and up.
● iPhone 15 Pro: There are higher-end features in the fancier Pro phone that starts at $999. That's the same starting price as last year's Pro model.
● iPhone 15 Pro Max: Similar features to the Pro but with a larger screen and Apple's most sophisticated camera features. It costs $1,199 and up in the United States - $100 more than last year's comparable model. The iPhones also have a new type of charging connector. More details on that are below.
Apple will take orders for the new iPhone models starting Friday, Sept. 15. It's officially for sale Sept. 22.
● Apple Watch: There were again relatively modest changes, including new computer chips that Apple said would make the Watch feel zippier.
"Real talk: I'm not convinced you'd ever even notice," my colleague Chris Velazco wrote. Chris said the biggest change could turn out to be a new way to interact with the
Watch. Double-tapping the fingers on your watch hand lets you control on-screen functions.
● AirPods: Apple is changing the charging cable for the AirPods Pro, the wireless ear buds with a noise-canceling feature. That's the only update worth noting.
Your next iPhone will have a different charger
Mostly because European laws forced Apple to change, the new iPhone models will ditch the skinny Lightning charging cable that's been used in iPhones since 2012 for a more common charging technology called USB-C.
Yup, this means when/if you buy a new iPhone, you might need to replace your existing iPhone charging plugs and maybe your headphones, too.
But this change is ultimately good.
With the new power cord, you will be able to charge your
iPhone with the same plug as billions of other phones, laptops and tablets that already use USB-C cables.
Maybe you can go on vacation and just take ONE charger to power up your iPhone, Mac and iPad. (If you take all those gadgets on vacation, I'm not judging you.)
My colleague Geoffrey A. Fowler's latest column has more on what you need to know about the iPhone's new charger, including how much you need to spend to buy a good one.
Geoff wants to hear your questions at geoffrey.fowler@ washpost.com
The fanciest iPhone costs more now. But you probably won't pay full price.
Continuing Apple's recent pattern, the company put more exclusive features in Pro and Pro Max models - but for the first time in years, Apple is raising the prices for one of those two models.
Last year's iPhone Pro Max cost $1,099 and up in the United States. The starting price on the new iPhone 15 Pro Max is $1,199.
(Apple says this is not a price increase, because this year's Pro Max has more data storage capacity than last year's model. But sorry, this is a price increase.)
A reminder of why Apple is charging more: Globally and in Apple's two most important markets of the United States and China, sales of new smartphones have been falling. Apple's revenue has been shrinking this year, too.
The company wants you to fill a hole in its bank vaults by making more money from each new iPhone.
For most people in the United States, though, you probably won't pay the list price because of generous trade-in offers and other discounts for new iPhone buyers.
Including the effect of tradein offers and other discounts, Americans who have a contract plan with AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile typically paid about $727 for an iPhone 14 Pro Max that listed for $1,100, according to an analysis of iPhone prices during a week each December by research firm BayStreet Research.
Why are we still doing this?
Every year, there are fewer dramatic changes to new models of iPhones and other smartphones.
That's a natural evolution when any consumer product - whether it's a car, a fridge or a computer in your pocket - shifts from novel to normal. New models improve incrementally.
But Apple hasn't changed its approach to reflect this new reality.
Every September like clockwork, the company makes a big to-do from new models of iPhones that get less dramatically different each year. Why? Because Apple can. Enough people are curious enough about this particular consumer product that Apple can get attention for its updated models. It's essentially free publicity, including from writers like me.