Apple’s iPhone 14 event: the 9 biggest announcements

All the news from Apple’s Far Out event

Apple just held its Far Out event, where it revealed its iPhone 14 lineup, three new Apple Watches, including the long-rumored Apple Watch Ultra, and the next generation of AirPods Pro earbuds.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the show for yourself, you can catch up on all the big news announced here.

The iPhone 14 gets a revived “Plus” model with a bigger size

The iPhone 14 doesn’t come with too many notable upgrades over the iPhone 13, as they both come equipped with the an A15-series chip and a notch. Apple did, however, introduce a new Plus model that comes with a bigger 6.7-inch display and improved battery life.

Both devices come with an upgraded 12-megapixel main camera sensor, as well as a 12-megapixel TrueDepth selfie camera with autofocus.

The iPhone 14 starts $799 and the iPhone 14 Plus starts at $899. You can preorder them on September 9th, with the iPhone 14 to become available starting September 16th and the Plus becoming available on October 7th.

The iPhone 14 Pro has a notchless design with a “dynamic island”

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max come with a few big upgrades, including a design that swaps out the notch for a pill-shaped cutout that houses the camera and under-display FaceID system. Apple calls this the “dynamic island,” as notifications will pop out and move around this space.

Additionally, the Pro line has a more powerful A16 chip, a brighter display, better battery life, and a 48-megapixel rear camera with a quad-pixel sensor. Apple’s bringing always-on displays to the iPhone Pro and Pro Max as well, which dim your lockscreen’s wallpaper when enabled to continue showing notifications without eating up too much battery.

The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will cost $999 and $1,099, respectively. You can preorder them starting on September 9th, with both devices becoming available on September 16th.

Apple goes all-in on eSIM

Apple announced that it won’t include physical SIM trays with iPhone 14 models sold in the US. The iPhone 14 will use an eSIM instead, also known as a digital SIM card. Apple says eSIMs are more secure and should help users easily switch between carriers — but it could be trickier for anyone used to the simplicity of popping their SIM card out and switching it to another phone to change service.

The iPhone 14 can send emergency messages over satellite

Apple is adding satellite connectivity to the new iPhone 14 and 14 Pro for emergency situations in the US and Canada. If you’re in need of help and have no service, Apple says you should be able to point your phone to the nearest satellite to send an SOS message to a nearby emergency service, as long as the sky is clear. The feature will be included for free on new phones for two years.

Apple introduces the new Apple Watch Ultra for extreme sports

Apple’s brand new Watch Ultra offers a more rugged design for extreme sports athletes. It has a larger 49mm titanium case designed to protect it from wear and tear, along with a new customizable action button to transition between sports. The new Oceanic Plus App also gives Ultra users the ability to track their underwater dives.

The Apple Watch Ultra provides up to 36 hours of battery life on just one charge, with Apple set to introduce a battery optimization feature later this year that will give the Ultra an extended 60-hour battery life.

The Watch Ultra will be available for preorder today for $799, with shipments starting September 23rd.

The Watch Series 8 comes with new temperature sensors

Apple’s next-gen Watch Series 8 has two new temperature sensors — one on the back and one beneath the display — designed to help with fertility tracking. The watch checks your temperature every five seconds, and Apple says it can detect temperature changes as minor as 0.1 degrees Celsius.

There’s also a new crash-detecting feature that senses if you’ve been in a car crash and gives you the option to call for help. Apple announced a low-power mode as well, which disables certain features, like always-on display, to help conserve battery.

The Watch Series 8 starts at $399 for GPS and $499 for cellular. Preorders open today, and it’ll be available starting September 16th.

The Apple Watch SE is back

Apple has introduced the next-generation Apple Watch SE. It comes with an upgraded S8 chip that makes it 20 percent faster than the 2020 model, and also has some of the same capabilities as the Watch Series 8, including crash detection.

You can preorder it today for $249 with GPS or $299 with cellular before it becomes available on September 16th.

The second-generation AirPods Pro are here with better noise cancellation

Apple has announced an upgraded AirPods Pro, which Apple CEO Tim Cook called its “most advanced” so far. They come with a new H2 chip, spatial audio, and have twice the noise canceling capabilities as the previous model.

In addition to an increased 6 hours of listening time on a single charge (or 30 hours with the charging case), there are also speakers installed on each earbud and the charging case, so you can locate them using the Find My app.

You can preorder the AirPods Pro for $249 on September 9th, with availability starting September 23rd.

iOS 16 and watchOS 9 are coming on September 12th

iOS 16 and watchOS 9 will roll out starting September 12th. The iOS 16 update enables new features for the lockscreen, including widgets and notifications that roll up from the bottom of the screen, while watchOS 9 adds a bundle of new fitness tracking metrics.

Apple’s iPhone 14 event: the 9 biggest announcements