Apple Launch Event: New Watch, New iPhones

Apple has refreshed its iPhone lineup. Though the new phones are not very different visually from last year's flagship iPhone X, they do come with significant hardware and software enhancements.

The iPhone XS twins, come with a stainless steel body and a Super Retina OLED display. They feature the new A12 Bionic chip new 6-core CPU, a new neural engine claimed to perform 5 trillion operations at once, and a dedicated machine learning chip that can analyse data faster. It is a 7 nanometer chip, which means it will consume less power. It can launch apps nearly 30 percent faster.

The twins also come with a camera bump-up. It is a dual setup on the back with a 12 megapixel wide-angle and a 12 megapixel telephoto lens. The front features a 7 megapixel RGB camera. Apple has also improved its post-processing software using the new chipset.

Dual SIM, with eSIM technology, is another welcome feature. The phones will have storage that goes up to 512 GB.

Then comes the iPhone XR, a lower-cost model, as Apple looks to expand customer base. It has an aluminum body, a 6.1 inch LCD display and is available in six colours.

The Apple Watch Series 4 has also been announced with an edge-to-edge, bigger, curved display. But it is not just a watch. With the new edition, Apple has stepped-up its healthcare game. The Series 4 has three key new features: detecting low heart rate and irregular heart rhythm (including atrial fibrillation), and it doubles up as an electrocardiogram.

This will be the first U.S. FDA approved ECG product that consumers can buy over the counter. The Watch also can detect a fall, and trigger an emergency response if you the user remains immobile after it.

“We hope that you love these new products as much as we do,” CEO Tim Cook said.

Cook concluded the event by saying that their smart speaker HomePod will get phone call and timer support. The MacBooks will get the new Mojave OS, announced at the developer's conference earlier this year, on Sept. 24.

Here are the key highlights from Apple’s big day.

The preorder date is Sept. 14 and it will ship from Sept. 21. for the iPhone XS twins. The iPhone XR can be pre-ordered from Oct. 19 and will start shipping on Oct. 26.

Here are the prices:

• The iPhone XS will start at $999.
• The larger iPhone XS Max will start at $1,099
• The iPhone XR will start at $749
• Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 7, from $449, iPhone 8 from $599

Apple also announced a cheaper version of the iPhone as it looks to expand its customer base. The new iPhone XR has an aluminum body and an edge-to-edge 6.1 inch display. It will feature an LCD screen that Apple calls Liquid Retina display.

It will come in multiple colours—white, black, blue, coral, yellow and red. “We hope customers love them just as much as we do,” Schiller said.

The phone, which has a slightly rounder form factor, also has a single lens 12 megapixel wide-angle camera. It uses the same 7 nm A12 Bionic chip that is featured in the iPhone XS twins.

Apple has also improved the camera on the iPhone XS twins. It now features dual lenses—a 12 megapixel wide-angle, and 12 megapixel telephoto lens. Both have optical image stabilisation and larger pixels.

Schiller also announced a new Smart HDR feature which has zero shutter lag.

The front features a 7 megapixel RGB camera.

The camera improvements also come on the software side. The new machine learning software and photo-taking algorithm perform about 1 trillion operations on the photo to ensure that the best possible version is created.

The new iPhones will come in gold, a colour which Apple skipped in last year's flagship. The iPhone XS is also made of stainless steel. Philip W. Schiller, vice president of marketing, called it the “most beautiful” iPhone ever made. He added that the phones also feature durable glass that is protected from liquids up to 2 meters for up to 30 minutes.

The phones feature more powerful speakers that have a wider stereo field, Schiller said.

They also feature a newer version of Face ID that makes it the "most secure facial authentication ever in a smartphone", Schiller noted.

Under the hood, the phones will feature Apple's new in-house designed A12 Bionic chip which was called “truly a breakthrough” by Schiller. It has a new 6-core CPU, a new neural engine claimed to perform 5 trillion operations at once, and a dedicated machine learning chip that can analyse data faster. It is also the industry's first 7 nanometer chip, Schiller said, which means it will consume much less power.

The A12 chip can also launch apps about 30 percent faster than the previous generation chipsets.

What you’ve been waiting for is here. Say hello to the iPhone XS twins.

The new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are similar in design to last year's flagship iPhone X. They come in screen sizes 5.8 inches and 6.5 inches respectively. Both feature a top of class Super Retina OLED display.

Despite the larger screen sizes, Apple has made sure that the form factor of the new phones is actually smaller than the iPhone 8 itself.

Apple’s watch lineup will be available starting from Sept. 21

• The new Series 4 starts at $399.
• Series 4 with cellular at $499,
• Series 3 will be available at $279.

Apple has stepped-up its healthcare game with the new Watch Series 4.

The new version has three key new heart features: it can detect low heart rate, it can detect irregular heart rhythm, and it also features an electrocardiogram. Your heart rate data will be protected and stored on the cloud, Williams said.

This is the first ever ECG product that will be available over-the-counter. Ivor J. Benjamin, the head of the American Heart Association, who was invited to speak said that the technology now has potential to save people's lives.

Williams said that the company has already gotten the approval from the U.S.FDA for the Apple Watch Series 4. It will be available to customers around the globe towards the end of this year.

Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO, unveiled the newest edition of the Apple Watch. The new smartwatch features larger edge-to-edge display, a redesigned speaker, and new watch faces. “We’re taking the Apple Watch to the next level.”

The new Watch features an improved accelerometer, gyrometer and heart rate scanner. It also has an 18-hour battery life.

This helps the watch detect a fall, and it can trigger an emergency response if the user is immobile for a while after falling. “We hope you never need it, but its nice that it is there,” Williams said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has started the event talking about a history of the company, the products it has launched, and the impact it has created.

Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable company, is expected to unveil its new iPhones today at its highly anticipated annual keynote event.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will, in a few minutes, take the stage at the Cupertino, California-based company’s futuristic-looking Steve Jobs Theater to announce its iPhone and Apple watch strategy for the coming year.

Cook is also expected to announce three new versions of the device, Bloomberg had reported earlier. Although, they may not be a huge upgrade to last year's iPhone X, they will look and act just like the Apple flagship, and are expected to come in different sizes and prices. What’s key is that with the three new phones Apple will try and boost its revenue, two-thirds of which still come from iPhone sales.

iPhones aren’t the only thing in the expected line-up. Apple is coming out with two substantial upgrades to the Apple Watch with larger, edge-to-edge screens. That’s the first major upgrade to the Apple Watch, which critics regard as the best smartwatch on the market.

At least these are the things that are known. Apple could also outline plans for its next big products including augmented reality glasses or a self-driving car. We’ll find out soon enough.