I don’t think there’s a whole lot of tea leaf reading to do after yesterday’s Apple event. The upgrades are fairly straightforward. But there are some intriguing notes that I wanted to share, so here we go…

Intro Video and Quote

The intro video played at the beginning of the keynote was great, but frankly I was upset by the use of one of Steve’s most famous quotes. You have to use Steve’s wisdom in marketing as sparingly as possible and this felt like a poor time to do so. The event didn’t live up to the hype and highlighting symmetry in your hardware design while the flagship device has mismatched corner radii on the back is, uh something.

AirPods Pro

AirPods Pro 3 may not seem like a big upgrade on the surface, but 2x more unwanted noise than AirPods Pro 2 and 4x more unwanted noise than the originals is a massive leap. I’m not sure how they measure this, but the refreshed shape, new foam infused tips and enhanced tech make me optimistic. The heart rate sensor is a nice addition for folks without an Apple Watch, but for someone like me who wears one every time I work out it’s largely pointless.

Watches

Apple Watch Series 11 is one of the weakest upgrades yet unfortunately. It’s not the weakest thankfully, that was the Series 8. Last year’s Series 10 was a big leap forward so it’s not entirely surprising that we’ve landed here. That being said, aside from longer battery life, 5G, and more scratch resistant glass on aluminum models, the other new features that took up the watch segment are coming to existing hardware. Otherwise, it has the same design, same display, same sensors, same water resistance, same chip, and largely the same finishes except for the new space gray.

After skipping a new Apple Watch Ultra last year alongside Series 10, we’ve finally gotten the Ultra 3. Unfortunately, like the Series 11, it is a fairly underwhelming upgrade. It’s now up to par with the Series 10 from last year, getting a slightly larger display as well as LTPO3 and the S10 for clock ticking while wrist down. It’s also gained 5G, SOS via satellite, and longer battery life, all essential if you truly do hike without your iPhone. Though I suspect that is a very small subset of Ultra owners. The Ultra 2 was already fantastic and it’s gaining lots of new features with watchOS 26. After waiting two years, I wish they’d done more.

New Features, Old Devices

Despite several features being framed during the keynote as being for new hardware, there are a variety of upgrades coming to existing devices.

Apple Watch Ultra 2, Series 10, and Series 9 are all getting the new hypertension detection feature. Sleep scores are coming to all watches that run watchOS 26. The new watch faces: Exactograph and Flow are coming to existing watches. Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2 are getting the new Waypoint face. And Hermès watches are getting the funky new Faubourg Party face. All four new faces look great, I particularly love Exactograph.

This isn’t just the case with Apple Watch, AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2 are also getting the new live translation features introduced as part of AirPods Pro 3.

Air Arrives

Apple’s decision to not brand the newest member of the iPhone family as a “17” model begs a lot of questions. Namely, is this a one off destined to be supplanted once the foldable hits? Is this supposed to be the beginning of a new line, as in next year we’ll see iPhone Air 2? Or will this always be iPhone Air without a number?

The Classic

The standard iPhone 17 is the best deal in an iPhone right now. Despite not adopting either of the new designs, the base iPhone now has way better cameras, a larger display with ProMotion which is always-on, more durable materials, the new A19 chip, longer battery life, and faster wireless charging. Plus, it now starts with double the storage at the same price as the iPhone 16 was last year.

Pro Perfected

The iPhone 17 Pro is everything that I wanted it to be. It’s got a gigantic battery. It’s got incredible cameras. It’s got vapor chamber cooling with a new chip that matches M2 performance. It’s got an hot new two tone design. And it comes in the best gadget color, orange.

Accessories

On the accessories side, the new watch band colors are fairly underwhelming. The new MagSafe cases look great, except for TechWoven, which looks cheap to me. I hope it’s more durable than FineWoven but clearly at a visual cost. The new crossbody strap looks great, it feels very classic Apple. It reminds me a lot of wearing the iPod Shuffle (my first new Apple product growing up) and the orange harkens back to the original iPod Shuffle sport case. The iPhone Air’s new bumper case is awesome, I loved the iPhone 4 bumper back in the day. Though I’m disappointed they’re not making them for the pro models.

Do it Live

Live events really need to make a comeback. Apple’s the remaining holdout and it shows. This week’s event continues the trend of decreased quality with less interesting transitions after some incredibly well-done covid era events. I’m sorry to say it, but look at April 2021 and this week’s event and the difference is night and day. That isn’t to say it was bad, but Apple can do better.

What I’m Buying, And Not Buying

I’ve opted to skip getting a new watch for the first time ever this year. I’ll stick with my Series 10 and Ultra 2. I may toss the new neon ocean band on there, but otherwise they’ve failed to convince me it’s worth upgrading. AirPods Pro 3 are an easy decision, I wear my AirPods so much that any upgrade is worth it. On the iPhone side, I was worried about hemming and hawing over the Air for too long. But the Pro is the obvious choice at the moment. There are too many compromises with the Air that I’m not willing to make now. Plus, Orangeness beats thinness every day of the week.

Onward We Go

iPhone Air feels so clearly designed to test technologies ahead of the foldable iPhone we expect next year. I imagine that’s largely why it exists, aside from being a beautiful object to get customers in the doors of Apple Stores. I’m not sure what to make of the AirPods roadmap, though we’ve heard plenty of rumors about things like cameras, more AI, and new designs. Maybe this is a stepping stone too. On the watch side, I hope next year brings some more radical changes but the device has clearly settled into a rhythm for better or worse. At the end of the day, this event ended on a high note. I was a bit concerned as the watch segment progressed, but the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro swooped in to save the day. I think more than anything, the event serves as a pit stop on the road to what comes next.

Header photo credit to Alan Dye on Instagram