The iPhone Air may get most of the attention at today’s Apple event, but the “regular” iPhone 17 is the one a lot of the iOS faithful will buy. This year’s new model may not look like a massive overhaul since the design is mostly the same, but don’t let that fool you. The company has massively upgraded the display to include ProMotion and a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s more power under the hood, ready to harness all of the features that Apple Intelligence and iOS 26 provide. Plus, there’s eight more hours of battery life and faster charging when you need it. And I haven’t even mentioned the camera updates yet, which are highlighted by the Center Stage front camera. 

With the introduction of the iPhone Air, Apple nixed the iPhone 17 Plus. Now you’re left to decide between the 6.3-inch iPhone 17, 6.5-inch iPhone Air or the 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max (and 6.3-inch Pro) — if you’re primarily concerned with size. I was worried the company would leave us with a 6.1-inch base iPhone, a handset that feels incredibly small after I finally got used to the iPhone 16 Plus. I’m happy to report that the iPhone 17 bridges the gap nicely, and I don’t think the smaller “regular” model will be a strain on my delicate sensibilities. 

Billy Steele for Engadget

On first glance, the real star of the show this year is the majorly upgraded display on the iPhone 17. Not only is it slightly larger, but it now has a 120Hz refresh rate and supports Apple’s ProMotion tech. The difference between this new model and my iPhone 16 Plus was immediately apparent. Colors are more vivid, details are sharper and it’s just more pleasant to look at. Of course, I wasn’t able to dive into the finer points of what the upgrade provides in a quick demo, but I walked away impressed after my first glance at the phone. 

I was also able to briefly try the new Center Stage front camera in the lobby outside the Steve Jobs Theater. There are other camera updates on the iPhone 17, but this one will be what is most beneficial to most people. It automatically changes orientation as more people enter the frame for selfies, and most importantly, it does so quickly without any jitters or lag. It worked well on multiple attempts I observed, and it’s one of the few new features I’m looking forward to testing further. 

Additionally, Dual Capture, the ability to record footage from both the rear and front-facing cameras at the same time, will be great for recording reaction videos. A busy demo area outside of an Apple keynote isn’t the most exciting spot for this, but what I was able to see excited me for my upcoming afternoons of youth sports. 

We’ll have to wait for our full review for a deep dive on the rest of the new features on the iPhone 17, but after my first introduction, I anticipate that this could be the most robust annual update in several years. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-iphone-17-hands-on-no-plus-no-problem-192747122.html?src=rss

Surprising absolutely no one, Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 17 series, including the iPhone Air, which CEO Tim Cook said freed the company up to make the Pro handsets the most Pro ever. Here at Apple Park, I was able to take a high speed hands-on demo of the iPhone 17 Pro, and made a beeline for the new Cosmic Orange model. I’m already very taken with the way it looks and feels, and don’t even mind the new camera plateau, but maybe that’s just because I’m a sucker for change.

This isn’t a shiny new thing, to be clear. Far from it. The iPhone 17 Pro that I played with was the orange version and it has a sort of matte finish and a vague “soft touch” feel compared to the iPhone 16 Pro I’ve been using for about a year. In spite of the new unibody design, I found the camera control button on the right still reasonably easy to press, although I think I’m more used to the one on the iPhone 16 Pro and find it a bit easier to click at the moment. 

More importantly, and this is something I’ll have to spend more than an hour with an iPhone 17 Pro to verify, the redesign should help with battery life. The camera plateau now houses many components, freeing up space in the rest of the iPhone’s body for the battery. That, together with the A19 Pro processor’s improved power efficiency, is supposed to make the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max last longer than before.

Only the lighter orange rounded rectangle part on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro is covered with Ceramic Shield, by the way. The rest of the more metallic orange bits are the aluminum unibody housing. That means the camera plateau is also uncovered. It contains the three 48-megapixel Fusion cameras that Apple described during the keynote, and I can verify that I saw camera zoom options that went up to 8x in the viewfinder.

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

I also had a chance to quickly check out the new Centerstage selfie camera, and I have to say it now makes sense why Apple had to redesign the camera app with iOS 26. To enable new features like the auto-rotating aspect ratio or the dual-camera video capture, you’ll have to dive deeper into menus. I didn’t immediately know where to find the switches for these but I’m sure I’ll learn over time. For now, a helpful Apple representative standing next to the phone showed me where everything was.

I didn’t spend much time playing with the 4x telephoto zoom or the 8x “optical quality” options, so we’ll have to wait till we can review them to see if the claims Apple makes hold up. 

Though I’m quite taken by the new look and color of the iPhone 17 Pros, I have to admit I’m a little envious of my colleague Sam Rutherford, who got to spend some hands on time with the new iPhone Air. While the colors aren’t as appealing in that line, the extreme thinness is certainly very seductive. Based on my limited experience, the iPhone Air has slightly more rounded edges compared to Samsung’s super thin Galaxy S25 Edge, but you should definitely check out Sam’s impressions for more details. 

This story is developing, please refresh for updates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-17-pro-hands-on-the-unibody-and-camera-plateau-feel-more-significant-in-person-185553855.html?src=rss

Apple has taken the wraps off its latest crop of iPhones, introducing four devices in total: the standard iPhone 17, the high-end iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max and an all-new ultra-thin model called the iPhone Air. We have hands-on previews for the Air and Pro models already, but as always, most people should hold off on making a purchase until we can fully review the phones in the coming days. If you’re already sure you want to upgrade, however, we’ve broken down what you should know about each new iPhone before you pre-order.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/how-to-pre-order-the-iphone-air-iphone-17-and-iphone-17-pro-ahead-of-their-september-19-release-date-185943747.html?src=rss

Apple hosted its “Awe dropping” iPhone event today, but wearables also got their moment in the sun, including the announcement of the Apple Watch Series 11. In recent years, the company has made some big environmental claims around its smartwatches, but after facing some legal scrutiny overseas, the language for this new Apple Watch generation’s green cred is notably more muted.

Starting with the Apple Watch Series 9, the company claimed that select models of the watch could be carbon-neutral, and those calls were echoed in some branding for the Apple Watch 10. However, a regional court in Frankfurt, Germany, ruled last month that Apple could not call its smartwatch carbon-neutral because the carbon-offset program it was using was on land that it had only leased through 2029. Apple’s environmental plan didn’t account for how it would handle the carbon offsets after that date, meaning the ‘carbon-neutral’ claim was unfounded and violated competition laws, according to the ruling.

It seems like the sort of case Apple is likely to appeal, although we haven’t heard them make any announcement yet about possible next steps. But the action does seem to have influenced how the company is talking about its new Apple Watch Series 11. In the official press release about the Watch 11, the environmental impact section still notes some stats, but there’s no mention about carbon-neutrality for this particular wearable. Here’s what the company says instead:

“Apple Watch Series 11 is now made with 40 percent recycled content, which includes 100 percent recycled cobalt in the battery, and 100 percent recycled titanium or aluminum in the case, and titanium cases are made using an innovative 3D printing process that uses just half the raw material as previous generations. It is manufactured with 100 percent renewable electricity, like wind and solar, across the supply chain.”

There could still be some skepticism about how accurate these claims are; Apple wouldn’t be the first or the only one to cherry-pick stats for marketing. And while it is no longer making the statement about the smartwatch, Apple does claim in the release that it “is carbon neutral for its global corporate operations.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-isnt-making-any-carbon-neutral-claims-with-its-series-11-smartwatch-190216278.html?src=rss

Apple’s big September 2025 launch event is over and done with, and the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air (without the “17” modifier) are official, alongside the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Here are all the details you need to know on the first two of those handsets, which are likely to be the most popular options—particularly the Air, which is new for 2025, replaces the iPhone 16 Plus in the lineup, and looks like the most interesting device Apple has released in quite some time.

Thin is in

Smartphone thinness has become particularly relevant in 2025—see the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, amongst others—and the iPhone Air continues the trend, measuring in at just 5.6 mm (0.22 inches), beating the 5.8 mm (0.23 inches) of that Samsung device. In Apple’s hype-tastic announcement, it was described as “a piece of the future.”

The iPhone Air packs in the same A19 Pro chipset as the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, and is apparently Apple’s most power-efficient and durable iPhone ever—it has Ceramic Shield protection on both the front and the back, with the latest Ceramic Shield 2 keeping the main panel scratch- and crack-free. It’s also made from 80 percent recycled titanium.

The Air is the most power-efficient, durable iPhone yet.
Credit: Apple

The key specs of the new iPhone Air.
Credit: Apple

In terms of design, there’s the divisive camera bar (or “plateau” in Apple-speak) on the back, while on the front there’s a 6.5-inch display, supporting ProMotion variable refresh rates up to 120Hz. You’ve got a choice of four different colors: space black, cloud white, light gold, and sky blue.

iPhone Air downsides: Camera, battery life

So the Air is super-thin, and as powerful as the Pro models—what’s the catch? Firstly, there’s only one 48MP rear camera, though Apple suggests it’s actually four cameras in one: You can take 12MP pictures with up to 2x telephoto zoom, for example. On the front, there’s an 18MP selfie camera with support for Center Stage, as seen on the iPad—the camera will try and keep your face in shot, and even switch from portrait to landscape mode automatically, depending on how many people are in shot.

The other catch is battery life. Apple crammed most of the components into the top of the chassis to make room for a bigger battery, and cut out the physical SIM card slot—this will be eSIM only device everywhere in the world. Even so, Apple is only quoting “all-day battery” for the Air, and selling a portable battery pack for it that will bring video playback battery life up to 40 hours. Without the pack, it’s 27 hours—three hours fewer than the iPhone 17.

Despite the limitations, the look and style of the Air, together with it being a brand new model, are likely to make it appealing to many. The iPhone Plus had a 3-year run, starting in 2022 with the iPhone 14, and before that you might remember the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini, and Apple will be hoping the Air sells better than all of those models.

The new iPhone 17 comes in five colors.
Credit: Apple

The iPhone 17 gets speed and camera upgrades over the iPhone 16.
Credit: Apple

The iPhone 17 is an appealing also-ran

Let’s not forget the humble iPhone 17. Although in recent years the standard iPhone has often been overshadowed by the more expensive and feature-packed models, this year’s entry-level flagship comes with a 6.3-inch screen (up from the 6.1-inch display on the iPhone 16), and it gets ProMotion up to 120Hz for the first time—so that means smoother scrolling and animations, and an always-on display. The new Ceramic Shield 2 protection is on the front, but not on the back, as it is with the Air.

There’s a processor upgrade from the iPhone 16, but only to the standard non-Pro A19—which Apple simply says is more powerful and more efficient than the A18. There’s a dual-lens 48MP+48MP camera setup on the back, offering an ultrawide mode and up to 2x telephoto zoom, plus the same 18MP selfie camera with Center Stage as the Air. Your color choices for the standard iPhone 17 are black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white.

Both these phones can be pre-ordered from Friday, Sept. 12, and will go on sale on Friday, Sept. 19. Pricing starts at $799 for the iPhone 17 (the same as the iPhone 16), even though it has double the starting storage of its predecessor—256GB vs 128GB. The cheapest iPhone Air is $999, also with 256GB of storage.

It has been two weeks since SpaceX’s last Starship test flight, and engineers have diagnosed issues with its heat shield, identified improvements, and developed a preliminary plan for the next time the ship heads into space.

Bill Gerstenmaier, a SpaceX executive in charge of build and flight reliability, presented the findings Monday at the American Astronautical Society’s Glenn Space Technology Symposium in Cleveland.

The rocket lifted off on August 26 from SpaceX’s launch pad in Starbase, Texas, just north of the US-Mexico border. It was the 10th full-scale test flight of SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage, combining to form the world’s largest rocket.

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Apple has unveiled its iPhone 17 lineup, introducing three distinct models targeting different market segments. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max feature an aluminum unibody design incorporating a vapor chamber for thermal management, enabling the A19 Pro chip to deliver 40% better sustained performance than its predecessor. Both Pro models include three 48MP cameras offering 8x optical zoom — the longest in an iPhone — and an 18MP Center Stage front camera.

The standard iPhone 17 gains ProMotion display technology previously exclusive to Pro models, along with dual 48MP rear cameras and the Center Stage system. Apple introduced iPhone Air as the thinnest iPhone at 5.6mm, built on a titanium frame housing the A19 Pro, N1 wireless, and C1X cellular chips. All models feature Ceramic Shield 2 protection offering three times better scratch resistance than previous generations. The iPhone 17 starts at $799 with 256GB storage, iPhone Air at $999, iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099, and Pro Max at $1,199.

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Apple revealed a language translation feature for the upcoming AirPods 3 Pro earbuds at today’s iPhone event. Here’s some good news for those who don’t want to shell out $249 for some new and shiny in-ear headphones. The tool is also coming to the AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2 models. This requires the latest firmware and an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone running iOS 26 and later.

For the uninitiated, Live Translation is exactly what it sounds like. The software translates languages in real-time while wearing the earbuds. This allows for something resembling natural conversation when interacting with a person who speaks another language.

This feature will be available in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish at launch, with more languages coming by the end of the year. These include Italian, Japanese, Korean and simplified Chinese.

As for the AirPods Pro 3 earbuds, they cost $249 and are available to preorder right now. These new earbuds include a heart rate monitor, improved ANC, better battery life and the ability to play spatial audio.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/apples-airpods-4-with-anc-and-airpods-pro-2-will-also-support-live-translation-184235997.html?src=rss

Apple’s “pro” AirPods were due for an update. Despite continuously upgrading the AirPods Pro 2 with new features since their introduction in 2022, Apple hadn’t produced another robust overhaul of its priciest earbuds yet. At today’s iPhone 17 event (or iPhone Air event, depending on who you ask), the company unveiled the latest model: the AirPods Pro 3. The company has refined the design, added heart rate sensing, improved active noise cancellation (ANC), delivered live translation and more. And most importantly, it did so without increasing the price.

My brief demo with the AirPods Pro 3 focused entirely on the refined ANC. I wasn’t able to try any sustained heart rate tracking or live translation just yet, but I hope to have other opportunities for that later this week. The product area is always set up just outside of Steve Jobs Theater and the marble floors and walls echo seemingly every voice in the large room. It’s a nightmare for trying to shoot a video, but it’s a prime testing ground for active noise cancellation. 

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/apple-airpods-pro-3-hands-on-new-design-and-improved-anc-are-impressive-183246429.html?src=rss

AirPods Pro 3, Apple’s high-end earbuds, joined the iPhone Air and new Apple Watches in the spotlight at Apple’s September 9 “awe-dropping” launch event. The first AirPods Pro 3 will ship on September 19, but pre-orders are live now. Here’s how to get your hands on a pair of the new AirPods to go with your iPhone Air.

AirPods Pro 3

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/how-to-pre-order-the-new-airpods-pro-3-173916856.html?src=rss

An incoming new iPhone model called the iPhone Air has been one of the worst-kept secrets in tech lately, and now Apple has confirmed it at its annual iPhone reveal event.

The 6.5-inch iPhone 17 Air combines the CPU and GPU of an iPhone Pro with the camera system of a regular iPhone, all in an extra-thin design (5.6 mm), with a treated titanium frame that is likely to appeal to style-conscious users and some business consumers.

Like the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Air has a ProMotion display with a variable refresh rate up to 120 Hz—something that was reserved for only the Pro iPhones up until this year. The Air’s display also has always-on functionality and claims 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It has Apple’s new Ceramic Shield 2 protective coating on both the front and the back, which the company claims will make it more durable and anti-reflective.

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As expected, Apple’s September 9 “awe-dropping” event brought a tsunami of new hardware, including the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. But those long-awaited models weren’t the only launches worth noting — the event also debuted three new Apple Watches: the Apple Watch Ultra 3, the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Apple Watch SE 3.

Now that the livestream is over, these three new Apple wearables are all available for pre-order. All three will ship out on September 19.

Apple Watch Ultra 3

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/how-to-pre-order-the-apple-watch-ultra-3-apple-watch-series-11-and-apple-watch-se-3-175645177.html?src=rss

CUPERTINO, Calif.—If you’re buying one of the new iPhones or the other hardware that Apple announced today, your new devices will ship with Apple’s latest operating system updates already installed. But if you’re not looking to spend a bunch of money on Apple’s latest and greatest, the new updates will land on Apple’s other supported devices on September 15.

Apple is shifting to a year-based numbering system starting this year, wiping away the previous grab bag of all-over-the-place version numbers. No corner of Apple’s ecosystem is going untouched: we’re getting iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 Tahoe, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and even version 26 of whatever Apple is calling the HomePod’s software these days, all on the same day.

The headliner across all of the updates is Apple’s new “Liquid Glass” UI overhaul, which adds glass-inspired transparency and translucency and bouncy animations throughout all of Apple’s software. Inspired in part by the way that UI elements in visionOS float over top of your real-world surroundings, Liquid Glass is Apple’s most comprehensive UI overhaul since the release of iOS 7 back in 2013.

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CUPERTINO, Calif.—Apple’s basic iPhone 17 is the one most people will use, and the new iPhone Air will get attention for its thin design and novelty. But the iPhone Pro series is still the absolute best the company has to offer, and that continues to be true of the new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max that Apple announced today.

The new phones start at $1,099 and $1,199 for the Pro and Pro Max, respectively, each with 256GB of storage. Preorders start this Friday, and the phones will be available on September 19.

While the best feature of the iPhone 17 is its screen, the screens are virtually the only thing not to be overhauled for the iPhone 17 Pro, though they do get the more scratch-resistant, anti-reflective Ceramic Shield 2 coating. The new designs have a new aluminum unibody enclosure, with a glass cutout on the back to allow for wireless charging and a huge new camera bump that Apple calls the “camera plateau,” stretching all the way across the back.

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Alongside all of the new iPhones, Apple Watch models and other hardware, today’s Apple event brought forth news of when you’ll be able to install iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26 and macOS 26. You’ll be able to install these operating systems on compatible devices on September 15 when they move out of beta.

There are two major changes this year. The first is Apple’s shift to the Liquid Glass design language across its devices. It’s a significant overhaul of the design of Apple’s operating systems, with a focus on translucency and fluidity. The other big update is to the naming system of the operating systems. It might feel a little jarring to go from iOS 18 to iOS 26, but Apple is now aligning the version numbers with release years to keep everything more consistent.

The iPhone 17 lineup will come with iOS 26 pre-installed. You can also download it on iPhone 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 devices, as well as second-gen and later iPhone SE units.

Compatibility for watchOS 26 is straightforward too. It’ll be available on the latest devices, along with the second-gen Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 6 or later and all Apple Watch Ultra variants. 

Things get a little more complicated when it comes to iPadOS and macOS. If you’d like to try macOS 26 (aka macOS Tahoe), you’ll need one of the following Macs:

• MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020 and later)

• MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020 and later)

• MacBook Pro (16‑inch, 2019)

• MacBook Pro (13‑inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

• iMac (2020 and later)

• Mac mini (2020 and later)

• Mac Studio (2022 and later)

• Mac Pro (2019 and later)

As for iPadOS 26, you’ll be able to use that on the following iPad models:

• iPad Pro (M4)

• iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (3rd generation and later)

• iPad Pro 11‑inch (1st generation and later)

• iPad Air (M2 and M3)

• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)

• iPad (A16)

• iPad (8th generation and later)

• iPad mini (A17 Pro)

• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/ios-26-ipados-26-watchos-26-and-macos-26-will-be-released-on-september-15-182024821.html?src=rss

At its fall product event today, Apple updated its line of smartwatches, including the introduction of features for monitoring blood pressure and analyzing the quality of your sleep.

Apple Watch Series 11

The Apple Watch Series 11.
Credit:
Apple

The Apple Watch 11 is supposed to be able to alert users about “possible hypertension” by using data from an optical heart rate sensor “to analyze how a user’s blood vessels respond to the beats of the heart,” per its announcement.

According to Apple’s presentation, the smartwatch will look for chronic hypertension over 30-day periods. Apple’s presentation noted that the Watch Series 11 won’t be able to identify all hypertension, but the company said that it expects to notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension during the feature’s first year of availability.

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An anonymous reader writes: Reuters News on Friday withdrew a four-minute video containing an exchange between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussing the possibility that humans can live to 150 years old, after China state TV demanded its removal and withdrew the legal permission to use it.

The footage, which included the open mic exchange from the military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, was licensed by the China state television network, China Central Television (CCTV). The clips were edited by Reuters into a four-minute video and distributed to more than 1,000 global media clients including major international news broadcasters and TV stations around the world. Other news agency licensees of CCTV also distributed edits of the footage.

Reuters removed the video from its website and issued a “kill” order to its clients on Friday after receiving a written request from CCTV’s lawyer. The letter said the news agency exceeded usage terms of its agreement. The letter further criticized Reuters “editorial treatment applied to this material,” but did not specify details.

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