Apple’s iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and watchOS 8 updates are dropping September 20th, days ahead of iPhone 13 lineup. The latest version of iOS adds new features for FaceTime and Messages, smarter notifications and a new LiveText feature.

With the update, iPhone and iPad owners can take advantage of FaceTime improvements, including the addition of spatial audio and noise reduction features to eliminate distracting background sounds, The revamped Messages app adds a new “shared with you” feature that makes it easier to track photos, music and news articles that are shared in chats with a dedicated section for shared content.

Apple is also changing up its notifications, with new tools to control how and when you receive push alerts. New “Focus” modes, allow you to tune out all alerts except for apps and people you specifically want to hear from, and you can set specific profiles for working, sleeping and other activities. These profiles can also change the arrangement of apps on your home screen based on the apps you’re most likely to use throughout the day.

One of the more intriguing features of iOS 15 is Live Text, which uses the camera to scan your surroundings and surface relevant information. If you point it at a whiteboard, for example, it could pull out the written text for you to share. It could also identify art, landmarks, plants and pets.

Notably, the initial release won’t include Apple’s new SharePlay features, which is expected in a later update. The company also recently confirmed it would delay iOS 15’s most controversial features: the planned child safety update that will allow the company to detect illegal child abuse imagery on users’ devices. Apple said earlier this month it was delaying the changes in order to “make improvements” to the widely-criticized system.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – iOS 15 will be available to download on September 20th

The iPhone 13 could make your mobile footage look a lot more like Hollywood films. Apple’s new phones feature cinematic mode, which can mimic the focus capabilities from professional cameras. It can automatically focus your video scenes on specific subjects — for example, making someone in the foreground look completely clear, while everyone in the background is blurred out. Even better, cinematic mode is smart enough to push focus to someone in the background if a foreground character looks at them. And, of course, you’ll also be able to manually choose focus points if you want.

Apple says cinematic mode is possible thanks to the iPhone 13’s A15 Bionic processor. As usual, the company claims it’s far faster than competing mobile chips (50-percent better, in this case), which opens the door for entirely new software features. The iPhone 13’s camera also has optical image stabilization tech from last year’s 12 Pro Max, along with far better sensors, all of which help make cinematic mode possible. 

It’s unclear just how advanced cinematic mode is at this point. But if it works as advertised, it could be a major upgrade for home videos and pros looking to shoot with iPhones. Professionals can also take their footage to another level with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, both of which support ProRes video. 

At this point, it looks like cinematic mode could go the way of portrait capabilities, a feature that every smartphone maker will race to replicate. (And yes, we know that first arrived on Android phones.)

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – iPhone 13’s cinematic mode will let you manipulate focus like a pro

As we expected, Apple unveiled its new iPhone 13 series at its “California Streaming” event today, and they include a pair of more-premium Pro flagships. Tim Cook called the series the “most Pro iPhone ever,” and the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have larger, faster screens, smaller notches and new designs.

Most significantly, Apple is bringing a new Super Retina XDR display with 1,000 nits of brightness for better outdoor reading. The company said this is the brightest screen on iPhone ever, and it’s 25 percent higher than before. It’s also the first time the company’s ProMotion is available on iPhone, bringing adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz to the Pro series. Most phones in the market with similar refresh rates also use adopt adaptive displays to increase speeds for smoother scrolling when you’re doing things that benefit from it more, like scrolling or playing games. When you’re just looking at static images, the refresh rates drop to as low as 10Hz.

Like the regular and mini iPhone 13s, the Pro series also use the company’s new A15 Bionic chipset that brings improved graphics and neural processing, as well as new video encoder and decoders. With the updated CPU, Apple also added camera features like a Cinematic Mode for video capture, which is powered by machine learning for intelligent focusing on the fly.

The company also upgraded the Pro’s camera system, bringing better hardware like a new 77mm telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, as well as a new ultrawide setup with autofocus and a larger f/1.8 aperture. This will yield a 92-percent improvement in low light, Apple said. As for the primary “wide” camera, it now features a f/1.5 aperture and 1.9-micron pixels, for what the company said is its largest sensor yet. 

Combined with improved image signal processing through the A15 Bionic chipset, the iPhone 13 Pro cameras can shoot at up to 6x optical zoom with macro photography support as well. For the first time, too, Apple’s ProRes for full-resolution editing will be supported on the iPhone on this year’s Pro models.

The iPhone 13 Pro series also features “the most pro design,” according to the company, and comes in four colors, including a new Sierra Blue hue. Its front has a 20 percent smaller camera system, and stainless steel trim that surrounds the sapphire crystal lenses on the rear triple sensors. It’s also rated IP68 for water resistant, while the internals have been redesigned, like the regular iPhones.

The A15 Bionic chip is also supposed to bring better battery performance, and the company promised the iPhone 13 Pro Max will last 2.5 hours more than last year’s model, making it the longest-lasting iPhone ever. The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to see a 1.5 hour boost compared to the iPhone 12 Pro. As for the specifics: the iPhone 13 Pro has a 6.1-inch screen while the Pro Max sports a 6.7-inch display, and they start at $999. The new phones will be available on September 24th, with pre-orders starting Friday the 17th.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have adaptive 120Hz screens

The iPhone mini is staying in Apple’s lineup for at least another year. At its California Streaming event, the company announced its base model iPhone will once again come in two sizes. And like its bigger sibling, the iPhone 13 mini features the company’s latest system-on-a-chip, the A15 Bionic. According to Apple, the 5nm chip includes nearly 15 billion transistors. 

Critically, Apple claims battery life is noticeably improved on its latest iPhones, particularly on the new mini model. Compared to its predecessor, the company says most users should get an hour and a half of additional battery from the iPhone 13 mini. That increase in uptime comes courtesy of the phone’s A15 Bionic chip, more efficient internal components and software optimizations the company has made under the hood.    

Developing…

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – Apple’s iPhone 13 mini gets camera technology from the 12 Pro Max

Apple’s fitness subscription service will soon make it easier for you to take a virtual class with friends and family. The new feature, dubbed Group Workouts, will arrive on Apple Fitness+ later this fall and it will be powered by Apple’s SharePlay feature in iOS 15.

Apple announced SharePlay when it previewed iOS 15 a few months ago and it allows you to do things like watch a video with friends while on a call. Similarly, the feature will allow Apple Fitness+ users to take exercise classes with contacts, regardless of their location. During the class, you’ll see some of your friends’ fitness data on your screen as well as when they close their activity rings. And the feature will support up to 32 people at once, so you could have a yoga party with all of your extended family.

Apple’s bringing a handful of smaller updates to Fitness+ this fall as well. Pilates workouts will come to the service, as well as guided meditation routines that will also be available in audio-only format. Winter sports fans may want to check out Apple’s collection of workouts dubbed “getting ready for snow season,” which appear to prep the body for activities like skiing and snowboarding.

Most new features will be available when watchOS 8 and iOS 15 launch, although we may have to wait a bit longer for Group Workouts because it’s unclear if SharePlay will be fully available in the first version of iOS 15. Apple stated in August that SharePlay viewing would likely be delayed until later in the fall. Apple Fitness+ will also be available in 15 new countries this fall, with workouts available in English with subtitles in six different languages.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – Apple Fitness+ adds Group Workouts so you can exercise with friends via SharePlay

Apple isn’t worried about 13 being an unlucky number. The company just unveiled its latest generation of smartphones, the iPhone 13, and is giving us the rundown on all the changes to this year’s models right now. Unsurprisingly, it looks nearly identical to last year’s iPhone 12, but our first glimpse of it showed a 20 percent smaller notch on the front for Face ID as well as a redesigned back camera module — but by and large, it’s visually nearly identical to the iPhone 12.

More crucially, the iPhone 13 also has a bigger battery, something that should be welcome for both phones, particularly the iPhone 13 mini. Yep, Apple is keeping the smaller phone around this year. Both phones also have brighter displays this year, but Apple says most iPhone 13 mini users will get an extra 1.5 hours of usage, while the standard iPhone 13 will last 2.5 hours longer than the iPhone 12. Given that battery life was probably one of the biggest downsides of last year’s iPhones, this should give users a little relief.

As usual, the new iPhone features Apple’s latest A-series chip, and this year it’s the A15 Bionic processor. It’s a 5nm chip with nearly 15 billion transistors that Apple says is 50 percent faster than its competition.

As for the cameras, Apple has a new wide camera sensor and lens; Apple says its the largest camera sensor it has ever put into a dual-camera system on its phones, and it has bigger pixels than the prior phone. The iPhone 13 is also getting the sensor-shift optical image stabilization system that first came to the iPhone 12 Pro Max last year — having this system available on a much more inexpensive phone will be a nice boost. There’s also a new ultra-wide camera sensor, as well.

Apple has made a video a big focus in recent years, and that’s the case with the iPhone 13 as well. The company is showing off a new mode called “cinematic mode,” but they haven’t said exactly what that’s all about yet. We did get to see it in action in a clip they showed, and it seems that it lets the camera move focus seamlessly between the foreground and background. As Apple says, focus transitions will move focus automatically and follow character’s attention so that it knows where to direct your attention. Naturally, you can still tap to change focus at any time.

5G support for the iPhone 13 has been expanded, as well — the antenna system works on more carriers than ever. By the end of the year, Apple says 5G will work on 200 carriers in 60 countries.

As for pricing, Apple kept things the same this year: the iPhone 13 mini starts at $699, while the iPhone 13 starts at $799. Both phones come with 128GB of storage (doubled from a year ago), which is another major upgrade over last year’s model. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple didn’t say when the iPhone 13 would arrive — but maybe we’ll hear about that after the iPhone 13 Pro update.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Source: Engadget – Apple’s iPhone 13 has a smaller notch and bigger battery