Apple unveiled three new iPhone models and a new watch series on Wednesday, introducing phones with larger displays and a watch that is aimed more at fitness and heart monitoring.
Here’s a look at what’s new in each product line.
iPhone XS
• As with last year’s iPhone X, this new phone will have a screen that runs from edge to edge, an effort to maximize the display without making the phone too awkward to hold.
• The new phone will have a 5.8-inch display, which is about the same as the existing iPhone 8 Plus. However, the iPhone XS will go edge-to-edge like an iPhone X, meaning the phone is physically smaller than an iPhone 8 Plus. (For those who have an iPhone X now, the new iPhone XS will have the same display size as your current phone.)
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• The battery will last about 30 minutes longer than the one in the current iPhone X.
• Updates to portrait mode: The wildly popular camera setting now will have new capabilities, including adjusting the background blur afterwards.
Apple updated the Bokeh effect capabilities in Portrait mode. You can now adjust the blur effect after you take the photo. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/k4BvYea9ic
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) September 12, 2018
• The new phone will have dual eSim capability, which means users can have two phone numbers with two different plans — something that could be an important feature for those who travel.
• Storage options include 64 gb, 256 gb, and a new 512 gb option.
• The new phone will be available in silver, space gray, and gold. The current iPhone X only has two colors: Silver and space gray.
• Pricing starts at $999.
• The phone is available for pre-order starting Sept. 14, and will start shipping on Sept. 21.
iPhone XS Max
• The iPhone XS Max has a 6.5-inch display, compared to the iPhone XS’ 5.8-inch display, in what is Apple’s “ largest display ever on an iPhone.”
• The XS Max has the biggest battery ever in an iPhone, with an hour and a half more battery life than iPhone X.
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• The phone will be water resistant to a depth of 2 meters (or about 6 and a half feet) for up to 30 minutes. “If you happen to be hanging by the pool and drop it in the water, grab it, rinse it, dry it. You’ll be fine,” an Apple official said.
• Storage options include 64 gb, 256 gb, and new 512 gb.
• Pricing starts at $1,099.
iPhone XR
• This less expensive iPhone model comes in white, black, blue, coral, yellow — each with an aluminum finish and more durable glass.
• The screen goes edge-to-edge and top-to-bottom, similar to the X models.
• There is no 3D touch, a feature that senses how forcefully you touch the phone, but it will have “haptic touch” — similar to the track pad in the MacBook Pro.
• It will have face ID.
• Its battery life will last an hour and a half more than an iPhone 8 Plus.
• Storage options include 64 gb, 256 gb, and a new 512 gb option.
• Prices start at $749, which is less expensive than the iPhone 8 Plus.
• The iPhone XR can be ordered October 18, and will start shipping October 26.
Apple Watch
• The new Apple Watch Series 4 unveiled new heart monitoring features, including an electrocardiogram, or ECG, monitor. Apple got clearance for the ECG app from the US Food and Drug Administration. The ECG capability, available later this year, helps the device sense atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rate. Capturing such data will help prevent stroke, heart failure, and other problems, said Ivor Benjamin, American Health Association president, during the unveiling.
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• Apple says the heart data can be shared with doctors, though it’s not yet clear how ready doctors are to getting all that.
• The new watch has larger screens that fit into the same overall watch sizes.
• The watch has more powerful sensors so it can spot when someone has a hard fall. It delivers an alert and calls emergency services if the user doesn’t move for one minute after a fall.
• The device has 50 percent louder speakers.
• The back of the watch lets more cellular signals through, making calls clearer.
• Battery life remains the same.
• The new line will start at $399, Apple said, compared with the $329 starting price of last year’s model.
Other notes
• Apple says a free update to its iOS operating system will come next Tuesday, followed a week later with a Mac software update.
• With the new iPhones coming out, older models will get price cuts.
Wire material from the Associated Press and Bloomberg were used in this report.