What’s Not to Get Excited About the ‘New’ iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Series 9

Apple just released the ‘new’ iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Series 9 in their latest annual iPhone event. However, they did such a good job of underwhelming us and the ‘new’ devices are only new in imagination, repeating the same form and the corporate BS presentation that’s now become very boring. Here’s more.

The ‘New’ iPhone 15 isn’t So New

The ‘new’ iPhone 15 isn’t so new after all. The device, which is the biggest underwhelm of the decade, is an iPhone 14 cased in smoother bezels without any real upgrade apart from the sustainability punchline Apple is using to rope in the climate-conscious wannabees.

Portrait Mode

In essence, the only new thing in iPhone 15, and its bigger even more boring sibling iPhone 15 Plus, is some camera tweaks such as the new automatic Portrait Mode and a 48MP camera system. That sounds exciting but essentially, the new Portrait Mode is Apple’s way of ensuring that it gives you the option to make images containing human or animal (cat and dog) subjects portraits (an ability you should already have).

48MP Main Camera

The new 48MP camera system, in turn, isn’t all that revolutionary, and for more than a year now, Samsung flagships have had bigger camera systems that can do much more. What happens with the new 48MP camera is that pixels are merged to form bigger pixels, producing a 24MP photo file with more details (Again, Samsung is way ahead). To add cherry on top, Apple introduced 20mm zoom which isn’t all that amazing when you think of Samsung’s 100x zoom.

USB Type-C At Last

Perhaps the only exciting thing with the new iPhone 15 is that the EU arm-twisted Apple (and all smartphone manufacturers) to use USB Type-C and not lock or force users to use unique chargers. Therefore, we are glad that the iPhone now comes with a Type-C charging port, and we won’t have to keep buying weird chargers forever. A neat feature also is that you can use your phone via the Type-C cable to charge other accessories such as the Airpods which have also been upgraded to use Type-C.

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max

What Apple did well, however, is to bring Pro versions of the iPhone 15 which actually look and feel ‘pro’. The new iPhone 15 Pro models (these are much ‘newer’ compared to the 15 and 15 Plus) have a titanium body/casing with an aluminum enclosure inside which makes repairing the back screen much easier.

The Pros have a third camera, with overall better cameras, including the ability to shoot spatial videos, which are VR-type videos, to allow you to experience them on their Vision Pro headset. Moreover, unlike the 15 and 15 Plus which use the A16 Bionic chips, the same one used in iPhone 14 Pro devices, the Pro models use a new A17 Pro chip, which Apple says will be able to do more, faster, and with better battery management.

Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 was another letdown, with Apple doing little to nothing to actually upgrade it. Here Apple took a bet on what it calls a 0% carbon footprint for the watch, which they say is achieved mostly through the exclusion of leather straps and the use of recycling material in others (Who doesn’t want leather straps?!)

Beyond that, the only small bump in the Series 9 is the ability to receive or end phone calls by double-tapping your fingers. Apple says it thinks this is a feature you will use “all the time” and when your hands are full. They grinned while they revealed that they named it ‘Double Tap’ (bollocks).

Apple Watch Ultra 2

What users can get excited about, however, is the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which is the bigger, more rugged version of the Apple Watch and the sequel of the Ultra. Here, the biggest upgrade was Apple’s increase of maximum brightness to 3000nits, which will help users in the sun or deep in water to have a better view of the watch.

Somewhat New Features

What was somewhat new that Apple announced yesterday was ‘Driver Assistance via Satellite’ which like ‘Emergency SOS via Satellite’, will allow users whose cars have broken down in areas without phone signal or internet, to access assistance from roadside assistance companies.

Another somewhat new feature was Apple’s sweetened claims on carbon neutrality where they said that they have achieved it for the Series 9. The way they made these claims was to do a skit where they bring ‘Mother Nature’ into their offices, who asks them what they have done for the climate.

Apple says that it is reconfiguring its material, transport, and electricity inputs to ensure that all Apple devices are carbon neutral by 2030. It is funny because they even touted how they’ve “planted grasslands in Kenya” and as a Kenyan, I can tell you I have not seen any Apple grass anywhere. What this sounds to me like is pure corporate propaganda and BS.

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