In a world full of rage and hate, it felt like a great time for Apple to announce a new iPhone. If nothing else, to detract from everything going on in the world. I had a lot of hype going into the iPhone 13 event, California Dreaming. I’ve been a little low-key on my electronic devices lately. I’ve been working on my Smart Home, playing some VR on my Oculus, and ready to get rid of my iPhone 12 Pro. But overall the event felt a little lackluster.
Here are my first reactions to the things announced at the iPhone 13 event.
Apple TV+
We started the day off with a sizzle reel showing off the coming Apple TV+ shows. Ted Lasso stands out, but the Morning Show is starting soon too. It looks like there are some cool shows coming up, but this isn’t what most people came for!
Lets get on to the products!
iPad
It was a surprise to me that Apple started off with the iPad. All the rumors said that this was going to be an Apple Watch Series 7, iPhone 13, and AirPods event. So it never hurts to have a surprise to start things off.
The updated iPad looks solid. It has a faster chip in it. It has a better camera (mostly through improved performance of the A13 inside it. And the price didn’t even change. If you’re looking for a basic iPad, this is the one. I’m sure that Apple sells a ton of them for kids and others. The price is just right and it got even better today. If you’re looking for the basic iPad, get this one.
There wasn’t anything really exciting about this iPad though, not that I would have expected anything. It was just a spec bump and a good one at that. Besides Apple saying anything about this device though, it was relatively boring.
iPad Mini
Apple then moved on to the new iPad Mini with its new design. Like the iPad Pro and the iPad Air before it, the new iPad Mini lost most of its bezel and its home button. It now is almost all screen, fitting even more screenspace into the same size. Of course, it also gets a new processor with the A15 chip, improved cameras, and more.
The fact that Apple stuck a USB-C port on this device really stuck out to me. If you can use iPadOS to get most of your stuff done, this could be a really interesting device for travel and docking. I could see taking this little iPad with me to work and using my docking station.
I’m excited about this new device, but I wouldn’t dive in for it. I have found myself turning away from iPadOS for a while. I can get more work done on my MacBook Air, but I wish I could return to the iPad. I just feel like once the apps get there, I could use the iPad so much better than the Mac.
Apple Watch Series 7
The rumors led me wrong here. While many of the rumors lately had claimed that Apple was going to redesign the Apple Watch Series 7 with flat sides, like the iPad Pros, and iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, that didn’t happen. The body stays mostly the same. The biggest change coming to the Apple Watch Series 7 is the reduction of the bezels and the expansion of the screen. Apple claims that the screen of the Apple Watch Series 7 is 20% larger than the Series 6, it is hard to really tell. Of course, there will be bigger buttons, and a full keyboard on the Series 7 that the older watches won’t get, but I don’t really feel like I need to upgrade.
Other than the updated screen and a new color, the only other thing I really remember about the announcement is that charging will be faster. I think that will help those that really use the watch for sleep tracking. My Apple Watch Series 6 charges plenty fast as it is.
I still enjoy my Apple Watch Series 6 even though I don’t feel like it does much that my Series 4 didn’t do. I will wait to see what the Series 8 brings with it. Hopefully, a few more health features, which didn’t really get announced today.
Apple Fitness
I’ve used Apple Fitness a couple of times, and I’ve been meaning to write about my mostly positive review of it, but I haven’t had time to do that yet. I enjoy the classes, although I don’t think it really stands out over any other fitness service. However, I do like that they are still adding things to it. Pilates and Mindfulness will be coming to the service and I think that’s pretty cool.
I’m more excited about being able to use SharePlay whenever it actually launches. With SharePlay, you and up to 32 of your friends can work out watching the same video. Your metrics will be on your screen only, but you can see when your friend is working harder than you with the burn bar, or when they close a ring.
I’m excited to try some of these out, but we don’t really know when since SharePlay won’t be coming out when iOS 15 does. So there are still questions.
iPhone 13
Then came the main event. The reason we came here. Apple announced the iPhone 13. All the usual stuff got announced. A new chip inside, new colors, better camera.The usual stuff.
But also, a few other little things. The notch is smaller. The battery is better, thank goodness. The coolest stuff for me came from the video camera stuff.
The camera is becoming more like a Hollywood camera. It can blur out the background while you focus on a person, but it can also move that focus/blur. It was all pretty cool though! They even made it so that the camera will follow the attention of the person in focus. So if they look away, the focus will change to that.
Even better, despite the chip shortage in the world, the prices aren’t really changing. I think that’s for the better. Most people in the world will be extremely happy with the iPhone 13.
iPhone 13 Pro
Just like before, the iPhone 13 Pro copies just about everything the regular iPhone 13 does and adds a few more things in. This year, the Pro gets ProMotion in the display. ProMotion makes the device more fluid by bringing a 120hz refresh to the screen. If you’ve ever used the iPad Pro before, you’ll know what that means. It’s going to be awesome.
There will also be some Macro photography coming into play as well. And more battery. Lots of things I wanted when I grew tired of my iPhone 12 Pro.
For most people, I would still recommend the iPhone 13, but I’ll be sticking to the Pro train. I wish there were more colors, but I will probably go with the Graphite this year. Now, I’m debating going back to the Max size as well, mostly because of the battery!
That’s a Wrap
Apple wrapped the show up with dates and prices. We also have iOS 15, iPadOS 15, Apple TV, and watchOS are all coming next week, September 20th. Pre-orders for iPhone 13 and 13 Pro start Friday.
While there were some devices that weren’t that exciting, the show was done well, and I’m excited for the next iPhone. I hope it will be one that I might stick with for a while.
What did you think of the show? Is there anything I left out? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter!