Smartwatch: Over the past decade, September has been the month that Apple introduced its latest iPhone. The company made tremendous advances in technology year after year, which boosted its business and made Apple the most valuable company in the world.
But as that flagship device gets older and its improvements become more entrenched, the tech giant has turned its attention to younger products with more runway for innovation: the Apple Watch and AirPods.
Apple on Wednesday unveiled a fitness-focused version of its wearable computer, the Apple Watch Ultra. Aimed at triathletes, distance runners, scuba divers and backcountry enthusiasts, the sturdier $800 model has a larger screen and better durability. It also has an “action” button to make it easier to use while wearing gloves, large speakers for calls in windy conditions, and a large battery that lasts up to 36 hours on a single charge.
Smartwatch: New features on Apple’s wireless earbuds, the AirPods Pro, include the ability to change the volume with the swipe of a finger.
While the iPhone still accounts for more than half of Apple’s sales, smartwatches and AirPods, which require an iPhone to function optimally, have helped the company build a fortress around its most important device. thereby deepening customer loyalty.
“The more products you have from Apple, the more impossible it becomes for Apple to leave for another player,” said Francisco Geronimo, vice president of device research at market research firm IDC. “Your whole life becomes part of a single ecosystem.”
Apple has used the iPhone, which has more than 1 billion users, to enter new markets and capture unrelated businesses. It has helped Apple disrupt the finance industry with its credit cards, the watchmaking profession with its watches, and the audio industry with its wireless headphones.
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The Apple Watch Ultra is just the latest example of how the company is widening its net. That pushes Apple into a corner of the smartwatch market dominated by Garmin, which sells about $2.6 billion to endurance-sports competitors, according to IDC. With Apple’s brand recognition and the popularity of the iPhone, Geronimo said, it should be able to cut into that share. It already claims about 51% share of the smartwatch market, which is more than double that of its closest rival, Samsung.
Garmin said Wednesday that Apple’s move into adventure smartwatches has validated the business it has built. “We will continue to push the boundaries of GPS-enabled technology and remain committed to creating innovative products designed for customers with active lifestyles around the world,” said company spokeswoman Christa Claus.
In addition to the fitness-focused watch, Apple released an update to its traditional watch, the Series 8, which has a sensor to track body temperature and a feature called “crash detection,” which can recognize when an accident occurs. When is the wearer of the watch in the car? Notify the accident and family and emergency services.
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Apple unveiled products at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, the first time it held a product event there since 2019. The venue was packed with reporters and employees who celebrated the return to normalcy by cheering on CEO Tim. Cook took the stage to introduce an infomercial detailing the new products.
The new capabilities of the Apple Watch overshadowed the more modest updates to the iPhone lineup. Apple released the initial and higher-priced versions of the iPhone 14 with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays. Both models combine the capabilities of a satellite phone, allowing users in rural and other remote environments to connect with emergency services if they become lost while hiking or find themselves in some other dire situation. So they can get help.
The low-cost iPhone 14, which costs $800, has last year’s processor but has improved front and rear cameras with larger sensors to capture clearer photos in low light.
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Apple saved its biggest design change for the iPhone 14 Pro, which costs $999, the same as last year’s flagship phone. The new phone ditches the notch for its Face ID system in favour of a smaller cutout that houses the front camera and displays alerts and notifications. The phone also has an “always on” display and a thin, black border around the screen to publish information like a clock without unlocking the phone.
Unlike the lower-priced iPhone 14, the Pro model has a new processor, the A16, which supports a better camera with a bigger sensor for better photos. It also supports new machine-learning algorithms to enhance the details and sharpness of photos.
