Apple’s most anticipated keynote of 2018 is finally here and thanks to a bevy of leaks, it might be short on surprises.
Details about the entire 2018 iPhone lineup have already surfaced online, even as Tim Cook and the gang get set to take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater this morning.
Will Apple be able to pull out “one more thing” to wow fans? We’ll find out in just a few hours. Come on in and join Cult of Mac‘s live blog for a full breakdown on everything that is announced today.
Apple Gather Round event live blog
Absolutely no surprises. The analysts will be thrilled. And I expect Apple’s stock price to rise on news of new, super-expensive iPhones.
And here comes the HomePod afterthoughts. Remember that Apple smart speaker? Although Tim says Siri Shortcuts will really open up HomePod’s capabilities. Software updates will land Monday, Sept. 17.
Final version of macOS Mojave lands Sept. 24.
True. A lot of my friends told me they’re getting the iPhone XS Max cause they just pay for it monthly anyway.
Prices are great, for something like this. Plus, who cares? Everyone buys on contract anyway.
iPhone XS is stupid expensive. Starts at $999. The iPhone XS Max starts at $1099. You can preorder those on friday. They ship on September 21
My prediction is the Bokeh effect on the iPhone Xr will be quirky. It’s not going to be as reliable as the iPhone Xs.
@Charlie It’s like The Lawnmower Man with less Pierce Brosnan and a Marc Newson-designed lawnmower.
More sonorous Jony Ive voice. His consciousness has been uploaded to an iMac Pro somewhere in Apple Park, right? Surely that explains why he’s never on stage.
Does any normal person care if their phone screen is LCD or OLED? I’m not seeing the downside to the iPhone Xr. Plus, it’s got disco-colored aluminum. Can’t WAIT to hear the pricing.
It’s pretty much as good as the new X s. Unless you’re really into the OLED, and the dual cameras, it’s hard to see why you’d bother with the X s. For most people anyway.
Wow, the single camera can still do portrait mode, even without the second camera. It even has the special “bokeh” feature.
It’s got half of the iPhone Xs camera, but can even create Portrait Mode photos using just its single-camera lens. And it’s got the crazy depth-control feature.
LCD iPhone X-a-like with aluminum body, haptic touch (instead of 3D Touch), and Face ID.
Got to love Apple’s branding though. Boring out LCD is now Liquid Retina! That’s why Apple’s marketing folks make the big bucks.
Edge-to-Edge LCD display. Most advanced LCD ever says Phil. They call it a Liquid Retina display.
Interesting to see Apple holding off the LCD iPhone for last. Does this show that Apple’s super serious about the emerging market? Since it hasn’t mentioned the price yet, possibly not.
We’re still waiting for the 6.1-inch iPhone announcement. (I’m still waiting for new iPad Pro models, but not with much hope.)
Apple introduces DAISY, its new recycling robot. And, possibly, a neat naming nod to 2001: A Space Odyssey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuEN5TjYRCE
The iPhone X s announcement is done, and there’s still a half hour left. What else is coming?
Apple wants to eliminate mineral mining for its products. That’s a way off — but it’s really important.
Wow. Lisa Jackson, ex-EPA chief. Pretty significant. Cook and Jackson have been doing a lot of work in environmental initiatives, and it’s significant, important work.
Apple reminds us that its facilities run on 100 percent sustainable energy — ranging from its data centers which run Apple’s Services to, yes, Apple Park. That’s a lot of clean energy.
Dual SIM uses one hardware SIM, and one software eSIM, as previously used in iPad and Apple Watch.
You can have both SIMs in your phone, whichever number gets a call becomes the active line. It also comes with an eSIM.
The iPhone XS should last 30 minutes longer than the iPhone X, and the XS Max will last up to an hour and a half more than the X. It has the biggest battery Apple’s ever put into an iPhone.
Yeeeew! These low light videos look amazing. Hope Apple isn’t pulling a Huawei on us and really recorded these with a DSLR
Apple’s demo video for the new iPhone shows some extraordinary low light photography. It’s amazing to think this can be done with a smartphone!
Schiller calls this computer-assisted image capture and advanced image processing “a new era of photography.” It really does look amazing.
There’s a slider that lets you run from f1.4 to f16, and blur the background as if you’d used that aperture.
Portrait mode now works how we always wanted it too. “Smart bokeh” lets you adjust the depth of field blur after taking the photo. That’s just incredible.
I’ve been using the iPhone X as my main camera for all of 2018 so I’m stupid excited to get my fingers on these new sensors to shoot some cliff jumping shenanigans. Hard to beat the convience of an iPhone in your pocket over a DSLR in your bag now.
Schiller is explaining that the iPhone XS neural engine basically shoots a bunch of bracketed photos to bring up highlights and shadows all without you ever noticing.
Smart HDR does HDR even on moving photos, using the cool “zero shutter lag” buffer too. No regular camera can do that.
The iPhone XS can do 1 trillion operations per photo to make pictures look more amazing
iPhone Xs image signal processor works in tandem with the improved Neural Engine to work photographic magic behind the scene. It can do 1 trillion operations on every photo you take.
It’s amazing to think that, just a few years back, Apple was lagging behind everyone else (well, other tech giants) on AI. That couldn’t be further from the truth today.
Phil has pretty much skipped over the new hardware specs for the camera, to focus (ho ho) on the chip inside. 3D-sensing algorithms do a trillion operations on a photo as you take it.
“You are going to be blown away with the pictures you can take wih the iPhone XS camera system.”
It packs two 12MP sensors on the back
I was weirdly unexcited about this year’s iPhone refresh. Needless to say, that has totally changed!
ARKit 2 allows multiple plays to view the same augmented reality game simultaneously.
More on Homecourt app here: https://www.cultofmac.com/572457/basketball-app-ai-jeremy-lin/
HomeCourt’s “real-time shot science” looks awesome for basketball. How long until we get this functionality for darts?
We already covered HomeCourt earlier this month. It looks pretty impressive. Coming to iPhones this fall, just in time for basketball season.
This is really impressive stuff. Real-time pose estimation, player tracking, and more — all at the same time. Six metrics in all.
I love how Apple keeps doing new things with the iPhone camera, by combining it with the massive computer behind it.
Wow, new Homecourt app to track basketball players shooting, to analyze their shots.
Steve Nash is on stage! My Phoenix Suns have never been the same since he left. God I miss him.
In the movie version of this keynote, Bethesda’s Todd Howard will be played by Sean Penn
It looks like Bethesda is bringing its ‘Elder Scrolls: Blades’ game to iPhones this fall. It’s gorgeous on the iPhone XS Max. Console quality graphics right here.
Cliff Notes version of Kaiann’s showcase of the A12 Bionic chip: It’s like hella friggin fast. You won’t even notice apps lagging anymore and you’ll be able to play Fortnite and stuff and it’ll look really really good. Like REALLY good. Other games will look good too.
This part of the A12/iPhone presentation is all “speeds and feeds.” It’s like reading a 1990s PC magazine.
Yeah it’s not like i do anything that’s actually important for the future of humanity on my iPhone.
Good to see that the world’s most powerful pocket computer is being used to map animal faces onto callers during FaceTime calls.
Real-time machine learning is possible on the new iPhones, for what should result in some super impressive camera and AR apps. Among other things.
“Without question, the smartest and most powerful chip ever in a smartphone,” says Phil Schiller.
5 trillion operations per second, compared to 600 billion from the slowpoke A11 Bionic.
A11 could process 600 billion operations a second. A12 Bionic can process 5 trillion!
Wow, the new A12 is way faster, and way more power efficient then the A11. Up to 50% more efficient.
This year’s A series chip is a big breakthrough. They’re calling it the A12 Bionic. It’s the first ever 7 nanometer chip. It’s got 6.9 billion transisters.
Face ID is going to be faster on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max because Apple sped up the secure enclave.
Watching movies on your 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max is going to be even better with improved stereo sound!
A beer-proof iPhone and an Apple Watch that can tell when you fall down on a Saturday night on the town. It’s like my colleague Killian has been advising Apple!
New large iPhone X S Max is the same size as the old iPhone Plus, only with a much bigger screen.
Apple is killing it with videos, too. This new Apple Watch Series 4 commercial is great!
Hopefully nobody bought a series 3 Apple Watch yesterday — price drop effective immediately.
Series 4 will be available to pre-order on Friday, and will be on sale September 21.
Phew! All the old watch bands fit Series 4. That’s great news for our Apple Watch store
Series 4 will be available in three aluminum finishes. All new band colors and styles fit any series of Apple Watch — and any bands you already own will work just fine with Series 4. The stainless steel line also gets a new finish — gold stainless.
“Apple Watch Series 4 is a device so powerful, so personal, so liberating that it can change the way you live each day,” Jony says.
I wonder if the ECG can also detect BMI body makeup — fat, bone, muscle etc?
Don’t smart scales use a small electrical current to measure these things through your feet?
Apple now plays another video on Series 4. It starts with Jony Ive gushing about its design.
That’s up to 18 hours a day, while outdoor battery life (when activity tracking) has been increased to six hours.
Same battery life as current models. Which, given the extra functionality, is not bad at all.
What Apple is doing with the Watch is truly astounding. It’s not just another smartwatch anymore; no other wearable provides this kind of functionality.
ECGs only available in the U.S at launch. Understandable, but I wonder if you can hack it, just by changing the region of your Apple Watch, like you can with News on iPhone etc?
“It’s amazing to think the same watch you wear everyday… can now take an ECG,” Williams says.
Can you imagine how many people are going to be buying these new Apple Watches for their relatives when they launch? How can you not get one, for instance, if your parent has a heart condition? Or for an aging relative who lives alone and is in danger of falling?
Wow. FDA clearance is a big deal. The Apple Watch is officially a medical device — not a tinker toy.
These features will be available to customers in the U.S. “later this year,” Apple says.
If you’re interested in the Apple Watch for its health capabilities, but have previously been on the fence, this is the model that will change your mind.
“Capturing meaningful data about a person’s heart in real-time is changing the way we practice medicine,” Benjamin says.
The ECG looks like an amazing tool for folks with heart conditions, and for early detection. A literal life-safer.
Apple invites Dr. Ivor Benjamin from the American Heart Association up to the stage to talk more about the ECG feature.
An Apple Watch ECG takes just 30 seconds, and at the end, it will provide you with a report on your heart rhythm.
In case you didn’t know, you would normally need to see a medical professional for an ECG. Now you can have one any time, anywhere.
The most impressive bit? Apple has installed electrodes into the new Apple Watch that allow you take your own electrocardiogram (ECG).
Apple Watch can now screen your heart rhythm in the background if it detects and irregular rhythm that indicates you could have a problem.
It will provide a notification when your heart rate appears to be too low, which could indicate your heart isn’t pumping enough blood to your body.
When you fall, a message with your location is sent to an emergency contact. Your family have no excuse to leave you in the freezing rain the next time you have a few too many and trip over your laces.
Dump your stock in the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” company! Apple Watch is gonna put them out of business.
Apple Watch’s fall-detection is going to get a real workout on a typical British Friday night out.
Apple captured data on real-world falls to make this happen. I wonder how many people got pushed over?
The new Apple Watch will monitor falls and help you call for help. That’s a genuinely transformative use case for a lot of people.
Series 4 is “just as impressive on the inside.” It’s powered by an Apple S4 chip with a 64-bit CPU and a new GPU that offers up to two times faster performance.
Jeff Williams just used a Steve Jobs line: “The back is absolutely beautiful.”
Jobs said the same thing about the original iMac.
I wonder how useful it is for radio waves to pass through the back of the new Apple Watch? How solid is the average forearm?
The back of Series 4 is made from black ceramic and sapphire crystal. It allows for better cellular reception, Williams says.
Series 4’s speaker has been redesigned and is now 50 percent louder, making phone calls and Siri interactions much better. The microphone has been moved to the opposite site of the device to help make phone calls clearer and reduce echo.
The digital crown now offers haptic feedback for a more mechanical feel. That should be useful for scrolling through podcasts.
Now we’re onto the Digital Crown, which now includes haptic feedback to provide a more mechanical feel.
The attention to detail in these new watch faces are insane! The bubble in the water face bounce off the edges!
Apple has also created some dynamic faces that fill Series 4’s larger screen. They look spectacular.
The Apple Watch Series 4 will tell you how to take a deep breath. And that’s actually a lot cooler than it sounds.
The Breathe app is now available as a Watch face in three variations. A simple raise of the wrist guides you through a deep breathe.
Giving users the ability to heavily customize their displays is a big change from Apple’s design philosophy of a decade ago — but a very welcome one.
The Modular face has also been redesigned to display more information in the center of the screen.
You can add loved ones to complications and tap them to instantly connect with them, or display multiple time zones at once.
Apple has created new complications that show more detail, and a new face that shows up to eight complications at once.
Series 4 screens are over 30 percent larger than their predecessors’. They come in 40mm and 44mm sizes, as expected, and they’re thinner this time around.
The new Apple Watch screen size is over 30 percent larger, but is actually smaller in volume due to its thinness.
“Everything about it has been redesigned and re-engineered,” Williams says about Series 4. “It’s just beautiful.”
Jeff Williams has a great line about the Apple Watch’s heart monitoring capabilities:
“Apple Watch has become a guardian for your health”
Apple Watch is an “intelligent guardian for your health.” Given the number of lives it has already saved, that’s no exaggeration.
Williams is walking us through the features Apple Watch offers to improve our health. He calls the device “an intelligent guardian for your health.”
Apple is “humbled and inspired” by how important Apple Watch has become to fans, Williams says.
Apple Watch has become an “indispensable part” of our lives for millions of people around the world, Cook says. Now Jeff Williams is up to tell us how Apple’s going to take Watch “to the next level.”
Apple Watch is being embraced by so many people around the world, Cook says. It’s not only the number one smartwatch, but the number one watch, period.
That’s impressive!
Cook is now about to talk about two of Apple’s most personal products, starting with Apple Watch!
Cook points out that those devices are changing everything we do, like transport, work, entertainment, and more.
“We aim to put the customer at the center of everything we do,” he adds, before touting iOS as the world’s most advanced and “most personal” operating system.
Between Mission: Impossible/Apple team-ups, we’ve come a long way in 22 years since the last one: https://www.cultofmac.com/476723/today-apple-history-mission-impossible-ad/
Apple Park looks incredible. I’d love to work there. You know, if I didn’t already have an awesome job.
Oh, look! Another Mission: Impossible sequel.
It’s about time they made a new one.
Apple is following up its excellent David Attenborough WWDC parody with a Mission: Impossible spoof to open the event.
And we’re live! Our first pictures show the inside of the Steve Jobs Theater, complete with sliding wall to reveal the auditorium.
looks like the tweet has already been deleted. What is that Tim Cook is in need of? Here’s a screenshot of it before it was deleted
Would not have called @tim_cook using Twitter DMs! What does he want? A fresh button down? A favorite snack? Sia’s wig? Dongles? pic.twitter.com/W3VldL1Rvs
— Heather Kelly (@heatherkelly) September 12, 2018
Tim Cook just posted something weird. “No. Who can get it here quickly?” he wrote just now.
The tweet looks like a text instead of a tweet.
I currently have two Apple livestream feeds open on my Mac to see which is fastest. Debating putting it up on my iPhone too… or would that be overkill?
Here’s the remote camera that will broadcasting today’s event. Spotted by our Japanese Apple journalist friend @nobi
どうやらこの後の発表会中、私の頭上を中継用の遠隔操作カメラが通る模様！
You will be watching live broadcast from this remote controlled camera #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/9jWkd5kw7l— Nobi Hayashi 林信行 (@nobi) September 12, 2018
True, the new iPad Pro tablets would be in danger of getting lost in the iPhone Xs hoopla, but Apple might not be worried. 2016 was the last time Apple came out with a iPhone and an iPad in fall, and both were announced together.
Reminder: You can watch Apple’s keynote live stream on Twitter. It comes with curated tweets and everything
Despite this morning’s leak, I’m still hopeful that we’ll see the redesigned iPad Pro models that have been in so many rumors.
My predictions for prices:
iPhone Xs Max $999
iPhone Xs: $875
iPhone Xr (or Xc): $699
There have been so many spoilers for the products coming at this event. What are the biggest unknowns at this point? AirPower launch date? AirPods 2 in the pipeline? Apple Watch Series 4 actual features? Pricing, pricing, pricing?
Fingers crossed that the leaks (especially the new iPhone names) have been an elaborate Apple head fake.
The Apple Store app now just says “Be Right Back.” It’s almost like a bunch of new products are about to be added.
People are already being let into the theater which looks pretty cozy.
— Neil Cybart (@neilcybart) September 12, 2018
Heading in!
Going in! #AppleEvent @DigitalTrends pic.twitter.com/T0RMv7GH7N
— Julian Chokkattu (@JulianChokkattu) September 12, 2018
Apple has custodians mopping up the small waterfall of dew falling off the roof of the Steve Jobs Theater, which, natch, has no rain gutters.
Slight design issue with the buildings at @Apple Park: The roofs drip, so they have people with swiffers to wipe up the water. At the shareholder meeting, one woman wiped out and hurt her wrist pic.twitter.com/E580DNhAB1
— Shara Tibken (@sharatibken) September 12, 2018
Badges for the event are very minimalist. And black. Errr ummm… space gray!
The badge for today’s #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/RNTpOhK7jE
— Connie Guglielmo (@techledes) September 12, 2018
These smoked salmon avocado tarts look absolutely TO DIE FOR!
New Apple product leak: smoked salmon avocado tart pic.twitter.com/lihuHx4zDU
— Ina Fried (@inafried) September 12, 2018
Jalapeno and candied bacon deviled eggs! I won’t one of those more than a new iPhone right now.
Here’s a little look at the breakfast treats Apple is serving up this morning
tasty! pic.twitter.com/53puTgVSgU
— kif in san francisco (@kifleswing) September 12, 2018
Some other things we apparently already know, due to overnight leaks:
• Huge Apple website leak confirms new iPhone names and colors
• Apple Watch Series 4 will come in 40mm and 44mm sizes
• Big Apple leak contains no sign of new Macs or iPad Pros
More @Apple Park beauty shots #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/HM7koUpQ0Y
— Shara Tibken (@sharatibken) September 12, 2018
We’re 1.5 hours away from showtime but some members of the press are already inside the Steve Jobs Theater.
Inside Steve Jobs Theater for today’s #applevent pic.twitter.com/lWOHGdb76U
— Connie Guglielmo (@techledes) September 12, 2018
