Tim Cook promised a “huge” morning full of “big” announcements, and boy was he not kidding.
Apple kicked off its 2019 iPhone keynote by diving straight into Apple Arcade. Cook and his colleagues didn’t let off the gas until they squeezed all the juice possible out of Apple’s product lineup 105 minutes later. After promising attendees that innovation would be on full display, Apple revealed it’s coming for your wrist, your pocket, living room, TV, gaming console, DSLR and much more.
iPhone 11 event
Today’s iPhone 11 keynote was so jam-packed, Apple’s speakers were forced to flash giant slides crammed with features that didn’t even get mentioned. We went through all the fine details, though, so you don’t miss any of the most important bits from the “By Innovation Only” event.
Apple Arcade
Photo: Apple
Upcoming subscription service Apple Arcade brings a new tab to the App Store that shows you new games available to play. It also puts editorial front and center, with game guides and info on upcoming titles so you can stay keyed in on the gaming scene.
First up, Konami showed off its game, Frogger in Toy Town, which will be available in Apple Arcade at launch. The game mixes elements of classic Frogger with a new exploring element that opens up the world to your frogger.
Then Capcom teased its new game, Shinsekai: Into the Depths, which plunges you into an underwater world where you kill monsters because the ocean’s surface is completely frozen.
Annapurna Interactive’s ambitious new game Sayonara Wild Hearts is like a playable Japanese anime music video. It’s certainly the most original of the new titles we saw, none of which will have any in-app purchases for Apple Arcade subscribers.
Apple Arcade launches on September 19. It will be available in 150 countries at launch, with new games coming out every week. A family Apple Arcade subscription will cost $4.99 and comes with a one-month free trial.
Apple TV+
Photo: Apple
After giving us a teaser of its shows this spring, Apple finally gave us the full details on its TV streaming service. This morning, Apple pulled back the curtain on See, starring Aquaman’s Jason Momoa, by showcasing the series’ first official trailer.
With an Apple TV+ subscription, you get access to all of Apple’s original TV shows. In addition to See, Apple also filled in the details on Apple TV+ pricing and launch date. Apple TV+ launches in more than 100 countries on November 1. More Apple originals will arrive every month.
Apple’s streaming video service will cost $4.99 for a family subscription. The surprisingly affordable price point makes it extremely competitive with Disney+, which will launch around the same time. To push users to the service, Apple is giving anyone that buys a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch a free one-year subscription to Apple TV+.
New 2019 iPad
Photo: Apple
With iPadOS coming September 19, Apple busted out a cheap new iPad to take advantage of it. The new seventh-generation iPad received a huge update, including a bigger display measuring 10.2-inches diagonally. With nearly 3.5 million pixels, the cheap iPad delivers more than three times the number of pixels of cheap notebooks.
Powered by the A10 chip, the new iPad also adds a Smart Connector on the back that allows you to use Apple’s Smart Keyboard with it. Pricing on the new iPad starts at $329. For education customers, it costs just $299. The new entry-level Apple tablet starts shipping September 30.
Apple Research app
Three new Apple health studies are being launched: a hearing study, a women’s health study, and heart and movement study. The three research projects will utilize data acquired from Apple Watch wearers to create the biggest studies of their kind. You can sign up for the studies with the new Apple Research app that should come out this year.
Apple Watch Series 5
Photo: Apple
Apple Watch Series 5 finally adds an always-on Retina display that makes the watch face and complications visible at all times. Tapping on the screen brings everything to full brightness. Apple had to add a new display driver and ambient light sensors to deliver the always-on display without compromising the 18-hour battery life found on previous models.
Series 5 also comes with a built-in compass. With the Maps app, you can finally see which way you’re facing. Or, if you get lost in the woods, the new Compass app could help you find your way back to civilization (or the nearest LTE signal). Apple also updated safety features, with improvements to the SOS lifesaver to give you access to international emergency calling.
More case finishes than ever are available on this year’s new Apple Watch model. There’s gold, space black, polish, titanium, brushed space black, ceramic, aluminum and new Nike models. Hermes made some new fashionable Apple Watch bands, too. And, starting with Apple Watch Series 5, you can go into an Apple store and create the perfect combination of Apple Watch and band.
The GPS Series 5 models start at $399. For cellular models, you’ll fork over $499. The new watches will arrive in stores September 20. Series 4 goes away, but Series 3 will stick around — at just $199. Titanium Series 5 Apple Watches start at $799, with ceramic models going for $1,299 and up.
iPhone 11
Photo: Apple
Following up on the success of the iPhone XR, Apple unveiled the iPhone 11 this morning. The entry-level iPhone sports a new aluminum and glass body, with two amazing rear cameras that could make it the most attractive iPhone to most people. It’s cheaper price tag doesn’t hurt, either.
The iPhone 11 comes in six colors and packs a 6.1-inch True Tone LCD display. It supports Dolby Atmos sound and uses the same speedy new A13 Bionic processor that powers the iPhone 11 Pro. Apple already dubbed its new chip the fastest processor in a smartphone, and the iPhone 11 puts all that muscle to use.
Battery life was one of the best features of the iPhone XR, so Apple’s keeping that going. iPhone 11 promises one hour more battery life than iPhone XR. Face ID has been improved, too, and iPhone 11 offers better water- and dust-resistance.
The new shooters on the back got the most stage time, though. iPhone 11’s dual cameras include an ultra-wide lens, which lets you capture more of the scale of subjects, and a normal lens. However, there’s no telephoto lens, which might be a bummer for some people who like to get in closer to their subjects without moving.
An improved Portrait mode is supported on the new iPhone 11 camera. Apple finally added the ability to shoot portraits of your pets and use it for creative depth-of-field shots. Studio Lighting also got upgrades. And Night mode is one of the best new iPhone 11 cameras features. It comes on automatically to help brighten photos in dark environments. Using adaptive bracketing, Apple intelligently fuses images together to eliminate motion and blur from long exposures.
iPhone 11 will cost just $699, making it even cheaper than the iPhone XR. It launches later this month alongside the new iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max. They’ll be available for preorder at 5 a.m. PDT Friday, with units shipping September 20.
iPhone 11 Pro
Photo: Apple
The star of today’s show was undoubtedly the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. This marks the first time Apple slapped a “pro” moniker on a phone — and the device seems deserving. It brings better water resistance, stronger glass, and faster LTE networking. iPhone 11 Pro gives you four hours more battery life than iPhone XS, Apple says, while the Pro Max delivers five hours longer battery life than iPhone XS Max. Apple tossed in an 18-watt power adapter, too, so you can charge your phones faster.
The core of the iPhone 11 Pro design is a surgical stainless steel band. Apple calls it the toughest enclosure it’s ever made. With that screaming new A13 Bionic chip, it’s also Apple’s fastest phone ever.
iPhone 11 Pro’s marquee feature is the three cameras on the back: wide-angle, telephoto and ultra-wide. All three are on a 12-megapixel processor and work with the A13 chip’s image signal processor to bring “pro” photography to your phone. You can zoom in or out by 2x, giving you a bigger range of creative control on your photos. Some pro photographers got their hands on the iPhone 11 Pro early, and their images looked absolutely stunning. Here too, Night mode lets you capture more detail in dark shots.
Deep Fusion is a new feature coming to the iPhone 11 Pro via an update later this year. It uses machine learning to combine nine images with a long exposure into one balanced shot with lots of detail and low noise. “It’s computational photography mad science,” exclaimed Apple VP Phil Schiller during the keynote.
On the video side, all iPhone 11 Pro cameras shoot 4K 60fps with HDR. You can switch between the lenses dynamically while already recording video. Apple brought the creators of Filmic Pro onstage to show how their updated app will record on all four iPhone 11 Pro cameras at the same time, giving filmmakers more tools than ever.
iPhone 11 Pro starts at $999. The Pro Max version costs $1,099 and up. They’ll be available for preorder at 5 a.m. PDT Friday, with units shipping September 20.
