A completely new style of iPhone was released last night, and it’s so thin you could almost get away with posting it as a letter.
At 5.6mm, the iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest ever, and it’s pretty sleek, with CEO Tim Cook calling it ‘unlike anything you’ve experienced before’.
Even ChatGPT boss Sam Altman is a fan, posting that it’s the ‘first new iphone upgrade i have really wanted in awhile! looks very cool.’
For the important question of whether you could risk your new device by posting it, Royal Mail think something is thin enough to be in a regular envelope if it’s under 5mm. Nearly there, although given it is 165g, it will also have to work on getting under the 100g weight limit.
Here’s how the new iPhone Air looks:
Given how thin it is, you might be worried it would snap if you sit on it.
But Apple say it is strong, made from Grade 5 spacecraft titanium, as well as using Ceramic Shield 2 on both sides, making it the ‘most durable design yet’ and showing a video of it being dropped on the floor and surviving.
It has an A19 chip and Apple boast of its battery life, but the compromise may come in the single 48-megapixel camera, whereas the other models all have multiple lenses.
Last night’s Apple Event in Cupertino was the biggest date in the company’s calendar, when they released the next series of iPhone too, the iPhone 17.
The company has got a bit of bad rep for the latest iPhone launches being uninspiring compared to their heydey, more minor tweaks than any big overhauls.
But this year, tech geeks are more excited, with some major changes making this phone a real step up.
The iPhone 17
This year, the eSIM-only iPhone 17 models are designed with more processing power, using A19 or A19 Pro chips. They are easily able to support Apple Intelligence features in the latest iOS, as well as being prepared for future updates. Its cameras now span the whole of the back, looking more similar to Google Pixel models.
Given that the teaser image for the event showed a heat map, some thought part of the theme will be a cooler iPhone, literally.
They were right, as the Pro models switched back to aluminium rather than titanium, a metal which lets heat dissipate more quickly. They also contain a vapor chamber to disperse heat, improving performance and battery life. To do this, liquid in the chamber turns to vapour when the phone heats up, which draws heat away from internal parts like the chipset.
This time, you can get a Cosmic Orange Pro Max if that’s your style, but controversially you won’t be able to get a standard black one, as the only other colours announced were Silver and Deep Blue.
Apple’s Store went down yesterday afternoon ahead of the ‘awe dropping’ event.
The site going down has become something of a tradition, as it is typically taken offline before major launches to update product listings and prices.
While a folding iPhone may take longer to reach our pockets, there was plenty to get excited about if you’re an Apple fan.
Are you tempted by anything unveiled?
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Yes
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No
Live translation with AirPods Pro 3
Apple unveiled its next generation of AirPods, with live translation and a heartrate sensor for workouts their most eye (ear?) catching features at a starting price of £219.
Translation is available in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish, while Italian, Japanese, Korean and a simplified version of Chinese should be on offer by the end of the year.
The hands free feature quickly became a topic of chatter online, with people excited by the opportunities to eavesdrop.
It works as a user speaks naturally with AirPods, according to the tech giant.
Apple say: ‘To interact with someone who doesn’t have this hands-free capability, there’s an option to use iPhone as a horizontal display, showing the live transcription of what the user is saying in the other person’s preferred language.
‘When the other person responds, their speech is translated into the user’s preferred language with AirPods.
‘It’s even more useful for longer conversations when both users are wearing their own AirPods with Live Translation enabled from their iPhone.’
This feature is not only available with Apple: you can also do something similar with Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy buds.
Blood pressure monitoring on Series 11 Apple Watches
A highly anticipated feature was announced last night, which is the ability for their newest smart watches to monitor blood pressure over extended periods.
This has been in development for some time, and adds to the suite of health monitoring features.
Apple say it won’t be able to detect all hypertension,but can look for chronic high blood pressure over 30 day periods.
The company said it thinks it will alert over a million people with undiagnosed hypertension in the first year of availability.
You can also now get your hands on the Apple Watch Ultra 3, with a brighter screen as well as 5G and satellite connectivity.
Thinking of buying the iPhone 17? Here is the release date and all the new models
You will be able to pre-order the new models from 1pm on Friday September 12. They will be available on general release a week later, from Friday September 19.
There are four versions: the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The lower selling ‘Plus’ model didn’t get taken forward for the new series, in favour of the Air which brings the phone into line with MacBooks and iPads, which both have lightweight Air models.
Although the iPhone 16 Pro Max was top of the range just a few days ago, now you can’t even buy it as a lower cost new option, as it has been scrapped.
There have been big price cuts on the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus though.
So, if you’re still trying to coax an old iPhone XR into keeping its battery going long enough to check CityMapper on the way home, maybe it’s time to upgrade.
When is iOS 26 released?
You didn’t somehow forget iOS 19, 20, and 21: this time we are skipping ahead to iOS 26, because the naming system has changed.
Now, the operating system is taking the name of the year it will be most used in, 2026, which also means it can have a consistently named iOS with other Apple products.
As the new iOS was already available in beta form, there weren’t many surprises here, but we did get an official release date for the operating system featuring a ‘liquid glass’ display and the rollout of deeply integrated Apple Intelligence.
The latest iPhone software update will be coming on September 15.
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