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In a world where leaks, almost, dominate the Tech spectrum, even if some of those may lead to potential lawsuits, it’s hard to really get too excited over new product launches anymore. Long gone are the days of the original iPhone announcement from 2007, to way back in 1984 with the Macintosh. Although, I don’t entirely blame leaks, though, as that’s just a failure of the company in question, I actually blame the way these Events are done. Pre-2020, all Apple Events were in person, they were presented, and that’s what made Apple “different” when it came to new announcements. It inspired, pretty much, the entire Tech space to follow suit. Then, during the scamdemic, they stopped. Admittedly, obviously, firstly as you couldn’t do in-person Events, but, they’ve now chosen to stick to their former compromise for Events permanently, and, I don’t think Apple Events have ever recovered. Especially, as this opens the door to a bit of, potential, fakery, in what is being announced and represented… looking at you Apple Intelligence, where Apple was, allegedly in reports, showing off software features, the software team were unaware of.

Unfortunately, though, this is the new norm. Hopefully Apple do, one day, return to in-person, it seems really dumb as Tim Cook does still attend the Events in person to greet those invited, to, then, just turn the Steve Jobs Theatre in to a glorified Apple promo Cinema. Seems a waste to me. So, what was announced, let’s get to it.

A lot to get skint for…

Many people have been holding off on upgrading their existing iPhone and Apple Watch device, so, is this the year to do so? Well, I think if you’re not waiting for the rumoured foldable next year, absolutely! This is the first year the iPhone gets a true redesign, since the iPhone 12… you could even argue, iPhone 11 Pro. Plus, there’s a new face to the iPhone lineup in the iPhone Air. Not to mention all new AirPods and Watches.

Although, it’s fair to say, where some hit hard, others are pretty meh. So, let’s dive deeper, shall we.

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Apple Watch

Well, here they are, Apple’s all new Watch line up for 2025. If you’re looking at all three in the new line up and thinking, “what’s new?”, well, you ain’t the only one. I’m not saying these are, necessarily, bad, but, there’s a reason Apple Watch gets the first announcement spot as it’s generally rather boring.

It makes sense why Apple Watch sales have, not only, plateaued, but, in some markets, begun to fall. Everyone who wants an Apple Watch, has one, and those who have one from the last few generations, have little reason to jump to a new one. However, their are a few decent updates on these which we’ll get to, as well as a very easy way to save if this is your “upgrade year”.

Apple SE 3 is, by far, the best update yet

If there’s a continuing trend from the Apple Event, this year, it’s fixing the boring ones. This is very true with the Apple Watch SE, Apple’s more budget friendly Apple Watch. Like the entire line up, there’s no design changes this year, but, what you now get with the SE 3, does make a big difference in the gap between the SE, and the regular Series 11.

Internally, there’s no compromise, the Apple Watch SE 3 features Apple’s powerful S10 processor from the Series 10 (more on that later), meaning that, performance and internals wise, the only drawback is the smaller battery and lack of super-fast cellular. Which, for a Watch for casual use, is hardly a draw back.

The massive new addition to the SE 3, and, the single feature I used to call out to those thinking of one, is the FINAL inclusion of an Always-on Display! Ever since introduced in the Series 5, it’s a feature you don’t think you care about, until it’s gone. Granted, if you’ve never had one with an Always-on, you wouldn’t know, but, adding that to the SE 3, with it’s much more budget friendly £219 price point, it’s a steal!

In fact, the only major feature, I would say, that makes the SE 3 recognisably the “cheap one”, is the bezels. The same thicker old bezel design remains on the SE 3. Although, if you’re using this in dark mode, and, typically have a dark Watch face, you’d be hard pressed to notice that much. And, I also think, it’s an acceptable omission to keep this affordable. This will be a popular one.

What’s new on the Ultra 3… erm 📡

Since the introduction of the original Apple Watch Ultra, this has infamously being the Apple Watch most mocked, if you ask me. It’s huge, bulky, ugly, I’d say, BUT, very durable and built for a purpose. Since the original, there’s a darker Titanium model, to match the natural shown, other than that, once again, no new design changes.

In fact, this is actually one of the smallest changes ever to an Apple Watch announcement… until we get to the Series 11. But, changes are there if you look for them. The biggest one is the increase in screen-to-body ratio, with an increase screen size now up to 1.93 square inches, up from 1.84 square inches, without an increase in the physical Watch size. This is simply reducing the bezels. Which is good, really, as I always thought the Ultra had unseeingly large ones.

Other than that, though, the only major new feature is the inclusion of Satellite connectivity. The chip, the same S10, design and fit, the same as previous Ultras, so, it really is just that. Don’t get me wrong, this is huge for people who use their Apple Watch Ultra in its fully intended use-case, and we’re sure Apple will be very happy to hear about your experience how this “saved your life”.

Unlike the others, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 retains its predecessors price, starting at £799.

Apple Watch Series 11 … more like 10S? Barely.

Easily one of the most disappointing announcements in terms of Apple Watch comes in the form of the Series 11. Like the Ultra 3, it has the same internals, the same S10 processor as its predecessor, meaning all Apple Watches are now running the same silicon. In fact, this one will be a real struggle for you to find what’s new here.

There’s also no design, or, even colour changes. The same three aluminium finishes of Rose Gold, Space Grey, Silver and the VERY scratch prone Jet Black remain. As well the same brushed Titanium finishes in Gold, Natural and Slate. In fact the only differences that Apple could find in the Series 11 come down to two things; 5G and battery.

Don’t get us wrong, an improvement in battery life is huge for an Apple Watch, claims increasing the 18 hours to 24 hours of use (Apple calculations). However, many have pointed out, looking at the small print, their was some sneaky ways of calculating a higher number for the Series 11, so, we’re not sure if it is that big of a difference. Plus, let’s be honest, if you’re using 5G connectivity, instead of 4G, you’ll be using more battery. So, we think, honestly, it’ll be about the same. It’s also worth mentioning, the actual use of 5G on a Watch is fairly empty. The most data you’ll ever use will be Maps and streaming Music, which, really doesn’t require that much network speed. This is, in our opinion, a pretty dead update.

Series 10 is an opportunity to save yourself some money

One positive, though, is the Apple Watch Series 11 is actually cheaper than the Apple Watch Series 10, in terms of launch prices. Starting at £369, down from £399, with the Titanium models at £649, down from £699. This is pretty awesome to see and only opens the door for these to be more affordable moving forward as, yes, Apple Watch prices do regularly go on sale.

Another way to save money, though, would be to, let’s be honest, just buy a Series 10. The differences, unless you really want 5G, are negligible. There’s also quite a few deals on select Series 10, saving over £100 on base models around £280 – £320 in many places, closing the gap towards the SE level of pricing. We’ve also seen some decent savings on Titanium models around £580 – £610. Not massive savings, but, savings none-the-less for a Watch that will, literally, feel no different.

This is why I’m, actually, not getting the Series 11, and, instead opting for a discounted brand new Series 10 in Titanium. Why? Well, why not. I’ll be saving money, Amazon has 0% on 5 payments making it barely £100 a month, and, I don’t have to wait for the 19th September release date.

I understand, for some, the sake of £50 – £100 might not be a big enough saving to not get the latest and greatest. I would normally agree, but, I, genuinely, don’t see where the benefits are. The only thing is the battery. But, with Apple’s claims already in doubt, we think this is a safe bet. If it turns out to be a BIG difference, then, yes, I’ll be retuning my Series 10 and paying that bit more for the Series 11. But, I doubt it.

Whilst my old Series 7 isn’t, unusable, and will get watchOS 26, the battery life is showing its age, so, this was the year to take the plunge regardless. Plus, this means Hannah can try an Apple Watch for the first time. Normally, like with the iPhone we’ll get to later, I’d be trading in my older device to save, but, let’s just say once an Apple Watch goes under 80% battery, they’re worth less than a Happy Meal at McDonalds. Probably the only Apple produced which depreciates so much.

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AirPods Pro 3

I was hard-pressed to decide whether it was this, or the iPhone 17 line up, that was the star of the Apple Event, because, trust me, these are good! The new AirPods Pro 3 continue Apple’s incredible noice-canceling earphones with a pretty decent update.

These are also the first AirPods Pro to get a redesign, even if you’ve to pinch to see it. The buds themselves are smaller, the Ear Tips now feature a memory foam, like, material, which should mean better comfortability, and the Case is a lot smaller. Battery life, also, make a huge jump, up from 5 hours with ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), to now 8 hours with ANC. That’s pretty much an all day constantly, in use. Apple promote this by saying they can now finally handle the 9-5, quite literally. Not to mention the speed for which AirPods, already, charge back up inside the Case.

This is probably the only, one of two, disappointments with the AirPods Pro 3. The Case, whilst yes, retains the 24 hours of battery life, combined with the Buds, it is, still, just retaining it. With the Buds increasing their battery life by a big margin, it is disappointing Apple couldn’t have increasing the Case capacity. The second, slightly, disappointing thing about the AirPods Pro 3, is the silicon. Yep, this year, Apple just likes keeping the same one as last time. The same H2 chip, powering the AirPods Pro 2, is, also found in the AirPods Pro 3.

The reason retaining the H2 concerned many, like me, is because most of the audio processing is done via the chip. However, we have it on good authority, that due to the entirely new redesign to the Buds, the speakers, and everything else, the sound quality is a big improvement in the lows and highs. Not to mention a, yet again, DOUBLE in noise cancellation performance. I still remember the big improvement going from original AirPods Pro, to AirPods Pro 2, so, the fact Apple claim it’s double the AirPods Pro 2, and 4x that of the original, I’m VERY excited to check them out!

Similar to the Apple Watch Series 11, as well, Apple’s on a roll at reducing things, reducing the RRP of £250, down to £219. I’d argue, AirPods Pro 3, are the single no-brainers, from this Event. So, let’s get to the big one.

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Apple iPhone

Here they are, the all new iPhone line up for 2025, and, I have to be honest with you, I’m very impressed. This was said to the the sleeper year, until we get the infamous foldable next year if rumours are to be believed, but, honestly, ALL the new iPhone line up has something new and exciting to set it apart. So, here we go.

iPhone 17, the base model has never been this good!

Has the design changed? No, but, everything else has! Let me be clear here, the iPhone 17 is quite simple, the iPhone for the 90%. It’s got an all new A19 Processor, which, to be fair is around about the A18 Pro, so it’s nice and fast, plus they’ve made a HUGE improvement to the Display. The screen on the iPhone 17 is, by far, the most impressive thing about it. Gone are the days of disappointing 60Hz and compromising over the Pro, the iPhone 17 base models have the identical display as the iPhone 17 Pro! No, really! That means 120Hz Promotion debuts to the non-Pro iPhone, as well as always-on display. It’s much brighter too with a huge 3,000nits of outdoor brightness. This is a good screen! Then, if that wasn’t enough, the same £799 price nets you an iPhone 17 with 256GB Storage, up from 128GB. There’s no other way of looking at it, this is the hidden gem of the new iPhone line up.

Center Stage Camera, a huge boost in the front facing Camera

A feature coming to all the new iPhone models, including the base iPhone 17, is Center Stage. Whilst you’ve likely heard Apple use that branding before, this is typically used to highlight Apple’s wide angle Selfie Cameras on the latest iPads, and, on the newest MacBook Pro and Air, however, despite the name, the functionality is very different.

On the iPhone, Center Stage is an all-new 18 Megapixel Wide-Angle front Camera, with a genius twist. It’s actually, technically, a 24 Megapixel Camera, which is made from a square lens, as opposed to a narrow lens as typical. This removes the entire need to rotate your iPhone to take a widescreen Selfie, or, even 4K video recording, without sacrificing quality. Let me be clear here, without sacrificing quality. Whilst, on the phone, it might look like it’s simply cropping in, look again, it’s not. This is reframing the square lens to present you with identical quality 18 MegaPixel Selfies in Portrait or Landscape. I’m pretty confident this will set the stage of this being the new standard in all competing Smartphones going forward.

As you can see from the example shown from Apple, the same Camera, without zooming, can dynamically switch between Camera modes to suit who is in, or not in the shot. Whilst I’m not, personally, huge on Selfies, I have a feeling this will be very much loved by Hannah, and, I think a lot of people will be switching over for this alone.

To be clear, this is on the iPhone 17, as well as the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro, which we’ll get into more about now.

iPhone Air

Easily the most highlighted of Apple’s announcements, of course, is the all new iPhone Air. Not 17 Air, just, Air. This is the next step in Apple’s look to the future of the iPhone. However, unlike the iPhone X, this comes at a, quite considerable, cost, and I don’t mean financially. Sharing the same price as the iPhone X at £999 with the same base 256GB, I, actually, don’t think is a bad price for this. And, if the look, feel, lightness, thinness, and, appeal, of your phone is the most important thing, this is the iPhone for you. Apple have even packed it with the A19 Pro processor, though, under clocked and lacking 1 GPU core, likely for thermals. It also features a very sleek brushed Titanium finish on the sides which really adds to the premium look and feel. This is also, for some reason, the last of Apple’s iPhone announcements to have a Black colour, more on that later.

But, as we hinted, this comes at a cost, many which, for us, make this DOA, but, for many others, are things you can pass by without. In fact, let’s just list the big ones;

• Only the one single rear Camera at the back (the same Center Stage at front)
• Only one single Speaker at the Earpiece
• USB-2 speeds on the USB-C port (it’s bad enough on the base model)
• eSIM only, no physical SIM slot on the iPhone Air worldwide (other models still have a SIM card slot, but, currently, not in the US)
• Much reduced battery capacity

The Camera, honestly, for a lot of people I know, is probably a non issue. These days, most people take Selfies than rear Photos now, and it’s not to say the 48 MegaPixel Camera is bad, it’s the same main shooter on the regular 17, but, it is the only one. The housing for the Camera is actually pretty interesting. Apple have packed, pretty much, all the internals inside that layer, from the processor to everything else to, allegedly, pack as much battery life as possible, we’ll get to that. This does come with its own trade off, however, with the front Dynamic Island big much lower than you’d normally expect, simply because it cannot fit without the Camera bump to fall back on. But, it’s a forgivable compromise, I’d say. Where things get a bit more unforgiving, for us, comes in regard to the Speakers, or lack thereof. Ever since the iPhone 7, Apple’s had dual Speakers on their phones and, especially recently, they’re very good ones too. However, with the iPhone Air, there’s no Speaker around the USB-C charging port, only an amplified Earpiece. Meaning, what is expected to be, much lower quality audio and a pretty poor watching experience.

Battery life is an obvious concern with a device so thin. This was, originally, expected to house a Silicon Carbon battery, the newest technology that allows much more power in to a smaller footprint, but, no, the same regular old battery tech is in all the new iPhone models, including this. Whilst Apple claimed “all day battery life”, they did so by immediately announcing a custom built MagSafe Power bank for it. That’s not exactly confidence. If you believe the Apple propaganda on their website comparisons, it should be the same battery life as the iPhone 16 Plus (in terms of video playback), I doubt that highly. But, let’s see, it may surprise us.

Plus, it’s a bit too big, I think. Sure, it replaces, even in price, perfectly, the iPhone 16 Plus, but, this is near the size of a Pro Max phone, and that’s just too much.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

Now for Apple’s star of the show, the all new iPhone 17 Pro line up. Despite all the compromises we covered with the iPhone Air, I think it’s fair to say it’s actually this, the iPhone 17 Pro that’s got the most people divided. Mostly over its design. Personally, I don’t mind it, in fact, in person it’s a very nice looking phone. But, especially if you’re looking at the garish Cosmic Orange colour, it’s obvious to see why some people are like, woah! Despite this, though, the Blue and Silver colours, I think, look pretty awesome and sleek, so, I’m personally rather excited to get myself the Silver iPhone 17 Pro.

I will say this, it’s awesome to finally be able to order a brand new iPhone at base specification again. 256GB base storage is, quite literally, the perfect sweet spot for anyone. I still have my iPhone 15 Pro, currently, which, itself was upgraded for the 256GB storage and I’m only just using half, so, more than safe to keep that storage tier, especially with iCloud and, cloud storage, in general.

Whilst I am a bit disappointed that the iPhone 17 Pro is thicker, and, slightly, heavier, you won’t see me complaining about the return to aluminium. Titanium was AWFUL on the 15 and 16 Pro lineup. It felt weird, was a finger print magnet, but, most of all, it is infamously terrible for heat. Whilst Apple like to pretend Apple Silicon has no competition and is perfectly efficient in every way, that’s not the case, and the heat issues on my iPhone 15 Pro, honestly, is the biggest reason I need to get rid of it before it drags it under 80% battery health. But, that’s not the only positive in terms of reducing heat as Apple have finally added a vapour chamber in the Pro models to reduce heat. This is big step forward and I’m looking forward to be able to hold a phone and not a radiator, for the first time in 2 years.

Sharing the same Center Stage Camera at the front, one of the big changes, as always with the Pros, is with the back Cameras. For the first time, all three are 48 MegaPixel, including the Telephoto which used to be 12 MegaPixel. However, that Telephoto also used to be 5x optical, and it’s actually reduced to 4x optical in terms of literal specifications as Apple marketing is playing a big role here. Whilst, yes, you can get 8x “optical” zoom, as Apple call it, this is a crop in to shoot a 24 MegaPixel image. Is it a lie? Technically not, but, is it a bit deceiving, ohh yes.

Overall, though, I’m looking forward to checking out the iPhone 17 Pro. Other than the unibody aluminium design with the glass area at the back to retain Wireless Charging support, it is probably a small upgrade from an iPhone 16 Pro, I’d even argue, if I wasn’t having dreadful issues with my 15 Pro, it’s not a big upgrade, but, it’s good to finally get a new redesign. That’s huge.

Whilst pricing hasn’t, again, technically gone up, this is, once again Apple marketing at play. Unlike the base iPhone 17 which gets the 256GB without a price penalty, the Pro line, need to fork out more brass. So, whilst, yes, I can purchase a base iPhone and have enough storage, with the Pro line, it still feels, price wise, like you’re upgrading from an invisible 128GB version. Price starts £1,099 or £1,199 for the Pro Max. If you’re really insane, exclusive to the Pro Max is a 2TB model at £1,999! Whilst many are saying this is Apple’s first £2,000 phone, it’s not, is it, because no one needs that unless they’re going to take advantage of the new Pro Res RAW video recording, which, let’s be real, we’re not.

eSIM or Battery life? 🔋

One big focus on the iPhone 17 Pro line is battery life, and I’m all here for it. With all Pro models getting close to 20% larger capacity batteries, in the more efficient A19 Pro, this is exciting to see. Apple have also added their own custom Wireless modem the N1 in to these new phones, which is pretty awesome. What isn’t awesome, is the divide between the US iPhone 17 Pros and the non-US models when it comes to battery life.

As has been the case for some time now, the US, all iPhone models are only available with an eSIM, just like the iPhone Air is worldwide. Outside of the US, though, a SIM card slot remains, same here in the UK. I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not happy about this. In some case, we could lose up to 10% of battery life (in the most extreme example in the iPhone 17 Pro Max), due to the inclusion of a physical Card slot, and I don’t think we’re in a position where we’re not ready for eSIM Adoption. Yes, it was bad at the start, but, today, not just the Major networks, but even, practically all, MVNO networks offer eSIM, so, I would have preferred it to be eSIM only worldwide for all iPhone models. Force the industry to move forward, in regions it hasn’t, and, make the battery life fair.

Obviously, this isn’t the only example of phones been different in the US compared to the rest of the world, looking at you Samsung with the old Snapdragon there, Exynos here, but, it’s still a shame. Despite the loss in battery though, even with the drop, it’s still expected to be a decent improvement over the 16 line up, so, it’s a step in the right direction.

Reverse Wireless Charging? … No.

Whilst the rumour mill is always very dangerous when it comes to spoiling everything, they were very wrong about the base iPhone 17 in many ways, which is good because it’s a much better phone than we were expecting. But, with the Pro line, we lost out on a few things. Biggest being reverse Wireless charging, yep, not here. It’s understandable to see why someone might think it would be, with a whole area of focus, but, no, that’s not a thing. Although, I will say, the use case is pretty poor.

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Summarising them all

I’ll be honest with you, despite occasional setbacks, this was a solid Apple Event, it’s sad that I’m losing quite a lot of money thanks to that, but, let’s be fair, every single announcement is an improvement and worthy upgrade from anything you’ve had for at least two years ago. And that’s great, as last year felt very empty.

Maybe I’ll follow up my experience with all these devices going forward. You’ll have to let us know if that’s something you’d be interested in.

An awful pre-order experience

I want to end this post by adding my personal experience in pre-ordering everything that has been. Originally, I purchased a pre-order through Apple, thinking that would be the best option, but, let me just say this, it’s not! Not only was the shipping estimates very far out, we’re talking October 5th delivery dates, but, if you looked around, other places guarantee September 19th delivery, which is the actual release date. So, I ended up getting my iPhone and AirPods Pro 3 from Carphone Warehouse and Currys, respectively.

However, I’d already placed a pre-order from the Apple Store, originally, So, I needed it cancelling, sounds easy, right? Wrong! Apple’s customer support couldn’t cancel it. Now, if they had just specified that it takes a few hours to process the originally placed order, then it can be cancelled, that would be OK, but, that wasn’t my experience. They were rude, condescending, and clearly running on some kind of commission as everything was more buy more buy more, and less, actually helping out. Needless to say, I’ve cancelled all the pre-orders done through Apple, and, honestly, it’s put me off ever ordering through them again. Really bad, Apple. You used to be the pioneers of Customer Service in Tech, now, you’re probably one of the worst.

Sorry to end on a downer, so, let’s lift that spirit up, I’ve an iPhone 17 Pro, Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 3 coming up, hopefully September 19th release date. Bring it on 😊.

Did you purchase any of the newly announced Apple products, let us know.