Apple Event Live Blog: iPhone 16, Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4 Revealed

CEO Tim Cook closes out this year's iPhone 16 event. He recaps today's announcements, including the Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with active noise canceling, the iPhones 16 and 16 Pro, plus all the Apple Intelligence features making their way across the the company's product portfolio. Thanks for joining us!

All the new iPhone 16 models will be available for preorder this Friday, Sept. 13, and hit stores on the following Friday, Sept. 20.

The iPhone 16 Pro will start at $999 with 128GB of storage. The Pro Max will start at $1,199 with 256GB.

The iPhone 16 line will also get new clear and silicone MagSafe cases with Qi2 charging. 

The Voice Memos app is getting an update later this year to let users layer another track on top of an existing recording. Apple's presentation included a clip of a musician using the tool.

The Weeknd's new music video is shot on the iPhone 16 Pro, with a mention that the slo-mo 4K resolution setting at 120 frames per second allows for the effect.

Apple says there are four studio-quality mics in the iPhone 16 Pro. This also allows for spatial audio capture. Coupled with the new Audio Mix feature, it uses AI to separate background noise from speech. In-app, you can choose what kind of mix you'd like, such as studio or cinematic.

The iPhone 16 Pro phones can record 4K video at 120 frames per second, which helps for cinematic slow motion effects. Apple made a comedic clip to explain how it looks with these two guys walking away from a fiery explosion.

The iPhone 16 Pro has a new 48-megapixel fusion camera, 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and 5x telephoto camera.

It has a 16-core neural engine with 17% more bandwidth than the A17 Pro chip. A18 Pro has a 6-core GPU for a better gaming experience with 2x ray tracing performance. 

You can choose between four iPhone 16 Pro finishes: a darker black titanium, a brighter white titanium, natural titanium and a new desert titanium.

The iPhone 16 Pro will have thinner bezels to show off its new ProMotion display. 

While Apple said that the iPhone 16 Pro has a "stunning new design," it looks largely the same as the iPhone 15 Pro. 

Here's a snapshot of the market reaction after the iPhone 16 was announced.

The new iPhone 16 Pro models "deliver breakthrough innovation and incredible new capabilities," according to Tim Cook.

Apple's iPhone 16 will start at $799 and 16 Plus at $899, taking over the prices that the iPhone 15 started at last year.

There's better thermal management with iPhone 16 and the A18 chip. This thermal management means 30% more gaming power, according to Apple. The company also highlighted hardware-accelerated ray tracing to give more realistic lighting in games. This type of lighting tech is usually very computationally expensive. Resident Evil 8 Biohazard and Assassin's Creed Mirage will come to iPhone 16. Apple says Honor of Kings Worlds from Tencent is also coming to iPhone 16 next year. 

While it's cool console games are making their way to the iPhone, it doesn't seem that people really care. Releases of Resident Evil 4, Assassin's Creed Mirage and Death Stranding only sold a few thousand copies each. 

Emergency SOS live video -- which allows for sending video to emergency services -- will be part of iOS 18.

iOS 18 will bring a Photos app redesign that automatically sorts your library into collections.

Do you remember 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S? The feature didn't catch on, but was meant to provide iPhone users additional controls with lighter or heavier presses. The new Camera Control feature on the iPhone 16 line, which makes use of lighter touches along with haptic feedback, might be a new take on bringing this feature back with a specific focus on improving photography.

The new camera control includes a haptic touch experience, where you can do light touches on the button in order to access specific settings.

Visual Intelligence is a new feature that uses AI to scan the world around you. If you see a restaurant you like, you can take a picture of it and get restaurant hours and other information. Like Google's visual search, you can take a picture of a bike you want and get more details about what it is. Or, look up a breed of a dog. AI can also be used to look at homework problems and help you find a solution. 

Apple Intelligence will impact how you communicate on your phone. For example, you can create new emoji just by typing a description.

Software chief Craig Federighi said Apple Intelligence is built on multiple AI models.

"Apple Intelligence draws on the immense power of our silicon to run multiple generative models on the iPhone in your pocket," he said. "These models are built by Apple and fine-tuned for your everyday iPhone experiences, and they adapt dynamically to your current activity. For more computationally intensive tasks, Apple intelligence can unlock even more intelligence with Private Cloud Compute. Private Cloud Compute maintains the privacy and security of your iPhone while giving you access to generative models much larger than what fits in your pocket today."

The smarter Siri now on display will be able to understand when you misspeak a command, allowing you to pivot the command while talking.

Apple's software chief Craig Federighi said that Apple Intelligence is made possible by its custom A18 chip and other software. For more information on privacy, see what the company has said about its Private Cloud Compute system. 

Like with Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones, new AI writing tools are coming to the iPhone 16. This means texting help and summarization; there's also emoji and image generation. Apple says generative image tools are integrated into apps. AI can also help you find specific images in your library. Slideshows can also be made with simple text prompts. 

In Mail, AI can summarize your emails so that you can get a quick gist of what an email is about. This replaces seeing the first two sentences. AI is also used to see your most important notifications.

Apple really is going all-in on AI. It says that Apple Intelligence will be at the core of a lot of your iPhones functions, from messaging to photos. Like at WWDC, Apple repeats information on Private Cloud Compute. Whenever you use an AI task that requires more computing power, that data will be send over to Apple's data centers. To keep your data safe, Apple says this cloud computing is fully private and is open to outside groups to ensure that everything is safe. 

The iPhone 16 has a customizable action button that allows you to perform various functions, like recording a voice memo or translating phrases. Camera control is new on the iPhone 16. You can instantly access the camera by pressing a button and control camera features by sliding your finger.

Apple says it's jumping two generations from the A16 to the A18 chip, skipping A17 altogether. This is to power the neural network with 17% more bandwidth. The A18 chip is built on a 3nm fabrication for more transistors at less power. It's 30% faster than the A16 chip. Apple says this challenges high-end desktop processors. It's a six-core processor with a five-core GPU. 

Rotating through the iPhone 16's new colors, including ultramarine, pink and teal.

Apple's Camera Control feature allows for controlling the camera with a slide gesture on the phone.

The iPhone 16 is coming in ultramarine, teal and pink, alongside white and black.

Tim Cook switches the topic to the iPhone 16.

Apple investors are not yet rewarding the company for news about its new Watch and AirPods. But that could be because these products were long-rumored and expected, so they're baked into the stock price. Stay tuned.

It doesn't seem like we'll get a new AirPods Pro 3 but Apple is bringing some health features to the AirPods Pro 2. Hearing protection uses the on-board chip to limit the amount of noise hitting your ears but while also ensuring you're still getting dynamic range. Apple also brings a hearing test via the AirPods Pro. It uses an app on your phone and you tab the screen when you can hear certain tones, which then gives you your hearing test results. This data will be securely stored on the Health app. 

AirPods Pro 2 gets a hearing aid feature. After you take the hearing test, your AirPods Pro 2 can become hearing aids for those with moderate hearing loss. Your hearing profile is also applied to all of your devices. 

Apple is introducing two versions of the AirPods 4. In addition to the base model, there's also a second version that looks similar but has active noise cancellation.

The regular model will run $129 in the US, while the AirPods 4 with ANC will cost $179. Both models will be available for preorder today and go on sale on Sept. 20. 

Apple has announced a slight update to its high-end AirPods Max headphones. Apple's over-the-ear headphones come in midnight, blue, purple, orange and starlight and charge via a USB-C port. The headphones are still $549 and can be preordered today.

Apple is moving quickly. After moving through the Apple Watch, we are now up to the new AirPods 4. There is a new design for the wireless buds, which packs an H2 chip that can support "personalized" spatial audio even with its open-air style. 

The charging case is also Apple's "smallest" for AirPods and supports USB-C for wired charging. So long, Lightning. 

Just because Apple showed off a cool video of the Apple Watch Ultra 2, but it's not a brand-new device. It's just now available in black titanium. Here's a rundown. 

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes in a new satin black finish.

Taking your Apple Watch into the water? The new Series 10 is gaining a "built-in depth gauge and a water temperature sensor" for tracking underwater fun. When submerged, a new Depth app will appear that tracks how deep you are (up to 6 meters, or about 20 feet) with the temperature sensor letting you quickly check how warm or cool the water actually is.

A new Tides app will similarly show you the waves over a seven-day period, "including rising, falling, high and low tides, sunrise and sunset." Apple says it has data for "coastlines all over the world."

The Apple Watch Series 10 is the thinnest Apple Watch to date. It has a bigger display with what Apple calls a wide-angle OLED. The chassis is made with titanium and aluminum and is polished in either black, gold or natural. Along with better women's health features, there's a new tides app to follow the tides of various shorelines around the world, which is handy for snorkeling. It also charges faster, too. The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 for the GPS version and goes up to $499 for the cellular version. 

Apple Watch Ultra is now up, focusing on the new WatchOS 11 health features such as Training Load for checking how intense your exercises have been.

Apple Watch health features include reminders to take your medications and alerts if you're in a loud environment. The watch can alert you to signs of atrial fibrillation and measure wrist temperature to determine when you probably ovulated. A new vitals app can identify changes in your daily health status.

Sleep apnea detection is one of the headline features for the Apple Watch Series 10, but users of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 should note that Apple says both versions will also be getting the new functionality. 

Apple says the new chip in the Apple Watch Series 10 will have AI baked in. This can mean the neural network can clear up your voice during a call, adds widgets automatically, curates images and helps with translation. 

The Apple Watch Series 10 gets a speaker update that will make it the first watch to play media by itself, without needing Bluetooth headphones.

Apple has redesigned the Apple Watch Series 10 to be 9.7mm thick with a wide-angle OLED display for better off-axis viewing. It's also brighter than past Apple Watches. Apple says it's also lighter in weight. 

The Apple Watch Series 10 brings the biggest display ever.

We're officially underway at today's Apple event. CEO Tim Cook is starting the festivities and promising that we will hear updates on three products: Apple Watch, AirPods and iPhone.

The first one is the Apple Watch, which will turn 10 this year. 

Apple kicks things off with a sizzle reel featuring the iPhone, Apple Watch and other devices. People on screen are dancing and having a good time.

It's been two years since Apple's graced us with a new base iPad and three years since the last iPad Mini. It's about time these two tablets got a hardware refresh. Rumors have been circulating that Apple would reveal new iPad devices at this year's iPhone event. If rumors are true, expect spec bumps across the board, with better chips, screens and cameras. Although we suspect it's unlikely for a new iPad and iPad Mini to sport the same stunning OLED display of the iPad Pro. 

In case you're wondering why these September iPhone launches still get so much attention, it's because the iPhone remains the top product by sales that Apple offers.

The iPhone brought in $39.3 billion in revenue, or 46% of sales in the fiscal third quarter, which ended June 29. The next biggest category is services, which accounted for $24.2 billion in sales. You can find the earnings details here. 

Apple's fiscal year ends in September, so any preorders it can book this month help drive its fourth-quarter revenue and allow it to end its financial year on a high note, just as it enters the all-important holiday shopping season (October to December).

It seems that maybe iPhone shoppers are falling out of love with large screens. If reports from TF International Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo and Haitong International Securities' Jeff Pu turn out to be true, the iPhone 16 Plus may be the last of its kind. Apple may instead release a sleeker version of the iPhone 17 next year called the iPhone 17 Slim.

The problem is that the price gap between the iPhone 15 Plus and the iPhone 15 Pro was too small, so shoppers generally opted for the Pro, according to analysts. We won't know for sure until this time next year. But an iPhone 17 Slim could serve as a way to get consumers excited about the iPhone's design again, considering Apple doesn't sell a foldable iPhone. 

The CNET team is waiting to enter Apple Park for Monday's event.

The iPhone 16 lineup will undoubtedly be the star of the show. But it's not the only product Apple will likely announce. The company is also expected to refresh all three Apple Watch models by announcing a new Apple Watch SE, the Apple Watch X (or 10) and Apple Watch Ultra 3, according to Bloomberg. It's the Apple Watch X that I'm most excited about.

The Apple Watch's design hasn't meaningfully changed in years, but that's reportedly going to change with the Apple Watch X. For most tech products, design may not be the most important factor. But for a gadget that you wear on your wrist, style is important, and I'm looking forward to seeing whether the Apple Watch X will have an eye-catching new design. 

And then, of course, there's a whole laundry list of other things I'm hoping to see from the Apple Watch X, such as the Action button, new features for making better sense of health data and longer battery life.

Ahead of Apple's Glowtime event, a light breakfast is available for attendees at Apple Park.

The CNET team is now in Apple Park for today's Glowtime event. Apple's providing members of the press this blue pass for entry. 

If you've outgrown your current earbuds, Apple's Glowtime event could bring two shiny new options. Rumor is that the tech giant will unveil a duo of AirPods models that could replace Apple's second- and third-generation AirPods. Support for USB-C charging and other design changes would feature in the fourth-gen wearables.

Monday's event will reportedly skip an AirPods Pro announcement. While the new models aren't expected to borrow the Pro's ear tips, the fancier of the two devices could offer noise cancellation. It could also include a speaker on the case, similar to the current second-gen AirPods Pro. 

It's also possible that the Apple event will give its 4-year-old AirPods Max an upgrade, but changes may go no further than new shades and a USB-C port.

Apple's taken its online store down, which means that an availability shakeup is very likely to come from today's announcement. Typically, Apple's online store will go down in the lead-up to the company's product events, and then refresh afterward with all the details for any products that are announced.

Most likely, this will mean seeing the iPhone 13 retire out of the store, with price drops for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 line.

But if an older Apple product leaves the online store -- but you still want to buy it from Apple -- you might still see it in Apple's Certified Refurbished section or in its physical stores.

The rumors suggest that this won't be the event where we finally see the arrival of a foldable iPhone. In fact the iPhone Flip, as many are calling it, is tipped to arrive as late as 2026. While Apple clearly doesn't mind being late to the party -- it wasn't the first to launch a smartphone, tablet, smartwatch or laptop, after all -- its delay in getting in on the foldable game is giving its rivals a chance to dominate the category.

Samsung is already in its sixth generation of foldable, while Google's new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a solid improvement over its predecessor. Meanwhile, Motorola told CNET in 2023 that 20% of customers buying its Razr foldable jumped ship from Apple. 

While Apple clearly doesn't think it's missed the boat, biding its time for so long may make it harder to enter the folding arena when companies like Samsung have already cemented themselves as the go-to foldable name. 

iPhones always pack some of the best camera technology around, allowing them to take the sorts of images you'd normally expect to see from full-sized mirrorless cameras. Rumors have been circulating for months about what photography features we may see on the iPhone 16 range, but there are a few that particularly stand out.

One is the heavily rumored addition of a new dedicated camera button on the outside edge of the phone. This button would be especially geared toward photography, with multiple pressure levels allowing for a half press for focus, as you would on regular cameras. Some rumors also suggest it will recognise swipes, potentially allowing for you to swipe on the button to quickly zoom in or change other settings. 

Beyond the new button, early tipsters have suggested the Pro models will get bigger camera sensors for the main camera. I'm keen to see this as larger image sensors allow for better dynamic range and overall better image quality. It's why the Xiaomi 14 Ultra with its huge 1-inch type image sensor is able to take stunning photos.

While numerous other camera rumors are flying around, one of the more pervasive is that the 5x optical zoom will be available on both the standard Pro and Pro Max model. Right now if you want the long zoom (which, as a photographer, I do) it means opting for the larger, more expensive phone. If this is true, you'll be able to go for the smaller more pocket-friendly iPhone 16 Pro without having to sacrifice camera performance. 

In the coming hours, Apple is set to make its splashy foray into the world of generative AI for the iPhone 16. The iPhone maker is already late to the gen AI party, but it's even later to the foldable phone party. By contrast, Huawei is set to unveil the world's first trifoldable phone mere hours after Apple holds its Glowtime event for the iPhone 16, which doesn't fold. 

Huawei's upcoming foldable highlights the progress rival companies have made in innovating this newer subcategory of phones. Apple's first foldable, meanwhile, is reportedly not expected until 2025 at the earliest, with current rumors pointing to a flip phone. Huawei unveiled its first book-style foldable phone, called the Mate X, about five years ago. The Chinese tech giant's trifoldable phone, called the Mate XT Ultimate Design, is already up for presale in its native China. It reportedly racked up 2.7 million units in preorders on Monday, ahead of Apple's event. 

In just a matter of hours, Apple will hold its Glowtime event where the iPhone 16 and Apple Watch X will likely be revealed. Expect to see a lot of posturing and flexing from Apple execs about generative AI and Apple Intelligence. While today's keynote won't be all sizzle and no steak, try to look past the hype and slick presentation for the small things.

If you're someone who regularly watches or follows Apple events, try and remember what the big thing Apple revealed in 2022 with the iPhone 14 line. If you said the Dynamic Island, you'd be correct. Last year it was Apple switching the Lightning port over to a USB-C port on the iPhone 15 series. Both the Dynamic Island and the USB-C port are big things, but ask yourself if they significantly changed the way you used your iPhone.

I find things like Standby mode, the updated autocorrect on the keyboard, the Check-In tool in Messages and the ability to copy image edits in the Photos app from one picture to another to have truly made an impact on the way I use my iPhone. In contrast, I rarely if ever plug my iPhone 15 Pro Max in with a USB-C charger and instead rely on wireless charging via MagSafe most of the time. Think about Emergency SOS via Satellite and how it has helped people who were injured or stranded without a cell signal get in contact with emergency responders.

So when the video starts for today's iPhone event keynote, keep an eye out for the little things, they tend to be the most significant.

One of the lasting effects of the pandemic on the tech industry is how companies hold product launch events. Apple goes the pre-recorded video route with all the announcements filmed and edited well ahead of time. The company's event videos are dense with product details and slick shots. The Scary Fast Mac event last October was even shot entirely on an iPhone – along with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of lighting and gear. Absent from these videos are speakers walking on and off stage and in their place are elaborate transition shots where the camera seemingly flies through the air (and walls) transporting viewers from one part of the Apple Park campus to another in mere seconds. Over time, Apple's events have become 80-minute glossy product commercials which have lost much of the warmth and humanity that Tim Cook and his executive team added to pre-2020 keynotes that were done live on stage.

This year both Samsung and Google held phone launch events that were truly live. Company execs traveled on and off stage and recited from a teleprompter to introduce new products. There were some awkward moments, some jokes that didn't land well and even celebrity cameos that felt out of place but the keynotes felt authentic. Google even did live demonstrations onstage -most of which went well

Today Apple will hold its Glowtime event where we expect the iPhone 16 and Apple Watch X to be revealed. Will Apple go back to its live event roots? Or will Apple simply show another slickly shot video?

Last year, in its quest to be more environmentally friendly Apple announced at its iPhone 15 event that it was going to stop making leather phone cases and introduced a new woven material, made of 68% postconsumer recycled content, aptly called FineWoven. Apple said that its FineWoven material has a significantly lower carbon footprint than leather and that it would use the material on its premium cases and accessories. All this sounds great, right?

Well turns out FineWoven iPhone cases bruise easily. Within a week, my iPhone 15 Pro Max's FineWoven case had marks and stains on it. And I wasn't alone. Reviewers, YouTubers and consumers on social media shared photos and videos of the unexpected wear and tear their FineWoven cases had suffered.

Is FineWoven dead? Will the iPhone 16 be revealed along with a FineWoven 2 case? We'll have to wait until tomorrow's Glowtime event to find out. But if you're really jonesing for a non-leather woven case that you don't have to baby, check out Peak Design's Everyday Case which is made of nylon, doesn't easily collect stains or marks and costs $10 less than Apple's very similar looking $60 FineWoven case.

Apple's Sept. 9 event was announced with the tagline "It's Glowtime." And while Apple's event invitations don't always correlate with the products that the company announces, the invitation does feature a logo with colors that skew closely to what will be used for the redesign of Siri, which will include a glowing border around the phone's display when summoned.

I go over my thoughts about how the Apple event invite might relate to Apple Intelligence at length in this commentary, but I'm also hoping that Apple might bring more creativity to the colors of its phone hardware with the iPhone 16 line. Last year's iPhone 15 came in several colors, but many of them skewed very closely to white. It would be great to see Apple dive into some more bolder color choices, especially after seeing Google's Pixel 9 launch with peony pink and wintergreen options.

One of the defining characteristics of last month's Made by Google event was how the Pixel 9 lineup took a backseat at its own party, as the company focused instead on touting Gemini AI. It'll be interesting to see whether Apple takes a similar approach and allocates the bulk of its event to hyping up Apple Intelligence, or if it maintains a focus on hardware while weaving in sporadic mentions of AI. I'm hoping for the latter, since we got a heavy dose of AI (understandably) during the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in June. So maybe the iPhone 16, Apple Watch X and any other hardware Apple is likely to announce on Monday will really have its moment to shine.

Even though we're expecting to see Apple unveil its iPhone 16 series, it's likely that Apple will use its fall event to dive even further into the Apple Intelligence platform that was announced at WWDC 2024. And fascinatingly, while many different iPhone models stretching back to the iPhone XS and XR from 2018 will get iOS 18, only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will get access to these AI features. Presumably the entire iPhone 16 line will also get Apple Intelligence, but we'll have to wait until Apple's event to truly find out.

If Apple can sell its Apple Intelligence features to its customers as an essential, then it might mark one of the bigger reasons to upgrade since so many of Apple's earlier iPhones are otherwise getting many of the other enhancements coming to iOS 18.