Apple unveils new iPhone lineup
Apple’s now selling a USB-C to Lightning adapter for $29
From CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke
In the wake of Apple unveiling its latest iPhone lineup, a new accessory appeared for sale on its website Tuesday: a $29 USB-C to Lightning adapter.
The dongle lets people connect their Lightning accessories to a USB-C-enabled iPhone or iPad to charge or share data.
The new accessory comes as Apple ends its 11-year run of the Lightning port and charger and switches its devices over to the USB-C charger.
From the event: USB-C you later, Lightning port
From CNN’s Samantha Kelly in Cupertino, California
After Apple’s annual keynote event ended, the in-person audience — mostly members of press and Apple staffers — flooded the product viewing area for a first look at the new devices introduced Tuesday.
Apple executives are mingling with members of the press, who try on the new watches and test out new iPhone features. Crowds are particularly drawn to the Apple Watch demo table.
The titanium Pro models are incredibly light, as promised.
The Lightning ports are no more.
And the Ultra 2 watch display is bright.
Here is the latest pricing for iPhone
From CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke
Apple said Tuesday that the iPhone SE will start at $429.
The iPhone 13 will start at $599.
The iPhone 14 will start at $699.
The iPhone 15 will start at $799, and iPhone 15 Pro will start at $999.
Apple introduces 2 new iCloud plans
From CNN’s Aditi Sangal in New York
There was a loud applause in the audience in Cupertino, California, as Apple introduced two new iCloud plans.
Starting next week, iCloud+ will offer 6TB and 12 TB storage plans.
iCloud allows you to share photos and automatically backup your iPhone, and with family sharing, everyone in a household can get the benefits of iCloud+.
iPhone 15 Pro includes major updates for photographers
From CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke
The iPhone 15 Pro brings a slew of new updates to its camera system, including a more-advanced 48 megapixel main camera featuring a larger sensor than on iPhone 15.
The camera also includes a “nanoscale coating” meant to reduce lens flares, Apple said, and bring higher resolution to everyday photos. It also boasts better low-light performance for portraits and night mode.
The latest iPhone can also shoot high-resolution photos in 24, 28 and 35-millimeter focal lengths.
Apple unveils iPhone 15 with “all new design”
By CNN’s Samantha Kelly
The company announced its next-generation entry-level iPhone 15s, which now feature an expanded “Dynamic Island” tool that is home to alerts, notifications and other controls, in place of the notch. The feature was previously only available on the iPhone 14 Pro.
The iPhone 15 phones include updated image stabilization for taking photos and videos, 2x optimization and updated portraits with richer color and better low-light performance. It also includes 4K cinematic mode.
The iPhone 15s ship with the A16 bionic processor — the same chip used in the iPhone 14 Pro — with a neural engine that handles more complicated tasks, such as live voicemail transcriptions on device, according to the company.
The iPhone 15 has an Ultra-Wideband chip so it can connect with other devices nearby, such as better finding friends who share their location in crowded locations, or power some of iOS 17 features.
The iPhone 15 comes in 5 colors (white, black, pink, green and yellow) and in two sizes: A 6.1-inch screen for the iPhone 15 and 6.7 inches for iPhone 15 Plus.
Apple introduces the action button, ditching the ring silencer for the first time since the iPhone debuted in 2007
by CNN’s Jennifer Korn
Apple unveiled an action button in the iPhone 15 Pro, the first change made to the ring silencer since the toggle switch debuted in the original iPhone in 2007.
Now a pressable button, the action button still silences alerts by default — but it can also be programmed to carry out a whole host of commands, from recording a voice memo to taking a picture to activating an accessibility feature like live speech.
All action button commands are accompanied with visual feedback from the Dynamic Island bar at the top of the screen.
iPhone 15 users can share location and find their friends in a new way
From CNN’s Aditi Sangal
iPhone 15 features Apple’s second-generation ultra wideband chip, which allows the device to connect to other devices from up to three times farther away.
The chip has opened up a new way for Apple customers to use precision finding on iPhone 15 to find their friends.
“When you’re in a crowded place like a train station or a farmer’s market, and your friends share their location, you will be guided right to them with clear directions and distance. It’s built into ‘Find My,’ so it has all the same privacy protections that users have come to trust,” said Deniz Teoman, vice president of hardware systems engineering.
One small step toward ending cord clutter
From CNN’s Allison Morrow
At long last, Apple is killing its proprietary Lightning port in the iPhone 15 and embracing a charging cable that’s compatible with non-Apple products. That’s one fewer cord cluttering your nightstand. One fewer thing to forget when packing for a weekend getaway.
But the move, hastened by a European regulatory mandate passed last year, is a largely symbolic measure that comes years after most other gadgets switched to USB-C. And it won’t do much to shrink the mountains of e-waste piling up around the globe.
When the European Commission passed the directive last year, it cited two motivations: First, everyone agrees that it’s super annoying to have so many cables lying around. Second, having a common charger across devices — whether they’re made by Apple or Samsung or Garmin or whoever — would “significantly reduce electronic waste.”
Big-picture, though, the impact on the mountains of global e-waste will likely be minimal.
There are about 66 million tons of electronic waste generated each year, says Ruediger Kuehr, head of the United Nations’ University’s Sustainable Cycles Program. Charging cables, he said account for “a few hundred thousand tons.”
“When we look to the pure numbers, it’s close to nothing,” Kuehr said. “But we nevertheless think it’s a very important step in order to make people … aware of the issue we are facing.” Read more.
