Tag: Ultra Wideband

Wonderlust event recap – new iPhones, Apple Watches

by Danis Tazetdinov

Apple hosted its Wonderlust special event. As expected, Apple unveiled new iPhones and Apple Watch models.

Apple Watch Series 9

New Apple Watch Series 9 gets new S9 system-on-chip with updated CPU and GPU. New screen now has brightness up to 1,000 nits. And lowest brightness is now 1 nit. S9 allows on-device Siri recognition for many use cases.

New "double tap" hand gesture (similar to previously implemented accessibility features) allows one hand responses and actions to be performed on Apple Watch.

New UWB chip will improve Apple Watch spatial awareness, allowing, for example, precise iPhone lookup with directions and distance display.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

Ultra 2 gets same S9 system-on-chip, screen is improved to have 3,000 nits maximum brightness.

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are powered by A16 chip introduced in iPhone 14 Pro models.

iPhone 15 models now gain Dynamic Island. Charging port is now changed to USB-C with USB 2.0 data transfer speeds.

Also, iPhone 15 main camera is now similar to iPhone 14 Pro with 48MP resolution.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

iPhone 15 Pro is running on A17 PRO chip. iPhone 15 Pro has titanium frame to reduce weight. Mute switch is replaced by Action button. iPhone 15 Pro Max has 5x camera with pentaprism design. USCB-C connector in iPhone 15 Pro supports USB 3.0.

Also iPhone 15 Pro could record spatial videos that will provide depth when viewing in Apple Vision Pro.

iPhone 15 Pro Max now has base model with 256GB of storage.

iCloud Storage Tiers

Apple introduces new iCloud storage tiers – 6TB and 12TB available for purchase later priced $30 and $60 respectively.

FineWoven

Apple now replaces leather accessories with new FineWoven material. This includes Apple Watch bands as well as iPhone cases.

OS Updates

Release Candidates are now available for iOS/iPadOS 17, macOS 14 Sonoma, watchOS 10 and tvOS 17. As well as iOS and iPadOS 16.7. Xcode 15 is also available as Release Candidate.

iOS/iPadOS 17, watchOS 10 and tvOS 17 are to be released on September 18. macOS 14 Sonoma will be released on September 26.

You could watch event replay on YouTube.

Apple Newsroom:

Release notes:

References:

Beta 3 for iOS 16.4 and other platforms is available, addresses developer account questions

by Danis Tazetdinov

Apple publishes beta 3 for iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. No corresponding Xcode beta is published.

Apple now addresses question raised by developers on how to use developer Apple ID to get beta on the device. Users could pick separate Apple ID to install beta software on the device.

Apple also now warns users that Rapid Security Response might be incompatible with some applications.

Researches also noticed that future Car Key implementations could solely rely on UWB and drop support for NFC.

watchOS 9.4 beta addresses issue on Apple Watch Series 6 (44mm model) incorrectly estimating total battery capacity.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

References:

AirTags might be banned from luggage by airlines

by Danis Tazetdinov

Reports arise that Lufthansa is now banning AirTags in checked luggage requesting tracking devices to be turned off.

At the moment it is not known if rules are to be enforced and what airlines, which countries and airports will require removal of AirTags from luggage.

Overall, it still looks very strange having that Airplane mode on iPhone does not turn off Bluetooth.

References: