# What We Heard on September 9 Apple's September event concluded last Tuesday. I was happy to see that many of [[What We Might Need to Hear on September 9|my thoughts]] were reflected in the event. When watching the event live together with a [couple](https://dogl.de) [of](https://people.epfl.ch/bahar.radmehr) [my](https://abhinandshibu.com) [labmates](https://people.epfl.ch/fares.fawzi?lang=en), I actually made a lot of references to the points I had written in my blog post throughout the presentation. With that said, I will take this as an opportunity to provide my reactions to some of the main announcements in the event, and particularly, what they might mean for the future of tech and our experiences with digital devices as a whole. Apple products, particularly iPhone, have been trend-setting devices in recent history, and thus I find it fascinating to use announcements during an Apple event as basis for predicting the future path of our handheld devices. (Before continuing, I'm sure some of the readers might point out that some of the features below might have been existing in other vendors' devices to a low or high extent. However, the goal of this blog post is not to find "who did what first," but rather think about the impact of the announced technologies on people's lives, especially as they have now been endorsed by a major tech company and smartphone vendor.) ## AirPods Pro 3 - **Live translation:** If it performs well, this might be the most impactful piece of technology announced on last Tuesday. In a future when all people have headphones in their ears, and with real-time accurate translation models, language barrier will cease to exist. Particularly, most people learn languages now for two main reasons: be able to understand what are others saying, and to be able to reply back to them. This technology solves the first problem immediately, and can also solve the second problem if the recipient is also wearing AirPods Pro. For the meantime for a society in which not every has a pair of AirPods Pro, the feature showing the translation on the iPhone screen can be a remedy. If accepted well by the society, this can significantly affect how we communicate with humans in new languages, ultimately leading to a much more connected world society, fostering tourism, and reducing issues in human interactions when entering new environments. I'm already seeing myself using this feature in my next trip to Bern, helping me better understand people speaking in German without asking them to repeat what they said in a lower pace. - **2 times better active noise cancellation:** One of the labmates watching the event together with me commented on the fact that the noise cancellation on AirPods Pro 2 is already very great, and there is no need for improvement. While I don't disagree, improvements in the fundamental technologies behind the tech products is always appreciated. I would bucket this inside the category of "year-over-year spec improvements." However, I would love to use it in person and see how much better the noise cancellation is perceived, compared to my current AirPods Pro 2. After all, experience matters more than specs... - **Fitness features:** As an Apple Watch owner, I don't see myself relying on the heart rate sensor, workout, and calorie tracker of the new AirPods Pro 3. However, as I mentioned in my [[What We Might Need to Hear on September 9|pre-event blog post]], it would have been great if the data from the sensors on AirPods and Apple Watch could have been combined to provide more accurate readings. This comes alongside the Workout Buddy feature, announced in WWDC 2025. - **Better fit:** Over the past few years, as far as I remember, my AirPods have not been dropped out more than three or four times, and they were mostly my fault (shaking my head, not putting them properly fit in-place, etc.). Still, if the new design would reduce the chances of the AirPods popping out, it will be appreciated. - **More sweat and water resistance:** I don't have any personal experience here to share (yay!), but of course this feature is good, why not? :) What actually stood out to me was the focus on "sweat" in the presentation, especially in the same event where the workout tracking features of the new AirPods is addressed. I guess the last three features I mentioned (fitness, fit, and sweat resistance) are all signs of Apple recognizing the large amount of people who regularly use AirPods for workout. - **Better battery life:** Great to see Apple paying attention to battery life across all of the devices introduced in the event! ## Apple Watch (Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3) - **Hypertension:** My knowledge of medical-related information is very limited, but it's clear how simple health features can have vast effects. Tim Cook had once [said](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/4/24313004/tim-cook-says-apples-biggest-contribution-will-be-in-health) Apple's biggest contribution will be in health, and the event just doubled down on this claim. Studies [have shown](https://time.com/7316725/apple-watch-hypertension-feature/) few people keep their blood pressure under control, so this feature can turn out to be useful for them. I just wish it provided exact numerical measurements, so that I wouldn't have to use separate blood pressure monitoring devices anymore... - **Sleep score:** I have been wearing my Apple Watch to sleep for the past two years, almost every night. Occasionally, I am prompted to check my sleep stages chart throughout the widget on the Watch from time to time. However, I never actually knew, for example, if 1 hour of REM is high, low, or average, or more importantly, should I follow any specific method to improve it. As of a couple of days ago, the sleep score feature was activated on my iPhone on iOS 26 beta, and interestingly, it not only showed the sleep score for the nights afterwards, but also all the nights before, meaning that the score did not need any new collection of data. And, I have been noticing myself actually acting upon the score: I saw a score of 81 for the night before, which was classified as High, but still prompted me to improve it the night after by acting upon the Duration rubric, and achieving an "Excellent" score of 96. A noticeable effect only after one day: I guess this says a lot on why showing a sleep score is important! I specially like how it breaks down the score into the categories of Duration, Bedtime, and Interruptions. I just wished the "tips and tricks" to improve the score were more comprehensive and personalized. - **More battery life:** I don't have any major problem with the battery life on my Apple Watch due to the fast charging capabilities, but more battery life is always welcome. This might be more important for the Ultra models, especially on multi-day hikes and retreats. - **5G connectivity:** I had said in my previous [[What We Might Need to Hear on September 9|blog post]]: *"Always nice to have, but I really don't see the point to have 5G on an Apple Watch (when was the last time you were thinking that the internet connection on your Apple Watch was so slow?). I hope Apple can provide some valid reasons during the event."* I still agree with this point. Apple's web page for Apple Watch Series 11 claims "With 5G, you can download apps, music, and podcasts faster than ever." Downloading apps, music, and podcasts faster? Is that much of a big difference between 4G and 5G when it comes to downloading Watch apps, music, and podcasts? However, "always nice to have." - **Increased scratch resistance:** As someone who had a tiny scratch on the watch screen in less than a year, this will be much appreciated. - **Satellite connectivity for Ultra:** Very useful and potentially life-saving feature for anyone going on hikes, retreats, etc. without their iPhone. - **New SE features:** The SE has been supercharged with multiple features, and possibly the most impactful in day-to-day usage might be the always-on display. ## iPhone 17 - **Center stage front camera:** This is a very nice feature on Mac and iPad, and although one might think it shines in video calls, I would say it can be also useful for selfies (which has been a focus point in the event material). The easy change from portrait to landscape without having to rotate the iPhone can improve the experience of taking selfies by far, especially considering the conditions in which one takes a selfie (extended arms, very little time for everyone in the selfie to pose, etc.). And, of course, it now takes higher-quality photos! - **Dual capture:** Very nice to be able to capture from the front and back cameras at the same time! The use cases that this feature unlocks include travel diaries, capturing a video from a concert, tutorial videos in education (not sure how many people would capture it with a smartphone, however), how-to videos of using different products, etc. - **3x better scratch resistance:** Yet another reason to enjoy the device without putting a case on it :) - **ProMotion (120 Hz display):** Long overdue... Although I argued in my [[What We Might Need to Hear on September 9|previous blog post]] that a lot of people don't perceive the difference, it can still provide value to those people due to increases in battery life, which brings us to... - **Better battery life:** iPhone, especially the recent models, were never particularly notorious about having a subpar battery life, but always, more battery, the better :) I would actually appreciate the improved fast charging capabilities a lot. - **A19 processor:** Apple Silicon was again a star of the show... 40% faster CPU and 80% faster GPU than iPhone 16, in just one year! However, I'm not sure how much this will be perceived in a day-to-day basis. - **Anti-reflective display:** This, along with the higher maximum brightness under sunlight, can improve the experience of using an iPhone outdoors much better. I still sometimes find myself struggling to read the iPhone screen under direct sunlight, even when the display brightness is set to maximum. This can be very impactful for people who are "on the move," e.g., travelers, and is one of the features I am really looking forward to see and evaluate in-person whenever I see one of the new iPhone models. ## iPhone Air - **New design:** This device is much more beautiful than I expected, among the most (and possibly, *the* most) beautiful iPhone Apple has even made. Thin, light, and large (the size of the previous Plus phones). - **A19 Pro:** Interesting to see the SoC from iPhone 17 Pro being used on iPhone Air. I wonder if using a normal A19 would have been a better option, particularly if it's a more efficient processor, as iPhone Air naturally has a smaller battery than iPhone 17 Pro. - **Apple WiFi and cellular chips:** I would put this in the "people-won't-perceive-it" category. However, it can be a major contributor towards maintaining a reasonable battery life on this model. - **eSIM only:** This has the potential to push more network operators towards fully embracing eSIM. To me, it's pretty obvious that SIM card has started to go the same was as Floppy Disks and CD/DVD... - **Battery life:** Before the event, social media was full of takes framing iPhone Air as "not the phone to buy" due to the lower battery life. Thus, I was surprised when the [Compare](https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare) page on Apple's website revealed that iPhone Air supposedly provides *four more hours* of video playback, compared to iPhone 15 Pro (my current phone). I never thought my current phone has an underperforming battery, so I wonder why should I think similarly about iPhone Air. However, we should wait and use it in action to see. I believe that Apple introducing the MagSafe battery pack for iPhone Air did not help reduce this narrative in social media either. Why provide a battery pack if the phone has a nice battery? A simple solution can be the fact that iPhone 17 / 17 Pro / 17 Pro Max all have a better battery life, so Apple wanted to make iPhone Air on par with the rest of iPhone models announced in 2025 through introducing the battery pack, but we can't be sure if this hypothesis is correct until we get to test how the battery performs on this model. ## iPhone 17 Pro - **New design:** We finally saw a design refresh, and a fun color, for the Pro models! - **Aluminum:** Two years on titanium before choosing to use aluminum for the Pro models? A bit sad to hear; I personally liked the titanium frame of my iPhone 15 Pro. However, if it is for cooling purposes, I will embrace it without question. (I wonder if this means that iPhone Air will overheat more than 17 Pro? We should wait and see.) - **Vapor chamber:** Any technology that reduces the chance of the device overheating is very valuable and will have a great impact on user experience, particularly for people living or working in less-ventilated areas, or even simply traveling and walking under sunlight (speaking from personal experience of my recent [[Why GPT Still Needs Work for Trip Planning|trip to Paris]]; while the phone didn't pose any problems, it would have been better if it had stayed colder). This is also nice for people using their iPhone for, well, *pro* purposes, or playing games, which need sustained performance. - **Camera:** I'm almost confident that if we can travel back in time and show the back frame of iPhone 17 Pro to a person living in the early ages of smartphones, they would believe this device is a "smart digital camera" :) The 8x optical-quality zoom with good stabilization can turn out to be really useful. The larger sensor for better low-light photos is also much appreciated. iPhone is a central part of many people's photography workflows, so any improvement in iPhone cameras might a big effect on a lot of photos posted online in various social networks. - **Video recording:** Some very "pro-level" features, e.g., capturing in ProRes RAW, wider color gamut with the Log format, and precise video synchronization were announced. I will leave analyzing these features to others, due to my unfamiliarity with many of the nuances of video recording. # What Turned Out Differently? Re-reading my previous [[What We Might Need to Hear on September 9|blog post]], four of my guesses either did not turn out to be true, or turned out to be pretty useful rather than indifferent: - **Reverse charging on iPhone:** Pretty sad to not to have this feature for one more year. I guess we should still carry our battery packs around... - **Thinness of iPhone Air:** I classified this in the "indifferent" category, but I also wrote: *"I'm sure the thinness of the Air iPhone, rumored to be 5-6 mm, will catch many people's attention in social media and real life, possibly including me..."* which is exactly what happened :) - **Colors:** The orange color of iPhone 17 Pro might actually be nice! I should see it in-person before giving my final verdict. - **USB-C port moving:** I can't comment on this point, until I see the device in-person. Also, I'm happy that two of my "wishes" for iPhone came to be true: *"Always-on for all models"* and *"Ceramic Shield also on the rear side"* :)