The Apple September Event Was Uneventful, Here’s Why
Apple’s latest September event brought a mix of new devices and questionable design choices. The spotlight was on the iPhone Air, promoted as the thinnest iPhone ever, alongside the iPhone 17 models, refreshed Apple Watches, and the AirPods Pro 3. While the Pro phones and watch updates deliver meaningful improvements, other releases leave you wondering if Apple is keeping pace with what users actually want. All of the new products are set to begin shipping on September 19.
iPhone Air: A fragile gimmick
The iPhone Air is just 5.6mm thick and weighs 165 grams. In an attempt to make up for its thinness, the Air uses a titanium frame and Ceramic Shield 2 for scratch and crack resistance. It runs on the new A19 Pro chip and introduces Apple’s C1X modem and N1 wireless chip, which add Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support. Still, many people are already speculating that the thinner frame means a smaller battery, which could translate to weaker battery life in real-world use.
The camera system features a 48MP Fusion main sensor with 2x telephoto. This just means that it has better low-light shots and new portrait features. It also has Dual Capture video that records with front and back cameras at the same time.
The colors options are bland, and the camera bump doesn’t look good. It resembles the Google Pixel, but less refined. Looking at the current tech trends, you’ll find that nobody asked for a thinner phone. With flip phones trending, pushing thinness feels a bit tone-deaf right now.
Source: Apple
iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro
The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max get the real upgrades. They feature a new aluminum unibody build and include a vapor chamber cooling system, which Apple says delivers 40% better sustained performance, thanks to the A19 Pro chip with a beefed-up GPU and Neural Accelerators.
On the camera front, both Pro models now have three 48MP Fusion lenses, and the Pro Max pushes it further with 8x optical zoom, the longest ever on an iPhone. There’s also an 18MP Center Stage front camera that handles landscape selfies and ultra-stable 4K HDR video. Add in pro-grade features like ProRes RAW, Log 2, and genlock, essentially higher-end video tools aimed at content creators and photographers.
That said, the camera bump looks even uglier here, and the color options leave something to be desired. The absence of a classic black option for the iPhone 17 Pro is especially disappointing since it’s usually a sleek, safe choice for most buyers.
Apple Watch updates
Apple updated their watch lineup too. The Series 11 adds hypertension detection (still waiting on FDA approval) and a new sleep score system. It’s thinner, supports 5G, and has a more efficient modem to help with battery.
The SE 3 model finally gets an always-on display, faster charging, and a few health upgrades like sleep apnea alerts and wrist temperature tracking.
AirPods Pro 3 with live translation
The AirPods Pro 3 add live translation, offering real-time audio translations across multiple languages. They also include heart-rate monitoring, twice the noise cancellation of the last model, and up to 8 hours of battery per charge.
Despite how popular AirPods are, there isn’t much excitement around this update since the upgrades don’t feel like a big step forward. Expectations for live translation are low, mostly because it relies on Apple Intelligence, which hasn’t been impressive so far. It seems like Apple should start looking into spacing out AirPods releases more; every new model feels underwhelming because there’s barely any real improvement.
iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence
All new devices will run iOS 26, which introduces the Liquid Glass design, enhanced Lock Screen customization, and features like Call Screening, Hold Assist, and Polls in Messages.
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