Apple delivered another big iPhone event, and something seems a little different this time. Some of the best whizbang features were followed with a coming soon, very soon, later this year, next year, soon. So how does Apple get people motivated to act right now and jump to pre-order when the cool things like Apple Intelligence are not totally ready for prime time just yet? Well, you give the people a button. Apple did, in fact, hit on several hardware upgrades, things that people really do care about, but I can't shake this feeling that something is a little off this time around. And that's because I think the star of this iPhone event was not the iPhone. The real life-changing stuff that people will spend money on are upgrades in products around health. It's the wearables, the watch, the new AirPods. We did not get a one more thing from Tim Cook this time, so here's one from me. Let's talk about why this is going to be one of the most interesting upgrade seasons to watch to Apple Watch, perhaps. I'm Bridget Cary.

this is one more thing. The Apple event is when reporters get the first hands-on impressions with the hardware, and we will be learning more in the coming days as reviews roll out and the products hit stores. But I just want to share some issues and questions that I think will be interesting to pay attention to in these early days of the upgrade product rush. It may affect how Apple fans decide to pre-order right away or if they want to wait a little longer this time until the RWS come out. We don't exactly know yet how this beta version of Apple intelligence will present itself on the new iPhones. Apple says it's arriving in a beta form this fall, and different features could roll out in stages. Now, I think visual intelligence is a very interesting new feature for the iPhone 16, but again, I'm not motivated by it until I see how it makes my life better in the real world. A real demo is different than a presentation. Another big unknown for me is how people will react to this camera control button on the iPhone 16. One click launches the

camera another click takes a photo. Holding the button records a video, and lightly pressing reveals a menu of options where you can roll your finger to change the focus or adjust color effects. But taking photos is not a problem for many people, so will consumers really want to get a sense of what this feels like if it really saves us time, for example, to get a better shot? And with the first touch-sensitive sensor on the side of an iPhone, it will really matter what phone case you get. I can see some iPhone cases just making this a pain to use, maybe depending on how you grab the phone. We'll find ourselves taking photos accidentally. Let's hope we're not just all left wondering if we're holding it wrong. But the bigger motivator to upgrade for folks might be something a little more basic than this new button: best iPhone battery life ever. Apple gave the iPhone a big boost in battery life, and the reason this messaging matters is because people are not upgrading phones for AI, at least not this early in the game.

cenet. We did a survey and found a majority of people said that the main motivator for upgrading their phone was getting a better battery, followed by storage and camera upgrades. AI was low on the list, so the fact that AI is not ready at launch may not be a deal breaker. Apple says the first set of Apple intelligence features will roll out next month in iOS 18.1 with a beta label of some sort, and more features will roll out in the months to come. Maybe people will be glad to jump to upgrade right away just because of a better battery and the cool camera upgrades. Beyond that, new button you see the cameras, they're boosted in a lot of other ways. The ultrawide camera on the iPhone 16 allows for macro photography. It can also reduce wind noise in videos or on the 16 Pro Line. It goes further with their studio quality sound editing and something called audio mix. Or you can shoot slow-mo video in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. So will that be enough to get people eager to pre-order?

well, in the European Union, it's a little more complicated. You see, Apple intelligence is not even coming to the iPhone, at least not this year. Apple says it's because of the digital markets act, so battery and camera improvements will need to be enough to encourage purchases from the EU. At least the Apple Watch Series 10 is an especially curious upgrade moment here because it's got a new design and new health features. The Series 10 is thinner, and now it's got the largest screen of any Apple Watch. It's even slightly larger than the Ultra 2 screen. So, if you're someone who just wanted a bigger watch, you may decide to go with the cheaper Series 10 instead of paying for the Ultra 2. But Ultra is still the winner on battery life. And you know what? Battery life might not be something you care about because charging on the 10 is now faster. 30 minutes of charging on the Series 10 gets it up to 80% battery life. Now, that's important when Apple wants us sleeping with the watch to track for

sleep apnea, and that's a feature also coming soon. And yet, those with last year's Apple Watch 9 can also do sleep apnea tracking with a software update. Apple is not gatekeeping this feature, which is great. But if you don't already have the Series 9, there may be a large group of consumers saying, Hey, this is their time to refresh the watch for a new look and new health tracking. I'm just glad the rumor about the change in Apple Watch bands didn't come true. You can still use your old watch straps. But the first thing I want to try on this thing is the speaker. For the first time, the Apple Watch Series 10 can play music on its itty-bitty speaker. It's going to be wild to see how people use this speaker. But I do hope my home setup doesn't become a mess when I use my voice command to ask Siri to play a song, and it plays on a watch instead of my HomePods. Because then I will throw the watch in a river. And you know what I

could throw it in a river, and it'll be okay because the watch can track water depth and water temperature, and you can track your canoe trips too. So, I guess Apple Watch really likes rivers now. But yeah, the AirPods are such a quirky bunch of updates that could be the biggest hit of all these products for consumers when they have a lower barrier of entry on price points, and the health features could be life-changing for some folks. The whole lineup is refreshed. The new AirPods 4 start at $129, but there's an open earbud design with active noise-canceling mode, and it's not something that's typically offered in open earbuds. There's no ear tips on these, as you can see, but it costs $50 more for the model that has the noise-canceling feature. It's been redesigned to fit more ears securely, and our reviewer David Caroy said he got to test the noise-canceling feature at the Apple event, and he was pleasantly surprised by its capabilities.

So, people might be eager to jump into these cheaper options to experience noise cancelling. Now, what about the current AirPods Pro 2? Well, it's getting its own software update, and it makes it a whole hearing health experience product. It's going to help prevent hearing loss in loud settings. So, people might be taking these AirPods Pro to concerts. There's also a hearing test to get a personalized hearing profile. I can't wait to learn that my hearing is terrible. And coming later is the ability to use the Pro as a clinical-grade hearing aid. The FDA just gave Apple the authorization on Thursday. There's a stigma sometimes people feel with using a medical hearing aid, but if the AirPods you already use can help, maybe more people can be opened up to the idea of using them to improve their quality of life. Or they'll find themselves buying these units for older family members who could find it helpful. AirPods Max? Yeah, they come in new color now. They include a USB-C port. We always like to see more.

color in Apple products, but that's not the big news this week. Really, when you look at the whole lineup, people might be more eager to upgrade their watches and AirPods before they jump into the new world of AI with the iPhones. This whole situation with features coming soon, like Apple Intelligence and health features, it just makes this upgrade season fascinating to observe. Will hunger for the new iPhones build slowly as people start to see the AI features in action? And if you don't feel compelled about AI and camera controls in a phone, maybe it's health benefits of a watch and an AirPod that make you pre-order the wearables first. So please tell me what you're doing. Are you pre-ordering any of the new Apple products and why? Or are you waiting to learn a little more as the reviews come out? I'm looking forward to seeing these new features in action, so be sure to subscribe and come along for the journey as we figure it all out. Catch you next week for one more thing.

iPhone 16: Preorder or Wait? Why Apple Watch 10, AirPods Stole the Show

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