Watch the Apple Event on 9/9 at 10a.m PST on apple.com or the Apple TV app
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00As excitement mounts for Apple's iPhone 16 launch event
00:03on September 9th, tech enthusiasts are eager
00:06to see Apple's latest innovations,
00:09especially when it comes to incorporating AI.
00:12We are joined now by Mark Spoonhour,
00:14Editor-in-Chief at Tom's Guide,
00:16and we're going to get into these upcoming advancements
00:18and their impact on consumers.
00:21Welcome to Cheddar.
00:23Thanks for having me.
00:24All right, so of course,
00:25this is one of the most anticipated events
00:27in the tech space.
00:28People are ready to get their hands
00:29on the latest technology and, you know,
00:31trade in the old.
00:32So Mark, give us an overview of what people can expect.
00:38Sure.
00:38I mean, I think the number one item is going to be
00:39the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro.
00:42Apple is expected to launch four new iPhones.
00:45But in addition to the hardware changes that are rumored,
00:46which we can get into,
00:47I think the big news is going to be
00:49around Apple Intelligence.
00:51I don't think it's a coincidence
00:52that the invite says it's glow time.
00:54So glow time refers to the new animation around Siri
00:57and Apple made a huge deal during its WWDC event
01:00around the improvements that they're making to AI.
01:03They're calling it Apple Intelligence
01:05to stand out from the crowd,
01:06and especially Siri,
01:07because it's been the butt of jokes for many years now.
01:10And Apple lost that lead
01:11to the likes of Alexa and Google Assistant,
01:14and now open AI and other competitors.
01:17So this is their chance to show,
01:19I think, you know,
01:20beyond just the hardware improvements
01:21that they're catching up when it comes to AI.
01:23And do you think that with this new AI technology,
01:26it's going to bring new consumers to iPhone?
01:30I think it could,
01:31because, you know,
01:32some of the Apple Intelligence features
01:34are limited to new hardware.
01:36So for example,
01:37if you want to,
01:38if you're upgrading to iOS 18,
01:39you want to try out some of the new features,
01:41like erasing things from your photos
01:43and some of the writing,
01:44you know,
01:45tools that are built into iOS 18,
01:47you actually need to have an iPhone 15 Pro
01:50or newer device.
01:51So newer means the iPhone 16 lineup.
01:54So I think Apple very much hopes
01:55that people are going to be excited
01:57by these new features
01:58and be compelled to upgrade.
02:00So it seems like my Apple 14
02:03just won't do at this point.
02:04So I have to upgrade to get this.
02:06So what are some other upgrades
02:07and features that people can look out for
02:09with this announcement?
02:11Sure.
02:11When it comes to the hardware itself
02:12for the iPhone 16 lineup,
02:14so there'll be a 16 and a 16 plus,
02:17they'll probably get the latest chip,
02:19which would be a split
02:20from what Apple has done
02:21over the last couple of years.
02:22And I think that's partially because
02:23they want it to have
02:24the best possible performance
02:26when it comes to Apple intelligence features.
02:27We've also heard an upgrade in RAM
02:29as much as like,
02:30you know,
02:3116 or 12 or 16 gigs,
02:32which would be a huge change for Apple as well.
02:34Because if you're going to have
02:35all of that on-device processing,
02:36you're going to need a more powerful phone.
02:38We've also heard with a regular iPhone 16 lineup
02:41that it's going to have longer battery life,
02:43better cameras as per usual,
02:45while keeping the prices the same.
02:47The bigger changes literally
02:48are going to come with the iPhone 16 Pro
02:50and Pro Max
02:51because they're both tipped
02:52to get larger displays.
02:54So for the regular iPhone 16 Pro,
02:56it would go from 6.1 inches for today,
02:59going up to 6.3.
03:00And the iPhone 16 Pro Max
03:02would go all the way up to 6.9 inches,
03:04which would be the largest display
03:06in any phone that's not a foldable.
03:09And I want to get into the camera.
03:10So with the iPhone 16,
03:11there's a new vertical camera layout
03:13and the introduction of the action
03:15and capture buttons.
03:16How will these designs change the,
03:19and enhance the user's experience?
03:22Yeah, I mean, I think with the vertical camera layout
03:24that we've been seeing with some of the mockups
03:26for the regular iPhone 16 series,
03:28it's largely because Apple wants to enable
03:31what's called spatial video capture.
03:33So that means you're getting 3D video capture
03:36on your phone,
03:37which Apple will say will work with the Apple Vision Pro,
03:40but it will also work with other VR headsets
03:43like the MetaQuest 3
03:44and they're announcing a new headset this fall
03:46in the MetaQuest 3S,
03:47or at least that's the rumor.
03:48So the idea is that you'll be able to capture 3D video
03:52and then watch it back on a compatible headset,
03:53whether it's Apple or someone else's.
03:55So that would be pretty cool.
03:57And in terms of the so-called capture button,
03:59we don't know if it's going to be on all four models or not,
04:01but the rumor is, is that it will.
04:03And the idea is that when you're holding your iPhone
04:06and you're taking pictures,
04:07it'll feel like a regular camera.
04:09So you'll put it up,
04:11there'll be an action button probably right here.
04:13And when you're taking your picture,
04:15you'll like press halfway down,
04:16just like a regular mirrorless camera to focus.
04:19And then you would press all the way to fire,
04:22but there might be some other modifications as well.
04:24So for example,
04:25if you slide your finger across this button,
04:26you'll zoom in and out.
04:27So I'm sure that Apple will find ways
04:29to make this stand out in a pretty crowded marketplace
04:33for what we call the best camera phones.
04:35I was going to say, as an Apple user myself,
04:37having an iPhone,
04:38we're always hoping for that next update
04:40to make it seem like you have a brand new phone in your hand.
04:42So how are consumers, right, am I wrong?
04:44Are consumers going to perceive this
04:45as something brand new and innovative?
04:49Is it that big of a change from the last update?
04:52I think that's the challenge
04:53that the entire smartphone market faces right now,
04:56where when you're going from one generation to the next,
04:58it feels more iterative as opposed to innovative.
05:01So it's really going to be up to Apple
05:02to try to convince consumers,
05:04especially those who have an iPhone 14 or older device,
05:08that it's time to upgrade.
05:09The challenge is that people are holding onto their phones
05:11for longer.
05:12And when I asked the like everyday consumers,
05:14which iPhone do you have?
05:16A lot of them actually don't know, right?
05:18This is the challenge that Apple has in front of them.
05:20And I think Apple Intelligence,
05:21if it performs the way it should,
05:24and it wows consumers,
05:25it could compel some people to upgrade.
05:27The hardware advancements, based on what we're hearing,
05:30are not enough.
05:31Like smaller bezels.
05:32Geeks like me like that stuff,
05:34but not like an everyday shopper
05:36who is going to spend upwards of $800 to $1,200
05:40for a new phone.
05:41All right, I see you have your AirPods in.
05:42There's some buzz about AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2.
05:46Can you share any details
05:47on the expected audio improvements and new features?
05:50And how do these updates align
05:52with Apple's overall audio strategy?
05:56I would say, yeah,
05:57so what we're hearing is a couple of different things.
05:58One is that there's gonna be a new AirPods 4.
06:02So this'll be like the first update in a couple of years
06:04to the regular AirPods lineup.
06:06And we've heard like a couple of reports
06:08that Apple might be splitting that lineup into two models.
06:11So one could be like more affordable
06:13because there are lots of cheap,
06:14like good cheap wireless earbuds out there.
06:17So hopefully we'll see some like good innovations
06:19like on the lower end,
06:20but we're also hearing that the regular AirPods 4
06:22will have built-in noise canceling,
06:24which up until now has been reserved for the AirPods Pro.
06:28We've also heard that there could be
06:29new AirPods Pro 3 announced.
06:31So there's different rumors flying around right now,
06:33but I think the most interesting one
06:35could be the AirPods 4
06:36because if you're getting noise canceling at a lower price,
06:40I think that could be a really like big hit
06:42in terms of holiday sales.
06:44For sure.
06:45And another big hit with Apple products is the watch,
06:46celebrating a decade of the Apple Watch.
06:49How do these updates reflect Apple's vision,
06:51you know, for the future of wearable technology?
06:55Yeah, I mean, think of back to the launch of the iPhone 10
06:58a few years ago where like they had to make a big splash
07:01and like they completely redesigned the iPhone.
07:04That was the first time that we had Face ID.
07:06So I think to a certain degree,
07:08we need that sort of moment from Apple.
07:09If you're celebrating the 10th anniversary
07:12of the first Apple Watch,
07:14I think you're gonna have to wow people
07:15and iterative upgrades that we talked about before
07:17will not be enough to get people excited for a new wearable.
07:20Because I think with watches in particular,
07:23like a lot of people not only don't know
07:24which model they have,
07:25like they're not very compelled to upgrade
07:28because the upgrades themselves
07:29are not been that compelling
07:31from one generation to the next.
07:32So what we're hearing for this round
07:34is that larger displays on the models,
07:36there'll actually be like two different sizes.
07:39The bezels around the display will be smaller,
07:42but I'm also hearing that the watches
07:44might be able to do more from a health perspective.
07:46So one could be detecting sleep apnea,
07:48which I think would be huge,
07:49although there are some technical hurdles
07:51to getting that to work.
07:52And the same thing goes with detecting hypertension,
07:55which I think would be huge.
07:56So health upgrades in addition to a revamped design
08:00could get more people excited
08:02about upgrading their Apple Watch.
08:04And there's lots of people who just never got on
08:06the smartwatch bandwagon to begin with.
08:08So this might be good for them.
08:10For sure.
08:11And I wanna say one of the biggest frustrations
08:12I hear from people who use any Apple products
08:15is that they keep changing the charging ports.
08:18So what is the reason behind that?
08:21Because it's like you can't even share a charger anymore.
08:23Is there something deeper
08:24that we're just not knowing as consumers?
08:27I think the number one reason Apple has changed
08:30is because of EU regulations.
08:31They were basically forced to switch
08:33from lightning to USB-C,
08:35which I think overall was a good move for consumers
08:37because when you have multiple gadgets in your house,
08:40whether they're Apple or not,
08:41it's nice to have one common standard.
08:43The problem is that we have all of these cables
08:46either at home or in my case in the car,
08:48like I had a regular USB going out to lightning.
08:51I upgraded to the iPhone 15 Pro
08:52and now I need a new cable.
08:54So you have all these people out there
08:56who have to get new accessories.
08:57That's part of the reason why I like MagSafe charging
08:59because you don't have to worry about it.
09:01So whether you're getting a new car
09:03or you're getting a three-in-one charger at home that I use,
09:07I'll just put that phone on the MagSafe charger
09:10and it also doubles as an alarm clock
09:13when it's time to go to bed and actually dims the display
09:16and all you see is the time.
09:17So I kind of like using that instead of wires,
09:20but when you have to use wires,
09:22right now I think it's gonna be USB-C all the way
09:25and hopefully there'll be no changes
09:26for at least the next few years.
09:28Right, hoping for consistency.
09:30So with high anticipation
09:32for this upcoming event that's happening,
09:33how do you think the new product launches
09:35will impact Apple stock and market position
09:38and how do you expect consumers to react
09:40to all these new innovations that you've been talking about?
09:44I think to a certain degree,
09:45this is like probably the most important iPhone event
09:48that Apple has had in the last like five,
09:50maybe even 10 years.
09:51And I think it's partially
09:52because it's not about just the hardware anymore.
09:55Apple needs to prove that it is,
09:58if not catching up to the competition,
10:00maybe surpassing the competition when it comes to AI.
10:03There's a huge difference, let's say between now,
10:06between like using Siri,
10:07even within the iOS 18 public beta
10:09and using the voice chat functionality within chat GPT,
10:12which I have been using.
10:13It's like having for better or for worse.
10:15It's like having a friend by your side,
10:17giving you advice or you can interrupt it.
10:19If you ask it to tell you a story,
10:21it'll change its tone in real time.
10:23It's almost scary, like how intelligent it is.
10:26And I don't think it's a coincidence
10:27that Apple is partnering with chat GPT
10:30in terms of like using search results from them
10:33and being transparent about when they're using them
10:35versus Siri itself.
10:37And I also don't think it's a coincidence
10:39that Amazon is partnering with Anthropic and Claude
10:41because they haven't been able to catch up either.
10:44So whatever the demos are,
10:45I think there's gonna be a lot more attention paid to
10:48what is the excitement level coming out of the new Siri
10:51and the new Apple intelligence features
10:53as much as if not more so than the iPhone itself,
10:57which I think is a big shift.
11:00And going off that,
11:00we understand that Apple is a big leader
11:03in the tech industry.
11:04So when they have these annual announcements,
11:07how does it shape the tech industry?
11:11I think you see a lot of like copycats,
11:13pretty soon after Apple announces anything,
11:15just look at the Apple watch ultra
11:17and then Samsung coming out
11:18with their first rugged smartwatch,
11:20which happened to look almost identical to that.
11:23At the same time, Apple hasn't done a foldable device yet.
11:26And there's rumors that they're working
11:28on one behind the scenes.
11:29So it's really interesting to see
11:31when Apple decides to jump into a market
11:32or a new category versus deciding to take a step back.
11:37I think in this particular case,
11:38you're gonna see like no matter what,
11:40no matter what they wind up launching,
11:42you'll see Samsung probably come out
11:43with like not necessarily an attack ad,
11:45but an ad saying like,
11:47here's what the Galaxy S24 Ultra has,
11:50that Apple doesn't have probably if not the same day
11:52than the next day.
11:54So no matter what the competition is gonna respond
11:56either in terms of saying what we have is better
11:59or they'll develop products
12:00that have similar features very quickly.
12:03All right, we'll look out for that.
12:04Mark Schmunauer, Editor-in-Chief at Tom's Guide.
12:06Thank you for joining us.