This is CNBC’s live blog, covering everything Apple announced at this year’s iPhone 16 and Apple Watch Series 10 launch event. We’re reporting live from Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event in Cupertino, California, on September 9, 2024.
Apple just wrapped up an event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, where it unveiled new versions of the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch.
Here is what Apple announced:
Preorders for the new iPhones begin Friday and launch on Sept. 20. Check the full blog below for more.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max announced
iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple just unveiled the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which join the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus the company announced earlier. These are Apple’s more premium phones that have nicer screens and cameras than the regular models.
Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro has a 6.3-inch display, and the Apple 16 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display, larger than those of previous models, which measured in at 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches, respectively. The new models also have the “thinnest borders on any Apple product,” Apple said, calling them “by far our best iPhone displays ever.” The titanium is nearly half the weight of stainless steel and is “more scratch resistant than other forms of titanium others have used.”
The four finishes include white, black, natural and “desert.”
The company also said the new iPhone 16 Pro Max has “the best iPhone battery life ever” but did not offer additional details.
The new iPhone Pro models include an A18 Pro chip with second-generation 3-nanometer transistors and a new 16-core neural engine that powers Apple Intelligence, designed specifically for generative artificial intelligence workloads, the company said, leading to a 17% increase in total system memory bandwidth. It is “even faster and more efficient than A18,” the company said.
The A18 Pro chip also powers new camera features, per Apple, including a new 48-megapixel “fusion camera,” which can read data 2x faster, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera that allows for more detail in wide-angle shots. The 5x telephoto camera offers more detail for zoom photos.
Apple also introduced video capture in 4K at 120 frames per second, the iPhone camera’s “highest resolution and frame rate yet.”
The Pro models have four “studio-quality” mics with reduced noise, designed in part for vocal and acoustic recordings, the company said, as well as spatial audio capture. A new “Audio Mix” feature, which Apple called an “industry first,” uses machine learning to identify and separate background elements from a user’s speech, the company said.
Apple said a new update to Voice Memos, coming “later this year,” will allow people to layer other tracks atop previously recorded voice memos. For example, the feature could help musicians testing out song ideas layer a guitar track over a vocal track they have previously recorded.
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999, and the Pro Max starts at $1,199, Apple said. Both models will be available for preorder on Friday, with in-store sales starting on Sept. 20.
— Hayden Field
The iPhone 16 starts at $799 and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899
iPhone 16 camera.
Apple said the iPhone 16 starts at $799 and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899. They will be available to order beginning Friday and launch on Sept. 20.
— Todd Haselton
First Apple Intelligence features will launch in beta next month for iPhone 16
Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi is talking about the company’s new artificial intelligence capabilities. Many of these features were already announced at Apple’s developers conference in June, and the first set of features will be available in a free software update next month.
Apple Intelligence is available on the new iPhone 16 phones and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
He said Apple Intelligence operates across language, images, action and personal context. Federighi said data is never stored or shared with Apple, and independent experts can verify this privacy promise.
One feature Federighi highlighted is the new generative emoji feature, which will allow users to create custom emojis by typing in a few words. Users can also type in words to pull up photos and videos they want to find.
Federighi said Apple Intelligence marks the start of a new era for its voice assistant Siri. Users can prompt Siri with text; ask questions with their voices, even if they stumble over their words; pull up specific details from text conversations; and more.
Features such as generating emojis and a new Visual Intelligence feature will come later. Visual Intelligence lets you do things such as take a picture of a dog to find out what breed it is.
— Ashley Capoot
Apple announces iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16.
Apple just announced the iPhone 16, which it says was built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence.
The new iPhone has:
- Aerospace-grade aluminum
- 85% recycled content in the enclosure
- Two size options: 6.1 inches for iPhone 16 and 6.7 inches for iPhone 16 Plus
- Customizable action buttons (for example, flashlight at night and calendar during day)
- All-new “camera control” button to provide instant access to camera with one click, as well as the ability to adjust various camera features by sliding your finger
- A brand-new A18 chip created for iPhone 16, optimized for running large generative models and with a 2x faster neural engine
- New 48-megapixel camera, 4x the resolution of iPhone 14
- New ultrawide camera that allows for automatic focus and more light capture in low-light situations
- Spatial photos
- Customizable, pinnable collections in iOS 18 photo gallery
Apple said the new A18 chip created for iPhone 16 has 3-nanometer technology and four efficiency cores, which are used in nearly every experience on iPhone, including Apple Intelligence. The chip delivers up to 30% higher sustained performance for gaming, Apple said.
It is also up to 60% faster than the CPU in iPhone 12, and the speed challenges high-end desktop PCs, Apple said, adding that the GPU on the iPhone 16 is up to 40% faster than in the iPhone 15.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus start at $799 and $899, respectively.
— Hayden Field
AirPods Pro 2 has three new health features, including clinical-grade hearing aid
Apple marketed AirPods Pro 2 as a product with “incredible health capabilities,” including three dedicated health features.
Hearing protection, which is turned on by default across listening modes, will be available to all users. Since 80% of U.S. adults have not had their hearing checked in the past five years, per Apple, the company introduced a clinically validated hearing test with AirPods Pro and iPhone that takes just five minutes to complete, the company said.
AirPods Pro will also have a clinical-grade, over-the-counter hearing aid feature. After users take the hearing test, AirPods Pro can easily turn into a personalized hearing aid, Apple said. The resulting “hearing profile” will be automatically applied to music, movies and phone calls across all of a user’s devices.
Apple said the features will receive clearance from the FDA and other regulators soon.
— Hayden Field
Updated AirPods Max announced with new colors, USB-C
AirPods Max.
Apple announced the updated AirPods Max with USB-C charging and three new colors: orange, purple and starlight. They are still $549 and are available to order beginning Monday before they launch on Sept. 20.
— Todd Haselton
AirPods 4 announced
AirPods 4.
Apple just announced the AirPods 4.
Apple said it used 3D modeling and laser topography to develop the shape of its “most comfortable AirPods ever.” They are powered by the H2 chip.
The company said the headphones are a massive improvement in audio quality, and the “best sounding AirPods ever.” They also have personalized spatial audio, and Apple said they will be able to help reduce environmental noise.
The AirPods 4 charging case is compatible with USB-C, and it is the smallest case ever. You can also charge the case wirelessly.
AirPods 4 will be available for $129, and AirPods 4 with active noise cancelling will be available for $179.
— Ashley Capoot
Apple Watch Ultra 2 debuts in black
Apple Watch Ultra 2 .
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has the “most accurate GPS in a sports watch,” Apple said, marketing it as the perfect companion for workout enthusiasts.
As a reminder, the watch offers:
- Depth gauge for scuba
- Dual-frequency GPS
- Advanced positioning software
- Pacing features
- Custom workouts
- Automatic stroke detection and lap count for swimmers
- Advanced compass app that includes latitude, longitude, waypoints and backtrack, as well as offline maps with turn-by-turn directions even when iPhone isn’t nearby
The watch starts at $799, and customers can preorder it today. It will be available on Sept. 20.
— Hayden Field
Apple Watch Series 10 will include new health features for sleep apnea
Apple Watch Series 10 sleep apnea alert.
Apple said its Apple Watch Series 10 will be able to alert users to sleep apnea, which is a disorder that can cause people to stop breathing while they are asleep. The condition affects more than one billion people worldwide, Apple said.
The company said 80% of people with sleep apnea are undiagnosed. Apple’s Series 10 uses an accelerometer to measure breathing disturbances while users are sleeping, and it analyzes this data every 30 days.
This feature was built using an extensive dataset, Apple said, and the company expects clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators “very soon.”
— Ashley Capoot
Apple Watch Series 10 launches Sept. 20, preorders begin today. It starts at $399
Apple Watch Series 10.
The Apple Watch Series 10 launches Sept. 20. You can preorder it beginning Monday. It starts at $399. It starts at $499 with cellular.
— Todd Haselton
Apple announces Apple Watch Series 10 with thinnest design ever, biggest display yet
Apple Watch Series 10.
Apple just announced the Apple Watch Series 10 with the thinnest design ever — 10% thinner than Series 9 — and the biggest display yet.
“Today we’re building on the advanced technologies pioneered with Apple Watch to make it even more useful, essential and intelligent,” CEO Cook said of the Apple Watch Series 10.
Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams introduced the model, which he said will have the “biggest wearable display we’ve ever built” — even bigger than the Apple Watch Ultra — and has up to 30% more screen area. It will also have an additional line of text visible for messages, mail or news.
Both the display and case have a wider aspect ratio and rounded corners, Williams said.
The Series 10 display will also be up to 40% brighter when viewed at an angle in order to improve visibility, he said. The display will update once per second when in Always On mode instead of once per minute like before.
Apple also introduced the first-ever glossy aluminum finish for Apple Watch in jet black. It is polished using silicon nanoparticles to result in a specialized surface shine. Other options for the device include rose gold and silver aluminum. The aluminum finishes weigh up to 10% less than the previous generation, Williams said.
A new titanium finish option weighs up to 20% less than previous models and is “carbon-neutral,” Williams said. It is replacing the stainless steel finish in previous generations.
The device also still incorporates up to 50 meters of water resistance.
In 30 minutes, users can charge their watches to up to 80% battery, making Series 10 the fastest-charging Apple Watch to date, Williams said. It also has 18-hour battery.
To improve phone calls, Apple incorporated a neural network into Series 10 that suppresses background noise to make conversations sound clearer, he added.
When it comes to fitness, Apple Watch introduced new ways to track workouts. For kayakers, canoers and rowers, Apple Watch’s workout app can track routes and rowing activity, introducing a Tides App and new depth and water temperature sensors.
Prices start at $399, and customers can preorder today. The Series 10 will be available on Sept. 20.
— Hayden Field
Apple will unveil new iPhones, AirPods and Apple Watches
Cook said Apple will talk about new iPhones, AirPods and Apple Watches today. So, there you go. Expect to see upgrades to all three of those product lines.
— Kif Leswing
Tim Cook is on stage
Apple CEO Tim Cook at the iPhone 16 event.
Apple CEO Tim Cook just took the stage. There was a standing ovation for him. Cook said this is “without a doubt, our biggest event of the year,” and referred to the keynote film that is starting now. Let’s go!
— Kif Leswing
Viewers tune in on YouTube
The Apple Event page displayed on a phone screen and a laptop screen are seen in this photo taken in Krakow, Poland, on Sept. 9, 2024.
Apple’s event has started streaming on YouTube, and there are more than 686,000 people, including CNBC, watching live.
— Ashley Capoot
We’re in our seats ready for the event to start
Apple’s iPhone 16 event.
We are inside Steve Jobs Theater ready for the event to kick off. Some of the executives are down in front. Apple’s big “It’s Glowtime” logo is on the screen. Lots of folks are filing in and taking their seats. We should be kicking things off at right about 1 p.m. ET.
— Kif Leswing
The Apple Store is down ahead of the event, as usual
The Apple Store is down, as usual.
The Apple Store is down ahead of the iPhone event. This always happens when Apple is set to announce new gadgets. It will return shortly after the presentation ends with information on the new products. The iPhone 16 and Apple Watch seem like a lock. New AirPods could make an appearance, too.
— Todd Haselton
Tim Cook tweets ahead of the event
As usual, Apple CEO Tim Cook posted a tweet on social media platform X ahead of the event. “Apple Park is glowing! #AppleEvent,” the post said with a picture of a rainbow structure on the company’s campus. The tagline for the event is “It’s Glowtime,” which seems to suggest the changes to Siri with Apple Intelligence, which will now glow around the borders of an iPhone’s screen instead of showing the standard Siri bubble at the bottom of the display.
— Todd Haselton
Apple needs to show AI gadgets aren’t a bust
Apple Intelligence was unveiled during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on June 10, 2024.
Apple needs to convince people to upgrade to the latest iPhones and prove to Wall Street that an iPhone upgrade cycle is underway. One way it will try that is with Apple Intelligence, which the company announced in June. It is artificial intelligence that customers can use to generate emojis, email messages, notes and more. It will tap into OpenAI’s ChatGPT, too. Some of those features will not launch until the end of the year, though, and AI gadgets have, so far, been a bust.
Apple’s iPhone sales declined 1% year over year to $39.29 billion during the company’s fiscal third quarter, or about 46% of the company’s total sales. “On a constant currency basis, we grew year on year. And so that’s sort of how we look at it from an operational point of view,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC’s Steve Kovach in June, noting that Apple has “redeployed a lot of people to AI that were working on other things,” and that Apple increased spending for AI and Apple Intelligence.
— Todd Haselton and Steve Kovach
Apple analyst Kuo says these are two important things to watch for today
The iPhone 15 Pro is presented during the “Wonderlust” event at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 12, 2023.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the two most important things to watch on Monday are iPhone pricing and Apple Intelligence availability. The iPhone Pro has had the same $999 starting price in the U.S. since 2017, but the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max had a $100 price increase over the iPhone 14 Pro Max — at least it came with twice the storage. Apple Intelligence is currently in a preview beta version and some of its best improvements, such as a smarter Siri, are expected later this year or next.
— Todd Haselton
There’s a ‘Free Speech Area’
“Free Speech Area” outside Apple heaqaurters.
I noticed this “Free Speech Area” sign on my way in. Past Apple events have drawn protests ranging from the company’s China policy to how it handles child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. In June, for example, CSAM demonstrators showed up at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Also, protestors staged a hunger strike outside the Apple Park Visitor Center in December 2022 to speak out against changes that limited Apple AirDrop in China.
— Kif Leswing
We’re here heading to Steve Jobs Theater where the iPhone event will take place
Steve Jobs Theater
We just arrived at Apple’s Cupertino campus and we are walking over to the Steve Jobs Theater. It is where Apple typically announces new iPhones on its campus, in contrast to events such as the Worldwide Developers Conference that is held outside. It is a cloudy day.
Update: It is no longer cloudy. That is California weather for you.
— Kif Leswing
