Today's September Apple event was a huge day for Apple fans and tech enthusiasts, with some of the biggest leaps we've seen from Apple in years, especially on its flagship iPhone product line. The new iPhone Air carves a new path for Apple, while the iPhone 17 Pro is the biggest redesign to the iPhone in a decade.
Almost every pocketable Apple product got an upgrade, with new AirPods Pro 3 earbuds that feature heart rate tracking, and an Apple Watch Ultra 3 with satellite connectivity and the longest battery life from an Apple Watch ever.
Our News Chief Jacob Krol and our Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff were in Cupertino while our US Mobile editor (that's me!) followed live from New York City with news and commentary. You can read our live blog below presented as it happened, and then get to all the in-depth coverage on TechRadar.
Without further adieu, let's get the Apple party started...
As Senior Editor of TechRadar's Mobile Computing division, and a regular blogger of Apple events, Philip is the man of the hour to take you through today's showcase from Tim Cook and the Cupertino crew.
What you need to know
We predict the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will launch today
An iPhone 17 Air has been heavily rumored to replace the Plus model
We expect a new look, new Apple processors inside, new camera capabilities, and much more
There should also be an Apple Watch 11 with a tweaked design and improved health monitoring, plus a load of AI features
The new Apple Watch Ultra 3could arrive with satellite connectivity, high-blood-pressure detection, and a refined design
The long-awaited AirPods Pro 3 update could bring improved audio and health-tracking, perhaps with IR cameras for motion controls
Hi there, it's Phil Berne your US Mobiles editor reporting from New York City while our News Chief Jake Krol and our eminent Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff are on the scene at Apple Park! We'll have all the news soon -- the show starts in less than 15 minutes!
(Image credit: Future)
We've got ten minutes left, so for one final prediction: what's the Apple thing everybody will be talking about tomorrow? I say it's the iPhone 17 Air. Whether you're enamored by a thinner iPhone, or loudly wondering why!? I think the iPhone Air will be the device that people remember from today.
The device most people buy? AirPods Pro 3, of course. Apple's AirPods are ubiquitous, and they have become a holiday deal staple over the past few years. The next AirPods Pro 3 will be the gift that keeps on giving for Apple and fans alike, even if the news buds don't have a ton of new features.
Apple Fellow Phil Schiller shaking hands (Image credit: Future)
We're five minutes away and Apple is playing some bopping jams from Touch Sensitive on its page, along with a luminescent Apple logo. Any clues here? Nothing yet.
In the crowd, our Editors on the scene have spotted Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, as well as fellow Apple Fellow Phil Schiller. They definitely know somethings we don't know.
TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff (left) with Apple Fellow Steve Wozniak (right) (Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
The show has started! Not on Apple's home page, but live in California at the Steve Jobs Theater, our Editors tell us Tim Cook has taken the stage and welcomed the crowd. The live stream should begin any second now.
(Image credit: Future)
Here we go, starting with... HomePod?
(Image credit: Future)
Now we're seeing a product and design intro video, and one thing stands out. A hand seemed to gesture and grab a photo from a phone and plop it onto an iPad screen. A new gesture for Apple Watch? Some new AI feature? We'll see.
Tim Cook has taken the stage and is starting with design.
(Image credit: Future)
Tim Cook is all about design today, and he says there will be news about AirPods, Apple Watch, and the biggest leap yet for iPhone. We're starting with AirPods Pro 3.
Kate Bergeron, Apple VP of Hardware Engineering, is talking about AirPods Pro 3 with a new design and better spatial audio. There are improvements to Active Noise Cancellation, including foam-infused eartips, for better ANC -- twice the previous generation.
Bergeron says your old AirPods Pro now suck, because the new AirPods Pro 3 have 4X the ANC performance. Sorry, time to pay more if you want AirPods we won't laugh at.
AirPods will also get live translation with Apple Intelligence, a feature we're seeing on most of the latest AI-enabled flagship phones from Google and Samsung as well.
(Image credit: Future)
You can see a demo of the newest AirPods Pro 3 with our live video from Apple Park. Check out the latest on TikTok, where we'll be posting live videos throughout today's livestream announcements.
The new AirPods Pro 3 will have heart rate tracking with new sensors built into the earbuds. This means you won't need an Apple Watch for more precise exercise tracking, your iPhone will be able to track new workouts just using the latest AirPods.
This used to be a much more popular sensor on the earliest earbuds from Samsung and others, but it hasn't been seen for a while. It will be interesting what other features these new sensors enable.
Apple also says the AirPods Pro 3 will work across a whole transatlantic flight - up to 8 hours of continuous listening, and up to 10 hours of hearing aid usage.
The new AirPods Pro 3 are available for pre-order today and will be in stores on September 19 for $249. Global pricing TBD as soon as we have it.
(Image credit: apple airpods pro 3)
Tim Cook is back to talk about the way Apple Watch touches people. This will hopefully be a health story. We're expecting new health sensors and capabilities, including possibly blood pressure monitoring and blood oxygen improvements.
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Apple is pretty much saying you're going to die if you don't have an Apple Watch. You may have a stroke, or get lost in a blizzard, or fall unconscious and have a car accident and land in a pool, and if you don't have Apple Watch you may not get the help you need.
I've never seen a phone company sell a product with so much abject fear before, but you better believe I want to live so I'll be considering a new Apple Watch.
(Image credit: Apple)
Oh, there's actually a new Apple Watch Series 11, not just a series of tragedies prevented by previous Apple Watch devices.
The new Series 11 Apple Watch is the thinnest and most durable of any Watch so far. It's 2X more scratch resistant than the Apple Watch 10.
There are some cool new watch faces coming that match the new Liquid Glass designs on iOS 26 and macOS 26. Now Apple is talking about blood pressure and hypertension on Apple Watch.
(Image credit: Future)
Apple is still getting clearance for the newest hypertension detection features - in the US as well as globally. Now Apple is talking about sleep scores and Apple Watch monitoring your sleep quality.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Apple)
The entire Apple Watch lineup will get an upgrade this year, and Apple is announcing the Apple Watch SE 3 with the first always-on display on an SE-class Watch. It will have gestures, just like the more expensive Series watch. It can monitor your wrist temperature and track your sleep to offer Apple's new Sleep Score.
But enough about the cheap Apple Watches, let's get ULTRA!
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Apple Watch Ultra 3 is coming with a new display and wider-angle viewing as well as thinner borders. It has the largest display of any Apple Watch, and the always-on display works so well that you can see seconds tick by even when the screen isn't technically active. It should have the longest battery life of any Apple Watch yet.
The new Apple Watch Ultra 3 has a more powerful radio that can connect to satellites, and emergency satellite SOS is included with the Ultra 3. It is available in black and natural titanium that is created in a new 3D-printing process using recycled titanium.
Tim Cook is back and that means it's time for iPhone! There are 4 new models coming, starting the iPhone 17 in some very slick colors.
(Image credit: Apple)
The iPhone 17 will come in very pretty lavender, mist blue, black, white, and sage green colors. It has a 6.3-inch display with Pro-Motion, Apple's branding for a 120Hz display. Finally, Apple fans can tell Android owners to shut up about screen refresh rates.
Apple says the iPhone 17 can hit 3,000 nits peak brightness, but those numbers are a bit exaggerated and we'll have to test the display in the lab to see its real capabilities. The phone should be more durable with ceramic shield 3 glass on the front.
(Image credit: Apple)
The Apple iPhone 17 will feature the new Apple A19 chipset inside, with an updated display engine to drive the new 120Hz display. It also has a neural engine for better Apple Intelligence performance on the device. There are six cores inside for application processing, and a five-core GPU for gaming. Apple claims the A19 offers a 20% boost over the Apple A18 chipset on the iPhone 16.
If you want to check out the new heartrate sensor on the AirPods Pro 3, head to our TikTok page or check out the video below. We've been waiting for this feature for a long time.
Now we're getting a peek at the new cameras on the iPhone 17, a dual-camera system with two 48MP cameras - a wide camera and ultra wide. The wide camera will be able to simulate a 2X optical zoom, great for portraits, while the ultra wide will handle macro photos.
The selfie camera also gets an improvement with a wider frame of view and a larger sensor with a higher resolution. The selfie sensor will be square instead of 4:3, which Apple says gives you better framing possibilities no matter how you're holding your phone.
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Ooh, hidden in that iPhone 17 spec sheet is a nice upgrade - 256GB of storage to start! Finally, Apple is offering a nice amount of storage space, and even more than the entry level of some competitors. A great sign from Apple.
Now Tim Cook is back, and we're onto a whole new phone - the iPhone 17 Air! Apple designer Abidur Chowdhury is giving us the details in video.
(Image credit: Future)
Okay, it's not actually iPhone 17 Air, it's just called the iPhone Air. It's polished titanium, thiner than any iPhone before, with a single-lens camera system that seems carved directly from the same block of metal. It's only 5.6mm thin, but it still has the power of the iPhone Pro models, according to what we've heard so far.
The screen will be similar to the iPhone 17, with 120Hz refresh rates and Ceramic Shield glass. Oh, and Apple doesn't call it a camera bump: it's a plateau.
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple is throwing down the gauntlet with its new Apple A19 Pro processor. It says this is the fastest processor in any smartphone, though it could mean just for single core performance. In our latest benchmark tests, the Apple A18 Pro chipset is the fastest for single core application processing, but it falls behind Qualcomm's best when it comes to multi-core and graphics performance.
Apple says the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air will have Macbook Pro levels of graphical power, thanks to new neural processors. The new Apple A19 Pro chipset will include an Apple N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Threads connectivity. It will also use the Apple C1 modem, just like the Apple iPhone 16e.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
Now for the bad news - the iPhone Air camera. It will use a single 48MP camera, and the sensor size looks to fall somewhere between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, for comparison. Unlike the thin Galaxy S25 Edge, which used the same huge 200MP sensor as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Apple iPhone Air will be a step down in camera capabilities from the Pro devices, even if you only care about wide-angle shooting.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Apple)
What about battery life? Apple says the design maximizes battery space, and iOS 26 will have an adaptive power mode to intelligently conserve power. Despite being much thinner, Apple claims the iPhone Air will get all-day battery life. We'll have to test the phone in Future Labs to be sure.
There are also new accessories, including a MagSafe battery. Hey, that means the iPhone Air has magnets inside! That's a feature I would have predicted Apple would omit to save space. Now Apple is showing off some thin clear cases as well as a simple bumper that give you a bit of protection without adding too much bulk. And here's a crossbody strap with some magnets inside - that's a new accesssory from Apple that is surely designed to show off the new phone more than hide it.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
The iPhone Air is done, and now its time to hear about the two new iPhone 17 Pro models. It starts from solid Aluminium. Sorry, Americans, no Aluminum for you, just Aluminium. It gets new colors as part of the new aluminum process, with a unibody design instead of just a side-frame.
Now we're seeing the new vapor chamber, a feature we've seen on Android for a long time, but which Apple is treating as a brand new technology. Oh, and it will be a tough new iPhone 17 Pro, with Ceramic Shield glass on the front and back.
It looks very nice, but this is the biggest departure from iPhone design that I've seen... maybe ever? Since the iPhone 4 at least. I'll be very curious to see the differences in person.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
Now we're just soaking in all the details about the iPhone 17 Pro, but I'm too enamored with this cosmic orange color to really pay attention to performance claims. The iPhone was too powerful already, but it really needed a splash of color. Hopefully this will spark a trend in the industry and we'll see more color on Pro phones moving forward. Things were getting a bit dour with the thunderstorm hues.
There's a better display, better battery, better performance, better blah blah... we'll test all of these claims before we repeat them. Did I mention the orange? And it comes in a nice blue as well. Now we're onto cameras.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
Thankfully, Apple has not made the cameras worse this year. What a relief. Apple is talking up the selfie cams, which shows how much content creators are playing a role in its camera choices. On the back, all three cameras are 48MP resolution shooters, but we don't know what sensors they will use, so those numbers are totally meaningless.
The telephoto lens can shoot at 4X zoom at full resolution, or it can use pixel binning to shoot up to 8x zoom with a 12MP result. Every camera has a similar trick, so the wide camera can shoot at 2X zoom as well, and so on. Now Apple is showing off what professional photographers can do with an iPhone, which is like showing what a professional ball player can do with a basketball. It's better than what I can do.
(Image credit: ESR)
(Image credit: Apple)
Now we're seeing the rubber hit the road. All the new models will start around the same price as last year, if you take storage into consideration (yuck). No big surprises, and Apple is promising huge trade in deals if you bring back your old iPhone 13 or better in any condition.
We'll have a closer look at all the iPhone models soon as our Editors on the scene rush to get hands-on, but let's go over the big points here.
Today was as big as expected? Bigger? The new iPhone Air is more iconic than I presumed. While Samsung created the thinnest Galaxy S phone ever, Apple looks to be striving for a whole new category with its thin iPhone Air. There's still much we don't know. What is the battery technology? How fast does it charge? How does it feel? We'll know more soon, and we'll have a full review in the weeks ahead.
I was also skeptical about the iPhone redesign, but the new look makes sense when you consider the forged aluminum (aluminium? Depends on who at Apple is speaking) frame. I love the Cosmic Orange color, and Apple launching a bright new hue is likely to start a color war among phone makers that will relieve us of the drab Pro phones and Ultra devices we've been suffering for years.
Apple certainly sold the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in the most dramatic way possible, but the new Watch lineup looks totally solid, even the less expensive Apple Watch SE 3. Having an always-on display is important for the best wearable experience, so it's great that even Apple's most affordable option can show you the time all day. And with the longest battery life ever on an Apple Watch, the new Ultra 3 can even show the time with a ticking seconds hand, all day long.
There are still unanswered questions and so much more to learn as we dive into the new health features and the new software features that come with watchOS 26, so stay tuned to TechRadar as our experts dive deep on the new Apple Watch.
Will there be deals on the new Apple gear? You better believe it, and our deals experts are tracking the best pricing so far. Here are links to our pages where can stay updated on deals and bundle offers, including information about pre-ordering the new Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, and all of the iPhone models.
Our Editors are getting hands-on with the new products and talking to our friends and reps at Apple, so in the meantime let's consider the most interesting new features we saw today.
The AirPods Pro 3 are getting live translation for foreign languages, a feature that has become a big selling point for Google's Pixel phones. The live translation will be coming to some previous AirPod earbuds as well, and we'll know more about that soon.
Unlike Android devices, which usually translate in both directions in spoken language, the iPhone and AirPods Pro 3 will translate what you hear into your ear, then translate what you say onto the iPhone display first so you can show your other party. You can then ask the iPhone to speak the text aloud.
You might not think this is a useful feature if you don't know many foreign language speakers, but I was recently approached by a tourist in my city asking for help communicating with a taxi driver. I guess I looked approachable? Or maybe he saw my smartphone and thought I had a live translation feature on board.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
Does the iPhone 17 Pro have 8X optical zoom? Let's clear this up. NO! It does not. It has a 4X optical zoom lens and a 48MP sensor. Using a combination of digital zoom and some pixel binning techniques, it can create images at the 8X zoom range that Apple claims are indistinguishable from a real 8X zoom image. The catch? The final image is only 12MP, not the full 48MP.
While Google uses some AI techniques to create high resolution images at longer digital zoom range, Apple is dialing down the megapixels significantly. That's not a bad move. A 12MP image is perfect for sharing and uploading, and even prints at that resolution look good.
Still, real 8X optical zoom? Not on this iPhone 17 Pro, sorry.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Future)
No need to wait any longer, we've gotten our first hands-on look at the biggest, best, most important iPhone launched today - the iPhone 17 Pro! Check out our impressions, and plenty more live videos from Apple Park and the Apple launch event, on TikTok and below:
What color are you getting? That's the real question, isn't it? I have a collection of old iPhone devices, and you can tell from a distance which model you see because it is the most unique color for that year. So what to buy this time around?
For the iPhone 17, that lilac color looks lovely. I'm a sucker for purple phones, and the jade is probably equally appealing, but I like the lilac and I can imagine some lively spring lilac cases.
For the iPhone Air, I would opt for the blue, though I'm actually curious to see it in black. I usually find black phones boring, but with such a thin design, it might seem to disappear if it didn't reflect as much light. That could be cool, especially with a slim case.
For the iPhone 17 Pro, do you have to ask?! Cosmic Orange? You had me at cosmic, and then again at orange. In the Pro Max variation, so I get even more orange. As much orange as possible, with a white case to complete the creamsicle look.
