If there is a thread on this, I apologize. I didn’t see one.
I have a couple of thoughts.
What are your reactions?
Actually, @Bmosbacker , it would be more appropriate to call this thread September event, or even iPhone Event, as it’s not associated with what World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC).
That said, I’ll watch the keynote later and come back here to comment.
I woke at 5 a.m. here in NZ, which is the exact time it started, so I watched it.
I didn’t want to wake up.
It was, ironically, Mother Nature, that woke me up.
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The improvements felt very incremental to me.
Reassuringly underwhelmed with wallet safe for another year is my initial reaction.
I will not upgrade from the Ultra to Ultra 2 for that finger tap gesture … I will not … 
It was interesting to see the USB-C Airpods Pro 2 also came with a price drop in the UK to 229 GBP. My other half bought them two days ago, so he is returning them to be replaced with a better, cheaper version.
The only purchase this triggered was a refurbished iPad Mini 6, as I was waiting to see if the refresh came. I have two holidays in the next few months and am currently without an iPad, so I have bitten the bullet on the mini 6.
This was my favorite type. No need to buy anything.
If I can get a good trade in deal I might get the pro phone just for the minor improvements in the camera system. Really that’s the only reason I ever upgrade. And these weren’t very interesting.
You are exactly right. I had WWDC in mind when I titled it. My bad. I’ve corrected it.
The watch processor finally refreshed, and significantly, so I’m happy. I thought it was a quiet event overall. The new algorithm that reduces the pixel binning to make 24MP images is a big upgrade.
I think this is going to be an expensive event for me, not because anything is so radical, but because I have put off updating for so long. My S4 watch (I think that’s it - the last one before the always-on screen) is still functional, and I can almost always still get a full day of battery out of it, but enough incremental changes have happened that I am ready to upgrade.
My phone isn’t quite as old; it’s a 12 Pro, and I’m quite happy with it. But my youngest kid is stuck with a “handed down the line” 7S that barely holds a charge and is, generally, out of date. So I’ll get the 15 Pro, enjoy the updated camera, and then phones will “slide down” to other family members. (Any good ideas for using a 7S that will soon be a WiFi only device?)
And, while I’m at it, I had heard that the next generation AirPods Pro were a significant improvement, and now with the USB-C case, I think I will pull the trigger on that in the next 3-4 months as well, replacing my 1st gen AirPods Pro.
Not a good season for my savings account. I’ve been anticipating & planning for it, though, so I won’t feel too guilty!
-Eric
Pundits like to say that every Presidential election is the most consequential election in our lifetime. I recall a panel of historians discussing what the least consequential election of our lifetime was.
The consensus was rapid and unanimous: The 1996 election. Clinton was a good, but not great President. Bob Dole probably would have been a good, but not great President. The 90s would have proceeded exactly as it did.
This year’s iPhone announcement is the least consequential iPhone announcement ever. The 14 line was a good phone. This year’s phones are an upgrade. Better camera, lighter weight, improved battery life, and so on.
I have no plans to upgrade my aging ancient XS for a year, but if I need to, I’ll get an iPhone 15 Pro Max and I expect I’ll be happy with it.
Didn’t watch the keynote, but found the features described in the site to be niceties.
That said, I really like this watch face and hope that it’s not exclusive to the new Watch 9 models.
Upgraded from my old 5S to a 14 only a few months ago meaning I am not ready to upgrade to a 15. Plan to wait until 2024 and a possible 16 then I will probably upgade.
I didn’t watch the event, but I’ve read through the new specs. It’s a good year for me as nothing grabs my interest! Too incremental and nothing that would improve my workflow.
Still struggling with the fact that the battery life is “all day” at 18 hours, particularly since sleep tracking has been introduced. I can’t/won’t accept that. I’d be happier if they said 18 hours but removed “all day”. And yes, Tim’s duty is to make me happy! 
Plus the fact that starting and stopping workouts is not by a hardware button. I’ll assume the double tap won’t do it as they would have mentioned that. Happy to be proven wrong.
All that said, must acknowledge some incremental innovations like double tap. Would have been nice to see more though.
ebook reader
iPod stand-in
With regards to the pinch gesture thing on the Apple Watch 9 and on the Apple Watch Ultra 2: I do not know if everybody is aware of that but this new feature is not 100% new:
With the default actions, you can navigate your Apple Watch with these hand gestures:
- Move to the next item: Pinch (Tap your pointer finger to your thumb)
- Move back one item: Double pinch (Tap your pointer finger to your thumb twice quickly)
Apparently they have built something on top of this AssistiveTouch feature and made it part of the regular user interface. Why this is something that needs to be exclusive to the Apple Watch 9 and the Ultra 2 escapes me to be honest.
Don’t feel compelled to upgrade my 12 Pro Max
I have a Sony Dream Machine I’ve been using for years with a series 4 iPhone to capture my favorite announcers for football games, music and podcasts. The battery is long gone so I just leave it plugged in. I live in the hills and AM radio is spotty. This arrangement gives me all I need. Still going strong.
Glad I switched to Galaxy Z Fold5. Now, that is what I call innovation.
Also, replaced iPad Pro with Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and Apple Watch Series 7 with Galaxy Watch6.
The only Apple product I now use and can’t imagine switching from is my 16" M1 Max MBP with 64GB RAM.
Also, waiting for iPad mini 7.
If you do not have a Stream Deck, perhaps use it for Touch Portal?
I’m using it with an original iPad Air as my “bunch of buttons” device and am happy with it.
Funny you say that. I took a screenshot of that image during the keynote because I like the watch face and band color. 
