Apple event - as it happened: iPhone 15 brings new charging ports and ‘carbon neutral Apple Watch
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple has launched brand new iPhones and two new Watches at its biggest event of the year.
The new iPhone 15 range has brought extra controversy this year, given the switch to a new charging port at the bottom of the phone.
Alongside those updates, Apple unveiled faster chips, better battery life and design tweaks for the higher-end, Pro versions of the phone.
In addition to the new products, Apple updated both the normal and Ultra version of the Apple Watch, both featuring new chip technology.
The AirPods also received an update to swap the Lightning charging port in the bottom for USB-C – beginning the process of getting rid of a charging technology that has been used for more than a decade in Apple’s most popular products.
The event was live streamed from Apple’s California headquarters, beginning at 10am local pacific time, 1pm eastern, or 6pm in the UK. You can catch up with all the news and announcements here.
Everything Apple is set to reveal
We’re pretty sure we’re getting a whole set of new iPhones. What else is to come at today’s event?
(Probably a couple of watches, and some AirPods that also switch to USB-C. And maybe another look at the headset?)
Apple Store goes down ahead of event
With just over an hour to go, the Apple Store has gone down. Users will see a dusty animation, similar to the one in the invite. (That appears to show the colours of the iPhone 14 Pro and the dust might be a reference to a new manufacturing process, but nobody knows for sure.)
Unusually, the Apple Store is up more than usual. The iPhone page is still live, for instance – but if you click to buy anything then it will show you the message about it being down. That’s the same with all Apple products, including those that aren’t expected to be updated today, such as the Macs.
How to watch today’s Apple event
Apple provides a host of options for watching today’s event. You can do so on its own events page, for instance, or you can use the Apple Events app on the Apple TV.
The easiest way, however, is probably through YouTube. You can find the video below. If you click through, you can even click to classify yourself as waiting and get a notification when the presentation starts.
Apple iPhone 15 event: company’s share price tumbles
Apple’s share price has fallen by around 7 per cent since the start of the month, though the rare setback for the world’s most valuable company may be completely unrelated to today’s event.
The slide began when reports emerged that China might ban government employees from using iPhones in an effort to reduce its dependence on US technologies - similar to what the US has been doing with certain Chinese technologies. China is Apple’s largest international market, accounting for roughly 20 per cent of its revenues, and the news wiped around $200 billion from Apple’s market cap.
Despite the dip, Apple’s share price is still up by nearly 40 per cent since the start of the year. Nevertheless, executives and shareholders will be hoping for a boost today to get out of the latest slump.
Apple iPhone 15 event: Change of charger could see spike in e-waste
The widely-rumoured change to USB-C charging for the iPhone 15 could see a spike in e-waste, as Apple customers upgrading to the latest device will no longer be able to use their old cables.
While this shift to a more standardised charger is designed to ultimately reduce e-waste, environmental experts are encouraging iPhone users to be considerate with any redundant technologies.
Scott Butler, executive director, Recycle Your Electricals, tells The Independent that there are enough cables stashed in UK homes to circle the Earth five times. Here’s what he had to say about what to do with old cables:
Charging cables are a great example of a hidden electrical that when broken are too often thrown away in the bin instead of being recycled. We’ve all got drawers of cables at home that no longer work with the device we’ve now got.
What most people don’t know is these unused cables contain precious metals like copper and they can be recycled. If you’re getting a new phone and your old cable isn’t compatible, check out where it can be recycled and turned into something new by visiting the Recycle Your Electricals postcode locator.
Apple iPhone 15 event: Which new feature caused the biggest stir?
There’s a host of rumoured features and upgrades for the new range of iPhones - from new charging ports to a tweaked design - but will any of them match the buzz surrounding previous announcements?
Analysis from Mobiles.co.uk has revealed which iPhone features caused the biggest stir from previous events, with the number one spot held by the unveiling of the Dynamic Island last year. It generated close to 5,000 online news articles, more than 1,000 more than the next most-written about feature, Always On. You can see the full top 10 here:
Apple iPhone 15 event: Is Apple about to become the world’s number one smartphone brand?
The unveiling of Apple’s latest range of iPhones comes at a difficult time for the global smartphone industry. Projections last month from Counterpoint Research suggest shipments will fall this year to their lowest level in a decade, dropping from a peak of 1.57 billion units in 2017 to just 1.15 billion in 2023.
The drop may actually work out well for Apple, as it leaves the company in a good position to become the world’s number one smartphone brand for the first time ever.
“So far this year it’s been record low upgrades across all carriers,” said Jeff Fieldhack, a research director at Counterpoint Research. “The iPhone 15 launch is a window for carriers to steal high-value customers.”
So will Apple’s event be enough to reignite interest in the flagging smartphone market?
“The September event never disappoints – no doubt it will be action-packed and another slick Apple experience,” Paolo Pescatore, an analyst and founder of PP Foresight, tells The Independent. “All attention will be on the new iPhone line-up which remains a core product for the company. For some, they will be seen as incremental updates. Being able to differentiate between models will be paramount to drive premium pricing.”
You can read more about the collapse of global smartphone demand here:
iPhone 15: Global smartphone demand collapses as Apple aims to take top spot
New iPhone could see Apple take the top spot for the first time in its history
Apple iPhone 15 event: 10 minutes until showtime
Just 10 minutes to go now until Apple begins its biggest unveiling event of the year.
You can find the live stream now at the top of this page if you want to watch along.
Apple iPhone 15 event: Live stream attracts huge interest
We’re underway! For the next couple of hours Apple chief executive Tim Cook and his colleagues will be leading us through all of the latest announcements.
Interest seems to be particularly this year, with more than a million people currently tuned in to Apple’s YouTube channel to find out what’s about to be unveiled.
Apple iPhone 15 event live: Tom Cook gets the show underway
After an emotional video about Apple Watch and iPhone owners being saved by the emergency features on the devices, Apple boss Tim Cook gets us underway in typically enthusiastic style:
“Good morning!” he says.
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