Apple’s California Streaming event: rumors, news, and announcements

The new Apple Watch Series 7 was announced alongside the iPhone 13, iPad, and iPad Mini, but it’s the final device of Apple’s new fall products to launch. This newer model sits atop Apple’s current lineup of smartwatches, which still includes the SE and Series 3 rounding out the line. Featuring a slightly revamped design and larger display, the Series 7 comes in either a 41mm (up from 40mm) configuration starting at $399 or a 45mm (up from 44mm) configuration — each with optional cellular radios if you want to pay for service with your carrier.

After Apple’s initial announcement billed them for release “later this fall,” we now know the new models are set to release on October 15th, and you can preorder them now through Apple, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.

Apple announced a fleet of new products at its “California Streaming” event. Chief among them — you guessed it — was the iPhone 13. This one is coming in various sizes and colors, but with smaller notches, the new A15 Bionic chipset, and with redesigned and improved cameras located around the back. Going from smallest to largest, Apple will soon release the iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and finally the iPhone 13 Pro Max. With the Pro and Pro Max, you’ll be able to get the first iPhone to ship with 1TB of storage, along with 120Hz refresh rate displays.

If you’re looking forward to ordering any of the four iPhone 13 models, the good news is you no longer need to preorder and wait around. If you haven’t already ordered one, there’s a good chance you pick one up from your local Apple store, or from your carrier.

As expected, Apple’s “California Streaming” was loaded with a flurry of announcements, from the iPhone 13 to the Apple Watch Series 7. Apple also used its annual fall showcase to introduce its latest tablets, specifically the ninth-gen iPad and all-new iPad Mini, the latter of which is a follow-up to the 2019 iPad Mini that takes heavy design cues from last year’s iPad Air. The new models are set to launch on Friday, September 24th, starting at $329 and $499, respectively, and preorders have already gone live at several retailers.

We’ll have reviews up for both models in the near future, however, if you’re looking to purchase Apple’s latest tablets ahead of release, you have a few options to consider.

Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup comes with the biggest change Apple has made to the front of its iPhones since it first introduced Face ID with the iPhone X: that controversial notch has finally been shrunken down a bit. Apple says the new notch is about 20 percent smaller than the old one, although eagle-eyed observers have noticed it comes with the tradeoff of being a hair taller, too.

The new and improved notch is still a notch. A big notch, too, compared to the hole-punch cameras and teardrop cutouts that competitors like Samsung or OnePlus have been offering on their flagship phones. 

Apple’s newly redesigned iPad Mini was one of the most exciting announcements at its iPhone 13 event on Tuesday, but in the aftermath a limitation has been identified: As spotted by Jason Snell from Six Colors, the new iPad Mini doesn’t support mmWave 5G. There’s also a hint that its new A15 Bionic processor might be downclocked in comparison to the version that appears in the iPhone 13 line (via MacRumors).

Support for 5G on the cellular version of the iPad Mini was one of Apple’s major highlights, but looking at Apple’s tech specs, while it supports low- and mid-band 5G, it doesn’t offer mmWave. Apple first started playing into the 5G hype machine with the launch of the iPhone 12, and continues to tout the faster download and upload speeds the tech can offer in 2021. You can see the cellular and wireless features Apple highlights for the iPad Mini below:

For many who follow tech news closely, Apple’s event on Tuesday had a few big surprises — not because there were completely unexpected announcements, but because we didn’t see things we really thought we’d be getting. Rumors that had enough smoke to be almost a sure-fire thing in previous years ended up falling flat.

For example:

For the past ten years, Tim Cook’s greatest accomplishment as Apple CEO has been vastly more of the same. More iPhones, more iPhone accessories, more apps, and so much more money. While the Mac and iPad have occasionally fallen into disrepair, the company keeps coming back with new reasons to buy its greatest hits every year — and this year’s iPhone 13 event is a near-perfect case study in how far refinement can take you. 

As my colleague Jon Porter points out, the iPhone 13 is effectively the iPhone 12S, an iterative, incremental update to last year’s phones instead of something that feels brand new. 

The refreshed Apple TV 4K hit shelves in April, but the anticipated tvOS 15 update that introduces exciting updates to the Apple TV experience was previously only available in beta. That will change next week: Apple has confirmed tvOS 15 will become widely available to everyone on September 20th.

Apple confirmed to The Verge that the tvOS 15 update will go live the same day as its other operating system updates, which include iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8. The tvOS 15 update brings a number of new features to the Apple TV experience. SharePlay is arguably the most exciting addition to the experience and will allow FaceTime users to stream titles together in sync across their Apple devices, including on Apple TV. However, Apple confirmed in August that the feature would be delayed on iOS 15 and tvOS 15 initially and would arrive in a later update, so that feature’s currently still on ice — for now.

Apple had a lot of new features to announce with its iPhone 13 lineup this week. The iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max have better battery life, faster A15 Bionic processors, smaller display notches, upgraded cameras, and, when it comes to the Pro models, high refresh rate 120Hz ProMotion displays.

It’s a nice collection of updates, but take a step back and the range starts to look an awful lot like an iterative update over last year’s iPhone 12. They have an almost identical look to the squared-off design introduced with last year’s models, and Apple was careful to not directly compare the performance of its new A15 Bionic chip to last year’s A14 Bionic, only to its competitors. There’s also no major new initiative like the MagSafe ecosystem that Apple kicked off last year, and on the bottom of the phones you’ll see the same old Lightning port rather than USB-C. It all feels very familiar. 

Apple’s “California Streaming” event was packed with announcements, from the iPhone 13 and forthcoming Apple Watch Series 7 to a sixth-gen iPad Mini. We expected much of this, yet, there were a number of things we had anticipated that Apple might announce but didn’t, including new MacBook Pros and next-gen AirPods.

However, it looks like there’s still hope they may make an appearance soon, especially given that October is historically when Apple will showcase new Macs. According to Bloomberg’s reliable Apple-watcher, Mark Gurman, Apple will likely hold at least one more online event within the next “several weeks,” which means Apple may still reveal the no-shows from today before the end of 2021. Here are some of the more noteworthy omissions we expect to see in the months ahead.

Apple introduced an updated version of its MagSafe leather wallet today with new colors and support for an additional feature: tracking in the Find My app. Apple’s location tracking service recently expanded with the addition of AirTags, and now the company is apparently working some version of the same functionality into its more low-tech accessories.

That might seem like the continuous tracking AirTags offers, but Apple’s description points to something simpler. The company writes that the wallet “supports Find My, so you can be notified of your wallet’s last known location if it gets separated from your phone.” That’s helpful, but possibly not useful if someone moves your wallet after it’s separated.

Apple just finished its “California Streaming” event, and it announced a whole lot of new products, including the iPhone 13 lineup of smartphones, Apple Watches with bigger screens, and new iPads.

If you’re looking for a quick recap of the biggest news from the show, we’ve got you covered right here.

Apple is releasing the next version of its smartwatch operating system, watchOS 8, on September 20th. The company first introduced the new free update at WWDC 2021 and has been testing it in public beta over the summer alongside iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey.

watchOS 8 is a modest change to the Apple Watch, but it still has some nice additions. Apple is adding support for new iOS 15 features like Focus mode for more granular control over app notifications and new types of keys and ID cards in Apple Wallet.

Apple says it’s releasing iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 on September 20th. The company announced the new free operating system updates at WWDC 2021 earlier in June and offered public betas over the summer.

Both of the new versions of iOS and iPadOS offer a grab bag of features. The headliners include changes to notifications like the addition of notification summaries, Focus modes for creating distinct lists of apps and notifications allowed to reach users at different times of the day, improvements to FaceTime that include the ability to invite Android and Windows users to calls for the first time, and a new look for Safari.

Apple announced its new iPhone 13 Pro handset today during the company’s California Streaming event. It’s the first iPhone to ship with 1TB of storage as an option, allowing owners to store double the maximum capacity of 512GB on the regular iPhone 13.

Apple has previously offered 1TB for iPad storage but has kept the 512GB maximum on the iPhone Pro side until today. Rumors had suggested we’d get a 1TB iPhone this year, and it comes two years after Samsung shipped its Galaxy S10 Plus with a 1TB storage option for $1,600.

With a design that’s largely similar to last year’s phones, Apple is leaning on big upgrades inside the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro lineups to get people excited. Some of the most substantial improvements to the 2021 iPhones are found in the camera(s), and the company today announced several new features that will produce better still photographs and videos on the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

The first is a new “cinematic mode” for video that replicates the rack focus effect commonly seen in movies. The iPhone 13 smoothly transitions between forefront and background focus based on what’s occurring in the frame. The system is intelligent enough to change focus when a subject looks away from the phone. You can also manually tap to change or lock focus on your preferred subject. Cinematic mode is also available on the iPhone 13 Mini.

Apple has announced a Group Workouts feature for Apple Fitness Plus. Fitness Plus will also be coming to 15 new countries, including Brazil, France, Mexico, and Russia, and workouts will be getting subtitles in six languages. There are new workouts, including guided meditation, Pilates, and programs to help you prepare for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.

Group Workouts will let Fitness Plus subscribers do a workout with a friend (or a group of up to 32 people), starting it through an iMessage or FaceTime call. On your screen, you’ll be able to see both the instructor and the people with whom you’re sharing the workout. (Hopefully Apple will include an option to turn your camera off if it gets too embarrassing.) You’ll also see your metrics and rings, and you’ll be able to see how your friends are doing on the “burn bar” competition feature and when they close their rings.

Apple has officially announced the high-end half of the iPhone 13 lineup: the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max. They’ve got a faster A15 Bionic chip, three all-new cameras, and an improved display with up to a 120Hz ProMotion high refresh rate that can go as bright as 1,000 nits. The iPhone 13 Pro will start at $999, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max will start at $1,099. Both will be available to order on Friday, shipping on September 24th.

The Super Retina XDR displays on both models support variable refresh rates of between 10Hz and 120Hz, and are the same size as last year at 6.1 and 6.7 inches. They have slightly smaller notches that should allow for more space in the iOS status bar. The phones will be available in four colors: graphite, gold, silver, and a new light blue.

Apple’s iPhone 13 has officially arrived — the baseline, most mainstream model that will set the bar for Apple’s 2021 phone lineup.

As with last year, the entry-level iPhone 13 will come in two versions: the 6.1-inch “regular” model and the smaller 5.4-inch iPhone 13 Mini. The screen is an OLED panel, although it’s brighter than last year’s, while the sides are still aluminum sandwiched between two slabs of glass. 

The Apple Watch Series 7 looks a little different than its predecessors. The display now goes virtually to the edge of the case. That means while the Watch isn’t much bigger, everything on it should be more readable.

The bezels around the display are slimmer at just 1.7mm, and the always-on screen mode is 70 percent brighter. Apple claims you can cram 50 percent more text onto the display than the Series 6. The new display also means new ways to interact, with a full keyboard that will support swiping.

Apple has announced its all-new iPad Mini. It features a new enclosure with narrower bezels and rounded corners. The big news is that it’s larger than the iPad Mini 5 with an 8.3-inch display (up from its predecessor’s 7.9-inch panel), making the device even more viable as a driver for multitasking or schoolwork. Apple says the screen can reach 500 nits of brightness and comes with anti-reflective coating.

The iPad Mini is currently Apple’s smallest tablet, even with the bump in size. Apple was rumored to have been considering a Mini LED display on the new iPad, similar to that of its largest iPad Pro. Those appear to have missed the mark; the new Mini sports a regular Liquid Retina display.

Apple has just announced the latest version of its most popular tablet: the standard iPad. This new model is the ninth generation of the iPad that first debuted in 2010, and it features a new processor called the A13 Bionic. Additionally, there’s a new 12-megapixel front camera that supports the Center Stage feature that debuted with the iPad Pro last year. The rest of the 9th Gen iPad will look very familiar to anyone who has seen an iPad in the past few years, complete with the same home button, bezels, single rear camera, and Lightning port we’ve seen before.

Apple says the new processor is 20 percent faster than the one in the outgoing model. The 10.2-inch display is the same size and resolution as before, but it now supports the True Tone feature that automatically adjusts the screen’s color temperature to ambient lighting.

The time has come for yet another iPhone announcement — plus whatever else Apple might have up its sleeve. Sleeve’s the right metaphor, actually, as new Apple Watches are expected today in addition to the iPhone 13. The keynote kicks off online at 10AM PT / 1PM ET and we’ll be live blogging the whole thing right here.

For the iPhone 13, we expect we’ll see the usual camera improvements and faster processors. The cameras may have a new astrophotography trick. There are also rumors that the notch in the screen that houses the FaceID sensors will be smaller this year — but still much larger than the hole punches we see on Android phones.

It’s September, which means iPhone season is just nearly here. The rumor mill has been spinning about the highly anticipated iPhone 13, as well as the Apple Watch Series 7, a third generation of AirPods, and the potential for new MacBooks. A new, bezel-less iPad Mini is also a possibility, as is the official release of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey.

Since Apple sent out the invite for its “California Streaming” event, we’ve been able to take guesses at what hidden meanings there might be to decipher from the night sky and the illuminated Apple logo, but just when does it actually get underway and where?