Apple unveiled a flurry of new products at its annual September event in Cupertino today, including the scene-stealing Apple iPhone Duo, the brand’s first foldable phone, along with new standard iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, accessories, and more.
Apple iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max Phones
Apple is skipping over the base-level iPhone this time, launching right into the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. This is a good thing since the Pro-level phone has often been the best value, as I noted in my iPhone 17 Pro review. The phones promise significant improvements to the cameras, including new pro controls, as well as better battery life. They also both have a smaller Dynamic Island, the new A20 Pro chip, and a next-gen vapour chamber for improved cooling and overall performance. Naturally, they also come loaded with the new iOS 27, Apple Intelligence, and revamped Siri AI.
The new 48MP Fusion Main camera brings aperture control to iPhone for the first time, making it easy to improve shots with automatic adjustment for depth-of-field and lighting. The new sensor, says Apple, also affords better low-light photography and more detail in the back of group photos. Variable aperture also provides more control for creative pros by affording the ability to manually adjust any of the four aperture settings in the Camera app. An API is available to developers for even more control across the aperture range in their apps.
Along with supposedly sharper and more detailed photos, you can also choose from upgraded Photographic Styles with new texture and grain controls. You can now apply Cinematic effects after capture to videos shot at up to 60 fps. In Time-lapse mode, record videos in 4K and Dolby Vision HDR. Audio Mix also has new algorithms that deliver higher-quality voices and can now isolate music. With Pro controls, you can adjust settings like lens aperture, shutter speed, and white balance, or use a histogram to check exposure levels throughout a scene.
With the onset of AI photo creation and editing, Apple is providing tools for proving the authenticity of a photo taken on iPhone 18 Pro models with Apple Reference Image, powered by the new sensor in the Main camera that can sign every pixel it sees. When a photo is taken in the new Reference mode, the camera captures signed sensor data that Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image. Reference images can be viewed in the Photos app alongside the main image, like a digital negative, to visually compare the two assets and determine if any edits were made. APIs are available in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 27 for third-party apps to enable viewing of these reference images.
Image metadata and upcoming support for the SynthID standard can also help you identify images generated or edited with AI.
The Dynamic Island has been redesigned to create room for additional information, including showing three Live Activities at once, while continuing to enable Face ID for securely unlocking iPhone 18 Pro models, authenticating purchases, signing in to apps, and more.
The A20 Pro chip offers 50% more memory bandwidth than A19 Pro. The new 6-core CPU features integrated Neural Accelerators and is faster than the competition, while the new 7-core GPU design is up to 40% faster than A19 Pro, a significant upgrade for graphics rendering. A20 Pro also features a new Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which accelerates on-device AI models and computational photography, and includes 32 total cores for double the AI processing power of A19 Pro.
Both models feature N1, an Apple-designed wireless networking chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. iPhone 18 Pro introduces C2, Apple’s next-generation cellular modem system, which brings AI-powered improvements to cellular quality and reliability. C2 delivers meaningfully faster uploads when compared to C1X while consuming 15% less energy.
iPhone 18 Pro models are eSIM-only and iPhone 18 Pro can deliver up to 36 hours of video playback while iPhone 18 Pro Max can deliver up to 45 hours. iPhone 18 Pro can also charge up to 50% in around 15 minutes, or wirelessly charge up to 50% in 30 minutes (with a compatible charger). On iPhone 18 Pro Max, five minutes of wired charging provides around seven hours of video playback and it provides up to 30 hours of usage on a full charge.
Siri AI, rolling out in beta with iOS 27, is an entirely new version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence that the company says is more personal, capable, and conversational. Apple Intelligence has also been enhanced with the ability to do things like improve the composition of a photo after it’s been taken with Spatial Reframing, Extend, and upgraded Clean Up.
The Apple Phone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities. Available in Burgundy, Glacier, Silver, and Black, iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,749 in Canada and iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,899.
iOS 27 will be available as a free software update on Monday, September 14 and Apple Intelligence will be available with iOS 27 on Monday, September 14, for users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device set to a supported language. Siri AI is rolling out with iOS 27 as a beta on Monday, September 14, for users with a supported device set to English, with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish coming in October. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages.
Apple Watch Series 12 Smartwatch
A lot of the new features coming to Apple Watch Series 12 might sound familiar to owners of other smartwatches, who have been enjoying them for some time. Apple is late to the party in many respects, but it’s nice to finally seeing die-hard Apple users be able to enjoy new fitness, health, and wellness insights through the new Health Sensing System and the option for either a ceramic finish or aluminum with Ceramic Shield 2.
With the new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, Apple Watch Series 12 delivers higher-frequency heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements, which power an enhanced suite of health and fitness features including a new readiness score. In addition to powering the Health Sensing System, the S11 chip also enables new Audio Intelligence features arriving later this year, to help you remember key moments from conversations and stay alert to important sounds. With watchOS 27, Apple Intelligence powers Siri AI on Apple Watch, bringing personal context understanding to the wrist.
The Health Sensing System features new optical and electrical heart sensors, with larger, power-efficient green LEDs on the optical heart sensor to measure heart rate every five seconds, all day long. This continuous, passive measurement delivers deeper insight into your fitness and physiological state, says Apple, while making Exercise and Move Activity rings more accurate. View real-time heart rate at-a-glance throughout the day on a new heart rate watch face complication.
HRV, a key indicator of stress and recovery, is now measured up to 24 times more often and available to view in a new section of the Heart Rate app. Apple Watch provides two separate variants of HRV for better understanding of your health status. Recovery HRV is best for identifying daily signals of stress and recovery, while overall HRV is best for insights into broader health, including cardiovascular health. Higher variability is generally associated with better overall recovery, while a lower variability value is an indicator of stress.
Overnight vitals now includes recovery HRV measurements analyzed against your personal baseline, providing a more complete view of your health status. A new daytime vitals view lets you toggle between overnight and daytime metrics, and can potentially spot shifts in metrics before they show up overnight.
Apple Watch Series 12 introduces readiness, which analyzes your recent activity, training load, vitals, and sleep score to offer insight into your capacity for the day ahead. Readiness provides a single 0-10 score with a clear, actionable recommendation: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. Readiness updates throughout the day as new data comes in, to reflect, for example, an intense workout or a shift in daytime vitals. Readiness clearly highlights which factors are driving the score and allows you to tap into more details. The scoring algorithm was developed using data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, in collaboration with exercise scientists and physicians at Apple.
Sadly, battery life hasn’t been updated as Apple Watch Series 12 continues to offer up to 24 hours of everyday battery life. It does, however, offer faster charging, able to get up to 12 more hours after just 15 minutes.
While daily steps is probably one of the metrics you only now gloss over, the pedometer model has been redesigned with new machine learning algorithms to provide more accurate distance measurements during indoor walk or run workouts. The S11 chip also allows for more accurate step counts all day and enables a new Steps complication for tracking your steps in real time, right from the watch face.
New Audio Intelligence features include sound recognition to alert those who are deaf or hear of hearing if important sounds if iPhone isn’t with them, like sirens, alarms, doorbells, and crying babies. Live Rewind can help you recall what was just said in a conversation: double press the Digital Crown and it will show the previous 15 seconds of a conversation as a text snippet. With Siri Recap, you can get high-level summaries of conversations for review, while Shazam instantly detects the music playing around you and automatically displays the song title and artist’s name on the Music Recognition widget in the Smart Stack: you don’t even need to ask!
You might be concerned about privacy with this, of course. Audio Intelligence features are private by design, says Apple, combining hardware, software, and services to protect your privacy. These features do not create or store audio recordings, and raw audio used for processing is completely inaccessible to the operating systems, apps, the user, or Apple. This is because the S11 chip on Apple Watch Series 12 includes Secure Exclave, a dedicated hardware-isolated compartment that processes audio in complete isolation from the rest of the system, then immediately deletes it. You can turn Siri Recap off at any time, and speakers are not identified while sensitive information like financials is left out.
A new Siri Modular watch face makes it easier to access Siri throughout the day. You also get tons of updates via watchOS 27, including a dynamic app grid with five Siri-suggested apps (your most or recently used ones), a new single-handed tap gesture, Smart Stack widget suggestions, more data in Workout Buddy, and more.
Apple Watch Series 12 is available in 42mm and 46mm sizes. Aluminum finishes include Dark Bronze, Black, and Light Gold, plus the popular Space Grey. Titanium finishes include Gold alongside natural titanium. The ceramic version comes in Pearl White and Night Blue.
Apple Watch Series 12 is now available for pre-order and will be in stores beginning Friday, September 18 for a starting price of $549. watchOS 27 will be available for Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later on Monday, September 14, and requires iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE (2nd generation or later) with iOS 27 or later. Apple Intelligence will be available with watchOS 27 on Monday, September 14, for users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device set to a supported language. Siri AI is rolling out with watchOS 27 as a beta on Monday, September 14, for users with a supported device set to English, with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish coming in October. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages.
New subscribers may get three months of Apple Fitness+ and Apple Music with the purchase of Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch SE 3, or Apple Watch Ultra 4. Offer and service availability varies by region.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 Smartwatch
The more rugged Apple Watch Ultra 4 boasts pretty much all the same features as the Apple Watch Series 12 with enhancement to durability, battery life, and special features for adventurers.
Boasting the same new Health Sensing System and S11 chip, the extended battery life will get you up to 50 hours per charge or 84 hours in low power mode, and charging is faster with 15 minutes getting you another 18 hours. For outdoor workout tracking, the new Extended Workout mode delivers up to 25 hours of battery life for tracking workouts with full GPS and heart rate readings, a 25% increase from the previous model. For even longer workouts, the Max Extended Workout mode allows Apple Watch Ultra 4 to track outdoor runs, walks, and hikes for up to 45 hours, typically enough to finish a 100-mile race, while still taking GPS readings every second. Speaking of GPS, on-device GPS is also more accurate.
Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available in Natural and Black Titanium and is now on for pre-order, with availability in stores starting Friday, September 18. Pricing starts at $1,099.
Apple AirPods 5 True Wireless Earbuds
The new Apple AirPods 5 boast improved active noise cancellation (ANC) and sound quality alongside a new multiport acoustic architecture and next-generation Adaptive EQ for more immersive sound. The open-ear ANC removes up to 50% more external noise compared to AirPods 4 alongside a more natural Transparency mode. Combined with Siri AI and iPhone, AirPods enable users to draw on their personal context and get answers hands-free. You can also respond to Siri using head gestures or use Live Translation to help connect across languages.
Adaptive Audio dynamically blends Transparency mode and ANC based on the conditions of your environment. Conversation Awareness lowers the media volume when you start speaking, helping you more easily talk to someone nearby.
For those with an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone, AirPods 5 allow you to tap into helpful intelligent features. You can ask Siri to play the song a friend recommended in a message, for example, or navigate to a dinner reservation based on the confirmation buried in an e-mail. Siri AI sounds more natural as well, with expressive voices that you can customize while Dictation now captures what you say with greater precision. With Siri Interactions on AirPods, you can discreetly respond to Siri AI by nodding your head yes or shaking your head no.
Live Translation, powered by Apple Intelligence, lets you communicate across languages. After setting up Live Translation in the Translate app and downloading the desired languages, you can access the feature by simultaneously pressing both stems, by saying “Siri, start Live Translation” or by using the Action button on iPhone to hear a conversation in your preferred language.
Force sensor with volume swipe arrives on AirPods 5, adding the ability to adjust volume by swiping up or down on the stem. Battery life is also improved, with up to five hours of playback with ANC on a single charge, one hour longer than AirPods 4 with ANC, extending up to 22 hours with the charging case when listening with ANC. The wireless charging case supports Apple Watch chargers, Qi-compatible chargers, and USB-C.
The Apple AirPods 5 are available for pre-order now and will be in stores starting Friday, September 18 for $179.
Customers in Canada and more than 65 other countries and regions can pre-order AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case today for $209 (CAD), with availability in stores beginning Friday, September 18.