Apple Event 2025: What's New?

by Yamil Risi

The Apple logo is displayed at the Apple Store June 17, 2015, on Fifth Avenue in New York City. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images/TNS)

Last Tuesday, Apple premiered its annual event. Apple showcased next-generation AirPods Pro with refreshed sound, a new lineup of Apple Watches, and a different iPhone lineup.

AirPods Pro 3

The successor to the AirPods Pro 2, the AirPods Pro 3 promise two times more effective Active Noise Cancellation that automatically adapts to your environment, while increasing battery life to eight hours with noise cancellation (A 2-hour increase from the previous generation).

Interestingly, the new AirPods Pro use the same H2 chip as the previous generation. A new heart-rate sensor was added in the AirPods to record heart rate during workouts. Overall, it's an enticing upgrade for those with the original AirPods Pro.

Apple Watch

Apple started the Apple Watch section with multiple videos thanking Apple for the Apple Watch saving their lives in dangerous situations.

The Apple Watch Series 11 is the next generation of Apple's flagship watches starting at $399 which introduces 5G connectivity (only on the cellular models), a thinner design, and 24-hour battery life. It features a new crack-resistant Ion-X screen that Apple says is 4x more scratch resistant than the last generation's screen.

The Apple Watch SE 3 is a major upgrade from the last generation of SE. It features the same Ion-X screen, an Always-On Display that was not present in the previous generations of Apple Watch SE, fast-charging, 5G connectivity (only on the cellular models). It is compared as the more affordable of all the Apple Watches priced at $249.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is Apple's most expensive base Apple Watch, meant for extreme athletes, starting at $799. Compared to the last generation of the Ultra, the new Ultra 3 brings satellite, similar to what the iPhone 14 and up have, the same S10 chip as the other models. It has six more hours of battery life increasing the number to 42 hours on a single charge and can charge to 80% in 45 minutes compared to last generation's 1 hour.

iPhone

This year, Apple introduced a new lineup of iPhones. They dropped the Plus iPhone and replaced it with the iPhone Air. This makes the current iPhone lineup the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The iPhone 17 comes in the same design as the iPhone 16, but brings a noticeable increase in specifications. The new selfie-camera is 24MP and allows a wide-view shot with selfies. The chip is updated to the new A19 chip and Apple finally adds the display of the Pro iPhones to the normal iPhone with Ceramic Shield 2, which features 3x more scratch resistance.

This ProMotion display has been present in iPhones since the iPhone 13 Pro and features a 120 hz display that dynamically adjusts its refresh rate depending on the content. The normal iPhone screen used to be 60 hz. This means that the iPhone updates the screen 60 times a second and it always refreshes at 60 times a second no matter if you are watching content that refreshes at half that rate. This ProMotion display available on the iPhone 17 means that the normal iPhone will now have an always-on display and a higher refresh rate display, displaying users smoother system animations. It starts at the same $799 price with double the base storage now starting at 256 GB.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max feature a changed design, switching back of the phone to aluminum, previously using titanium that Apple raved about in the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro, and a wider camera bump. It features the same updated selfie camera, a new A1`9 Pro chip, the same Ceramic Shield 2 display with a new anti-glare coating,

The iPhone Air is a controversial phone. It's marketed as Apple's iPhone Pro but thinner. However, unlike the iPhone 17 Pro, it has one camera, no stereo speakers (only has one speaker at the top), and a smaller battery (27 hours of video compared to 30 on the standard iPhone and 33 on the iPhone Pro). It is priced at a controversial $999. Pundits say it is considered a downgrade, but time will tell.

The iPhone Air not having the 17 mark on it may signal that Apple is not continuing the Air for a meaningful amount of time.

Apple is betting on a lot more with this event. With the ProMotion displays on the iPhone 17, an Always-On display for the Apple Watch SE 3, the AirPods Pro 3 including a heart rate sensor, and the bold iPhone Air, Apple struck a balance of upgrades with risks for where people spend their money.