Surprises From First Days of iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9
Phones
Speaker 1: We made it everyone. We made it to the other side. The iPhone fifteens are here. The new Apple watches are here. The Iowa 17 update is here. And do you know what that means? It means I don't have to report on rumors anymore. Yeah, I feel so light and free for once. I could just enjoy this moment with you here and now living in the present. No, no. Stop that. We're not doing that. Give me one week. Please just put that away with Apple's new gear and software out in the wild. [00:00:30] This is the week where we are learning new little details that Apple really didn't talk about much before. Some of it is good and some things are leaving us with a few questions that we'll have to poke at some more. So as we close out the iPhone 15 launch week, we have one more thing to talk about.
Speaker 1: Here are the most interesting new things we're discovering about iPhone fifteen's. Apple watches, AirPods and I 17. I'm Bridget Carey and this is one more thing. I'll start with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro [00:01:00] reviews. Both of our CNET iPhone reviewers had good things to say about the feel of the design and materials of the phones. Cena's Patrick Holland reviewed the pro models and called the titanium body lovely light and easy to hold and he said it felt less bulky. It looks slick. He also said the volume buttons feel a little different, perhaps a little bit like squishy sneakers. So that got me curious. This also tells me it's going to matter what kind of case you get to preserve that [00:01:30] button. Feel that is if you are a case person. I am a case person because I don't trust myself. Now over to the iPhone 15, that one is not made of titanium, but C Net's. Lisa Tic Chico reviewed the 15 and 15 plus models and she said she felt the design was better for preventing fingerprint smudges. I think I'll
Speaker 2: Be able to use this without a case without having to constantly wipe it down.
Speaker 1: On the topic of cases, we are hearing more talk about apple's fine woven material cases and accessories. Now Apple is no longer selling [00:02:00] leather accessories. So it created this material. It calls fine woven. It's made from 68% post-consumer content, but there have been some early reports saying that fine woven iPhone cases are showing marks easily. Now I haven't seen those cases yet myself, but I did get to see the fine woven Apple Watch bands and they felt nice. They weren't showing any marks when I was messing with them, but I think we'll have to hear more as people use them. There are also a number of case makers that are selling different versions of cases that [00:02:30] are made with materials that are supposed to be alternatives to leather. So folks will need to do some homework before they find the right case. And if you want leather cases or leather watch bands, well you can still find accessories made with leather.
Speaker 1: It's just not sold through Apple. If you can't decide on a case, I mean you should get a case and if you don't have a case, you should get AppleCare Plus if you're going to live on the edge like that. But if you don't have AppleCare plus, well, it's now cheaper to repair the pro models. That was another little surprise. [00:03:00] Let's say you don't have AppleCare Plus and you need to repair the back glass of the iPhone 15 Pro. Well Apple charges about $170. The iPhone 14 pro costs about $500 for the same repair. The recycled aluminum substructure on the new pro models makes it easier for the glass to be replaced. Hence, it's cheaper. Yay for repairability is more sustainable. But when one price goes down, another one goes up. It's now a little more expensive to replace the battery on some Apple [00:03:30] Watch models as nine to five Mac reports the cost of battery repairs on the series four watch and later went from $79 to $99. Let's talk about Apple Watch series nine. I just started trying it out myself, but I got a chance to preview some of the double tap features that are launching in October. Our CNET reviewers, Lisa at a Chico and Lexi tis reviewed the Apple watches for cnet. You can see their hands showing how a double tap gesture [00:04:00] can control the screen. Now I think the most impressive thing I learned is that you can do a whole text message or phone call without touching anything between using Siri commands and double tap controls. So
Speaker 3: I just sent a text message without even touching my watch.
Speaker 1: Also worth noting I learned how you don't have to use your index finger and your thumb because it works when your thumb touches any finger. I think I'm more comfortable using my middle finger. I also wondered how weird it would be to do this whole double tap thing [00:04:30] and for the few minutes I got to use it. It was very natural. I think people are going to use this gesture a lot. And you know what? It's better than trying to hit buttons with your nose. When your hands are full, you know you do it. Don't pretend you haven't done the nose. Tap the new U S B C charger ports on the iPhone fifteens. They're proving to have a few new perks. The new iPhones can give power to other devices. Even older iPhones, you can plug in a lightning cord and that can charge an older iPhone.
Speaker 1: You can also [00:05:00] use your new iPhone 15 to charge your Apple Watch or your AirPods. But what if you connect two iPhone iPhone fifteens together? Which one does the charging? Well, there's a bit of a handshake between the devices to see which one needs the battery more and the one with less power will get the boost. I've also seen videos of the phone being used to charge other non-Apple phones. I think it may depend on the type of phone being used, but it could be possible. Apple upgraded the AirPods [00:05:30] Pro second generation model with A U S B C port. But there's more to it than just a new U S B C port. These have additional dust resistance and lossless audio when used with the future Apple Vision Pro headset. But do they sound any different? Our reviewer, David Carnoy has an article up about this and he said, although the average listener would be hard pressed to notice any difference in sound quality between the old and new AirPods Pro two, but he thinks that maybe just maybe the new [00:06:00] U SS B C AirPods Pro two sound a little bit more refined with ever so slightly cleaner sound.
Speaker 1: But he also admits that maybe his mind could be playing tricks on him thinking that something is new just because it's new. But whichever version you have of the AirPods Pro two, they all got adaptive audio conversation awareness and personalized volume in the iOS 17 update that came out this week. And if you're the kind of person who wants a wired backup, yes, you can still get [00:06:30] wired EarPods with U S B C and that'll cost you $19. Not all surprises involve new hardware to buy. There are 24 new ringtones in iOS 17, and it's been so long since we got new ringtones and they are pretty soft and nice if you need to set an alarm. These are not going to give you anxiety as you jump from bed at five in the morning. And there are also new text tones, but you have to dig into settings to find them. So [00:07:00] what new revelations surprised you this week and what should I change my ringtone to? I'm digging the one call journey a little bit. Hit me up in the comments on what you want to see folks dig into more now that the new gear is here. Catch you next week.
