To The Moon

Apple on Wednesday unveiled the iPhone 14 line, the Apple Watch Ultra and new AirPods, but the big theme of the day was keeping users more locked into the company’s ecosystem. Also: Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook reveals his biggest debate with Steve Jobs.

The Starters

The iPhone 14 Pro.Photographer: Nic Coury/Bloomberg

Apple Inc.’s biggest event of the year delivered some dazzling upgrades and some ho-hum products. At Wednesday’s Far Out launch extravaganza, the tech giant rolled out updates to the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch. It also stressed the theme of the Apple product ecosystem more forcefully than it ever has before.

Most of the major changes were expected, but Apple did reveal a few clever touches—most notably, the iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island. The feature is a real feat. There’s nothing more “Apple” than taking the ugliest part of the iPhone (the notch) and disguising it as one of the most impressive integrated hardware-software features in years.

The Pro enhancements contrast with those of the standard iPhone 14, which is largely unchanged from the iPhone 13. It follows the same playbook as the iPhone XS in 2018: You can get a larger screen in the form of the iPhone 14 Plus, just like the XS Max. Otherwise, there’s little reason to upgrade.

I think it’s fair to say the regular iPhone 14 is the least impressive year-over-year update in the product’s history. Apple didn’t even bother giving the standard iPhone 14 its newest chip, which was an unprecedented move.

The second-generation AirPods Pro, meanwhile, answer a lot of longstanding user requests: enhanced noise cancellation, improved bass and sound, better blocking of background noise, longer battery life and—finally—the ability to swipe on the earbuds’ stems to control playback and volume.

For consumers new to AirPods, the latest Pro model appears to be an excellent choice. If, like me, you bought the first AirPods Pro in October 2019, now is also probably a good time to upgrade—especially if your batteries are waning.

If there is a knock on the AirPods, it’s that they don’t support Apple’s new lossless audio feature. That technology allows for music playback that’s “virtually indistinguishable from the original studio recording,” according to the company. The feature isn’t yet supported by any AirPods model, and the rollout of the new Pro earbuds might have been an opportunity to change that.

The problem with bringing lossless audio to AirPods is Bluetooth, a wireless protocol that doesn’t have enough power to stream such high-quality audio. It’s no secret that Apple has been cooking up a solution internally, though: a replacement for Bluetooth that would eventually bring the feature to future AirPods.

Then there’s the Apple Watch. As I indicated several months ago, we’re getting the broadest set of changes to this product since it launched in 2015. For the first time, Apple introduced three distinct models: a new low-end SE, the standard Series 8 and the upscale Ultra.

There’s not a lot to say about the new SE. The company developed a different production process and gave the device a cheaper back casing to help cut the price by $30: $249 instead of $279. That was a necessary move with the discontinuation of the $199 Apple Watch Series 3. If you have an SE from 2020, I see no reason to upgrade for a slightly faster processor.

The Series 8 model isn’t a dramatic update either. It does have a body-temperature sensor for women’s health—something that could benefit millions of people. But the model lacks design changes, additional health sensors like a blood-pressure monitor, a faster processor, better speakers or improved battery life (aside from the new low-power mode).

It’s also worth noting that Apple won’t allow users to determine their actual body temperature with the new sensor, which would help customers replace thermometers like they have with blood-oxygen readers.

The Ultra, on the other hand, is one of the most impressive new pieces of hardware from Apple in years. Its programmable side button, giant display and supersized battery life will be prized by anyone who wants the best Apple Watch—not necessarily just scuba divers or marathon runners.

With that in mind, I’m not sure Apple should have exclusively focused its Ultra marketing on extreme sports athletes. Instead, it could have also highlighted how the features appeal to non-athletes and released a slew of daily wear bands. An update to the link bracelet in titanium, for instance, would have been great.

But even if the Ultra watch and iPhone 14 Pro are worthy upgrades, the biggest theme of the day was making it as hard as possible to walk away from Apple’s ecosystem.

This goes beyond how well the various products work together. The company is increasingly touting the iPhone and Apple Watch as devices that can save your life. The watch already offers the ability to detect heart problems or a bad fall. Now Apple is introducing car-crash alerts and emergency satellite services.

The idea of Apple products saving your life will surely be ingrained in people’s minds by the company’s marketing department over the coming months and years. That will leave many consumers with the distinct impression that ditching their iPhone or Apple Watch is an irresponsible move.

Of course, Apple rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. have their own safety features. And companies like T-Mobile US Inc. are trying to open up satellite connections to all mobile-phone users, not just the iPhone crowd.

But Apple is hard to beat in making its technology seem like the safest bet. Other changes, like the company’s shift to virtual eSIM cards in the US, could make it even more difficult to leave the iPhone (though it may create complications for customers who travel internationally and use carriers that don’t support the standard).

The theme of locking in users to the Apple ecosystem has been a major one for the company in recent years. These days, the ability of Apple products to play nicely together is more of a competitive advantage than ever and key to expanding the company’s user base, generating more recurring revenue and—most importantly—preventing defections to rival platforms.

I attended the Code Conference on Wednesday night, where Cook, Laurene Powell Jobs and Jony Ive wereinterviewedby Kara Swisher about the legacy of Steve Jobs. Before the night concluded, Cook was asked by an audience member why the iPhonehasn’t adopted RCS, or rich communication services, a messaging replacement spearheaded by Google.

He told the questioner, “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point” and suggested that he buy his mom an iPhone if he wants to more seamlessly message with her. That says it all.

The Bench

Tim Cook speaks during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Tim Cook reveals his biggest disagreement with Steve Jobs. Here’s another fun tidbit from the Code Conference: Tim Cook discussed the biggest debate he ever had with Steve Jobs. For the original iPhone, Cook wanted carriers to subsidize the device so it would be cheaper for consumers. Jobs wanted carriers to not subsidize it and instead give Apple a revenue share on the carrier plans.

The original iPhone launched at $499 with no subsidy. Jobs got his way, but not for long. A year later, the iPhone 3G was priced at $199 and customers were given subsidies instead of Apple getting a revenue share. Cook said the subsidy approach helped fuel the device’s massive growth and called the debate with Jobs a multiyear discussion.

Wristcam’s new iPhone to Apple Watch video chat feature.Source: Wristcam

Wristcam update promises video calling without an attachment. Wristcam, a niche accessory that adds a video-chat camera to the Apple Watch, is getting a bit of an upgrade alongside watchOS 9 this coming week. For the first time, the Wristcam third-party app on the Apple Watch will allow users to receive video calls from an iPhone without the Wristcam attachment. That means Apple Watch users can send audio and receive video without sending back video.

The Schedule

Sept. 12: Apple’s iOS 16 will be released to all users, ahead of new devices arriving later in the week.

Sept. 16:The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max go on sale, joined by the Apple Watch Series 8 and second-generation Apple Watch SE.

Sept. 23:The Apple Watch Ultra and second-generation AirPods Pro hit stores.

Oct. 7:And, finally, the iPhone 14 Plus goes on sale.