Apple Hopes to Entice Consumers to Buy iPhone 15 Pro Max
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Apple Event Takeaway:
1. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus received basic updates, featuring the "Dynamic Island" design, the A16 chip, and an improved main camera with 48 million pixels.
2. The Pro Max models received the most significant updates. In addition to the titanium alloy body, the major highlight is the redesigned A17 PRO chip, and the Pro Max camera system underwent further upgrades.
3. The pricing of iPhones remained largely unchanged, except for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which had a starting price increase to $1190 due to the removal of the 128GB version.
4. The main updates for the Apple Watch include the brand-new S9 chip and the addition of gesture actions with dual-finger interactions, while the rest of the updates were more conventional.
5. Due to the lack of significant innovations at the event, it is challenging for the Apple stock price to have a positive impact. Additionally, the current focus for Apple's stock price should be on issues such as declining production, competition in the Chinese market with Huawei, and the impact of the current high-interest rate environment on Apple's valuation. Currently, Apple's stock price faces multiple risks.
Apple held its fall event and primarily introduced six new products: two watches (Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2) and four models in the iPhone 15 series.
1. Regarding the iPhone, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus received conventional updates.
The major upgrades for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus include the "Dynamic Island" design, the USB-C port, and an increase in the main camera resolution from 12 million pixels in the previous generation to 48 million pixels.
The iPhone 15 also features an OLED Super Retina display with a peak outdoor brightness of 2000 nits, twice as bright as the iPhone 14.
As expected, both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are equipped with the A16 bionic chip, similar to the one used in the iPhone 14 Pro.
With improved battery capacity, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus offer video playback times of up to 20 hours and 26 hours, respectively. Additionally, all the new models come with the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, which enhances interaction distance and precision.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are available in five color options, starting at $799 for the 128GB variant and $899 for the 128GB variant.
2. As the most anticipated products, the iPhone 15 Pro models have several significant highlights. These include noticeable design changes such as a titanium alloy body, a redesigned A17 PRO chip, and a 5x periscope telephoto lens with a quadruple prism on the Pro Max model only.
In terms of design, the introduction of titanium alloy material for the frame is a first. It uses a grade 5 titanium metal, the same material used in Mars rovers. This makes the iPhone 15 Pro series the lightest iPhone Pro models in history. For comparison, the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro is 187 grams, which is 19 grams lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro's 206 grams.
Another noticeable design change is the replacement of the traditional silent switch with a customizable button on the 15 Pro series. Apart from muting, users can customize the button for functions like flashlight, camera, translation, and quick shortcuts.
Regarding the SoC (System on a Chip), Apple has redesigned the A17 PRO. It utilizes TSMC's 3nm process and offers a 10% improvement in CPU performance and a 20% improvement in GPU performance. The A17 PRO also incorporates hardware-accelerated ray tracing technology, which is four times faster than the software-based ray tracing on the A16 Bionic. This advancement allows for smoother and more realistic lighting effects while being power-efficient.
Thanks to this significant upgrade, iPhones are now capable of running PC/console games directly. Titles like "Resident Evil 4" and "Assassin's Creed Mirage" will be ported to the iPhone.
Furthermore, based on the design of the A17 Pro chip, the file transfer speed of the iPhone 15 Pro can reach up to 10GB/s, equivalent to USB 3.
The camera system of the iPhone 15 Pro series has also received further upgrades. Apple has designed the strongest telephoto lens in iPhone history for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, featuring a 5x optical zoom using a 120mm focal length lens.
Additionally, the Pro series cameras can capture spatial videos, which will be an important addition to the Apple Vision Pro ecosystem. However, this feature is expected to be released later this year.
Regarding the pricing, the iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 for the 128GB model, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199 for the 256GB model. The increase in the starting price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is primarily due to the removal of the 128GB model, and the price of the 256GB model remains unchanged.
3. The main highlights of the Apple Watch update include the upgraded S9 SiP chip and the "double-tap gesture" feature.
The Apple Watch Series 9 has an improved S9 SiP chip with a 60% increase in transistor count compared to the S8. The peak brightness of the Series 9 screen has doubled to 2000 nits, while the lowest brightness level is as low as 1 nit. Similar to the iPhone, today's two models of Apple Watch also come with the second-generation ultra-wideband chip.
One of the highlights of the new Apple Watch models is the introduction of the "double-tap gesture" feature, which allows the watch to recognize when you tap your index finger and thumb together and respond accordingly.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is positioned as a higher-end model. It features an all-weather retina display that offers a brightness range of 1 to 3000 nits. The watch automatically enables the Night Mode in dark environments. In terms of battery life, it can last up to 36 hours on a full charge under normal usage and up to 72 hours in low-power mode.
There are also significant improvements at the system level. With WatchOS 10, Apple has introduced an exclusive watch face called "Modular Ultra" for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. This watch face utilizes the larger display to show dynamic information such as altitude, depth, or seconds on the outer rim of the screen.
Regarding pricing, the Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $399, while the Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799.
4. Summary：
In the fall event, the iPhone 15 series received mainly routine updates, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max experiencing the most significant upgrades. The company has further increased the gap between high-end and standard models to attract customers to purchase more expensive models.
The overall product prices haven't changed much, so there hasn't been a significant price increase. The higher starting price for the iPhone 15 Pro Max is mainly due to the elimination of the 128GB version. However, the number of Pro Max users who would have purchased the 128GB version was already small, so the impact is minimal.
Since the event didn't introduce many innovative features, it's challenging for it to have a positive impact on Apple's stock price. Currently, Apple's stock price should be more concerned about issues like declining production, competition in the Chinese market with Huawei, and the impact of the current high-interest rate environment on Apple's valuation.
At present, Apple's stock price faces multiple risks.
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