It is the month that Apple releases its latest mobile innovations. It is also the month that can potentially hurt many bank balances.
This year is no different. Apple has launched its latest iPhones, new Apple Watches and a new Air Pod Pro.
While many people have skipped previous iPhone upgrades, this time consumers are taking a closer look. There’s a big jump in the camera capability and processing power, while the 120Hz ProMotion display and improved battery life are making this upgrade very compelling.
If you are an Apple fan, September features a smorgasbord of gadgets for you to feast on!
iPhone 17 Pro Max
Apple’s flagship doesn’t disappoint
Price: From R31 999
The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a brand-new design; the body is baked into a new brushed aluminium unibody design that is crafted with a lightweight aerospace-grade material, making it extremely light and very tough. It certainly does feel lighter than previous models.
The design has an interesting engineering component to it. As you can imagine, a device like this that has the latest A19 Pro chip, running insane amounts of computation, and generating an enormous amount of heat, needs some smart methods to disperse that heat. This iPhone has new internal architecture featuring an Apple-designed vapour chamber to enhance heat dissipation and performance.
The A19 Pro chip delivers exceptional performance. The new Pro range comes with 12GB of RAM. It’s a big boost over the previous model, with Apple giving us clues on how it intends using the processing power to drive Apple Intelligence on the device.
The triple camera 48MP system features main, ultra-wide, and a brand-new telephoto lens. Together the photos and optical zoom of 8X makes images even sharper than before and video is amazing. One of the biggest upgrades is to the front-facing camera. It has an 18MP lens and now features Centre Stage. You will be really impressed with your selfies!
Apple has also increased the durability of these new models with Ceramic Shield 2 that has three times better scratch resistance, and for the first time, Ceramic Shield protects the back of the iPhone.
Powering all of this is a 5 000mAh battery, making it the best battery life in an iPhone to date.
Now the big question: do you upgrade? Compared to the iPhone 16, it may seem incremental, but when you look at the new design and processing power the answer is a definite yes.
If you have anything older than an iPhone 16 it is a massive jump so just go and spoil yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised.
https://www.istore.co.za/shop-iphone-17-pro-max
iPhone Air
An extraordinary engineering feat
Price: From R25 999
The device that has everyone talking, however, is the iPhone Air. It’s a brand-new phone that is breathtakingly thin. When you hold it, you’ll ask yourself how on earth did they get this so wafer-like? At its thinnest point it is a mere 5.6mm and weighs just 165g.
It has a powerful 48MP Fusion Main camera, an all-day battery life and the new 18MP front-facing camera. It is impossible not to fall in love with this design. The first thing that crossed my mind is that because it is so thin it must be fragile. But the titanium design makes this phone incredibly durable and strong.
You must physically see it and hold one for yourself to understand the uniqueness of this new iPhone.
Together with the A19 Pro chip and a stunning 6.5-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion up to 120Hz this phone punches above its weight.
https://www.istore.co.za/shop-iphone-air
AirPods Pro 3
A massive leap forward
Price: R5 499
The brand-new Air Pro 3s have some serious upgrades that are going to be essential for most Apple lovers.
Apple says its new AirPod Pro 3 has the world’s best in-ear active noise cancellation. It is a big claim but when you look at the technology and advancements that have been made, the claim may just hold water.
The newly designed in-ear devices remove twice as much noise as the previous generation. Together with the enhanced ultra-low noise microphones and advanced computational audio, the magic happens on the chip.
Apart from the tech inside these gadgets, the new foam-infused ear tips have been redesigned for greater passive noise isolation. This means that they are more comfortable and sit better in your ears during workouts.
Another new feature: the AirPods can read your heart rate during workouts. Apple has designed a custom-built heart rate sensor. It uses a photoplethysmography sensor which sounds like quite a mouthful, but basically it shines an invisible infrared light pulsed at 256 times per second into the skin tissue to measure light absorption in the blood flow. Combined with the AirPod Pro’s accelerometers, gyroscope, GPS, and a new on-device AI model on iPhone, users can start up to 50 different workout types, track their heart rate and calories burned, all logged to your workout data and fitness history.
The coolest feature of the Air Pod Pro3 is the Live Translation functionality.
It enables live translation in real time. Still in beta phase, initial languages include English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, with more due later this year.
If you are wearing the AirPods, the foreign language is translated into the language of your choice in your ears in real time. It is great if you are listening to another language. But if you needed to communicate with another person, they would need to wear the same model AirPods. The alternative option would be to use your iPhone as a horizontal display, showing the live transcription of what the user is saying in the other person’s preferred language.
https://www.istore.co.za/apple-airpods-pro-3-mfhp4ze-a
Apple Watch Ultra 3
New sensors and more health measurements
Price: From R19 499
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is packed with new features that many will find very useful, including a larger display and 42-hour battery life.
The health monitoring is now able to offer more insights into sleep patterns measuring heart rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and respiratory rate; you can even discover possible sleep apnoea. All this is combined to give you a sleep score that you can use to benchmark how much you rest.
Another fascinating breakthrough is the hypertension monitor. Although it is not a blood pressure monitor, the Watch Ultra 3 analyses data from the optical heart sensor to detect patterns in how blood vessels respond to heartbeats over a 30-day period. The algorithm can then detect irregularities such as chronic hypertension and send you a notification to check your blood pressure with a monitor.
And if you need some motivation while exercising, the latest version of watchOS 26 features Workout Buddy. Imagine a digital personal trainer powered by Apple Intelligence that analyses your workout data and fitness history to deliver personalised, spoken motivation throughout your session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, and activity rings.
https://www.istore.co.za/apple-watch/shop-apple-watch-ultra-3
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