Apple's hottest: AirPods Pro 2 headphones, Watch 8 and Ultra smartwatches, iPhone 14 lineup

Almost three years after the release of the popular Apple AirPods Pro TWS earphones, Apple fans have been waiting for the release of the successor to this model. The form factor has remained the same, but in terms of hardware and features, there are lots of improvements.

The earphones were equipped with an Apple H2 chip with improved sound quality and advanced algorithms for the active noise cancellation system. Also, in the second edition of the model Apple pumped proprietary Spatial Audio technology - the sound of the earphones adjusts to the shape of the user's ears, which must first be scanned by the iPhone 's lidar. And for the smallest ears, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 now comes with XS-size tips (in addition to the standard S, M and L).

With Active Noise Cancellation, environmental noise is automatically muted, allowing you to fully enjoy your music (or whatever you’re listening to). Also, the volume is adjusted to the level of sounds from the outside - this feature is carried out by the “transparent” mode with Adaptive Transparency technology, which scans the space around the user 48 thousand times in one second.

In addition to small panels with pressure sensors , each earbud of the kit has acquired touch zones with the ability to control the gadget with swipes, which are responsible for lowering and raising the volume. Innovations have also affected the charging case - the case has got a built-in speaker for searching through the Find My application, and its charge is enough to provide 30 hours of battery life for the earphones. The case can be charged in multiple ways, whether it's a Lightning cord, a Qi wireless charger, MagSafe magnets or an Apple Watch charging platform.

Apple Watch 8 doesn’t really look like something new. The design of the smartwatch has not changed in comparison with the "seven", and all the key changes are inside the gadget.

The plethora of sensors in the device was increased with acquiring a sensor for measuring body temperature. It takes measurements every five seconds and distinguishes a difference of even 0.1 degrees Celsius. Any abnormalities are displayed in the Health mobile app. Basically, the sensor is focused on tracking women's health: it helps to determine ovulation, evaluates cycle shifts and predicts hormonal imbalances.

As before, the main emphasis in the watch is on recording the parameters of the user's physical activity and achieving training goals. At the same time, the gadget keeps statistics on the quality of sleep, collects medical data (including determining the level of saturation and ECG). On the non-fading screen of the wearable device, you can display many customizable watch faces, and in the active mode of use - the audio player menu, notifications and other useful information are displayed on it.

In the eighth edition , Apple's smartwatch has a new 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer with high acceleration force. These sensors are directly related to the operation of the Crash Detection safety feature, which detects car accidents. The system is capable of detecting various types of collisions, including rollover, frontal, rear and side impacts. And if the user does not respond to the notification in any way, the watch will call the rescue service on its own. Of course, the full-fledged work of this feature is implemented only in certain regions of the globe.

The battery life of the model remained at the same level - 18 hours from a single battery charge. A power-saving mode is claimed to extend this period by half, which disables unnecessary features and leaves only GPS, the screen and sensors for monitoring health parameters on. In general, the update of the series isn’t “huge”. The same can be said about the Apple Watch SE 2, which also received a minor package of improvements relative to the original SE modification.

The Ultra model is the pinnacle of the evolution of the modern Apple Watch lineup. This smartwatch is in the premium league of wearable devices. They are intended for avid travellers, outdoor enthusiasts and divers.

The watch has a titanium body that can withstand the most severe hardships of the surrounding world. In particular, the model can “dive” to a depth of 100 metres, maintains full performance in a wide range of outdoor air temperatures (from -20 ° C to +50 ° C), and it also has a MIL-STD-810H protection certificate. While swimming, the watch displays the time spent underwater, the current depth, water temperature, draws the route and even the bottom topography. Compliance with the requirements of the EN 13319 standard will delight scuba diving enthusiasts.

The front of the Apple Watch Ultra features a large, flat screen with a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, making it easy to read in bright sunlight. The display is covered with sapphire glass. Due to the increased size, a lot of various metrics are placed on the watch face, and, if necessary, the route covered with intermediate points is displayed on the screen. You can set them by pressing the programmable Action Button, which is easily reconfigured to launch various applications or track activity.

In matters of activity and health monitoring, Apple smartwatch provides a full range of services, from simple heart rate tracking to advanced accident detection algorithms. In addition, the model was equipped with an enhanced multi-band GPS module with an additional L5 frequency, three microphones for a comfortable conversation in phone mode in strong winds and a built-in alarm siren that emits a distress signal with a volume of 86 dB(it can be heard at a distance of up to 180 m). With all the sensors turned on, the battery life reaches 36 hours, when the power-saving mode is activated, the time is extended up to 60 hours. Wear-resistant straps have been released to match the Pro version of the gadget.

The notorious “notch” has occupied the upper segment of iPhone screens since the distant X model, which was released in 2017. Since then, it has been inherited without any special changes to all subsequent editions of the smartphone. The iPhone 14 was no exception to this, although its “relatives” with the Pro prefix have already got rid of the notch.

So, the OLED display of the 14th iPhone has a size of 6.1 inches and non-typical resolution of 2532x1170 pixels. In HDR mode, the screen has a peak brightness of 1200 nits, but its refresh rate is standard - only 60 Hz. The hardware of the smartphone is represented by the six-core Apple A15 Bionic chipset, which was borrowed from the predecessor model. An additional core was dedicated to the graphics processor (from now on it is 5-core), which made it possible to increase the GPU power by about 80% (according to the company's claims).

The cameras of the device retained a resolution of 12 MP, but the sensors are larger, and the optics turned out to be more light-sensitive. As a result, the smartphone has pumped night photography capabilities - low-light performance is enhanced by Photonic Engine technology. When shooting video, the user now has access to the advanced stabilisation mode called “Action Mode”, which ensures smoothness of video recording (including highly dynamic scenes). The front camera in the upper cutout of the gadget's display has autofocus.

The new Apple iPhone 14 supports Crash Detection, which notifies emergency services when you get into an accident. The very fact of a traffic accident is recorded by on-board sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope). In areas without mobile network coverage, the user may be able to send an Emergency SOS via satellite systems because the phone's antennas may be connected to satellite frequencies. Full satellite calls are not available, as is messaging - this connection is reserved for emergencies only.

Among other features of the model, slightly accelerated wired battery charging at a power of 15 W and wireless charging technology (at 7.5 W via MagSafe) stand out. Also, the smartphone has dust and water protection, the IP68 standard. Well, in the version for the US market, the iPhone 14 comes without a physical SIM tray - the rejection of it is due to the complete transition to an eSIM.

Compact iPhone mini was not at all as expected. Therefore, the 14 series replaced it with a model with the Plus prefix, in which the screen was increased to 6.7 inches.

The plus modification is, in fact, the base iPhone 14 bloated in size. The smartphone still retains a large notch with TrueDepth and Face ID sensors, as well as a 12 MP front camera. The lens aperture of the selfie camera is now f / 1.9, in addition to it, autofocus was brought in. At the same time, the device was equipped with larger image sensors of the 12 + 12 MP dual main camera, which has learned to take much better photos in low-light conditions. To ensure high smoothness of the recorded video, the rear camera got advanced Action Mode stabilisation.

What’s inside? A 5-nanometer Apple A15 Bionic processor is installed, combining two high-performance and four energy-efficient cores, coupled with a five-core graphics processor. The energy-efficient platform is the key to a long battery life of the device. The iPhone 14 Plus is charged by wire through Lightninig connector or by means of proprietary MagSafe magnetic charging.

So what's new in the model, in addition to the increased screen size and slightly pumped cameras? There are two such moments. Apple iPhone 14 got hold of satellite support for emergency alerts to rescue services in areas with no mobile network coverage. Sending alarm messages takes no more than 15 seconds, and the interface helps users to position the smartphone properly.. From the start, Emergency SOS will only work in the US and Canada. The second feature is the Crash Detection, which notifies emergency services when the owner of the device gets into an accident, for which the sensitive accelerometer and gyroscope are used.

In recent years, the design of the front panel of iPhones has not changed much. However, evolution takes its toll, and in version 14 Pro, instead of the boring notch, the design of the cutout for the front camera and service sensors was made in a completely different way.

At the top of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro screen is an elongated Dynamic Island. And it fits perfectly into the operating system - various notifications and interactive elements “float” out of the cutout. The smartphone display itself wears the proud Super Retina XDR OLED badge. Its size is 6.1 inches, the refresh rate varies from 1 to 120 Hz, and the peak brightness of the screen reaches 2000 nits. The iPhone also has the long-awaited Always-On Display feature for displaying important information on the locked screen.

Inside of the mobile device is the top-end Apple A16 Bionic CPU, built according to the standards of the 4-nanometer process technology. The chipset is complemented by an advanced neural engine and a five-core GPU. The performance of the hardware will be enough in the long term. Moreover, a reduction in power consumption is expected by about 20%.

The leading sensor of the triple main camera of the device has increased the number of megapixels from 12 to 48. However, the resolution is the same, due to combining four adjacent pixels into one to improve the quality of photos in poor lighting conditions. Full resolution is supported in ProRAW format. The other two modules are 12 MP ultra-wide lens with the possibility of macro photography and 12 MP telephoto lens with triple optical zoom. 2x zoom is provided by the leading image sensor with sensor-shift stabilisation. The front camera of the iPhone 14 Pro has autofocus.

The entire line of iPhones series 14 was ”taught” to exchange signals with satellites. The satellite feature will come in handy for sending emergency messages to rescue services in places where there is no coverage of the traditional cellular network. And the model also supports the Crash Detection feature, which allows the device to recognize getting into car accidents. At the same time, a notification is displayed on the smartphone screen in which the device asks “Are you all right?”. If there is no response from the user, the device will notify emergency services on its own. You can use the features only in certain parts of our planet.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max is a big, top-of-the-line smartphone loaded with the latest Apple technology innovations. Plus, the model has a new cut-out in the screen. But first things first.

The performance was established by the flagship six-core Apple A16 Bionic CPU - the most performant chipset at the time of the release of the device. The hardware platform of the smartphone easily carries out the games with highest requirements and applications, consuming a minimum of power. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a bright 6.7-inch diagonal OLED screen with an adaptive refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz and support of the Always-On Display feature.

The notch in the screen of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max was replaced with a pill-shaped cutout for a 12 MP selfie camera lens and service system sensors (TrueDepth and Face ID). The area around it is interactive - animations are displayed near it when using interface elements and programs, notification and navigation icons, virtual music player controls, etc.

Photo and video are carried out by a triple main camera with a 48 MP main image sensor, which is mounted on a movable stabilising platform. Side-by-side with it are two modules of 12 MP each (ultra-wide and telephoto with a triple optical zoom). The rear camera has an advanced night mode, portrait mode, photographic styles, ProRAW, ProRes 3, Smart HDR 4 and Dolby Vision HDR - all to please mobile photographers and videographers.

The body of the model is protected from dust and moisture according to the IP68 standard. And in models for the US sales market, there is no SIM tray at all, which eliminates the vulnerability of the smartphone to the effects of a humid environment. Also, for the North American region, the device provides emergency communication features: Emergency SOS via satellite (only sending messages is supported) and Crash Detection via mobile networks to notify rescue services of getting into a traffic accident. The smartphone pulls data on impact from the accelerometer and gyroscope.