Add Category
Greg Joswiak reveals the iPhone 13 Pro at the Apple keynote.
Every Wednesday, AppleUnboxed lands in subscribers’ mailboxes. It’s an all-things-Apple guide to what’s going on with the world’s most fascinating company. Each weekend, I’ll be publishing just one item from a previous newsletter.
AppleUnboxed has much more stuff, including exclusive interviews, reviews before you can read them anywhere else (no, I mean anywhere), long-read features, comparison pieces, news items and more. To see all that, you’ll need to subscribe—and you’ll get it sooner, too. Sign up here.
Oh, and all previous AppleUnboxed newsletters are available, for subscribers’ eyes only, here on Forbes. And this week, look for a special extra issue of the newsletter.
Last Tuesday, Apple launched four new iPhones, a new Apple Watch, the ninth-generation iPad and sixth-gen iPad mini. As part of my weekly Things Nobody Told You feature, on Wednesday I tracked down some under-reported items.
I’ll be honest, as a few days have passed, you may have seen some of them by now, but I hope in this extended version of what was in AppleUnboxed that there’ll still be some undiscovered gems.
As well as eight iPhone items, there are three Apple Watch nuggets, too.
What you missed at the keynote
Goodness gracious, there was a lot in the Apple event. Here’s a scattershot selection of items that either weren’t announced on stage or got swamped in the noise.
1. Cinematic mode is dog-friendly
And other animals and objects. You can achieve the same bokeh effect in video with your dog or another animal as well as people. Which is pretty cool.
2. The new MagSafe Wallet works with Find My
More than that, it’s smart enough to be patient. Before you get a notification on the iPhone that the wallet is no longer attached to the iPhone, there’s a pause. After all, you may simply be fiddling with it to remove a card, for instance.
3. The cameras on the iPhone Pro and Pro Max look identical
Last year the Max’s snappers were much bigger than on the iPhone 12 Pro, but this time they look the same. The iPhone 13’s cameras are significantly bigger than on the iPhone 12, too. Actually, the real takeaway is that this year’s iPhones all have very big cameras.
4. No, you still can’t see the battery percentage onscreen, darn it.
You may have heard by now that the extra screen real estate on the new iPhones has not been used to show the battery percentage onscreen—not even on the iPhone 13 Pro Max! No, to see it you still have to swipe down the screen from the top right corner.
True, I’m used to doing that, it’s almost instinctive now, but I’d love it if it was there on screen permanently again. Some have suggested that an iOS update could fix this, but after extensive enquiries, I don’t get the impression this is in Apple’s plan.
iPhone 13 in new pink color.
5. The macro camera goes plenty close
As close as 2cm, or less than an inch, to be exact, so you can get really, really up close.
Of course, the Pro iPhones also have a bigger telephoto zoom at 3x instead of the 2x on the iPhone 12 Pro and 2.5x on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
6. The Pro cameras have identical functions as well as looks
Where the Pro iPhones differed last year in their camera capabilities as well as their design, this time they are exactly the same.
7. No, last year’s cases won’t fit
The latest phones are such close dimensions that you’d think last year’s cases would fit, but no. First because the camera panels are different sizes, and second because some of the buttons are in slightly different places.
To be honest, this is less of a deal than it sounds because the number of people who upgrade their iPhones every single year is far from everybody.
8. Not all iPhone 13 Pro models are the same
Specifically in terms of ProRes, the advanced video codec that’s coming to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. But not all of them have the same features. ProRes takes up a lot of storage space, so Apple has decided that for ProRes at 4K 30 frames per second, you’ll need a Pro iPhone with storage of 256GB or above. So, the entry-level iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, with 128GB of storage, will only go to 1080p 30fps.
ProRes isn’t here yet, so maybe Apple could rethink this and update their decision.
Apple Watch news
1. Bye bye, Apple Watch Leather Loop
Yes, the Leather Loop is gone, but the Leather Link and Modern Buckle are still available.
Tim Cook at the Apple keynote.
2. But all older Watch bands work with the new Apple Watch Series 7
This is Very Good News. And it’s the case even though the new bands are labeled 42mm and 45mm against the former 40mm and 44mm.
3. Apple Watch Series 7 has a new charging cable
It’s 33% faster at recharging but the old cable will still work, too. Just not as fast. It’s since become clear that this new, updated USB-C cable has already been bundled with the Apple Watch SE, but not the Apple Watch Series 3.
One More Thing
Inspired by Dwight Silverman’s brilliant but now finished Release Notes newsletter, this AppleUnboxed post includes a weekly pet photo treat. Silverman used these to show off smartphone photography, which is my intent, too.
Dog on step. A study.
This is a Live Photo. So, although Apple chose a frame where my dog’s ears were down, I was able to edit the choice and pick one where her ears perked up in listening mode. Not so excited she actually lifted her head, you understand, but that’s dogs for you.
In case you need tempting one more time, you can sign up to the newsletter here. I hope you will, and I’ll do my best to make you feel it’s worth it.