Apple debuted their new wave of products this year at their annual Apple event, featuring the iPhone 17, 17 Pro max and Air. They additionally debuted AirPods 3 Pro Max and Apple Watches.
As an iPhone 12 user, I may not own the direct predecessor of the iPhone 17, but I recognize the selling points of the iPhone itself, as well as where it exceeds expectations and where it misses the mark. The appeal of Apple products lies in their simple, sleek aesthetic, which makes them instantly recognizable, and sets them apart from competitors like Samsung. However, their new products miss the mark entirely. Apple boasts of their new and improved camera system, which is good for cinematography and has an 8x optical quality zoom. While these features are nice, the cameras attached to the phone are too large, bulky and unpleasant to look at.
Even the iPhone Air, which is explicitly meant to be a paragon of simplicity and be “the thinnest iPhone ever,” has a huge camera sticking out of the top, defeating the purpose of its branding. It is quite difficult for them to claim that it “nearly disappears in your hand” underneath a picture of the phone with a protruding camera plate. On top of that, the new camera features have little practical use. Most iPhone users use iPhones to record regular tasks, and do not need such a large zoom, to be able to sync with other iPhone cameras or the other excess features. Because of this, it seems like Apple haphazardly added new features which no one asked for, and detracted from their signature style. As an attempted counterbalance to this, the iPhone 17 Pro has an aluminum unibody designed to be light and thermally efficient, with a new cooling system consisting of a vapor chamber which rapidly dissipates heat throughout the unibody. There are also more welcome changes which make the iPhone more durable, like a ceramic shield that protects the back and front, and the surface is three times more scratch resistant. For all these reasons, I rate the new iPhones a 2/5.
The new AirPods Pro does not change the exterior product design noticeably, and includes better noise cancellation and incorporates heart rate sensing to use during workouts. The listening time on one charge has increased to eight hours from the previous five hours, and there are new hearing aid features for people with mild to moderate hearing loss, like amplifying voices and protecting against loud environmental noise. Personally, a lot of these features do not make a significant difference that makes the price hike from previous models, but it can be useful for certain people, so I would rate it a 4/5.
Apple also rolled out four new Apple Watch models and new band designs. A greater variety of colors, textures and patterns is a welcome addition, since the typical bands were somewhat boring. Their new watches are more suited towards hardcore athletes, which is personally not useful, but makes sense to cater to. They also released Apple Watch Hermès, which ties them into the designer market and adds a level of style and sophistication to the traditional Apple Watch that I love. For these reasons, I also rate the Apple Watch a 4/5.
Overall, the other Apple products besides the new iPhone models are interesting and enjoyable and while I won’t be buying, they are definitely useful for subsets of people like athletes, people with hearing loss, people who need a longer battery life and more.
