Apple on Tuesday unveiled its next generation of iPhones — a line-up that will boast better cameras, faster processors, a new charging system and a price hike for the fanciest model.
The showcase at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., comes as the company tries to reverse a mild slump that has seen its sales drop from last year in three consecutive quarters. The malaise is a key reason Apple's stock price has dipped by nearly 10% since mid-July, dropping the company's market value below the $3 trillion threshold it reached for the first time earlier this summer.
Investors apparently were not impressed with what Apple rolled out Tuesday. The company's shares were down by nearly 2% during afternoon trading.
As has been the case with Apple and other smartphone makers, the four types of iPhone 15 models aren't making any major leaps in technology. But Apple added enough new bells and whistles to the top-of-the-line model — the iPhone 15 Pro Max — to boost its price by $100, or 9%, from last year's version to $1,200.
Apple is holding the line on prices for the rest of the line-up, with the basic iPhone 15 selling for $800, the iPhone 15 Plus for $900 and the iPhone 15 Pro for $1,000.
All the new models will be available in stores Sept. 22, with pre-orders beginning this Friday.
One of the biggest changes that Apple announced is a new way to charge the iPhone 15 models and future generations. The company is switching over to the USB-C standard that is already widely used on many devices, including its Mac computers and many of its iPads.
Apple is being forced to phase out the Lightning port cables it rolled out in 2012 because of a mandate that European regulators plan to impose in 2024.
Although consumers often don't like change, the transition to USB-C ports may not be that inconvenient. That’s because the standard is already widely used on a range of computers, smartphones and other devices people already own. The shift to USB-C may even be a popular move since that standard typically charges devices more quickly and also offers faster data transfer speeds.
The basic iPhone 15 models have been redesigned to include a shape-shifting cutout on the display screen that Apple calls its “Dynamic Island” for app notifications — a look that was introduced with last year's Pro and Pro Max devices. The basic models are also getting a faster chip used in last year's Pro and Pro Max models, while the next generation of the premium iPhone 15s will run on an even more advanced processor.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max also will be equipped with what Apple maintains is the equivalent of seven camera lenses. They will include a periscope-style telephoto lens that will improve the quality of photos taken from far distances. The telephoto lens boasts a 5x optical zoom, which lags the 10x optical zoom on Samsung's premium Galaxy S22 Ultra, but represents an upgrade from the 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
Apple is encasing the premium models in titanium that the company says is the same alloy used on some spaceships.
Besides its new iPhones, Apple also announced its next generation of smartwatches — a product that made its debut nearly a decade ago. The Series 9 Apple Watch, available in stores September 22, will include a new gesture control that will enable users to control alarms and answer phone calls by double snapping their thumbs with a finger.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday it's acquiring video game publisher Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion in cash, a company that's is known for big titles like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft." Lyron Bentovim, Glimpse Group president and CEO, and Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, sat down to talk about what Ives called "a shot across the bow" towards the competition. "This is pretty exciting for the industry as a whole because another one of the big players is coming to the metaverse," said Bentovim. "Microsoft using metaverse in the quote from their CEO in their press release shows the importance of this deal."
Netflix may not be staying at the top of the streaming wars, according to some wary investors, as competition heats up and it raises prices yet again. Tuna Amobi, director and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, spoke with Cheddar about what investors should be considering should they stick with the streaming pioneer or drop the investment. "I think it's always mostly about the subscriber growth for the Q4, which is going to be an indicator of how the company has been navigating the speed bumps that we saw early in the year," said Amobi.
L’Oréal is doubling down on its investment in tech. The French beauty giant unveiled two new high-tech products ahead of CES 2022, aimed at simplifying the hair coloring process. Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oréal Technology Incubator, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's innovations for hair coloring, including the Colorsonic application device and the Coloright AI diagnostic tool.
Walmart is one of the latest companies looking to adapt to the emerging digital economy by possibly establishing its own cryptocurrency. The retail giant filed at least seven applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including one for blockchain assets.
Bitcoin plunged below the $40,000 mark on Monday, hitting its lowest price since September. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency has had months of hot and cold streaks, and the latest drop now has investors wondering just what 2022 will have in store for bitcoin and the crypto space as a whole. Ben McMillan, CIO at IDX Digital Assets, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
You could be seeing more electric delivery vans on the road soon. Walmart and FedEx have inked deals with GM's all-electric brand BrightDrop to add thousands of vehicles to their fleets. Walmart has reserved 5,000 vans for the first time, while FedEx is expanding an initial order of 500 vehicles. Michael Zimmerman, partner and head of logistics at Kearney, joined Cheddar to discuss what this means for the electric vehicle market moving forward.
After nearly a century, General Motors is no longer the top-selling automaker in America. Toyota has dethroned the long-reigning champ to become the leader in U.S. auto sales for the first time, and the first non-domestic automaker to take that title. The Japanese automaker outsold GM by about 114,000 vehicles, or 5% more, in 2021. Al Root, senior writer for Barron's, joined Cheddar to discuss the meaning behind these numbers.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smart phones.
Looking ahead, several experts in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Syed Alam, Accenture's Global Semiconductor Lead, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
