Apple hosted its Far Out event on Wednesday and honestly, it's a little difficult to wash off that hangover just yet. The tech giant launched its much-awaited iPhone 14 lineup, new Apple Watches and upgraded AirPods Pro. If you followed the event, you would know the temptation to pre-order everything that you saw on screen. But don’t give in, not yet at least, especially given the sky-rocketing prices of all of the products. Read till the end and find out if you really do need an upgrade.
The Watch
Apple called the new Watch SE the right Apple Watch for new users and rightly so. The smartwatch gives you almost all the features of the Apple Watch Series 8 barring a few like Always-On Display, measuring ECG and Blood Oxygen, and the new temperature sensor. The watch also comes at a lower starting price at Rs 29,900, which is decent compared to the starting price of the Watch Series 8 at Rs 45,900. So, if you have enough money to shell out and have not upgraded in a while, now would be a good time to do so. If you want to get an Apple Watch to just have a feel of it, the Watch SE would be a great fit for you.
The Watch Ultra, on the other hand, the bigger and, as Apple put it, the most capable Apple Watch yet is made for extreme sports users with a 49mm titanium case with sapphire front display and custom bands for different types of sports. The watch also comes with a physical Action button that is customisable and twice the water resistance of the Watch Series 8 and Watch SE with up to 100m. The starting price of this one is a whopping Rs 89,900.
This watch will have a very niche range of users, who probably already know what is working for them and what is not. So, if nothing else feels right, the Apple Watch Ultra could be worth a shot.
The AirPods Pro
The second generation AirPods Pro are a decent upgrade over the original AirPods Pro and were long overdue. Although the upgrade would not require much thought, its price tag of Rs 26,900 definitely would. The AirPods Pro come with a MagSafe Charging case, spatial audio, adaptive transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation, which regular AirPods are not offering. If you are an audiophile and somebody who has their AirPods on constantly and also has not upgraded in a while, then getting these would not be a bad idea.
The iPhone
The iPhone 14 Pro models are the real deal. That Dynamic Island is what turned heads, just when we thought “ugh, what else?”. It is also one of the reasons why users would want to upgrade to the Pro model this year. As was expected, only the Pro models have received the new A16 chip and ditched the notch for a pill-shaped cutout, dubbed Dynamic Island, which seamlessly integrates the hardware with the software. Even if it’s just a trick, it’s a really cool one.
From what it seems, Apple might stick with the notch on the base models, at least for a couple more years if not more. Honestly, it is getting old now and the cutout is really exciting. It also comes at a starting price of Rs 1,29,900 — not exactly affordable but it has been a hot minute since iPhones have been affordable so if you can, you must.
If you have been waiting to upgrade and the Pro is out of your budget, getting the iPhone 13 would not be such a bad idea right now. It is not much different from the iPhone 14, except for the Crash Detection, the Emergency SOS via satellite and as Apple claims, a better camera setup. With the new iPhones out, the iPhone 13 is available at a lower price, starting at Rs 69,900. That is for the 6.1-inch model. If you want a bigger screen, you would have to go for the new iPhone 14 Plus with a 6.7-inch display that starts at Rs 89,900.
The watches can be pre-ordered right away and will be shipped on September 23. The iPhone 14 models and the AirPods Pro will be available for pre-order on September 9. The iPhones will be shipped on September 16, except for the iPhone 14 Plus which will be shipped on October 7. The AirPods Pro will ship on September 23.
Also Read: Apple introduces a new Watch Ultra along with the Watch Series 8 and a second gen Watch SE
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