Top Stories: Apple Event Recap With iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and More

One of the busiest weeks of the year for Apple news has drawn to a close following Monday's event that saw the unveiling of new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods models and Friday's start of iPhone pre-orders in dozens of countries around the world.

top stories 14sep2024
Read on below for the biggest announcements of this week as we take a brief break ahead of a flood of software updates early next week and all of the new hardware making its way into customers' hands a few days later!

Everything Apple Announced at Monday's Event in 13 Minutes

Apple's "It's Glowtime" event on Monday was a ~100-minute whirlwind of announcements, but we've condensed it down to a 13-minute highlight reel to give you a quick way to catch up on everything.

Glowtime Everything Announced Thumb 2
We've also pulled together all of our news coverage from the big day in one place, so make sure to check it out and read up on your favorite Apple products that got some fresh updates.

Apple Announces iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with Larger Displays, New Camera Control, and More

Apple on Monday announced the iPhone 16 Pro and ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max—its latest flagship smartphones—featuring larger displays, an all-new Camera Control button, and the A18 Pro chip.

iphone 16 pro colors 1
The ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ has a 6.3-inch display, while the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max features a 6.9-inch display—the biggest iPhone display ever. The borders around the display are the thinnest of any Apple device, while the titanium frame now features a new blasted finish and comes in a refreshed selection of color options: a darker Black Titanium, brighter White Titanium, Natural Titanium, and a new Desert Titanium.

Apple Announces iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus With Action Button, Camera Control, and More

Apple also announced the 6.1-inch iPhone 16 and 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus, with a key new feature being the Camera Control on the side of the devices. As rumored, the Camera Control is positioned below the power button, and you can control various features in the Camera app by pressing or swiping on it.

iphone 16 lineup colors
Other features include the Action button introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models last year, a "big boost" in battery life, brighter and more durable screens, Wi-Fi 7 support, and an A18 chip with up to a twice as fast 16-core Neural Engine for Apple Intelligence. The devices have color-infused back glass, with vibrant Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, White, and Black finishes available.

Apple Announces Thinner Apple Watch Series 10 With Bigger Screen Than Ultra

Apple at its event announced the Apple Watch Series 10, featuring a wide-angle OLED display that is larger than the Apple Watch Ultra's, with the company describing the new Series 10 as the "biggest display and thinnest design ever."

Apple Watch Series 10 lineup 240909 feature
The Series 10 is 9.7 mm thick, which is nearly 10% thinner than Series 9, and it weighs 20% less than the Stainless Steel Series 9. The Aluminum cases also weigh up to 10% less, while the Series 10 also comes in Grade 5 titanium, replacing stainless steel.

While we didn't get updated Apple Watch Ultra or Apple Watch SE models, we did get a new black finish for the Apple Watch Ultra 2, as well as an Apple Watch Hermès Ultra 2. Apple also introduced a new Titanium Milanese Loop for both colors of the Ultra.

Apple Unveils AirPods 4 With Two Models Featuring Improved Fit, USB-C, and More

As expected, Apple introduced two AirPods 4 models on Monday, a base model at $129 to replace the AirPods 2 and a higher-end model with Active Noise Cancellation and a case that supports wireless charging and features a speaker for Find My capabilities.

airpods 4 blue
Apple also revealed updated AirPods Max headphones at the event, but the only changes are new colors and a move from Lightning to USB-C for charging and connectivity. No other hardware updates are included.

iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11 and More Launching on September 16

With all of Apple's new hardware set to become available on Friday, September 20, the company is sticking to tradition and releasing its major new operating system versions a few days earlier.

iOS 18 on iPhone Feature
iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and more will all be available on Monday, September 16. It's important to note, however, that Apple Intelligence features will not be coming in this round of updates and will instead start rolling out in follow-on updates likely targeted for late October.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Will Bring Biggest Design Overhaul Since iOS 7

Monday March 10, 2025 12:17 pm PDT by
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience. Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
ios 18 4 carplay

Apple Upgrades CarPlay in Two Ways

Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay. Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Apple One Apps Feature 2

Apple One's Best Plan Now Includes Two More Perks For Free

Monday March 10, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Apple One allows you to subscribe to up to six Apple services for one discounted monthly price. There are three Apple One tiers: Individual, Family, and Premier. Over the last month, the highest-end ‌Apple One‌ Premier plan has gained two additional perks. Here is what Apple One Premier already included, for $37.95 per month:Apple Music Apple TV+ Apple Arcade Apple News+ Apple Fitness+...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
iOS 18

12 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.4

Monday March 10, 2025 9:28 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
iphone 17 mockups idevicehelp

Video Shows iPhone 17 Mockups Based on 'Internal Documents'

Monday March 10, 2025 4:41 am PDT by
YouTuber iDeviceHelp on Friday posted a video that shows off mockups of Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 models that are purportedly based on "internal documents." We're sharing the video here since it was made in collaboration with leaker Majin Bu, who last month published similar iPhone 17 renders that were widely corroborated by separate leakers with links to Apple's Chinese supply chain....
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.2 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Monday March 10, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple employees are internally testing iOS 18.3.2 for iPhones, according to our website's visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released in the next week or two. iOS 18.3.2 will be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Don't expect any new features. iOS 18.3.2 will be an interim...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3.2 With Bug Fixes

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:33 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.3.2 and iPadOS 18.3.2, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.2 and iOS 18.3.2 come a month after Apple released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release...
Apple Maps vs Google Maps Feature

iOS 18.4 Adds a Highly-Requested Setting to iPhones — But Not in U.S.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited. The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...

Top Rated Comments

AppleWorld787 Avatar
26 weeks ago
It was a pretty disappointing event ??
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
26 weeks ago
[sarcasm]
I am so happy that Tim Cook released products which will benefit shareholders more than customers. It's much more important to maximize profits to make rich shareholders even richer than to maximize products' user-friendliness for customers like me.
[/sarcasm]
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The.Outsider Avatar
26 weeks ago
Nothing felt right about the introduction to the iPhone 16 Pro... the lack of detail and most of all, the lack of features on launch day makes me truly think twice about buying it. I had my finger ready to press the preorder button, but now I'm thinking, I've never seen Apple act this way during an expo and act this way for a launch of an iPhone with this many features not ready on launch day. I used to work for Apple, we had ONE situation like this with Siri, but... that was it... and instead of launching the phone without it, it was pushed to October. But this... the entire gimmick at this point was to promote the power to boost AI which you'll only get in December... and the rest of the world... sometime next year... EU? Who knows... So again we're back to "OOOH LOOK AT THE CAMERA"... okay nice but now more features use AI and it's not ready for launch day? I wish I didn't have to buy a new iphone and could wait to the 17 but then, that's what I said when 13 came out, and kept saying it till we reached 16...

My best functioning iPhone that to this day despite it not being supported anymore, was the iPhone 8. Which iPhone do you feel was the most solid, problem free iphone you've ever owned?

Long story short, my history working for Apple, seeing them this way, truly makes me wonder what is going on behind closed doors, sadly I know some of it... but not all of it, so I'll just say... I wish the iPhone 16 gave me that "OH WOW" feel... it didn't... not this time. But I have an iphone 12... it's become useless... so I will update to the 16 either way. Just wish it was under better circumstances and better promotion.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vmistery Avatar
26 weeks ago
Well an S10 Watch is coming my way for sure to replace the S5, going to hold off on the iPhone as it sounds like the ram will get bumped next year on the pro.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
morningsong Avatar
26 weeks ago

In what way has it become useless (I’m asking because I’m still using an SE 2020 and wouldn’t mind upgrading to an iPhone 12 now that prices are coming down)?
Good question, I have an XR & an iPhone 12 (work).. Still love my XR, but it runs super hot at times, I feel like apple has a poison pill in one of the updates to do that...but my 12 is perfectly fine. Wondering what issues that poister is having.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tevosn Avatar
26 weeks ago
I think a bigger top story is FDA approves Apple AirPods Pro 2 to be used as hearing aids.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)