GADGET news has been delivered thick and fast at this week’s Apple event.
But there were four things you might have missed unless you were watching very closely.
1
The price is right!
The prices of gadgets are only on the big screen (check out our Apple event live blog) fleetingly.
And it’s hard to know if you’re getting a good deal unless you compare it to last year’s products.
For Americans, the good news is that prices on the new iPhone 15 models didn’t rise this year.
The iPhone 15 is $799, the iPhone 15 Plus is $899, and the Pro is $999.
Seemingly the only exception is the Pro Max for $1,199, versus last year’s $1,099 model.
But Apple has increased the base storage from 128GB to 256GB for this unit, so the price is the same as last year’s 256GB model.
In the UK, it’s even better news.
The iPhone 15 is £799 and the iPhone 15 Plus is £899 – both a £50 price cut versus the year before.
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The iPhone 15 Pro is £100 less than last year’s model at £999.
And the Pro Max is flat versus the year before at £1,199.
On cloud 9!
This was almost a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment – but got huge cheers from the audience.
Apple is finally adding some higher-storage tiers for iCloud.
So if you’re approaching the limits of your iCloud storage, you’ll be able to upgrade to new 6TB and 12TB.
The bad news is that they don’t come cheap.
For 6TB, you’ll be paying $30 / £26.99 a month, and 12TB will cost a hefty $60 / £54.99 each month.
Of course these are iCloud+ plans, so you get bonus features like Hide My Email, Private Relay, and Family Sharing for cloud storage.
Charging AirPods from your iPhone
Another quick fire update came for the AirPods.
Like the iPhone 15, the new AirPods feature a USB-C port.
That means new MacBook, iPad, iPhone and AirPods models all use the same type of connector: USB-C.
This has unlocked a brilliant trick: charging your AirPods with your iPhone.
You can now use a USB-C to USB-C cable to connect an iPhone and AirPods to give your headphones a quick boost.
It’s not clear how much iPhone charge this will drain yet, but it’s a handy trick that could work in a pinch if your AirPods are out of charge.
Apple Watch storage
Another fun upgrade comes with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Both smartwatches feature upgraded storage.
Back with the Series 5, Apple increased local watch storage to 32GB.
And now for the first time, the two new models feature 64GB of local storage.
It means you can cram even more music or podcasts onto the device and leave your iPhone at home when you’re out for a run, for instance.
