On 12th September 2023, Apple held another event. During the event, they announced two new models of the Apple Watch, as well as the newest models of iPhones that are now available, those being the new iPhone 15s.
In this blog, I’m going to tell you about what all these new releases have to offer, while also telling you whether or not they are accessible enough for disabled people and their friends / family to buy, and passing on tips in relation to how they can all be improved.
Apple Watch Series 9
The first of the next newest Apple Watches has been inwardly redesigned, and it starts with it being powered by the new S9 Silicon Chip, which is 30% faster the S8 chip.
Siri requests are now going to be processed on the Apple Watch, which makes them faster and more secure. But that isn’t the only thing, because the voice assistant can also now access health data for the first time! Plus, dictation on the Series 9 is also 25% more accurate than the Series 8 (thanks to secure on-device processing).
Like the Series 8, it comes with 18 hours of battery life.
You’ll also find a brighter always-on Retina display that is capable of going up to 2000 nits, which is twice as bright as the Series 8.
With Ultra Wideband support, the Apple Watch Series 9 is also capable of using Precision Finding. It is also now more deeply integrated with the HomePod, since Now Playing will automatically launch when an Apple Watch users gets within four meters of a HomePod playing music.
It is made with more recycled materials and comes in a smaller box that is more environmentally friendly, and according to Apple, is their first Carbon Neutral product.
Something else this Apple Watch comes with, however, that sets it ahead of previous Apple Watch models is the new Double Tap gesture. This means the user can tap their thumb and index finger together to interact with the device without having to touch the screen. However, while this may seem futuristic to a lot of people, it’s clear that Apple still aren’t keen to make their watches accessible for disabled people, and have introduced a feature that will make the watch even more inaccessible for anyone who has a physical disability or a broken hand.
The Apple Watch Series 9 is available in Starlight, Silver, Midnight, PRODUCT(RED) and Pink. You can buy it for £399.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple didn’t only announce the Series 9, however, because Apple also introduced the second generation of the Apple Watch Ultra.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 also comes with the S9 chip, and this makes it 30% faster than the original version of the original Apple Watch Ultra.
There a second gen Ultra Wideband chip that makes it easier to use the Apple Watch Ultra to find where an iPhone 15 is, while also supporting Precision Finding.
It also has a new 4-core Neural Engine that can process machine learning tasks up to twice as fast as the original Ultra.
You’ll also get a new Modular Ultra watch face, that takes advantage of the large display.
You can also even view it in Night mode, which will now turn on automatically in the dark, thanks to the ambient light sensor.
With the Apple Watch Ultra 2, you’ll also have the same 36-hour battery life with regular use. If you use it in Low Power Mode, you’ll have 72 hours of life.
Similar to the Apple Watch Series 9, the Ultra 2 also supports the Double Tap gesture, but this makes it extremely inaccessible for disabled people, who it seems Apple isn’t interested in creating an accessible alternative for, despite how much more accessible features can help.
As it is made from a 49mm Titanium case, it is only available in Silver. If you want to buy it, it costs £799.
The iPhone 15 family of Phones
One of the biggest announcements that was made was that of the iPhone 15 family of phones, including the 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Plus. All of these phones have been released with a USB-C port instead of Lightning.
The iPhone 15 has a 6.1-inch display, while the iPhone 15 Plus has a 6.7-inch display, and turning towards the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Plus, both of them are available in the same size, with the Pro having a 6.1-inch display and the Pro Plus having a 6.7-inch display.
They all have the Dynamic Island that debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro models last year.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus now feature a frosted rear glass panel with a matte finish and countered edges and is powered by the A16 Bionic chip, as well as featuring the second gen Ultra Wideband chip, with up to three times the range,
They have peak HDR brightness up to 1,600 nits, but if you use it outside, you’ll find peak brightness that can go up to 2,000 nits.
The 15 and 15 Plus also offer a 48-megapixel main camera lens that has a new 2x Telephoto option, a 12MP Ultra Wide camera, a 2x Optical Zoom camera, and many more camera features.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro Plus, meanwhile, is powered by Apple’s A17 Pro chip, which gives it a six-core CPU for 10% faster CPU performance and 20% faster GPU performance. Not only this, but its 16-core neural engine also helps to accelerate machine learning.
It can also process up to 35 trillion operations per second.
Turning towards the iPhone 15 Pro’s camera features, however, both models have a main camera with a larger sensor, as well as a new coating to reduce lens flare, better low light performance for portraits and night mode, a range of focal lengths, a new 24MP super-high-resolution default mode, and much more! The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 5x optical zoom at 180mm focal length with a 25% larger sensor.
And like the standard iPhone 15 models, the Pro models also offer a next generation Portrait mode, as well as new focus and depth controls, with improved Night mode as well.
It also has the second gen Ultra Wideband Chip.
They also get a customisable Action Button, which has been brought over from the Apple Watch.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are available in black, blue, green, yellow and pink, and can be bought for £799 if you want to buy the iPhone 15, while the 15 Plus costs £899.
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, meanwhile, come in black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium and natural titanium. If you want to buy the iPhone Pro, it will cost £999, and if you want to buy the Pro Max it will cost £1,199.
Conclusion
While the technology announced at Apple’s September Event 2023 is by all means impressive, there are some things that are going to be more problematic for physically disabled customers than they are for able-bodied people, and an example of this is with Double Tap.
I’ve shown my dislike for Double Tap in this, but while I can still see how useful this will be for a lot of Apple Watch users, I’m sad to say that my view still hasn’t changed.
The Apple Watch has always been something that isn’t the most accessible for someone with a physical disability, and Double Tap now makes the watch even harder for physically disabled people to access! Paralysed people who can’t use their hands or who have very little movement will find it extremely difficult to be able to use the Double Tap feature, if even at all, and this should be something Apple should be thinking of more when it comes to thinking up accessibility features, so people who have limited movement have just as much access to using their technology, just in a different way that works the best for them.
For this reason, I think Apple could really benefit from introducing other accessibility features, such as Voice Activation mode into every version of Apple Watch, which could let disabled people go into their settings and enter commands that they would prefer to operate with voice control. These could even integrate with the Siri voice assistant, so everything works in a smart way. But I also think it would be good if a setting could exist that let’s disabled people decide if they’d like to be alerted that they’ve received a notification with a sound instead of a tap against the skin or with Siri making the announcement, so that those who can’t feel such a sensation and those who don’t like how it feels can get just as much enjoyment.
As far as the iPhone 15 family of iPhones goes, however, I’m more than happy with everything they have to offer.
Yes, I’ve criticised the customisable Action Button ever since it’s appeared on the Apple Watch, but since the iPhone is something that some physically disabled people can access if it’s put on an easel or a stand, there’s other ways that disabled people can still use the phone without it actually limiting them.
I’m also extremely interested in the new camera features that the iPhone 15s have to offer, as well as the games that are coming to the iPhone, that have previously only been available on consoles. But unfortunately this does still raise the question of what does the iPhone 15 have to offer compared to the iPhone 14 and 13, and at the minute, I’m not sure there’s too many things that will make it stand out to everyone.
Yes, the new Action Button will be exciting, and some of the improved camera features will make it tempting, but these may not be enough to convince someone to move from an iPhone 14 to it, or even the 13. By all means, StandBy mode on the 15 also seems breathtaking, but you should keep in mind that the iPhone 14 also has access to with the Always-On Display. And even when we look at the camera features and compare it to the iPhone 13, the camera features aren’t really that different, so it may not be worth updating.
So overall, my full opinion when it comes to the iPhone 15 compared to the 13 is that it does have a lot of features that I would love to have. However, unless my iPhone 13 breaks, I wouldn’t consider upgrading, but if my iPhone 13 did break and was damaged so much it was beyond saving, I would upgrade to the iPhone 15, and maybe the Pro.
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