The rumours were true: The new iPhone can connect to satellites.
And in a major design change on top of a new colour range, Apple has scrapped the SIM card tray for some phones.
The models will test Apple’s ability to wring dollars from its relatively affluent customer base, which has kept spending in the face of rising inflation but is not immune to a weakening economy.
The iPhone 14 will start at $US799 ($1181) and the iPhone Plus at $US899 and both will be available for pre-order from September 9.
Unveiled at an event in California early Thursday morning (Australian times), the phones allow users to get help during emergencies even when there is no normal mobile phone reception.
A pre-written message would explain the emergency.
The device could even detect if someone has had a crash in their car or on the bike. Likewise for the new Apple Watch.
Globalstar said in a filing that it will be the satellite operator for the SOS service.
Globalstar’s stock fell about 16 per cent on Wednesday before being halted ahead of the announcement of the Apple deal.
The stock has gained about 50 per cent year to date.
Other companies are working on similar functions.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said last month his company was working with T-Mobile to use its Starlink satellites to connect phones directly to the internet.
“Our customers rely on their iPhone every day and iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus introduce groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.
More powerful camera and ‘best-ever’ battery
One of the people behind the three trillion photos taken on an iPhone in the past year? Apple has promised an even better camera this year.
Budding photographers and experts alike can also profit from an even better camera – including a higher powered, 12MP selfie lens with autofocus and a faster night exposure.
Other phone features include:
- iPhone 14 comes in five colours – ‘midnight’ (black), ‘starlight’ (white), ‘blue’ (a pale blue), ‘purple’ (lilac), and ‘product’ (red);
- iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available in deep purple, silver, gold and space black;
- A promise of the iPhone’s best battery life;
- Satellite connection for non-emergencies like finding a lost phone;
- Live activity function so users can track things like the position of their Uber, even when the screen is locked.
“With the new, larger 6.7-inch display on iPhone 14 Plus, users can enjoy more content onscreen when browsing the web and even more text,” Mr Joswiak said in a press release on Thursday morning.
“Both phones have a powerful new main camera with a huge leap in low-light performance, advanced connectivity capabilities with 5G and eSIM and the incredible performance of A15 Bionic, which helps enable even better battery life.
“All of this, tightly integrated with iOS 16, makes iPhone more essential than ever.”
New watches
Meanwhile, the new watch has a health and safety focus: Heart rate monitors and even a menstruation-tracker for women using a sensor to track the wearer’s temperature.
Privacy and reproductive health data has become a focus for tech companies following a US Supreme Court decision that ended a constitutional right to abortion in the US.
Apple said it does not have the key to decrypt health data such as cycle tracking.
But while accessories such as the Apple Watch have driven incremental sales from Apple’s existing user base, the iPhone remains the bedrock of its business with 52.4 per cent of sales in its most recent fiscal year.
Apple’s stock was up 0.6 per cent more than an hour into the presentation, in line with the start of the event and lagging the S&P 500’s gain of 1.5 per cent for the session.
