Clarence Reynolds of TechRepublic spoke with Tamara Scott, senior managing editor for TechRepublic, and Kaiti Norton, HR editor for TechnologyAdvice, about Apple’s Fall 2022 event. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Tamara Schot: I like the Apple event. It’s such a showcase for them. It gives them the chance to not only introduce their new technology and all the cool stuff that comes with it. It also gives them a chance to showcase their advertising and the things we love about Apple, namely the design, the beautiful graphics and the whole presentation. When you open that Apple box, you get a presentation, and these events are like that, but only for the eyes.
Kaiti Norton: The last time we had one of these roundtables at WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), I made a comment about how these events are going live again after the pandemic, and I know this was technically a live event. They had quite an audience there with journalists. It’s interesting that they’ve stuck with this very well-produced video format that’s really captivating for all of us at home as well.
I’ve also been watching these Apple events for a long time, and when it was completely personal – people, Tim Cook or whoever would come on stage to show the new products – I always felt a little FOMO (fear of missing something), as if I wanted to be there. I really like that they followed this trend to have fully produced videos that we can enjoy as if we were there.
Clarence Reynolds: It almost had a little storyline. It was very interesting. Let’s talk about the main reason we watch these events, and that’s because of the new toys and features that Apple always announces. What did you notice?
TO SEE: Charge three devices wirelessly with this foldable charger (TechRepublic Academy)
Kaiti Norton: First and foremost, I was especially excited about the emergency satellite service. I’ve always been afraid of hiking or camping or being in the wilderness where I don’t have access to the hospital nearby, or if there is an emergency, and I need someone to help if something goes wrong to go. That was really like, okay, now is my time for a walk, because that’s so cool you don’t even have to have cell towers around, and it tells you exactly where to point your phone.
Tamara Schot: I come from a family of triathletes and long-distance runners, and so the Apple Watch Ultra was very interesting to me because my family ends up using dress watches because they have that three-day battery life that will get them through an Iron Man race. I think Apple Watch Ultra is a combination of the needs of ultra athletes and also the need of the businessman for connectivity. So, giving it all the great Apple Watch features that we really love, including message transfer, but also the durability and that extra battery life really comes in handy for long-distance runners or divers. That was really cool too.
Clarence Reynolds: Let’s talk about the main reason why most people talk about or watch this event. It’s because of the new iPhone, and this year they announced the soon to be released iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. What features have you noticed and how does this phone compare to the iPhone 13?
Tamara Schot: I was really interested to see how the technology that Apple announced at WWDC would carry over to the iPhone 14. And I think a lot of the features, Dynamic Island in particular, spoke to that and gave us a sense of how Apple is on the way to that kind AR/VR (augmented reality and virtual reality) technology. Some of the technology they’re bringing out at WWDC, like the ability to customize your home screen by cutting out an image, which will be shown on these new always-on lock screens and stuff like that. I think it’s really interesting to look at the evolution of technology and how it’s moving towards AR/VR immersion in our lives.
Kaiti Norton: I have the iPhone 13 early this year. And to be quite honest, when I look at the new iPhone 14, I don’t really notice much of a difference. Maybe the camera is a little better, and that was really cool to see how they talked about professional videography and how action shots that a bulky professional camera might not be able to do so easily, they can do it so fast with the same quality on an iPhone .
How that translates to everyday users, I don’t know. I’m happy with my iPhone 13, so I don’t know if I’ll be upgrading anytime soon, but of course it’s really cool to think about what this iteration will mean for the next iteration. And when we get to iPhone 22 later, we look at this and we think, “Oh, we had these rudimentary tools.”
Clarence Reynolds: That said, was there anything about the Apple event that seemed kind of bland and/or was there an announcement you were looking forward to that wasn’t mentioned?
Kaiti Norton: Speculation around these events always. I had seen a few articles that talked about the new iPad and what it could possibly be. And so I’m interested to see if they have a separate smaller event for those kinds of announcements. But they always leave you hanging.
Tamara Schot: There have been rumors about AR and VR technology for years. I thought with WWDC we were getting closer and closer to that. I wrote about this a few months ago after WWDC, and I don’t think Apple is going to release AR glasses until it’s a world-changing release, until we all get those glasses and realize, “Oh my gosh, how have I lived without them until now. ?” But that was more of a utopia, hoping they would release something soon, but it looks like it’s going to take a while.
