Was it “awe-dropping”? The jury’s still out on that, especially given the leaks that all but told us exactly what to expect last night.
It definitely would have been more impressive if we hadn’t known about the iPhone Air, and only saw it for the first time at the event video. Maybe it’s a sign as to how jaded we all are when it comes to Apple leaks.
That said, the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro do come with a redesign at long last. Instead of a square bump, the camera bulge now stretches across the entire width of the phone, much like the Google Pixel 10.
It is, however, much bigger, since Apple decided to move stuff like the antenna into this camera bump to free up space internally for a new vapour cooling chamber and a much larger battery.
And depending on the market where it is sold, the iPhone 17 Pro will have a slightly bigger battery since it now doesn’t have a physical SIM card slot. If you’re in Singapore where I live, fret not, the model sold here will still have a SIM card slot (except for the iPhone Air, which will be eSIM only globally).
The biggest change, though, is that Apple’s use of titanium for the iPhone Pro series is now over. With the iPhone 17 Pro, it’s switching back to aluminium for its chassis for the thermal benefits, which they say is the “best-ever” thermal performance in an iPhone.
But the real star of the show is really the new Trump-like colour of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, which one can’t help but wonder if it’s indeed yet another effort to butter up to the best-ever President. Or perhaps it’s just a very nice colour (and it looks it). This also means there’s no black version of the iPhone 17 Pro, which I’m honestly okay with, since black is boring (unless it’s the MacBook’s black, now, that is nice).
As for the iPhone 17, it looks pretty much the same, though it now has a larger 6.3-inch ProMotion Always-On display (up to 120Hz refresh rate), the A19 chip, and a new front camera. On the other hand, the iPhone 17 Pro will feature a 6.3-inch or 6.9-inch screen, A19 Pro, and three 48MP cameras including an 8x optical zoom.
Other interesting things announced include the Apple Watch Series 11, which can now detect hypertension and has a longer battery life. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 features a bigger screen without increasing the size of the watch, while the Apple Watch SE 3 now comes with an Always-On display.
Lastly, the most exciting thing (at least for me) is the new Apple AirPods Pro 3, which packs new foam eartips, a new design that should fit better (I hope so, my AirPods Pro 2 always seem to pop out after wearing them for a while), two times the active noise cancellation of the previous version, and a heart rate monitor. I can’t wait to test it out.
This week, we tried Xiaomi’s new budget robot vacuum, Lenovo’s capable, and slim gaming laptop, and a unique neckband speaker from Sony.
The Xiaomi Robot Vacuum S40 gets the job done at an affordable price (S$229). It even comes with a mopping pad, though you'll have to manually top up the water, and wash the pad afterwards. The bin is also manual, but you probably only need to empty it once a week. More importantly, it’s decent at cleaning, while the navigation is good enough that it doesn’t get lost.
For those who want a sleek, somewhat portable gaming laptop for work and play, the Lenovo Legion 7i 10 Gen should be on your shortlist. This mid-range model comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics chip that’s good enough to run most games smoothly at its native 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution. This chip is also versatile enough for content creation by switching its Nvidia driver.
You won’t disturb others when watching movies late at night with the Sony Bravia Theatre U. This neckband speaker offers personalised audio that doesn’t travel far, and you can still get spatial audio with a compatible Sony Bravia TV. Sound quality is decent, and it’s comfy, especially compared with headphones that become warm after extended use.