Apple’s top 10 highlights from iPhone 17 big reveal

The $US3.48 trillion ($5.29 trillion) company showcased its newest devices at its headquarters at Cupertino, California early Wednesday morning (Australian time), with co-founder Steve Wozniak attending the launch.

Apple has been considered a laggard in the AI race, as rivals Samsung and Google leapfrog ahead of it. But Mr Cook will not be rushed after telling investors earlier this year it needed more time to deliver the much-hyped revamp of its Siri voice assistant.

So what did it reveal instead. Here are the top 10 highlights from Apple’s big reveal.

Centre Stage front camera

All iPhone models now feature an 18MP front camera equipped with a bigger square-shaped sensor, eschewing the more conventional rectangular design.

Apple says this means people no longer need to rotate their phones to take landscape selfies, while AI can adjust the field of view accordingly to ensure the best shot. It expects it to be a hit, considering Apple users took 500 billion selfies on iPhones last year.

The Centre Stage feature automatically places someone in the centre of the frame. Apple said introducing it on the front camera also worked when taking videos, allowing people to be more present on FaceTime calls with loved ones, given the camera will always keep them in shot.

Dual capture recording

The front and rear cameras can now record simultaneously. This works similar to a face time call. You can record the main scene with the rear camera and the user’s reaction to it with the front camera, which will be shown as an inset in the video frame.

Upgraded cameras

The rear cameras on the iPhone Pro models now are all 48MP resolution. This enables the telephoto camera to achieve 8x or 200m zoom, which Apple said delivers the longest reach on any iPhone.

The Air and the Pro models also feature a full-width camera bump or “plateau” – a noticeable design shift for Apple.

e-SIM only design

As well as being Apple’s thinnest iPhone at 5.6mm, the iPhone 17 Air has dispensed with physical SIM cards. Being an e-SIM-only design allowed it to be more efficient with the tight space of the thin design.

Apple said e-SIMS were available globally “thanks to extensive planning and testing with our carrier partners”. “Because of this, we design iPhone Air to be e-SIM-only worldwide, maximising internal space for battery size.”

Enhanced durability

All iPhones now have Apple’s new Ceramic Shield 2, which the company said delivered up to 3x scratch resistance than previous models. The iPhone 17 Air and Pro models also feature Ceramic Shield 2 on the rear cover.

The 17 Pro has an aluminium unibody design, replacing the titanium frame of previous models. Combined with a laser-welded vapour chamber, Apple says this also provides better thermal management to increase the performance of the A19 Pro chip, which in turn leads to longer battery life – up to 16 hours more video playback than the 15 Pro.

Roadside satellite assistance

If you’re travelling in Australia and in a mobile blackspot and your car breaks down, Apple says it now has you covered. From Monday, users will be able to contact leading motoring clubs, including NRMA, RACV, RACQ and RAA, via Apple’s satellites.

Apple Watch Ultra 3 also supports satellite connectivity. This includes the ability to send messages in cellular and wi-fi blackspots – “allowing you to communicate with satellite 800 miles above Earth” – and share information with Apple “Find My” to locate devices.

New health features

Apple has deepened its expansion in wearables, with its watches now able to deliver a “sleep score”, which tracks sleep duration, bedtime consistency, wake-up frequence and sleep stage time. This is designed to help people better manage energy levels by ensuring they have enough restorative sleep and compete with more specialised tracking devices like Whoop.

Apple also unveiled a new hypertension detector. It is yet to be approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration. But Apple vice-president of health Sumbul Desai expected the new feature would notify more than one million people with undiagnosed hypertension in the “first year alone” of operation, “empowering them to make lifesaving behavioural changes and start treatment”.

How it works is its algorithm reviews data over a 30-day period and will notify users if it identifies patterns associated with hypertension. “We’ve developed this novel approach using advanced machine learning methods in a series of studies totalling over 100,000 participants,” Dr Desai said.

“We expect approval from the FDA and other regulators soon.”

New health features are available on Apple Watch Series 9/Ultra 2 and later, running watchOS 26.

Live translation

AirPods Pro 3 are designed with improved active noise cancellation, which Apple said removes up to 4x more noise than the original AirPods Pro. This also helps live translation, allowing people to better communicate with one another in foreign languages.

The ANC lowers the volume of the person speaking so it’s easier to focus on the translation, which appears via the AirPods in real time.

AirPods Pro 3 can also now measure a user’s heart rate while they are exercising – a similar feature that is available on Apple-owned Powerbeats Pro 2, which was released earlier this year.

Improved battery life for Apple Watch Ultra 3

Apple’s high-end sports watch features 42 hours of battery life and up to 72 hours in low-power mode.

In real-world use, Apple says this will achieve up to 14 hours’ workout time on a single charge with full GPS and heart rate readings and up to 35 hours of outdoor workout with GPS and LTE in low-power mode – with fewer GPS and heart rate readings.

It also supports fast charging, achieving up to 12 hours’ use from a 15-minute charge.

Always on display for Apple Watch SE 3

Apple’s cheapest watch, the SE 3, received a bevy of upgrades, including advanced health features such as sleep score, wrist temperature sensing for richer Vitals app data, and retrospective ovulation estimates, and even sleep apnoea notifications.

Its S10 chip also powers an Always-On display, double-tap and wrist-flick gestures and on-device Siri. It is priced at $399.

The author travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple.

This article first appeared in The Australian as Satellite messaging, enhanced health features, better cameras: top 10 highlights of Apple’s big reveal