Apple unveils iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15, Watch Ultra 2, and Watch Series 9 at Wonderlust event

Every year, tech giant Apple dazzles the world with its latest innovations. In keeping with the tradition, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) before the event to build anticipation. His post read: It’s almost Time! See ya soon!

At this year’s Apple Wonderlust launch event, the tech giant unveiled its top smartphone offerings: the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Alongside these flagship models, Apple also introduced the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. In wearables, Apple launched the Watch Ultra 2 and the Watch Series 9, setting new standards for smartwatches. Plus, an updated AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with USB‐C charging capabilities.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

The flagship iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, sporting 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, have been designed with aerospace-grade titanium. This design features contoured edges and a new customisable action button, replacing the traditional single-purpose switch for toggling between ring and silent modes. This button offers users a range of choices, from swift camera or flashlight access to activating Voice Memos, Focus modes, Translate, and accessibility features.

The Pro devices harness the power of the next-generation Apple Silicon for iPhone—the A17 Pro, a 3-nanometer chip. This powerhouse includes a revamped 6-core GPU, an upgraded CPU that boasts up to a 10% speed boost with microarchitectural and design enhancements, and a speedier Neural Engine. With hardware-accelerated ray tracing, users can enjoy smoother graphics and dive into more immersive gaming experiences, bringing console-like titles such as Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, and Assassin's Creed Mirage to life on their handheld devices.

The flagship lineup received camera upgrades, including a more advanced 48 MP main camera system that now supports super-high-resolution 24MP default, the next generation of portraits with focus and depth control, improvements to Night mode and Smart HDR, and an all-new 5x Telephoto camera. The main camera allows users to switch between three focal lengths—24 mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm—and even choose one as a new default. 

The iPhone 15 Pro lineup uses the USB‑C connector with USB 3 for data transfer speeds up to 10 gigabits per second, up to 20x faster than before.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are available in black, white, blue, and natural titanium finishes, with up to 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 15 Pro starts at Rs 1,34,900, while iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at Rs 1,59,900.

For the first time, customers in India will be able to pre-order iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with other regions like the US. Pre-orders begin September 15, and will be available from September 22.

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus

In addition to the Pros, Apple launched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, boasting 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, respectively. These models come with Dynamic Island, a feature introduced last year with the iPhone 14 Pro models, enabling users to engage with alerts and live activities. The Super Retina XDR display now offers a peak HDR brightness of up to 1600 nits, with outdoor brightness peaking at an impressive 2000 nits, doubling the brightness of the previous generation.

The duo is driven by Apple's A16 Bionic chip, which made its debut alongside the iPhone 14 Pro models. This chip features two high-performance cores, four high-efficiency cores, a 6-core CPU that outpaces the previous generation, a 5-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.

These two models also receive camera upgrades, featuring a 48MP main camera equipped with a quad-pixel sensor and 100% Focus Pixels for rapid autofocus. This main camera now offers users a default super-high resolution of 24MP. Through hardware and software integration, an added 2x Telephoto option provides users with three optical-quality zoom levels – 0.5x, 1x, and 2x – a first for an iPhone dual-camera system.

Similar to the Pros, the iPhone 15 lineup adopts a USB‑C connector, marking a departure from Apple's traditional lightning connector.

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black, with storage capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Prices start at Rs 79,900 for iPhone 15 and Rs 89,900 for iPhone 15 Plus. Pre-order and availability dates align with those of the Pro models.

Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Series 9

The Watch Ultra 2 brings new features to Apple’s most advanced and rugged smartwatch, powered by an all-new S9 SiP with a new 4-core Neural Engine that now allows Siri requests to be processed on the device. The device comes with a new display architecture that pushes the maximum brightness to 3000 nits.

Apple has added a new double-tap gesture to its smartwatch arsenal, alongside existing features like the Digital Crown and Taptic Engine. This gesture allows users to control the device with one hand without touching the display. A quick double-tap of the index finger and thumb on the watch hand enables actions such as stopping timers, playing or pausing music, snoozing alarms, managing calls, and even taking photos using the Camera Remote.

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 runs on watchOS 10, offering redesigned apps, the Smart Stack, enhanced cycling features, outdoor exploration tools, and a fresh watch face called Modular Ultra. It maintains a 36-hour battery life under typical use, extending up to 72 hours in Low Power Mode.

Priced at Rs 89,900, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available for immediate order, with shipments beginning on September 22.

The Watch Series 9, available in 41mm and 45mm sizes, is powered by the S9 SiP, delivering enhanced performance and capabilities. Its new 4-core Neural Engine processes machine learning tasks up to twice as quickly compared to the Watch Series 8. With the S9 SiP and advanced display architecture, the Watch Series 9 achieves a maximum display brightness of up to 2000 nits, doubling that of the Series 8.

The Watch Series 9 inherits some of the innovations from the Ultra 2, including the double tap gesture and faster on-device Siri. It runs on watchOS 10, featuring redesigned apps and the new Smart Stack.

Price starting at Rs 41,900, the Apple Watch Series 9 is available for immediate order, with shipments beginning on September 22.

At this event, Apple announced its first-ever carbon-neutral products in the all-new Apple Watch lineup, marking progress toward Apple's 2030 climate goal. Select case and band combinations of the Watch Series 9, the Watch Ultra 2, and the Watch SE are carbon-neutral products.

Apple also unveiled the refreshed AirPods Pro (2nd generation), featuring USB‑C charging, enhanced dust resistance, and Lossless Audio compatibility with Apple Vision Pro. With iOS 17, all AirPods Pro devices gain access to new audio features, including Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness.

The AirPods Pro with the MagSafe Charging Case and USB‐C will be priced at Rs 24,900 and will be available for purchase starting September 22.