Apple has lowered the price of the iPhone SE with 64GB of storage from $499 to $449 in the U.S. following its iPhone 7 event yesterday. Likewise, the monthly installment price now starts at a lower $18.71 per month through carrier financing. The 16GB model remains $399.
Apple released the iPhone SE in March 2016 as a low-cost successor to the iPhone 5s, much to the delight of customers who prefer a 4-inch screen. Apple has not disclosed iPhone SE sales numbers, but in April the company said demand for the device was "very strong" and higher than expected.
Meanwhile, Apple has doubled the storage capacities of two iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models while giving them a $100 price drop each. The year-old smartphones now come in 32GB and 128GB storage capacities for $549 and $649 respectively.
Along with the reveal of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple yesterday briefly mentioned that the previous generation of iPhone -- the 6s and 6s Plus -- have both gotten updates to storage capacities and price drops. In solidarity with the iPhone 7's omission of the low-tier 16GB option, anyone interested in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will now have two storage tiers to choose from: 32GB and 128GB. The iPhone 7 has an additional 256GB option.
New storage tiers for the iPhone 6s
With the new storage options come new, lower prices as well. For the iPhone 6s, the 32GB tier is priced at $549.00 while the 128GB tier is priced at $649.00. Previously, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s ran for $650 (16GB), $750 (64GB), and $850 (128GB), so the barrier for entry has been noticeably lowered this year.
Although slightly higher in price thanks to its size and camera features, the iPhone 6s Plus has received a discount in price as well. The 32GB tier will cost those interested $649.00 and the 128GB tier costs $749.00. For the larger iPhone, that's a big difference from the $750 (16GB), $850 (64GB), and $950 (128GB) options that launched last year.
New storage tiers for the iPhone 6s Plus
The 32GB storage option for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will go on sale tomorrow, September 9, alongside the pre-orders for iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple Watch Series 2. Since 128GB was an existing capacity, users can purchase it now. To look more in-depth at all of the iPhone models, Apple offers a comparison chart on its website, with all of the various colors, pricing, storage options, and tech specs for each iPhone.
Apple, in a statement provided to CNBC, has announced that it will not be releasing first weekend sales numbers for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, as it feels the results are "no longer a representative metric" due to demand outweighing supply.
“We expect iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be incredibly popular with customers and we are thrilled to begin taking pre-orders on September 9. Customers will receive their new iPhones starting September 16.
In years past, we’ve announced how many new iPhones had been sold as of the first weekend following launch. But as we have expanded our distribution through carriers and resellers to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, we are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7.
These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers. Therefore we won’t be releasing a first-weekend number any longer. We are reiterating the financial guidance for the September quarter that we provided on July 26.”
In a research note last week, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said mass production of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus did not begin until the second half of August, later than expected, as Apple's supply chain faced issues ramping up production due to challenging requirements for IPX7 water resistance.
The statement has ignited concern among some investors about potentially weaker iPhone sales numbers. Kuo himself revised his iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus shipments forecast to 20 to 25 million units in the quarter, compared to his original estimate of 30 million units. AAPL is currently down around 2% to $106.20 in intraday trading following the announcement.
Apple's first weekend sales had increased sequentially for each iPhone launch between the iPhone 4s in 2011 and iPhone 6s in 2015:
While the Apple Watch Series 2 looks virtually indistinguishable from the Apple Watch Series 1 to the naked eye, tech specs confirm that second-generation models are actually slightly thicker and heavier than original models.
38mm models of the Apple Watch Series 2 are 11.4mm thick and weigh 28.2 grams, compared to 10.5mm and 25 grams for original 38mm models.
Similarly, the new 42mm models are 11.4mm thick and weigh 34.2 grams, compared to 10.5mm and 30 grams for original 42mm models.
This means that all Apple Watch Series 2 models are 0.9mm thicker and up to 4.2 grams heavier, likely due to the inclusion of an up to 35% larger battery, but the real-life difference on the wrist should be relatively unnoticeable. The width and height of the Series 2 models remain unchanged.
Apple did not confirm that Apple Watch Series 2 models have a larger battery, but it is likely considering that battery life is equal to original models despite the Series 2's inclusion of a faster S2 chip and GPS. A future teardown of the device should confirm the larger battery capacity.
Facebook marketing lead Lindsey Shepard recently posted a blog sharing new details of the company's celebration of Star Trek's 50th anniversary, taking place today. After updating the "Like" button to a set of emotional reactions earlier in the year, the social network is temporarily giving each reaction a Star Trek themed makeover to celebrate the franchise's premiere on September 8, 1966.
In order to make this understood by all Star Trek fans, we chose the most iconic and recognizable characters and symbols from the original Star Trek series, as well as the Next Generation. We also wanted to honor the original design and spirit of Reactions, so we needed visual cues that were easy to identify at a glance, like Geordi’s visor. This led us to our final cast: Kirk, Spock, Geordi and a Klingon.
This project has truly been a labor of love. We hope that people find as much joy in using these different celebratory elements as we have in creating them. We may test experiences like this in the future, and will focus on community and moment-driven events like this one.
Live long and prosper.
Shepard said Facebook chose "the most iconic and recognizable characters and symbols from the original Star Trek series" as inspiration for the new reaction buttons, and paired them with what users expect from reactions. The new Star Trek reactions include a sparkly thumbs-up (Like), Vulcan salute (Love), Captain Kirk (Haha), Spock (Wow), Geordi (Sad), and a Klingon (Angry).
The update to reactions also comes with a customized greeting and profile frame that Facebook says only those "who’ve expressed interest in Star Trek or science fiction" might begin to see propagating on their Facebook page. For those lucky fans, the new Star Trek theme will be up in the United States and Canada -- on both desktop and the mobile apps -- "for a limited time."
Smart thermostat company Nest today announced three new colors for its flagship product, the Nest Learning Thermostat, now coming in white, black, and copper, in addition to the traditional stainless steel variant. The new colors are said to be available for a limited time only, but Nest didn't specify for how long they'd continue to go on sale. The purpose of introducing more colors and finishes was to help Nest "fit into every home."
Additionally, Nest revealed that the Nest Cam Outdoor is now available for $199 for customers to purchase in the United States, with an expected launch date sometime in October for those in Europe. The company is bolstering all of its camera products -- Nest Outdoor Cam, Nest Indoor Cam, and the company-owned Dropcam -- with a new software feature called "Sightline," coming to the Nest app.
Sightline is a new app feature that shows you what Nest Cam has seen and lets you speed through days of recorded video in seconds. It pulls out key moments automatically so you don’t waste time digging through footage. Looking for the moment someone opened the gate two days ago? No problem.
Person alerts are also changing the game. If you have Nest Aware, Nest Cam can now tell if the activity it’s seeing is a tree swaying or someone coming in your house. So if it sees a person, you get a special alert. Nest Cam can even tell you if it’s sure it’s a person, or just suspects it is.
With Sightline, Nest users will be able to quickly scrub through large amounts of footage in seconds, and the app is even able to decipher and showcase "key moments" in a recording so users don't have to waste time digging through footage. The app also allows for free 3 hour video history for anyone, even those not on a Nest Aware subscription, and hassle-free "time travel" controls so you can jump to a recorded moment in the past with ease.
Anyone tuning in to watch Apple's iPhone 7 event on Wednesday may have been mildly surprised and somewhat amused to witness Apple CEO Tim Cook taking part in a special episode of "Carpool Karaoke" along with Pharrell Williams.
Far from being an off-the-wall, last-minute inclusion, the video introduction makes sense for Apple, which recently purchased the segment from "The Late Show With James Corden", to be distributed via Apple Music.
Apple has licensed 16 episodes of the show from CBS TV Studios, which will be executive produced by Corden and Ben Winston. The purchase is said to be seen as a way to drive online activity for the streaming music service, which Apple announced had reached 17 million paying subscribers as of yesterday.
That number compares with the 15 million users that Apple said the service had garnered by its 1st birthday on June 30, indicating a jump of 2 million subscribers in just two months, despite strong competition from rival services like Spotify.
The increased popularity of Apple Music is in stark contrast to Apple's falling iPhone sales year-on-year, and highlights the company's increasing reliance on profiting from existing customers through services rather than exclusively relying on acquiring new ones via hardware sales to meet its revenue targets.
It also indicates that while industry commenters have leveled plenty of criticism at Apple Music for perceived deficiencies in its interface design and functionality, customers are still signing up to the service at a steady rate, perhaps won over by the exclusive album releases by popular artists that Apple has recently secured.
In another boost for Cupertino, last week Apple Music for Android surpassed 10 million downloads from the Google Play Store, 10 months after it was released on the platform, proving that the service is becoming popular with listeners who don't necessarily even own an Apple device.
With iOS 10, due to be released September 13, Apple is redesigning the Apple Music experience on its mobile platform, revamping the app with new organization and a new design.
Apple is said to be in the process of phasing out the third-generation Apple TV, according to 9to5Mac.
A source who spoke to the tech news site has indicated that Apple is pulling the device from its brick-and-mortar retail stores, with staff instructed to remove any remaining models from store shelves.
The claim comes despite the fact that the third-generation device is still available to purchase under the TV heading of Apple's online store, albeit at the bottom of the section page, with the option to compare the model with the fourth-generation device also still listed.
The third-generation Apple TV was released back in 2012 and received a spec bump the following year, but the model lacks the App Store native to tvOS, which also benefits from deep Siri integration and a touch-based remote that doubles as a controller.
Photo sharing app Instagram is set to become one of the first platforms specifically designed to take advantage of the iPhone 7's powerful new camera features.
Details of the upcoming update were shared by Instagram's head of design Ian Spalter during yesterday's Apple event in San Francisco, where he demonstrated how the app would make use of several of the new phones' capabilities.
First of all, the iPhone 7 Plus telephoto lens will be controllable simply by dragging a finger up and down in the Instagram camera window, allowing users to adjust the level of optical/digital zoom. Meanwhile, Apple's new Taptic Engine feedback will let users know how much zoom they've enabled when composing stills as well as during video recording.
Instagram is also revising all of its photo filters to take advantage of the iPhone 7 display's wider color gamut, allowing users to see a broader range of hues in their pictures.
Other additions revealed on stage included a 3D Touch action for the Instagram app icon that will let users quickly add a photo to an Instagram Story – the platform's new sharing feature aped from Snapchat.
Lastly, the app will make use of iOS 10's new Live Photos API to convert the video clips into Instagram Boomerang GIFs, which play back and forth on repeat.
The updated version of the app launches later this year, presumably after iOS 10 is released on September 13 and the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have made it into consumers' hands. Preorders for the devices begin Friday, September 9, with shipments scheduled to start on September 16.
T-Mobile has announced that it will offer a free 32GB iPhone 7 during pre-order to new or existing customers when they trade in their iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus. The offer is for a limited time and will be available at T-Mobile.com when pre-orders are live and T-Mobile retail stores.
The offer partially extends to other iPhone 7 models. For example, the 32GB iPhone 7 Plus is available for $120 with a trade-in, while the 128GB and 256GB iPhone 7 are available for $100 and $200, respectively.
To qualify for the offer, the trade-in iPhone has to be a 6, 6s, 6 Plus or 6s Plus and be able to turn on, have no water damage, and not have a shattered screen. Customers will also need a 24-month no-cost finance agreement. T-Mobile says that customers will see a credit on their bill every month for 24 months. After 24 months, T-Mobile says customers will have paid nothing and received a free iPhone 7.
Customers can walk away at any time by either paying their outstanding phone balance or turning in their iPhone 7.
AT&T has also announced a promo for the iPhone 7. New and existing DirecTV and AT&T U-verse customers can get a 32GB iPhone 7 on either AT&T Next or AT&T Next Every Year when they add a new line to their account from another wireless provider. Customers will receive up to $650 in monthly bill credits whey they activate their new iPhone. Similar to the T-Mobile offer, customers can choose another iPhone 7 model and pay the difference.
While Beats announced three new wireless headphones equipped with Apple's new W1 wireless chip earlier today, it also quietly released the new Beats EP wired headphones with a 3.5mm headphone plug. The new on-ear headphones are built to deliver "premium" sound in a "tough" and lightweight frame.
The headphones are battery-free, allowing unlimited playback with a hassle-free fixed cable. They also come with adjustable vertical sliders so that users can personalize the fit for their head. RemoteTalk control allows users with iOS devices to take calls and control their music.
The Beats EP are available in four colors (blue, white, black, and red) and is available now on Apple.com and select retailers for $129.
While the iPhone 7 Plus introduced today saw a general $20 increase compared to the iPhone 6s Plus it will replace, customers in some countries are finding prices on both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and other products increasing by even more due to fluctuations in exchange rates.
One country significantly affected by the changes is the United Kingdom, where off-contract prices for the iPhone 7 in the UK are £599 for 32 GB, £699 for 128 GB, and £799 for 256 GB, compared to £539, £619, and £699 for the iPhone 6s last year. With its higher price points and the general price increase, the iPhone 7 Plus is seeing even large price jumps of between £100 and £130 for UK customers.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have seen more moderate price increases in euro-based countries like Germany, France, The Netherlands, and Italy. In Germany, for example, the iPhone 7 is priced at €759, €869, and €979, roughly €15 higher than the iPhone 6s was priced prior to today. With the general price increases compounding the currency adjustments for the iPhone 7 Plus, prices have increased by €45 on those corresponding models.
The iPhone isn't the only Apple product receiving price changes. For example, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at £729 in the UK as of today, an increase from the previous £679. Other iPad models have seen similar increases, while the Apple Pencil has increased from £79 to £99. Accessories such as cases and cables have also seen price increases in the UK.
Apple Pay is expanding to three new countries this fall, including New Zealand, Russia, and Japan. Apple today confirmed its plans to bring Apple Pay to Japan on stage at its iPhone 7 event, while the Russia and New Zealand Apple Pay sites were updated with info on an imminent launch.
As was previously reported, Apple Pay in Japan will be implemented through a partnership with Sony and an iPhone 7 with support for the FeliCa tap-to-pay format, which has been widely adopted in the country. Apple Pay, which will work with Suica, will be coming to Japan in October.
Apple Pay is accepted anywhere Suica is available, so users can make quick everyday purchases and buy or reload a Suica card or commuter pass, all with their iPhone. Japan's major financial brands will also support Apple Pay, so shoppers can make purchases in many of the country's largest stores, at neighborhood shops and restaurants, and from their favorite online merchants.
Apple Pay in Japan will support credit and prepaid cards issued by AEON, Credit Saison, JCB, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos, Orient Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Card, Toyota Finance, UC Cards and View Card, and carriers KDDI, NTT Docomo, and Softbank.
Apple Pay will be coming to New Zealand through a partnership with ANZ, and it will initially be limited to ANZ customers. A launch date has not been announced but it is expected to be released in October.
"Our customers in the nine markets around the world where Apple Pay is live today love how convenient it makes their day-to-day shopping, and we can't wait to bring Apple Pay to New Zealand so customers there can start making easy, secure and private payments in their favourite stores, apps and on the web," said Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, in a statement.
Details on Apple Pay in Russia are limited with no word on which banks it will work with, but the service is expected to debut before the end of the year.
Apple Pay is currently available in nine countries including the United States, United Kingdom, China, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, and Singapore. Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has said Apple is "working rapidly" to expand the service to additional countries in Asia and Europe.
Along with a slew of new collections for the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2, Apple today introduced new first-party bands into its pre-existing band categories, including ones for the Sport Band, Woven Nylon, and Classic Buckle. Elsewhere, Apple has decided to minimize colorways for bands like Modern Buckle and Leather Loop, but it's kept the same silver and space black options for the Milanese Loop and Link Bracelet.
We'll go through each first-party band available for purchase below, with an emphasis on the new colors available to purchase on Apple's website.
Sport Band
New to the Sport Band line are four colors: Pink Sand, Ocean Blue, Cocoa, and Concrete. The high-performance fluoroelastomer band has a few traditional colors carried over from the Apple Watch's previous iteration, including: White, Midnight Blue, Yellow, Light Pink, Mint, Black with Space Black Pin, Turquoise, and Product Red.
For Sport Bands, the only discrepancy between 38mm and 42mm case sizes is Royal Blue, which is available only for 38mm. As usual, each Sport Band is available for $49.00, and some of the older colors are still facing availability issues, which have been propagating online since the summer.
Woven Nylon
There are five new colors in Woven Nylon users can choose from: Light Pink/Midnight Blue, Yellow/Light Gray, Space Orange/Anthracite, Toasted Coffee/Caramel, and Navy/Tahoe Blue. Apple Watch fans can expect to see a few old Woven Nylon colors still available in the store: Pearl, Gold/Red, Pink, Royal Blue, Scuba Blue, and Black.
Similar to the Sport Band, there's a small difference between the Woven Nylon options available to 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch owners, with Gold/Royal Blue sold only in 38mm. Otherwise, the two sizes have the same colors. Each band is available for $49.00, and a few of the older colors are facing the same "sold out" or "currently unavailable" labels as the Sport Bands.
Classic Buckle
In the higher-quality $149.00 Classic Buckle, a new color option comes in the sole form of Sea Blue. Otherwise, in 38mm users can choose from the expected options of Saddle Brown, Midnight Blue, Black, and Red, while 42mm owners get the added options of White and Marigold.
Modern Buckle, Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and Link Bracelet
In the rest of the bands, Apple has pared down options to only a few colors without introducing any new alternatives for buyers. Modern Buckle has the most with four options of Midnight Blue, Black, Marigold, and Red. The other three have only two: Smoke Gray and Midnight Blue for Leather Loop, and Silver and Space Black for both Milanese Loop and Link Bracelet.
Apple has also kept the same pricing scheme on each of these bands, so Leather Loop and Milanese Loop run for $149.00, Modern Buckle runs for $249.00, and Link Bracelet is priced highest at $449.00.
Anyone interested in the new bands can order them from Apple's website, with the fastest shipping options coming in as soon as Friday, the same day that pre-orders begin for both Apple Watch Series 2 and iPhone 7.
It took Apple two hours to cover all of the new products and their impressive features, but we've created a quick five minute recap for those of you who want a taste of what Apple announced without watching the entire keynote or reading all of our extensive coverage.
Highlights include water and dust resistance for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, along with a faster A10 Fusion processor, all new camera systems for much better images (including a dual-camera system for the iPhone 7 Plus), no headphone jack, and two new colors being sold alongside the standard Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold - a matte "Black" and a glossy "Jet Black."
As for the Apple Watch Series 2, it too features improved waterproofing to make it suitable for swimming, along with a new GPS chip and a processor that's twice as fast. To make up for the lack of a headphone jack in the iPhone 7, Apple also introduced new wireless Beats headphones and completely wireless "AirPods," both of which come equipped with an Apple-designed W1 wireless chip.
Make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors for more extensive coverage of all of Apple's new products and check out our event recap post for more detail on everything that's new.
The iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 Plus, and the Apple Watch Series 2 will be available for pre-order this Friday. Apple's New AirPods will be available in October.
Apple removed the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, a controversial decision that's upset some iPhone fans. On stage at today's media event, Apple executives explained that it had been done to save space and to usher in improvements in wireless headphone technology, but in an interview with BuzzFeed, Apple's Greg Joswiak, Dan Riccio, and Phil Schiller explained in much greater detail why the decision was made to move away from the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The idea for the removal of the headphone jack was raised during the development of the iPhone 7. In a nutshell, the "driver ledge" for the display and backlight, traditionally placed near the camera, was interfering with the new camera systems in the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, leading Apple to explore other placement options. It was moved near the audio jack, but it also caused interference with various components, including the audio jack itself, so Apple engineers toyed with the elimination of the jack altogether.
When the headphone jack was removed, Apple realized it was easier to install the new Taptic Engine for the pressure-sensitive Home button, implement a bigger battery, and reach an IP7 water resistance rating, so the elimination of the headphone jack became essential for all of the other features in the iPhone 7.
Apple executives also believe the headphone jack is outdated technology that needed to go to make room for new advancements. According to Dan Riccio, it was holding Apple back "from a number of things" the company wanted to add to the iPhone, taking up space that could be used for camera improvements, battery, and processors.
"The audio connector is more than 100 years old," Joswiak says. "It had its last big innovation about 50 years ago. You know what that was? They made it smaller. It hasn't been touched since then. It's a dinosaur. It's time to move on." [...]
For Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, the iPhone's 3.5-millimeter audio jack has felt something like the last months of an ill-fated if amicable relationship: familiar and comfortable, but ultimately an impediment to a better life ahead. "We've got this 50-year-old connector -- just a hole filled with air -- and it's just sitting there taking up space, really valuable space," he says.
According to Apple's Phil Schiller, there's no ulterior motive behind the move away from the 3.5mm headphone jack. "We are removing the audio jack because we have developed a better way to deliver audio. It has nothing to do with content management or DRM -- that's pure, paranoid conspiracy theory," he said.
To ease the transition away from the 3.5mm headphone jack, Apple is including a 3.5mm to Lightning adapter with every iPhone 7 and it is also offering EarPods with a Lightning connector. Apple's new AirPods, which are fully wireless and are priced at $159, will also make it easier for customers to adapt to a device without a jack.
On the subject of Apple's new AirPods, Apple's Schiller says the earbuds, which are "as advanced a project as Apple Pencil," have been in development since the Apple Watch was conceived. "We knew we needed a great wireless solution for audio," he said. "What if you could design what the future of headphones should look like?' That's we asked the team to do."
The full explanation for the removal of the headphone jack, which is well worth reading, is available over at BuzzFeed.
Apple's latest iPhones, the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, are the company's first iPhones that have been advertised as "water and dust resistant" with an official IP67 rating under International Electrotechnical Standards, a uniform way of determining water and resistance ratings across a wide range of devices.
IP67 is actually two numbers, one that refers to the dust resistance rating and one that refers to water resistance. IP6x is the highest dust resistance rating, indicating the iPhone 7 is completely protected against dust.
IPx7, the water resistance rating, means the iPhone 7 can withstand immersion in water to one meter (3.3 feet) for 30 minutes, tested in laboratory conditions. IPx7 is the second-highest rating, below IP8, which indicates an ability to withstand long periods of immersion under pressure. Samsung's devices, by the way, are rated at IP68, suggesting better overall water resistance.
Apple describes the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus as "splash, water, and dust resistant," and it should hold up to accidental drops in the pool, bathtub, or shower or light splashing. It shouldn't be used in high-pressure water conditions, such as in direct shower water, and it shouldn't be kept under water for extended periods of time.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are splash, water, and dust resistant and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.
Apple warns against attempting to charge a wet iPhone, which could result in damage to the device, and it specifies that any liquid damage to the device is not covered under warranty, so it's best to use caution when exposing the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to water.
One of the key new features of the Apple Watch Series 2 is an improved water resistance rating of up to 50 meters under ISO standard 22810:2010, which by definition means the watch can be used for shallow-water activities such as swimming in a pool or ocean, white water rafting, and fishing without risking water damage.
These activities are in addition to the previous IPX7 splash resistance that allows for the Apple Watch, including first-generation models, to be worn while washing your hands or jogging in the rain. Many original Apple Watch owners also routinely shower and swim with the device, although Apple never officially recommended such activities.
However, while the Apple Watch Series 2 has improved water and dust resistance, fine print on Apple's website says the device should not be used while scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or submersion below shallow depth, presumably including jet skiing and deep water snorkeling.
Apple Watch Series 2 has a water resistance rating of 50 meters under ISO standard 22810:2010. This means that it may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean. However, Apple Watch Series 2 should not be used for scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or submersion below shallow depth.
Apple Watch Series 2 models are priced from $369 and will be available starting Friday, September 16 in the U.S. and select other launch countries.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple has lowered the price of the iPhone SE with 64GB of storage from $499 to $449 in the U.S. following its iPhone 7 event yesterday. Likewise, the monthly installment price now starts at a lower $18.71 per month through carrier financing. The 16GB model remains $399.
Apple, in a 
Apple Pay is expanding to three new countries this fall, including New Zealand, Russia, and Japan. Apple today confirmed its plans to bring Apple Pay to Japan on stage at its iPhone 7 event, while the 
