We know that the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro starts at MYR 4,199 and MYR 5,299 respectively. While Apple maintained the same US$ pricing for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models, prices in Malaysia has gone up a little thanks to some shifts in currency exchange rates. The price tag, for Malaysia at least, is still a little hefty if you want to get the device directly from Apple.
Source: U Mobile
Pre-orders for Malaysia have started during the weekends (16th of September 2022 to be exact). Thankfully, you do not have to place your pre-orders specifically with Apple directly. You can do it with all the major carriers in Malaysia at this point, including U Mobile. With these network providers too, you can get your iPhone with their existing postpaid plan, so rather than paying for your iPhone in a single hefty payment, you can space out your payment together with your phone plan over a year to two years.
Source: Maxis
Maxis, Celcom, Digi, and even U Mobile has revealed their most anticipated phone plans, their postpaid plans for the upcoming Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. The most affordable way to own an Apple iPhone 14 at this point, at least at the time of writing, is via engaging on Maxis’ Postpaid Share 48 plan. There is a small caveat here though, the Share 48 plan is technically dependent on another full Postpaid plan like the Postpaid 128. While it only gives you 30GB in monthly data quota, sharing the line with another principal line owner also allows you to share data with the principal line. On the device end, you are getting your basic Apple iPhone 14 with 128GB of storage for only MYR 116 every month. That totals to MYR 167 on a monthly basis. Once you go for the Maxis Postpaid 128 plan though, you are paying MYR 221 every month.
Source: Digi
While the Maxis Postpaid 128 plan with the iPhone 14 seems a little pricey compared to the Postpaid Share 48 plan, it is still more affordable than anything else you can find in the market at this time. The next best thing for the most basic iPhone 14 is from Digi and it totals up to MYR 240 a month. The only other network providers that allows you to own an Apple iPhone 14 for below MYR 300 is U Mobile and Celcom with their MYR 98/month plan with iPhone that will set you back a total of MYR 247 a month. These prices are exclusive of SST though, so you want to keep that in mind.
Source: Celcom
Maxis’ Postpaid Share 48 and Postpaid 128 plans still gives you access to the highest end Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB storage. Of course, the price of the iPhone itself will shoot up to MYR 230 every month, that is on top of the MYR 48/month you pay for your data plan. That will only total up to MYR 278 every month though, still more affordable than most of the iPhone plans you can find anywhere. Of course, the price goes up to MYR 324 the moment you go for the Maxis Postpaid 128 plan. For Celcom and Digi, you are required to have their more premium Celcom MEGA 158 (worth MYR 158/month) and Digi Postpaid 120 (worth MYR 120/month) to get your hands on Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro models.
You can refer to all the installment and phone plans from Maxis, Celcom, Digi, and U Mobile on their respective websites.
[UPDATE] U Mobile has announced that they are also on the pre-order bandwagon. Pre-order of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro will begin on the 16th of September 2022. More info on their website.
When Apple’s iPhone 14 was announced by Cupertino, its availability in Malaysia was confirmed to be 23rd September 2022. There were no mentions on its pre-orders during the launch though. Fret not though, Apple Malaysia has confirmed that the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro will be available for pre-orders from the 16th of September onward. There is one small caveat in the pre-order though, the Apple iPhone 14 Plus will only ship out from the 7th of October 2022 onward.
Of course, you can buy your new iPhone from Apple directly via their website or any of the authorized retailers in Malaysia. Unfortunately, we do not have a proper Apple Store in Malaysia just yet. Alternatively, you can get your latest iPhone from the carriers, and three of Malaysia’s major carriers has also put up their pre-order teasers. Pre-orders with the carriers also start on Malaysia Day (16th of September 2022).
Obviously if you are getting your iPhone device directly with Apple, you are paying for the device in cash, or installments via your credit card. With the carriers, you would usually be required to sign up for their data plans. At this point though there are no information on what sort of plans you will have to sign up for to get your new iPhone. There is no solid indication of pricing from the carriers just yet.
Of course, there are going to be some check boxes you must tick if you want to order your device from the carriers. Their websites will also tell you to ensure that you have any of your outstanding bills cleared. You also want to make sure that you are not tied to any contracts before you pre-order your iPhone 14. Pre-orders from the carriers will be carried out virtually entirely, which also means you want to make sure that you have a stable internet collection. You also want to be on their postpaid plans to make sure that you can get your device with no issues during the pre-order period.
So far, only the three major carriers have announced their pre-orders for the new iPhone. The three major carriers, as mentioned earlier, are Maxis, Celcom, and Digi. While UMobile does have an iPhone specific plan, they have not made any announcements regarding the Apple iPhone 14 devices from their end just yet. We are guessing that they will announce their iPhone plans closer to the actual availability date on the 23rd of September 2022. For more information on the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, you can visit their website.
Whenever new earbuds launch, they are always compared to the Apple AirPods Pro. For some reason, the Apple AirPods Pro has become so popular that it becomes a default benchmark for wireless earbuds in one way or another. Sure, you can get better premium noise cancelling earbuds from other manufacturers. For some reason though, the Apple AirPods Pro has become a reviewers go to when comparing premium headphones.
While it is not the best noise cancelling earbuds available from Apple, it is one of the most well-rounded noise cancelling earbuds you can find in the market today. Its noise cancelling performance is significantly better than plenty of what you can get in the current market. Its sound quality is not the best you can find in the market, but it is good; well-rounded and balanced. It does not have the best battery life in the market too, but it is also significantly better than plenty of the offerings you can find in the market.
The new Apple AirPods Pro launched just last night is a follow-up to one of the most successful earbuds products a manufacturer can make in the current market. In that sense, Apple finds no reason to redesign the ever so popular AirPods Pro. In that sense, everything looks the same with the second-generation Apple AirPods Pro.
Though it looks the same, the internals have changed slightly, for the better of course. It now packs Apple’s H2 audio processing chip. In terms of noise cancelling capabilities, Apple says that this is able to reduce up to twice more loud environmental noise than before. There are no exact measurements to these things, so we can only take their word for it until we test them ourselves.
The H2 chip not only enhances the noise cancelling feature of the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) though. It also works with the new low-distortion drivers and custom amplifier to deliver richer bass and clearer sounds across an even wider dynamic range. They also included an extra-small tip for a better and more comfortable fit for an even wider range of listeners. Obviously, you can go out and make custom tips for yourself for the perfect fit, if you want.
The transparency mode has been improved too. They call it Adaptive Transparency now and the feature cleverly cuts out loud environmental sounds or at least reduces them to ensure that your ears are always protected even when you turn on transparency mode. Of course, it still allows users to interact with other people in that mode.
Other improvements include Personalised Spatial Audio, when you pair the device with the latest iPhone with TrueDepth camera. Using the TrueDepth camera, Apple tunes Spatial Audio and tailors the experience for your ears specifically. In that sense, users can truly enjoy Spatial Audio the way they are meant to be enjoyed with dynamic headtracking.
Touch Controls – Finally
Source: Apple
They have also added touch controls to the stem of the second-generation AirPods Pro, something sorely lacking from the previous generation earbuds. Via the touch controls, users can easily change volumes, change music, answer phone calls, and more without touching their smartphones. To make it even more seamless with iPhones, the EarPods Pro features instant pairing with a new dedicated Airpods section in the iOS interface to control the AirPods Pro (2nd generation).
Longer Lasting
Source: Apple
They have managed to extend the battery life of the AirPods Pro as well with the new-generation headphones. A single charge allows users to use the AirPods Pro for up to 6 hours at a time. The Case provides up to five more charges allowing for up to 30 hours of music playback. That is six hours more than before. In addition to that, the case can now be charged with an Apple Watch charger, MagSafe charger, or even a Qi-certified charging mat. Even the case is now sweat and water resistant to make it more suitable for gym use.
Easier to Find
Source: Apple
To locate the earphones, you can use a U1-enabled iPhone to find their case with guided directions. To ensure that you can find it, there are speaker holes on the case now to emit loud tones so that you just have to follow the sound of the AirPods Pro to find it. It also comes with a lanyard loop, if you want to make sure you will always find it. For those who wants to personalize their AirPods further, you can now engrave your AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) with Memoji, Animoji, and select stickers.
Price and Availability
The Apple AirPods Pro will be available in select regions from the 9th of September 2022. It will set you back US$ 249 (MYR 1,099*), which is about the same as the previous generation Apple AirPods Pro. Obviously it will only be available in white with no other colour options in store. There are no confirmed availability date for Malaysia at this point though. Still, it is available for viewing in their Malaysian website, which also means that they are planning to bring it in for sure.
Unfortunately for Android Wear fans, the Apple Watch is the best-selling smartwatch to date. There is a good reason for that though. Apple’s Watch just works, and it does that very well. Every iteration of the Apple Watch is even better than ever before. That case is also true for the latest Apple Watch Series 8 and the new Apple Watch SE.
watchOS 9
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
The latest Apple Watch 8, Watch SE, and even Watch Ultra come with Apple’s latest watchOS 9. There are no fundamental change in terms of its fundamental interface and looks. The added features for watchOS 9 includes international roaming that allows the Watch to be constantly connected to a network even when you are travelling abroad. Users with AFib conditions can also turn-on the AFib History feature if it is available in their region. The digital Compass App has also been redesigned to show even more information than before. There is a new Workout app too in watchOS 9 that allows in-session views with segments, splits, elevation, and even more precise workout data. Sleep tracking on the new operating system (OS) is also even better than before with more accurate and more comprehensive sleep data on tap. There is even a new Medications interface on the Apple Watch that helps users manage and track their medication schedules via the Health app.
Crash Detection
Source: Apple
Apple has pioneered safety technology on the smartwatch with fall detection in their previous Apple Watch. Now, the Apple Watch is even better than before with Crash Detection. The gyroscope and accelerometer on the latest Apple Watch is even more powerful than before. Apple also had to develop entirely new algorithms to allow the Apple Watch to understand car crashes better and to detect when users are in one. They had to simulate various car crashes in test labs to ensure that the Apple Watch can detect when users are involved in a head-on collision, rear-end impact, side-impact, and even rollovers just based on the gyroscopic, acceleration, barometric, GPS, and sound data. After the fact, Apple Watch will check in with its users, like when it detects a fall. If the user does not respond within the next 10 seconds, emergency alert will be sent out to relevant services and even your emergency contacts. Of course, it works best with iPhones.
Even Longer Battery Life
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
One of the bigger complaints about the older Apple Watches is its dismal battery life. For the new Apple Watch Series 8, Apple has said that the device can last up to 18 hours, technically an entire day. Apple has also included a new Low Power Mode that is supposed to extend the device’s battery life to up to 36 hours (Watch Series 8) by limiting selected sensors and power-hungry features like always-on display.
More Health Centric Sensors
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
You still get all the sensors that are previously found on the Apple Watch Series 7. There is a brand-new sensor that is mainly used to monitor women’s health though. It is a dual sensor that detects body temperature. The two sensors measure two different temperatures at two different points of the watch, one at the back of the watch and the other right under the display. This way, Apple Watch can capture its users body temperature whilst reducing bias from outside environment.
The new added feature also improves sleep health detection by the Apple Watch. The Apple Series Watch 8 samples wrist temperature every five seconds and is so sensitive it measures changes as small as 0.1oC. The Health App allows the users to monitor their sleep health and changes due to exercising, jet lag, or even sickness.
Apple Watch SE
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
The Apple Watch SE, while is the most accessible Apple watch, is no less powerful than the new Apple Watch Series 8. It still packs the latest S8 SiP processor found in the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra. You also get International Roaming alongside Crash Detection features that the Series 8 and the Ultra gets. The only visual difference is that the SE gets a back case made with nylon composite material alongside the aluminium case making it the lightest Apple Watch available currently. The Apple Watch SE also only comes in 40mm and 44mm variants.
Price and Availability
The Apple Watch SE will be available in select regions from the 16th of September 2022 onward. You can choose between midnight, starlight, and sliver colour options. The new Apple Watch SE will set you back US$ 249 (MYR 1,199*) onward. For more information on the Apple Watch SE, you can visit their website.
The Apple Watch Series 8 will be available in select regions also from the 16th of September 2022 onward. You can choose between aluminium (Starlight, Midnight, Silver, PRODUCT RED) and stainless steel (Silver, Graphite, Gold) cases and various band, including the NIKE and Hermès edition bands for the Apple Watch Series 8. Prices start from US$ 399 (MYR 1,899*). If you want to know more about the Apple Watch Series 8, you can visit their website.
What do you do when you want to get an Apple Watch but you want to take it to all sorts of adventures? Before this, you would have to buy and Apple Watch and get some sort of silicon protection for it. You can take it snorkeling too, but that is about it. We would have to recommend you something like a Garmin or a Suunto in that case. But you want an Apple Watch. Fret not, you can get an Apple Watch for all sorts of extreme activity now.
Extreme Build for Extreme Conditions
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
Welcome to the Apple Watch Ultra, the latest most advanced and most rugged Apple Watch you can get your hands on today. It is tough, made from aerospace-grade titanium. Unlike stainless steel, titanium is lighter, more durable, and more resistant to corrosion. Unlike the 3D glass that you might find on the regular Apple Watch, the Ultra’s display is a flat screen surrounded by the titanium case and covered by Sapphire glass for extra protection and durability in extreme situations.
Bright Needs to be Brighter
The Retina display is rather beautiful to look at too with a peak brightness of 2000 nits just in case you need to look at it under bright sunlight. To ensure that you know where to press, the action button is a bright International Orange. It is even customizable for different functions.
Built for Runners
The Apple Watch Ultra is built for the most extreme athletes and sports. Powered by WatchOS 9, the Apple Watch Ultra packs dual-frequency GPS with new algorithms to deliver the most accurate GPS system you can find on any Apple Watch. The technology allows for a more precise and accurate routing, distance, and even speed data for both training and competition purposes. It even offers you running metrics to measure stride length, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and even running power. Of course, it has the battery life to match long-course triathlon events.
Built for Adventurers
If you are into exploring the extremities of the world, the Apple Watch Ultra can keep up with you as well. The Apple Watch Ultra is designed to operate in temperatures as low as 20oC and up to 55oC and built to MIL-STD-810H standards. The Compass App is more comprehensive than ever on the Apple Watch Ultra. You can even view elevation, incline, and even coordinate data as you go along for your long trek. You can even use the Apple Watch Ultra to backtrack just in case you feel like you are not getting anywhere, an 86-decibel siren designed for emergencies can be activated in case users get lost or injured. There is even something called Compass Waypoints; you can drop a point interest in the app to mark a location to create a waypoint. You can also extend its battery life up to 60 hours in Low Power mode in case you need the Apple Watch Ultra to last through your trip.
Built for Divers
The Apple Watch Ultra is not just meant to go high up the mountains too. It can go into depths up to 40m with WR100 and EN 13319 certification. Apple says you can take it to go kitesurfing and wakeboarding. If you are into scuba diving, the Oceanic+ app turns your Apple Watch Ultra into a powerful dive computer. Available later this year, the app runs Bühlmann decompression algorithm. The app also offers personalised user profiles, reports on dive conditions, and a dive logbook that you can share with your friends and family. All these data can also be viewed and synced to your iPhone.
Still an Apple Watch
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
Of course, it is still an Apple Watch, you can take calls with it. For that function, the Apple Watch Ultra packs three microphones for improved sound quality and noise cancelling in calls. The Apple Watch Ultra also uses new advanced wind-reduction algorithms to ensure that you can take calls even in the most extreme situations.
There is also the regular heart rate monitor, ECG, Blood Oxygen detection, activity rings, mindfulness and other navigation features that are available on a regular Apple Watch. There are new sensors on the Apple Watch Ultra that is beneficial for women’s health monitoring though. The Apple Watch Ultra includes two new temperature sensors designed to separate noise from outside environment and monitors internal body temperature. Like the iPhone 14, the new Apple Watch Ultra also packs sensors that adds up to Crash Detection function.
Price and Availability
The Apple Watch Ultra will be available in select regions from the 23rd of September 2022 for US$ 799 (MYR 3,799*) onward. There are no mentions yet on its availability date in Malaysia. You can see the Apple Watch Ultra is featured on the Apple Watch microsite for Malaysia though, indicating that it will eventually be available here. There are no available colour options for the main unit of the Apple Watch, but you can choose from different bands that might suit your chosen activities. For more information on the Apple Watch Ultra, you can visit their website.
The regular iPhone 14 is more than just a hardware update, that much we know. Some of the new hardware fitted into the new iPhone 14 makes the device one of the best life companions you can ask for. It packs the previous generation A15 Bionic, which is still regarded, as per Apple, one of the most powerful System on a Chip (SoC) you can find in the current smartphone market.
But the Pro variant of the iPhone 14 deserves something better, something even more powerful. It is, after all, Apple’s most powerful flagship to hit the market. It is supposed to be the most technologically advanced and innovative smartphone in Apple’s range of smartphones.
Welcome to the Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the two most innovative smartphones in the world by Apple’s standards.
Maximum Speed, Maximum Power
First up is the brand new A16 Bionic that is even more powerful than the already potent A15 Bionic chip you can find in the current iPhone 14 and the older iPhone 13 Pro series. According to Apple, the new chip is 40% faster than the A15 Bionic, which technically makes it the fastest smartphone processing chip you can find in the world today. Again, this is all according to Apple. For the first time ever in a smartphone as well, the A16 Bionic employs the 4nm build process to make it even more efficient than before. The A16 Bionic also packs an even more powerful dedicated imaging engine that allows the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max to fully take advantage of its 48-Megapixel quad-pixel main camera.
Brighter than Ever Retina
The display on the iPhone 14 Pro models are the most advanced you can find on any iPhone so far. You get either a 6.1-inch or 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion that allows the device to turn its refresh rate all the way down to 1Hz to prolong battery life. The displays now can push up to 2000 nits of peak brightness too, twice that off the iPhone 13 Pro. The new Super Retina XDR display also features Always-On display for the first time on an iPhone. Just to keep everything safe and protected, the displays are protected by Apple’s new Ceramic Shield front cover like the regular vanilla iPhone 14. Of course, the rest of the device is also water and dust resistant to ensure that it gets through life with no fuss.
Dynamic Island
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Keen eyed readers might find that the notch on the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max is a little different now. It is a sort of elongated punch hole instead of a forehead notch. The punch hole houses a TrueDepth camera and other sensors for Face ID to work. The proximity sensor and light sensor is situated behind the display unit instead of the island now.
While this type of solution is nothing new in the smartphone industry, the genius is in how iOS 16 ‘hides’ the island hole. They call it the Dynamic Island, and it is a rather clever way of integrating the island hole into the iOS experience.
The Dynamic Island functions as the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s notification and quick access panel for ongoing background apps. You can keep things like timer in view via the Dynamic Island as well, turn-by-turn navigation can also be kept on the Dynamic Island even when you are on other apps. It even displays Live Scores of live matches in the most sensible way.
48-Megapixel!? On an iPhone!?
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Out the back is also the most advanced camera system that you can find on an Apple smartphone ever. You now get a 48-megapixel sensor instead of the usual 12-Megapixel sensor on the main shooter. Alongside the main shooter are 12-Megapixel Ultra-Wide and Telephoto cameras. Thanks to the more powerful A16 Bionic chip, the Pro model’s cameras performs at least twice better in low-light conditions.
The 48-Megapixel sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is the biggest ever found on an iPhone and that also helps with low-light photography. To ensure that photos are not hoarding your storage bandwidth, the 48-Megapixel photos are shrunk to 12-Megapixel sizes while maintaining the depth and detail of a 48-Megapixel photo. Thanks to the 48-Megapixel sensor as well, 4K videos and photos can be captured with in full resolution without digital zoom even when you put the camera to 2x zoom. Of course, more pixel count also means even more detailed photos in ProRAW formats.
Crash Detection & Emergency SOS via Satellite
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max also includes Crash Detection technology and Emergency SOS via satellite feature just like its more accessible cousins, the vanilla iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Unfortunately, again, Emergency SOS function is only available for the U.S. and Canada markets for now.
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
Price and Availabilty
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available will be available in select regions on the 16th of September 2022 onward. Malaysia will get both variants of the device not too long after that though from the 23rd of September 2022 onward. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is available in four storage variants – 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. You can choose between four colour options for the most advanced Apple iPhone ever – Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black. The iPhone 14 Pro starts from 5,299, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at MYR 5,799. For more information on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, you can check out their website.
The Apple iPhone 13 was something of a wonder. It was, according to Apple, amongst the most powerful smartphones in the world. Of course, Apple would also like to think that they make the best smartphone in the world. Confidence is key, they say.
With the iPhone 13, Apple pulled all the stops to make the smartphone experience better than before. Instead of focusing on fitting new hardware to push technological boundaries, it was more about making the Apple iPhone a better companion to its users. They followed that same recipe in the new Apple iPhone 14, alongside some very welcome additions.
First up, there is no iPhone 14 Mini here. You have the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus instead. You get the standard 6.1-inch display with the regular iPhone 14, and then you get a larger 6.7-inch display on the Plus variant. They are selling this as a separate thing to the Pro variants of the iPhone too, understandably.
New Bigger Display
Source: Apple
You still get the recognizable notch on the top part of the display that now houses a TrueDepth camera. According to Apple, the front camera will now take better pictures than ever with newly added features like autofocus. On both variants also, you get a beautiful Retina XDR OLED display with peak brightness of 1200 nits making HDR contents as immersive as they come on an iPhone The Retina XDR display also boasts 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and Dolby Vision for an even better Netflix experience, especially if you go for the larger iPhone 14 Plus. The displays are also now covered in what Apple calls a Ceramic Shield front cover, a built-in screen protector to protect it from drops and other bumps it might meet in its lifetime. It is also water and dust resistant, to ensure that it can handle anything you can throw at it accidentally, obviously.
Power From the Pros
Beneath the new expansive display is Apple’s proven A15 Bionic System on a Chip (SoC). It is the same one found on the Apple iPhone 13 Pro models. It packs two powerful performance cores for all sorts of heavy lifting, and four efficiency cores within to keep the device going for long periods of time. It also packs a 16-core neural engine for Siri to leverage on and for iOS to keep things snappy and snazzy. For even better photos, the A15 Bionic also houses a new integrate image processor. The Apple iPhone 14 Plus also now features the longest all-day battery life of any available iPhone.
Even Better Photos and Videos
Source: Apple
Out the back is a glass housing that adorns new colours for the iPhone. You still have the standard black (Midnight), and white (Starlight) variants of the Apple iPhone. The Product RED is also still an option for the iPhone. Additionally, you get to get your iPhone 14 in blue or purple.
The backs of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus house two cameras. The main camera is a 12-Megapixel shooter like before. Accompanying the 12-Megapixel main shooter is an equally impressive 12-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. Thanks to the dedicated Photonic Engine found on the A15 Bionic, the camera performance is much improved especially in low-light conditions. The Deep Fusion computational prowess also allows the camera to capture photos with breathtaking details and textures, true to life colours, and full of information.
There are a few new features on the camera too; it has a new action mode that cleverly stabilizes videos even when they are shot in the middle of the action. The LED flash has also been re-worked and is now 10% brighter than before and is supposedly more uniform and consistent. There is also the Cinematic mode available for videos shot in 4K 30fps and 24fps. Of course, you get to shoot your videos in brilliant Dolby Vision HDR colours.
Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
What is impressive with the iPhone 14 is not all the things listed above. It is not the latest iOS 16 for the iPhone. Nor is it the fact that Apple Fitness+ is coming to all iPhone users. What we find most impressive regarding the Apple iPhone 14 is that it now packs satellite technology and a high-impact accelerometer.
Having satellite technology might not seem like a big deal. Satellite based mobile phones have existed for a while now and it is used in various situations where cellular signals are choppy or when cell towers cannot be installed. It is a rather old school technology that is only good in very specific situations. On the iPhone, it is good for emergencies. They call it Emergency SOS, which is rather fitting. Because satellite signals can be very specific in terms of direction, the iPhone Emergency SOS interface guides you to get the best connection to an available satellite. In emergency situations, the feature allows you to quickly send SOS messages to available emergency services via satellite. Since the low-bandwidth nature of satellite communication means it might take a few seconds to minutes for messages to get through to the right people, Apple’s Emergency SOS interface presents a quick questionnaire to assess your situation before sending a distress signal to an Apple relay station and then to the right services. The satellite technology can also be used in the Find My app, for services to easily and accurately locate you in non-cellular or WiFi situations.
The high-impact accelerometer that is newly found on the iPhone 14 is like no other accelerometer on regular smartphones. It can withstand and measure G-Force up to 256Gs. Combined with a new high dynamic range gyroscope, the new iPhone 14 packs the first ever smartphone-based Crash Detection technology. Where the Apple Watch detects fall impacts and inform your emergency contacts, the iPhone detects when you get into a severe car crash and automatically dials emergency services if the user is unable to reach their iPhones for whatever reason. The feature is also made possible by combining several existing technologies like barometer, GPS signals, and microphones which have been trained to recognize a car crash by motion and sounds.
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Price and Availability
The Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in five colour options mentioned above. Storage options starts at 128GB and tops out at 512GB. Pre-orders for the Apple iPhone 14 series in the United States will begin 9th of September 2022 onward. The Apple iPhone 14 will start shipping on the 16th of September onward while its bigger brother, the iPhone 14 Plus starts shipping on the 7th of October 0nward. Malaysia will get its first taste of the new iPhone from the 23rd of September 2022 onward. Emergency SOS via satellite will not be available in regions outside of the U.S. and Canada for now. If you are in the available regions, the service is included for free for two years if you purchase an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus. The Apple iPhone 14 will be available for MYR 4,199 onward and the iPhone 14 Plus will be available from MYR 4,699 onward.
Google is rather funny, if not indecisive. If you remembered, Google launched a few of their own services that seemed like a great idea. Google+ for example, seemed like a good idea for a Google social media platform. It failed miserably though, even though it comes with Google account as standard. Then there is Google Workspace, which was a rather great implementation of a collaboration platform that is like Trello. They axed the project a little later though.
A little while ago, Google had something called Hangouts, a video calling platform available to users for free. It is now known as Google Meet, but there is also a separate app called Google Chats as well. But there is also another video calling app from Google called Google Duo. Google Duo did not really take off though, despite being a mobile first app. It will also be known as Google Meet soon.
In some sense, you can say that this is Google consolidating their video calling apps into one. In the coming months, Google’s blue coloured Duo icon will replaced by the colourful Google Meet logo. Which also means that you might have two Google Meet on your smartphone in the future.
The Google Duo app will still be constantly updated for the time being, which means you should not be too alarmed about not being able to enjoy the Google Duo app any longer. New users should be downloading the new Google Meet app with Duo integrated into the app though. There is a possibility of an app overlap, in this case, but you may not have to worry about that entirely with the new updates.
The move to integrate Duo into Meet is not a surprise move by Google. Google has announced that their Google Duo app is meant to be integrated into Google Meet in the coming months since June 2022. Consolidating these apps are essentially the best way for Google to single-handedly manage their apps. Managing a single app will also proof much more viable and straightforward for Google. Users can expect to see their Google Duo app turn intot Google Meet in September 2022.
For the longest time, one of the biggest problems when it comes to moving from one smartphone platform to the other is data transfers and backup. To be fair, when you change from one Android manufacturer to the other, transferring your data can be as easy as setting up a Wi-Fi Direct connection with your older device today. It is a slightly different story when you shift from Android to an iPhone platform though. You tend to have to accept that most of your data will be gone and you must start building your own ecosystem from scratch. One of those databases that might be important to you is your messenger data, specifically WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is one of the only messengers currently active within both the Android and iOS ecosystem that relies on storing data locally. While that is better in terms of security, privacy, and encryption, it makes life a little difficult when you want to transfer your data between devices. For Android devices, WhatsApp can work with Google’s Drive platform to offer data backup and restoration. In iOS devices, WhatsApp relies on Apple’s iCloud service, which is a completely different platform entirely that has nothing to do with Google’s Drive cloud storage platform. That creates a problem when you shift from Android devices to iOS devices and vice versa.
Luckily, WhatsApp knows that this is a problem and has been working hard to rectify the issue, just so that users have more options in terms of choosing their next devices. Now, they have found a sort of solution. We say sort of because it currently only works one way and not the other.
WhatsApp has released an additional app that is available for free on the Google Play Store to make this shift happen. They call it the ‘Move to iOS’ app, which may be rather unoriginal, but straightforward. There are a few requirements to transferring your WhatsApp data from your old Android to your new iPhone though.
First, you need at least Android 5 installed on your device, which should not be too hard if you own a smartphone within the last 5 years. Second, you want to ensure that your new iPhone device packs iOS 15.5 and above, which also should not be too difficult if you go for the latest iPhone devices anyway. Of course, you need to install Move to iOS app as well on your Android device. WhatsApp must be updated too for this to work. You need at least WhatsApp version 2.22.7.74 for your Android device and WhatsApp version 2.22.10.70 for your iPhone. The iPhone device must also be a fresh unit or factory reset unit to pair with the Android app. Then you must ensure that both devices are being plugged in and charged, for some reason. Both devices need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi umbrella, or the Android device must be connected to the receiving iPhone’s hotspot. Of course, the phone number used must be the same.
Once you tick all those boxes, you want to head to the Move to iOS app on your donor Android device and start the process. The process itself is rather straightforward and easy to follow. Once you get on your iPhone, you simply have to log into WhatsApp with your attached phone number and sign in to the messages and other medias waiting for you.
There are no cloud backups, uploads, or download process in this process. Everything is done through Wi-Fi Direct to your iPhone. There is technically no way to monitor the data transfer progress via WhatsApp as well currently. At the same time, like with any WhatsApp transfer, your data is not moved to the new device, it is merely copied. So, if you sign into your Android device after the transfer, you will still have everything in place. There is also a few things you cannot transfer from the Android to the iPhone; namely your personal messages, and peer to peer payment messages (Not like this works in Malaysia currently anyway).
Like we said, the migration is a one-way street currently. There is no easy way for you to transfer your WhatsApp messages and data from the iPhone to an Android device currently. Obviously, transferring WhatsApp data from an iOS to Android devices can be a little complex given the various Android devices you get from differing manufacturers with different standards of complexity as well. If WhatsApp can be transferred from an Android to iOS though, you can expect the reverse to come soon.
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2022 was a big success. We saw the Apple M2 chip being introduced to the world. We also saw the new MacBook Air that is no longer a wedge-shaped laptop. There is also new MacBook Pro with M2 chip in it, obviously.
According to Mark Gurman, the Apple guy at Bloomberg, who has also been a highly reliable source for all things Apple, WWDC 2022 is really a pre-cursor to what Apple has planned out for the rest of 2022. In that case, 2022 looks rather busy for Apple.
We know that Apple’s next new iPhone will be coming somewhere in September, and it will come with a new proprietary Apple chip. The new Apple iPhone models, four of them, will also be the most powerful iPhone devices you can get your hands on. That is also a given, and a known fact.
According to Gurman, the new iOS 16 that was announced at WWDC 2022 is a good indication of what is to come with the next-generation iPhone. The revamped lock screen points to an always-on display feature on the new Pro models of the iPhone. At the same time, the lock screen could display a lot more information than just the clock. It could tell you the weather, your calendar, stocks, activities, and other information. For the sake of privacy, you can also control how much of the information gets displayed on the always-on display.
While the EU has made regulation changes and enforces that every electronics manufacturer, including Apple, to start transitioning to USB Type-C standards in the coming years, the new Apple iPhone 2022 will not sport USB Type-C just yet. It will still feature Apple’s proprietary Lightning port for now. You can expect USB Type-C iPhones to come in 2023 though.
Then there will be the new iPads. Apple did not release the M2 for nothing. Like the M1 chip in the iPad Pro, you can expect the new iPad Pro launching later in the year to feature the M2 chip. In that sense, there will be new 11-inch and 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro models coming at the end of the year with M2 chips. The M2 chips should be able to take advantage of the new iPadOS 16’s Stage Manager multitasking functions too. There is also a chance, according to Gurman, that Apple will launch larger form factor Apple iPad Pro models. He expects Apple to launch 14 and 15-inch variations of the Apple iPad Pro.
Unlike how Apple took their time with M1 chips spreading across Apple’s range of products. The M2 might spread more like wildfire this time. Gurman expects Apple to start launching even more products equipped with the M2 chip. There is an M2 Mac mini, M2 Pro chips on the Mac Mini and MacBook Pro models. There could be the M2 Max, M2 Ultra, and M2 Extreme chips coming too, since Apple already has the knowhow on building even more powerful chips based on their original SoC design.
The HomePod is also something that Apple might be looking to upgrade in the coming months. Apple might be looking to update the new HomePod with new processing chips, like the new Apple Watches. There is also supposed to be some new optimization made to the smart speaker in terms of size and audio performance. There are also rumours about multi-touch functions. Gurman also expects new AirPods Pro to be launched with new updated processing chips and higher quality audio.
Remember that all these things are just speculations. There are no straight up confirmations from Apple that they will be launching these new products immediately or in their regular September launch. Until they do make their official announcements, we can only wait and watch.
