Should You Buy the New iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10 or AirPods 4?

Intro Does it make sense for you to upgrade to the new iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, or fourth- -generation AirPods? That depends on which product you already have, so I'm going to walk through all of Apple's latest announcements and give my advice. iPhone 16 Let's start things off with the iPhone 16. If you have an iPhone 11 or earlier, your time has come to upgrade, and you will join the world of MagSafe chargers, wallets, batteries and stands. If you have an iPhone 12, iPhone 13, or third-generation iPhone SE, upgrade if you can. You'll get Apple Intelligence and significantly improved battery life and speed. Some of the new features include a much higher resolution Fusion camera and ultra-wide camera with Camera Control, an Action button, a USB-C connector, precision finding, and satellite connectivity. Although unfortunately, if you have an iPhone 12 or 13 mini, there's no longer a mini-sized option. If you have an iPhone 14 or 15, only upgrade to the iPhone 16 if you want Apple Intelligence. This new set of features will enable a smarter Siri, smart summaries, system-wide writing tools, Image Clean-Up in Photos, Visual Intelligence from the camera, Image Playground, and more. This powerful set of machine learning features will only be available on the latest and greatest hardware. Now let's talk about the iPhone 16 Pro. iPhone 16 Pro If you have the iPhone 11 Pro or earlier, you will really love upgrading to the new model. If you're considering jumping up to the Pro tier from the regular tier, I would even recommend it to iPhone 12 and 13 owners as well. Now if you already have the iPhone 12 or 13 Pro, upgrade if you can, but your device will probably hold on steadily for another year. From all these devices, you'll be getting the same Apple Intelligence features, a bigger and brighter display with ProMotion, the Dynamic Island, and Always-On; higher resolution and higher frame rate cameras; and the A18 Pro chip, which will be faster, enabling the longest battery life of any iPhones ever. Now if you already have an iPhone 14 Pro, you already have most of those niceties, only upgrade again if you really want Apple Intelligence. And if you have an iPhone 15 Pro, you can easily sit this year out, and probably next year too. Now let's move on to the Apple Watch Series 10. Apple Watch Series 10 If you have an Apple Watch Series 5 or older, or a first-generation Apple Watch SE, your time has come to upgrade. None of these models are going to continue getting the latest software updates anymore. And you have a lot to look forward to when you upgrade. A bigger and brighter display, sleep apnea detection, a faster and more accurate Siri and voice dictation, a hands-free double tap gesture, a full QWERTY keyboard, crash detection, an altimeter, a temperature sensor, and more. If you have a newer Apple Watch Series 6, 7, or 8, you're getting a mix of those new features. But if you live in the United States, you're actually losing a feature as well. Due to a patent dispute Apple has with Masimo, all Apple Watches sold since January 28, 2024 have had the blood oxygen sensor disabled. So if you have a newer Apple Watch, I recommend upgrading based on battery life alone. If your Apple Watch already lasts the full day, don't sweat it. But if you have to recharge in the middle of the evening or afternoon, go ahead and upgrade. Apple Watch Ultra 2 Now let's talk about the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Despite expectations, Apple did not come out with an Apple Watch Ultra 3. Instead they reintroduced the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the new Satin Black color option and matching black bands. If you have an Apple Watch Series 7 or older, and you've been thinking about switching to the Ultra, now would be a good time, especially if you want to look like Darth Vader going scuba diving. If you have a newer Apple Watch, or you already have a silver Apple Watch Ultra, maybe wait until next year for an Apple Watch Ultra 3. AirPods 4 Now let's talk about AirPods. The new fourth-generation AirPods actually come in two models. The entry level AirPods at $129 come with a new design, a head gesture to respond to Siri, a new USB-C charging case with 30 hours of battery life, and spatial audio. Higher end AirPods at $179 add active noise cancellation with transparency mode, conversation awareness, and adaptive audio. If you want the latest features at a lower price than the AirPods Pro, the AirPods with active noise cancellation are a worthy upgrade no matter which model you're coming from. If you're only in the market for the entry level AirPods, only upgrade when the battery life seems to degrade. Finally, should you upgrade to the new AirPods Max? AirPods Max No. While the new AirPods Max come in new colors, and they switch out the Lightning cable for USB-C, they're still the same headphones from four years ago on the inside, which means you don't get any of the advanced new features like conversation awareness or adaptive audio. It's a weird update. If your AirPods Max still get sufficient battery life, just keep a lightning cable around. It probably doesn't cause $550 worth of hassle. And on that note, that is my buying advice for all the new Apple products. You can read more about these announcements in the articles in the video description. Remember to like and subscribe. I'm D. Griffin Jones with Cult of Mac.