London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Apple launches the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8

Apple launches the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8

Always-on display lets notification addicts stay connected but only ‘pro’ models get the latest A16 Bionic chip
If you feel like you never look away from your phone, Apple’s newest iPhones are for you, with an always-on display letting notification addicts stay connected all day, every day.

Exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro, the display preserves power by dropping down to an ultra-low refresh rate of just 1Hz, dimming the screen, and handing updates over to a dedicated low-power coprocessor to keep the time, widgets and notifications up to date even with the phone in sleep mode.

The new phones also feature the company’s replacement to the once-mocked “notch” that contains the front-facing cameras on all its handsets since the iPhone X. Now, a pill-shaped “Dynamic Island” will contain the cameras, while the proximity sensor that turns off inputs when held to your ear has been moved under the screen. The black blob will also be incorporated into a new notification style, allowing background apps such as ride-hailing services or voice recorders to keep some info onscreen.

But those updates won’t be coming to the company’s baseline iPhone 14. That phone, which gets a larger sibling in the rebirth of the iPhone Plus, is a much milder update to the previous year’s devices, looking largely the same, albeit with new colours, and even running on the A15 Bionic chip that was first introduced with the iPhone 13. The 14 Pro, by contrast, features Apple’s latest silicon, the A16 Bionic chip.

All models of the iPhone 14 will have one major new hardware feature, however: emergency notifications via SOS. A specially constructed directional antenna allows users (initially only in the US and Canada) to send alerts to emergency services when they’re in difficulty, guiding them to point the phone in the exact direction of the satellite. To overcome the ultra-low bandwidth of the connection, which takes 15 seconds to upload a single message, the software pre-emptively asks the most important questions, avoiding a back and forth conversation.

That safety feature is paired with a new crash detection feature, also available in the company’s new Apple Watch Series 8, which uses the accelerometers, microphones and other sensors in the phones and watches to detect dangerous car crashes and automatically call emergency services if not actively cancelled.

The new Apple Watch also features a temperature sensor for the first time, enabling the company to offer ovulation detecting as part of its period tracking feature. The company emphasised that data from the sensors, which are carefully marketed as a fertility aid but not a contraceptive or a fever detection tool, is end-to-end encrypted, meaning that Apple itself cannot access the data, an apparent nod to fears that women’s health apps have become a new battleground after the revocation of abortion protections in the US.

Launching alongside the Series 8 is the Apple Watch Ultra, the company’s newest hardware line. A chunky, expensive and powerful watch aimed at hikers, marathon runners and scuba divers, the Ultra features larger buttons for gloved use, a battery life that the company says will peak at 60 hours after optimisations are released this autumn, and a titanium case that rises up to protect “the biggest brightest screen ever on an Apple Watch”.

But British consumers wanting to pick up the latest technology from the world’s largest company have an uncomfortable surprise waiting for them. With the pound at its lowest exchange rate with the US dollar since 1985, UK prices for the new devices have risen well past parity between the two currencies – itself news when it happened for the first time with the iPhone X in 2017. The Apple Watch Ultra, starting at $799 in the US, will be £849 in the UK and AU$1,299 in Australia. The iPhone 14 Pro will start at $999 and £1,099 and AU$1,749, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will start at $1,099 and £1,199 and AU$1,899.

With the death of the iPhone mini, the new cheapest iPhone is the base iPhone 14, starting at £849 or AU$1,399, and the iPhone 14 Plus will start at £949 and AU$1,579.

The company also announced the AirPods Pro 2, featuring a longer battery life, “adaptive transparency” for blocking out harsh noise like construction while still allowing ambient sound through the noise cancellation, and new technology for scanning a user’s ears to personalise the 3D audio. The headphones will cost £249 or $399 in Australia.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×