There’s a lot of new Apple stuff. Here’s what’s actually worth buying

Last Tuesday was an expensive day. Apple event day is always an expensive day. New iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods Pro made their debut, and this means that on September 19, many of us will be taking delivery of new Apple stuff. (The larger-than-normal credit-card bill comes later.)

Just because Apple’s selling lots of new stuff doesn’t mean you need to buy it all. (Who needs four new iPhones every year?!) But when it comes to upgrades, some products really jump out at me as more impressive and intriguing than others.

iPhone Air versus iPhone 17 Pro

You usually know what kind of iPhone you want. Pro goes to Pro, Pro Max to Pro Max, regular iPhone to regular iPhone, and iPhone mini and iPhone Plus to… the seven stages of grief, I guess. But this year’s offerings provide a twist, with two phones that both can viably claim to be the right upgrade for people coming from a previous iPhone Pro model.

As someone who is in the market for a new phone this year, I admit that it’s going to be a tough choice between the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro. Let’s break it down.

The iPhone Air collects a lot of style points because it’s the thinnest iPhone ever at 5.64 millimeters. The bulk of its cameras and brains are located in the “plateau” at the top of the phone; the rest of the thing is basically just screen and battery. The iPhone Air looks like no other iPhone ever, and will probably feel amazing to hold in your hand.

It’s also a lot more full-featured than you might expect for a phone that sits between the regular iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro on the price list. It’s got an A19 Pro chip, albeit with one fewer GPU core. It gets the new, potentially game-changing 18-megapixel Center Stage camera for selfies. It’s got an always-on ProMotion display, which is spreading across the entire line this year, eliminating it as a differentiator for the high-end phones.

What will determine the fate of the iPhone Air is how important you rate the iPhone’s camera, and more specifically, its array of cameras. Despite Apple’s corporate spin that the iPhone Air basically has four cameras, the fact is that it has a single camera compared to three on the iPhone Pro. That one camera is incredibly capable–it’s a 48MP model that can also generate 24MP super-resolution images or read only the center of its sensor for a “2x optical zoom,” similar to Apple’s other iPhone cameras the last couple of years. But if you want a bigger zoom, or a proper wide-angle, or good macro photography, or the ability to capture spatial scenes, you are out of luck.

A full 20 percent of the iPhone 16 Pro photos I took last year were taken with my iPhone’s telephoto lens. That gives me pause. I’d be giving up the ability to zoom in much closer to capture images, even if (to be honest) those zoomed-in images aren’t exactly the best the iPhone can offer.

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In a normal upgrade year, it would probably be an easy choice to go with the iPhone Air, just because of the sheer novelty. But the iPhone 17 Pro is itself a surprisingly novel product. As a unibody model carved out of a solid block of aluminum, it’s got a very different look to it, and it comes in one particularly exciting color: Cosmic Orange.

The iPhone 17 Pro’s A19 Pro processor has one more GPU core and an entirely new vapor chamber cooling system that spreads the heat from the processor across the radiative metal body. That aluminum back (and sides) is going to be striking, as well as a little bit warm.

And then there are those cameras. Three of them, including a new 48 megapixel monster that allows the 4x zoom to be center-cropped into the optical equivalent of an 8x zoom. The three cameras allow the iPhone 17 Pro to go from 0.5x all the way to 8x, an enormous range for a phone camera with a bunch of purely optical zoom stops along the way.

So, let’s line them up. Reasons to buy an iPhone Air: Cool look, thin and light, relatively Pro-level features, and a single nice camera that might be good enough. Reasons to buy an iPhone Pro: A new look (but not as cool or thin or light), an awesome orange color, and an incredibly powerful set of cameras.

Apple

If you like orange and you like taking pictures with your iPhone, the choice is clear: the iPhone 17 Pro. If you think iPhone photography is a nice-to-have but not a must-have, and you like the idea of having the coolest-looking iPhone ever, the iPhone Air is right for you. If you don’t care about the color options, it really does come down to style versus cameras.

Orange is one of my favorite colors, so I’m torn. I need to hold that iPhone Air in my hands to know for sure, but if I had to guess, I’d choose it over the iPhone 17 Pro and suffer the consequences for my iPhone photography.

Easier choices abound

The rest of Tuesday’s announcements are a little bit easier to digest because many of the “new” features announced are actually rolling out to older models, too.

The AirPods Pro 3 upgrade looks great because it improved audio quality, battery life, and–most importantly–the efficacy of its noise cancellation. The jump from the original AirPods Pro to the second-generation model was huge, and this is apparently a similar jump. If you listen to AirPods Pro all the time, they’re probably worth the upgrade just for that. They’re also more water resistant and may fit some ears better, since they’re slightly different in shape and offer five different ear tip sizes.

But note that AirPods Pro 2 also support all hearing aid and live translation functions, and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation support live translation. You don’t need new AirPods to get those features.

The Apple Watch upgrades are similarly nice, but not necessarily must-haves. If you’re using a watch older than the Series 10, you will appreciate the much thinner watch with a much larger screen. (I have a Series 10, and it’s really great.) If you’re using an original Apple Watch Ultra, it might also be time to seriously consider an update to the Ultra 3, especially if you’re someone frequently out of cellular contact. I know that the iPhone has had emergency satellite connectivity for a while now, but it strikes me that having it on your watch, too, is just an extra layer of security and safety.

But again, be warned: not all the “new features” for the Series 11 and Ultra 3 are limited to those new devices. The much-hyped hypertension detection feature will be available on Series 9 and later, and Ultra 2 and later. And the new Sleep Score feature will work as far back as Series 6 and Ultra 1 watches. You don’t need to buy a new watch to benefit from those new features.

Yes, it’s an expensive time. I’m buying some iPhone–TBD!–and have already ordered AirPods Pro 3. Consult your family and wallet, do some thinking, and be prepared to make your own buying decisions. And if you decide not to buy something this fall, don’t worry–Apple is always sure to create another really expensive day in the very near future.

Macworld has the complete lowdown on the iPhone Air, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, Apple Watch, and AirPods Pro 3. If you weren’t able to watch Apple’s event, catch up in our “Awe Dropping” event live blog.