Apple Ships iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and AirPods 4 to First Customers

Those who ordered an iPhone 16 series phone, Apple Watch 10, or AirPods 4 as quickly as possible last week will begin receiving those devices today, along with the handful of other hardware upgrades Apple announced at its “Glowtime” event last week.

Based on early reviews, the non-Pro iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus seem to be the big story on that front, thanks to Apple differentiating these less expensive models from the Pro versions less than ever before. Plus, they come in vibrant new colors that make the Pro models look dour by comparison. I did order an iPhone 16 Pro Max, however, sucked in by the computational photography capabilities. That’s set to arrive later today, so I’ll be writing more about that soon.

For Apple Watch, the new 10 Series devices are thinner and have bigger displays, and there’s a new black titanium color for Watch Ultra 2, which wasn’t otherwise upgraded. The new AirPods 4 come in two models, replacing the AirPods 2 and AirPods 3, and the more expensive version offers basic AND (active noise cancelation) capabilities. Apple didn’t upgrade the AirPods Pro 2, but it is bringing new features to its high-end earbuds, including the first over-the-counter Hearing Aid capabilities ever offered in the U.S. There are new AirPods Max colors, too, for those who like throwing money away.

The new hardware arrives four days after Apple delivered the major software updates that power them and other Apple platforms, including iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS. As everyone knows, these milestones shipped sans any Apple Intelligence AI features: Those will arrive (in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS) via coming software updates throughout the rest of 2024 and well into next year. For many, that’s when these new devices will get truly interesting.