Looking Back at Apple’s September 2025 Special Event

In the early hours of September 10, 2025 (JST), Apple held its annual Special Event. The tagline this time was “Awe dropping.”, rendered in Japanese as 「言葉にできない。」 (“Beyond words”). People tried to guess the content from that catch-phrase beforehand, but to me it didn’t feel like as direct a clue as “jaw-dropping” might suggest.

I’ve stopped getting up in the middle of the night (or staying up) to watch the keynote live like I used to; now I prioritize my sleep schedule so I’m fresh the next day. That’s one big change since I left the iPhone-accessory business.

Now then, here are some brief comments on what was announced.

AirPods Pro 3

I currently use AirPods Pro 2 as my main earbuds, and since I got them in September 2023 it’s been almost two years, so I watched this launch with high hopes for a new model.

The active noise cancellation (ANC) still works so well that, if anything, it blocks out too much sound, so I usually keep theAdaptive Audio featureturned ON. Because of that, I’m not asking for anything better, though it may be very handy on airplanes and the like.

I found the newly announced “Live Translation,” introduced as a real-time translation feature, very interesting. I’ll have to try it to know for sure, but recent AI translation has become quite natural, so I have high hopes. I can handle everyday English conversation, yet in lectures and such there are expressions I don’t understand, so this could be invaluable. It’s unavoidable that what I say will be shown on the iPhone screen.

Unfortunately, Japanese support is “later this year,” so we’ll have to wait a bit, but it’s still the feature I’m most excited about. Some other brands already offer something similar, but having it on the AirPods Pro I use every day is huge. They’re earphones I use daily for audio, they’re great for communication including online meetings, and within the Apple ecosystem they switch devices effortlessly—so I really want this function on them. Using another product solely for translation would be a hassle.

I always wear my Apple Watch Ultra 2, even when I sleep, for heart-rate monitoring, so I don’t really see myself using that function on AirPods Pro. Accuracy might differ, but if you’re wearing both, which one would Apple rely on? Also, for my usual workouts—boxercise and kickboxing—I never use AirPods Pro anyway, so I doubt I’d use them for exercise tracking either.

So I got up in the morning, watched the event video, and placed a preorder. I wish they’d release a black model, but since it only comes in white I’m getting it engraved so I don’t mix it up with others’. I had my trademark “★” engraved, so it looks like it’ll arrive just a little after launch day.

Apple Watch series

Lately, the presentations often start with stories of people saved by Apple Watch, making it clear health care is now the main focus. In that respect, I’d been hoping reliable Apple features like high-blood-pressure alerts would arrive soon, so I’m thrilled. Rather than for me, it would be great for my parents to wear. It appears the rollout in Japan will be a bit later, so once the feature is available I plan to buy one for them.

Sleep scores themselves aren’t new—other companies have offered them for a while—but I’m looking forward to Apple’s version, since scores drawn from Apple’s vast and trustworthy data should be worth believing.

Even so, the biggest drawback of Apple Watch is still battery life. Because of that, the only real choice for me is the Apple Watch Ultra. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 (2023 model) I’m using is rated for 36 hours, and in my experience that’s about right: it easily lasts a full day and sometimes nearly two.

The newly announced Apple Watch Ultra 3 is rated for 42 hours—about six more—so I expect a similar real-world gain, improving everyday usability. It’s nice that battery life has increased despite added features, thanks to efficiency improvements such as the LTPO3 display and the S10 chip. Battery capacity hasn’t been disclosed yet, but since the case is slightly thinner I assume the main factor is overall efficiency.

Realistically, that’s still not enough; I’d like it to last at least a week. The AirPods line is now fine for everyday use, but, as I’ll mention later with the iPhone and Apple Watch, I still feel battery life is lacking.

iPhone 17 series

The iPhone 17 has been upgraded in a straightforward way and seems to offer much better value. The standard model’s 120 Hz display, the A19 chip, and other improvements raise the baseline without a price hike. Still, spec-wise this isn’t a model I’d buy, so I haven’t looked at it in detail.

Trinity

[Thorough Comparison] What’s Different? Same Design? The Differences Between iPhone 17 and iPhone 16, and iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro (Part 1) | TrinityHello everyone, this is Kankan from Product Planning & Development, who has been making occasional appearances on YouTube lately. As always, this year’s smartphone…

But looking at this blog, things have gotten quite complicated. Since I’m no longer involved in this as work, I assumed the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 looked identical and that it was just an internal update, but actually they’re not accessory-compatible, which is messy. I have a feeling this will cause major confusion in the accessories market and lead people to buy the wrong products.

Now, the two topics that caught my attention across the board are “Ceramic Shield 2” and “Center Stage” (called “Center Frame” in Japan).

Ceramic Shield 2 is essentially a continuation of the recent trend toward stronger glass on the iPhone lineup. What’s interesting is that Apple seems very concerned about hairline scratches and is strongly committed to improving that. They’ve also added multiple coating layers for anti-reflection (AR effect), so I imagine they’ve put a lot of care into it.

To be honest, as someone who used to make iPhone accessories, I’m curious how effective it really is, so I’m thinking of using the phone without a screen protector for a while to see for myself.

And then there’s Center Stage. Because of trademark issues—OKI Electric Industry holds the rights in Japan—and apparently because a licensing deal couldn’t be reached, it’s uniformly called “Center Frame” here.

Center Frame is a feature that has been used on devices like the iPad and MacBook, primarily for meetings. Now that it’s on the iPhone as well, its usage has expanded from meetings to improving the selfie experience. For people who take selfies daily this is a great feature, and I find it quite interesting.

iPhone Air

First of all, I have to say something about the name “iPhone Air.”

Calling it “Air” because it’s thin is fine, but why didn’t they name it iPhone 17 Air? I understand they wanted to make it feel like an entirely new line, but since it’s the same generation as the iPhone 17 family, shouldn’t it have been called iPhone 17 Air? They once gave the terrifying name “The New iPad,” leaving everyone wondering what the next one would be (it ended up just getting a number). Next year, will they go with iPhone Air 2 or iPhone 18 Air? Jumping straight to 2 would make the numbering weird. Since even the SE has been unified, like the iPhone 16e, I feel they should maintain consistency with the overall lineup so it’s clear which model belongs to which year.

Now, about the 5.6 mm thickness—yes, it’s impressive. But I question whether people actually want something that thin. To be honest, the iPad Pro (M4) I use is even thinner (5.1 mm), and it’s pretty hard to hold on its own. I haven’t gotten my hands on the iPhone Air yet, so I can’t say for sure, but based on past experience I think it will be hard to grip in its naked form, and people will end up using a case anyway. I believe lightness is desired more than thinness, and even if it were thicker, I’d rather have longer battery life. In the end, not much seems to have changed since the days of the NuAns NEO smartphone I created years ago.

NuAns

SIM-free smartphone NuAns NEO / NuAns NEO [Reloaded]Everything is new. Everything with just one device. Offering roughly 700 customization combinations to express your individuality, NuAns’ Android smartphone “NuAns NEO [Reloaded].”

However, this thinness can be seen as laying the groundwork for a foldable iPhone (iPhone Fold?). Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold is an incredible 4.2 mm, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is said to be 5.2 mm, so with a bit more effort they might get it down to around 5 mm. With foldables the surface area is larger, so you can thin out the battery and widen it to make up the volume. In fact, the thinnest Galaxy model, the Galaxy S25 Edge, is 5.8 mm, so there’s circumstantial evidence that foldables can be made even thinner.

All that said, I have a hunch that extreme thinness isn’t actually in high demand, and the group attracted by this novel design will be put off by the single camera and the USB-C spec, so in the end I predict it won’t sell.

Even so, I think it’s a good challenge and a model that will lead to future developments.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max

In almost every case, the only models I consider buying are these two. I’m currently using an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

The biggest differences between the Pro and the Max are performance and battery life. A larger screen is of course nice, but the major drawback is the limited selection of accessories.

In the iPhone 15 lineup, only the Pro Max had the 5× telephoto camera, which basically meant you had to buy the Pro Max, but with the iPhone 16 the specs were unified, leaving battery life as the sole reason to choose the Pro Max.

This time I plan to buy the iPhone 17 Pro. Just like with the iPhone 16 lineup, there is no performance gap. The Pro Max does have an advantage in battery life, but when I compare my current iPhone 16 Pro Max with the iPhone 17 Pro, their endurance is the same (thanks to the eSIM model). My iPhone 16 Pro Max just manages to last from morning to night under normal use without a recharge, so it meets my minimum requirement; since the iPhone 17 Pro does the same, I’m satisfied with that choice.

★

By the way, I don’t really like the “PRO” lettering that appears in the iPhone 17 Pro/Max branding. Why did they make the font so thick? I think it looks completely inelegant.