ICYMI: The 7 biggest tech stories of the week, from the PS5 Pro to Apple’s iPhone 16 launch
Wow. Just as IFA 2024 was drawing to a close, we got an Apple iPhone event, a PS5 Pro announcement, and a new version of ChatGPT to try out, along with a host of other major technical updates.
To keep you informed, we’ve collected the seven biggest tech news stories of the past week and summarized them in this short ICYMI roundup.
Once you’re all caught up, check out our picks of the seven new movies and TV shows you need to stream this weekend on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more.
7. Sony launched the PS5 Pro
After months of increasingly strong rumors, Sony has finally unveiled the PS5 Pro: a significantly more powerful version of the PS5.
With upgrades focused on graphical improvements, Sony claims the PS5 Pro’s souped-up graphics card can render 45% faster than the base PS5. Add to that advanced ray tracing capabilities and a new AI-drive upscaling technology called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and we’re in for some real treats, with the company pitching the console as a machine that simply removes the need to choose between fidelity and performance modes in games.
It does cost a pretty penny though, with the introductory price being $699 / £699. And the device doesn’t even come with a disc drive or vertical stand.
Pre-orders for the PS5 Pro begin on September 26 via PlayStation Direct, and at other retailers in the US and UK from October 10.
6. It was Glowtime for the iPhone 16
Apple unveiled four new phones, each with new chips, new hardware and new capabilities, and the jury’s still out on whether they’re a revolution or an evolution. There’s that new Camera Control (not a button, if you ask Apple) which gives you direct access to the iPhone 16’s camera (yes, that’s on all the new phones) and uses gestures to access other controls.
There’s an A18 chip for everyone, though the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max get the more powerful A18 Pro. Perhaps that extra power will help drive the now slightly larger displays on both devices. All that Apple Silicon will be tasked with powering Apple Intelligence (Apple’s brand of AI), which will arrive on these devices after they ship to consumers later this month.
All four iPhone 16 models get camera upgrades, and we now have zoom parity between the two Pro models. There’s also consistent support for spatial photography (great news if you’ve got a VR headset to view them through).
Finally, we have color and titanium tone upgrades across the board. The colors on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are particularly appealing.
Is it time to upgrade? It’s too early to tell, but keep an eye on this space for more guidance.
5. Apple Watch also got a Glow-up
Apple also used its Glowtime event to show us a brand new smartwatch, this time with a bigger, brighter display, a slimmer casing and a number of new features including the ability to play music through the speaker as a backup when your AirPods run out of battery (though, strangely, that wasn’t possible before) and sleep apnea detection.
The new smartwatch launches on September 20 for $399 / £399 / AU$649, and we were suitably impressed when we tried it out for our Apple Watch Series 10 hands-on review.
The only major gripe we have so far is that Apple hasn’t made room for a larger battery – an ongoing problem with Apple’s smartwatches – though it has introduced faster charging, which could help alleviate that issue. We’ll just have to wait and see.
4. We got new AirPods and Apple hearing aids
During the Glowtime festivities, we also saw the arrival of the new Apple AirPods 4… well, two new AirPods 4. One version (which costs $179 / £179 / AU$299) comes with active noise cancellation and related features like a transparency mode so you can better hear the world around you, while the other cheaper model drops ANC in favor of a more entry-level model (which costs just $129 / £129 / AU$219).
But the big announcement came for the AirPods Pro 2, which now have FDA clearance to be used as hearing aids. They also offer hearing protection and a hearing test feature, all at no extra cost. The AirPods Pro 2 don’t have the battery life of full-blown hearing aids, but they are a fair bit more affordable and can serve as a solid middle ground for people who might want to consider hearing aids but aren’t ready to spend more on something expensive.
3. Project Strawberry became the new ChatGPT
The next generation of ChatGPT has arrived and you can try it out right now, provided you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, which costs $20/£16 per month. The new chatbot, initially called Project Strawberry, is actually referred to as ‘o1-preview’ in the ChatGPT interface and can be accessed via the dropdown menu at the top left of the screen.
Strawberry is much better at solving math problems than previous versions of the popular chatbot, with OpenAI claiming that this more powerful o1 preview “performed comparable to PhD students on challenging benchmark tasks in physics, chemistry, and biology.”
2. A Fitbit Premium feature became free
The Google Pixel Watch 3 got Fitbit Premium’s daily readiness score as a free feature, and now older Fitbit trackers and smartwatches are getting the same treatment. The daily readiness score is a breakdown of how ready you are to take on the day and a big workout based on your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and recent sleep patterns, and it’s helpful in knowing whether you should take it easy or push yourself a little harder.
Instead of paying for Fitbit Premium, users with a Pixel Watch, Pixel Watch 2, Sense, Sense 2, Versa 2, Versa 3, Versa 4, Charge 5, Charge 6, Inspire 2, Inspire 3, or Luxe can now use this feature for free in their Fitbit app after updating to version 4.23.
1. Huawei was the first in the world to introduce a triple-folding phone
Foldable phones still only represent 1.5% of the global smartphone market, but that’s not stopping Chinese mobile giant Huawei from developing the technology even further.
This week, the company debuted the Huawei Mate XT – the world’s first commercially available dual-hinged, triple-screen phone. Yes, you read that right: triple-screen phone. When folded, the Mate XT’s front-facing OLED display measures a traditional 6.4 inches, but when fully unfolded, the new device spans three separate screens and measures a whopping 10.2 inches.
Of course, all that display real estate comes at a price. The Huawei Mate XT – which is currently only available in China – starts at 19,999 yuan (around $2,810 / £2,150 / AU$4,220) for the 256GB of storage model. For comparison, the cheapest version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 – aka the most expensive of the best foldable phones in 2024 – costs $1,899.99 / £1,799 / AU$2,749. But since when has innovation been cheap?