“Awe Dropping”: the recap of unique and interesting
Apple’s events are pretty much always a big deal. Arguably, it was Steve Jobs who popularized on-stage presentation of new products and made it a form of art, pushing the previously mundane practice of showing public novelties to a whole new level. The first keynote of this type was all about the very first iPhone (2007 Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco on January 9, 2007).
Apple has been practicing this format of unveiling events ever since. This year’s “Awe Dropping” is no exception: there was a stage (stages, rather, several of them), there were new products, and tons of excitement. The recaps of the event are abundant on the web; the company has given us the new iPhone 17 series, a refreshed Apple Watch lineup, and AirPods Pro 3, eight new products all in all. In this piece, we won’t summarize the specs of the new models — everyone knows them now. Rather, we’ll focus on what was unique and interesting about the event itself and the products presented there.
Several stages
Previously, Apple’s fall presentation gala revolved around Cupertino, one way or another; this year, the presenters turned retail stores all over the world into their stages. The list of locations includes Singapore, the UAE, China, Turkey, plus outlets in Chicago, Miami, and New York. Of course, Apple is a for-profit company, and this marketing stunt was designed to warm up audiences across the ocean; still, there is a humanitarian significance here that cannot be denied. Nice one.
Downplayed AI
Artificial intelligence is all the rage nowadays, already ubiquitous and, really, moderately annoying in terms of coverage in the media: if a described event or product has even the slightest connection to AI, it’ll be brought to the limelight despite being, in reality, secondary to everything else about the said event or product.
Apple chose to be different. They did not put their Apple Intelligence above and before all the other stuff; rather, it was mentioned only in passing, as one of the already-not-so-new components of the ecosystem. The reason behind this decision may be the lack of groundbreaking progress in this domain: Apple isn’t exactly winning the AI race currently. Regardless, the contrast to other recent tech events dominated by AI narratives was interesting.
No new iPad, AirTag, and HomePod
iPad Pro M5 was anticipated for 2025 as the successor to the M4-powered iPad Pro. The September event was contemplated as a good occasion to launch it: the original iPad Pro debuted on September 9, 2015, which makes this year’s fall presentation its 10th anniversary. Didn’t happen.
AirTag 2 was expected even earlier, in spring or early summer 2025; according to the rumors that circulated back then, the device was upgraded with a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, improved anti-stalking features, and integration with Apple Vision Pro. However, it was unveiled neither in the first half of 2025 nor at the recent event.
Some analysts, pointing to mass production in the 3rd quarter of 2025, predicted release of the new HomePod mini, sometimes referred to as HomePod mini 2. The device is believed to boast noticeable hardware and software improvements, including a new chip for AI and audio processing and, possibly, a screen in a larger version, turning it into a smart home hub. Still waiting for this one, too.
A stunningly slim iPhone Air
iPhone Air is the thinnest iPhone ever, measuring 5.6 mm only. It is likely one of the thinnest smartphones among all of them, not just Apple’s products: the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a thickness of about 5.8 mm, which is a bit more.
What made such a design possible? First off, the titanium frame, and secondly, the camera plateau that, essentially, houses all the hardware (A19 Pro chip, Wi-Fi 7, eSIM) of the phone. The remaining space under the screen is occupied by the battery, which is promised to give up to 27 hours of video playback on a single charge, which is quite impressive.
AirPods Pro 3 with Live Translation and health monitoring
AirPods Pro 3 were the item that triggered some arguments: some experts, at least earlier in the year, believed it would not be released this year, while others pointed to some evidence supporting the unveiling. The latter turned out to be right: Apple did give us AirPods Pro 3 at “Awe Dropping,” although without the infrared cameras. The expected Live Translation is there, though plus some cool health-related features: heart-rate tracking, physical activity (movement) detection and registration, and calorie counting.
All things considered, AirPods Pro 3 may be Apple’s first step on the path to an ultimate display-less personal AI assistant, something already designed by OpenAI, IO, and, likely, a bunch of other so-far-stealth startups out there.
