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AI-generated summary
You’ve probably watched all the influencer videos calling this keynote “amazing”. But between us, what should you actually take away from it?
For me, the first obvious thing is that Apple still knows how to make good hardware — very good, even. Insanely powerful machines, yes. But for what exactly? To run Siri, which still can’t answer our questions properly? Really? 🤔
iPhone: a new orange color, and then what?
Like every year, the iPhone Pro gets better. More endurance, more performance. But for us Europeans, battery life remains slightly reduced due to the retention of the SIM card tray. Is that actually such a bad choice? When you know that Orange charges €10 just to transfer an eSIM from one iPhone to another, you start thinking the good old physical SIM card still has a bright future ahead…
Apple wants to turn us all into videographers with their iPhone. Nothing new there, except this year the marketing is really pushing hard in that direction. But let’s be honest: how many of us have found ourselves with a dead iPhone battery mid-shoot? No payment, no GPS, no digital ID cards until the thing is recharged.
And on the photo side? It’s a letdown. Apple is banking on digital zoom to mask a glaring lack of innovation. You can feel a hardware ceiling, while Google with its Pixel line bets on AI and computational photography.
Key takeaways:
- better heat dissipation 🔥
- better battery life: the Pro now matches last year’s Pro Max, which seems like the only real justification for the upgrade.
10 years of Apple Watch… for this?
Apple blows out the candles with a more coherent lineup: all watches get the same processor. The result? A small endurance boost (24h for the Watch 11, 42h for the Ultra). But let’s be serious: to take advantage of sleep analysis, you still need to charge your watch every day. Can you picture an Apple engineer wearing their Watch at night? I can’t. And who actually enjoys charging it during their shower? What a hassle.
On the design side, nothing new. The Ultra keeps its look, with a slightly larger screen… imperceptible unless you have both models side by side. Yes, there’s better brightness, but no better than the Watch 10.
The only notable new feature: satellite connectivity. Useful? Maybe. But it overlaps with the iPhone, so it’s not a compelling enough argument to buy one.
AirPods Pro 3: Amazing or not? 🎧
I’ll admit it: I caved and ordered the AirPods Pro 3 right away. They’re arguably the most useful Apple product alongside the Mac and iPhone. But there’s a nasty surprise: the famous live translation mode isn’t available in Europe. No date announced.
All that’s left is to hope the audio improvements and noise cancellation are genuinely better. Otherwise → return to sender.
Good news though: battery life has improved, a real plus for those of us who, like me, wear them all day long — including during workout breaks.
Conclusion
All the software features Apple highlighted this year… already exist on previous hardware! Hello blood pressure measurement 👋. Apple was very careful not to say that out loud.
And what if, in the end, Apple had realized that perpetual hardware upgrades weren’t so “green”? But there’s no way the company could admit that publicly.
The real problem is that AI and services are still lagging behind. Where’s the competitor to Lightroom or Final Cut that actually takes advantage of the power in their chips? Apple has relied too heavily on third-party developers through its App Store. The result: a first-party software lineup that’s way behind.
A glaring example: the Health app, even under iOS 26, looks pale next to Garmin Connect (which isn’t perfect either).
In summary: great hardware, but no software vision behind it. And a keynote that, despite all the glitter, leaves a feeling of something unfinished.
