Wowzas. Just as IFA 2024 was wrapping up we got an Apple iPhone event, a PS5 Pro announcement, and a new version of ChatGPT to try out, along with plenty of other major tech updates.
To help you get caught up to speed on it all we’ve rounded up the seven biggest tech news stories from the past week and condensed them all into this one quick ICYMI round up.
Once you’re all caught up you should also check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows you need to stream this weekend across Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more.
7. Sony unleashed the PS5 Pro
After months of increasingly strong rumors, Sony has finally revealed the PS5 Pro – a substantially more powerful version of the PS5.
With upgrades centered around graphical improvements, Sony claims that the PS5 Pro’s beefed-up graphics card will be able to render 45% faster than the base PS5. Throw in some advanced ray tracing capability, and new AI-drive upscaling tech called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution and we could be in for some real treats, with the company pitching the console as a machine that will simply remove the need to choose between fidelity and performance modes in games.
It costs a pretty penny though as it’s set to launch at $699 / £699 – and won’t even come with a disc drive or vertical stand.
PS5 Pro pre-orders start at PlayStation Direct on September 26, and at other retailers in the US and UK on October 10.
6. It was Glowtime for the iPhone 16
Apple unveiled four new phones that included new chips, new hardware, and new capabilities, and the jury is split on whether this is revolution or evolution. There’s that new Camera Control (not a button if you ask Apple) that gives you instant access to the iPhone 16 camera (yes, it’s on all the new phones) and is gesture sensitive for accessing further controls.
There are A18 chips for everyone, though the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max got the more powerful A18 Pro. Perhaps that extra power will help drive the now slightly larger screens on both devices. All that Apple Silicon will be tasked with powering Apple Intelligence (Apple’s brand of AI) which is set to arrive on these handsets shortly after they ship to consumers later this month.
All four iPhone 16 models got 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 have a VR headset to view them on).
Finally, we have color and titanium hue upgrades across the board. The colors on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are particularly appealing.
Is it time to upgrade? It’s too soon to tell but keep watching this space for more guidance.
5. Apple Watch got a Glow-up as well
Apple used its Glowtime event to give us a brand new smartwatch as well, this time with a bigger brighter screen, a slimmer body, and some new features – including the ability to play music through its speaker as a backup when your AirPods run out of charge (though it’s slightly odd that wasn’t possible before), and sleep apnea detection.
The new smartwatch is launching on September 20 for $399 / £399 / AU$649 and we were somewhat impressed with it when we gave it a whirl for our hands-on Apple Watch Series 10 review.
The only major gripe we have so far is that Apple didn’t make room for a bigger battery – an ongoing issue with Apple’s smartwatches – though it did introduce faster charging which could help to mitigate this problem. We’ll 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 (costing $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 to offer a more entry-level option (that only costs $129 / £129 / AU$219).
But the big announcement came for the AirPods Pro 2, which now have FDA approval to be used as hearing aids. They’ll offer hearing protection and a hearing test feature too, all at no additional cost. The AirPods Pro 2 won’t have the battery life of full-on hearing aids but they’re a lot cheaper and could act as a solid middle-ground option for people who might want to explore getting a hearing aid but aren’t ready to shell-out on something pricier.
3. Project Strawberry became the new ChatGPT
The next generation of ChatGPT has arrived, and you can try it now, provided you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, which costs $20 / £16 a month. Initially called Project Strawberry, the new chatbot is actually named as ‘o1-preview’ in the ChatGPT interface, and is accessible from the drop-down menu at the top left of the screen.
Strawberry is much better at solving math problems than previous versions of the popular chatbot, and OpenAI claims this more powerful o1-preview has performed “similarly to PhD students on challenging benchmark tasks in physics, chemistry, and biology.”
2. A Fitbit Premium feature went 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 an overview 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 useful for knowing if you should take things easy or push yourself a little harder.
Now, rather than need to pay 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 access this feature in their Fitbit app for free once they update to version 4.23.
1. Huawei debuted a world first tri-fold phone
Foldable phones still only account for around 1.5% of the global smartphone market, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese mobile giant Huawei from pushing 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 collapsed, 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 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 model with 256GB of storage. For context, 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 did innovation come cheap?
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
