Apple’s ‘It’s Time to Shine’ Special Event Puts a Clear Light on Accessibility

I took a trip down to the South Bay this week, visiting Cupertino to enjoy Apple’s annual September event from the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park headquarters. It’s an event—and a place—I know very well, but each one is different and has a different process in terms of access. Monday’s festivities were no different, per se every new product Apple has announced that it has a relationship with the community of people with disabilities.

Before I share my review, the behavior here provides some important context. Even though I spent a lot of time wandering around the hands-on area after the presentation (recorded first), I don’t have an iPhone 16 or an Apple Watch Series 10 in my possession right now. So, to the extent that I saw and held these upcoming devices, it wasn’t long enough to form a clear opinion about their quality.

As we journalists tend to write on social media, more TK (to come).

iPhone 16 and 16 Pro

While watching the iPhone part of the video, which finally arrived, I kept thinking about 6 years ago when, in 2018, my heart helped me choose the iPhone XR especially with the reason for its blue color. It also helped that, in technical terms, the XR was almost on par with the top-of-the-line XS model. Same design. the same processor. Similar software. In other words, I didn’t sacrifice much by choosing the “smaller” of the two iPhones.

My mind was always made up while I was sitting in the audience to choose the regular iPhone 16 because of the blue version, which Apple officially calls Ultramarine. In the video, the blue color looked very nice – very bold, unlike the washed out tones of the iPhone 15 – so I was surprised (and a little bit disappointed) to find out. I didn’t like blue after seeing it in the hands. The Steve Jobs Theater is brightly lit, but it turns out that Ultramarine has a white cast to it in certain lighting. Purple isn’t my thing, so I’ll probably continue my years-long streak with the Pro version. The point of my anecdote about the XR is just to show how nice it is that the two models of the iPhone 16 generally reach the same level. It’s true that Apple would prefer that people spend a lot of money, but the standard 16 is compelling even among nerd groups.

As for the 16 Pro, my eyesight can’t tell the difference between the reduced bezels on the Pro versus the regular phone. Both look thin to my eyes, but the larger displays (6.3″ and 6.9″, respectively) are welcome. As usual, I’m a dedicated Pro Max user despite its size that drives the plane because the big screens are better for my visual tolerance.

Camera Control

The Camera Control button, available on both iPhone 16 models, sits below the button on the right side of the phone. It reminds me of the old Smart Battery Case, which had a shortcut button to launch the camera. At a stratospheric level, Camera Control is exactly the same except, to borrow a phrase from Ina Garten, Apple turned up the volume on the concept. Like the last few Home Buttons with Touch ID, the Camera Control isn’t a mechanical button; instead, it is capacitive and responds to pressure. What makes Camera Control interesting from a dual access point of view. First, launching the camera is much more fun than swiping left on the Lock Screen, which I used to do all the time. Instead of looking at my phone and swiping, which involves the ability of vision and the car to adapt to me, pressing the Camera Control is less expensive – and faster for taking a quick moment.

I had a hard time communicating with the different presses, as well as doing slide gestures for cycling through the camera menu. To address such issues, my understanding is that there is an accessibility setting on newer iPhones that allows users to change the sensitivity of the button. I will use it once I have the phones for testing.

Apple Watch Series 10

The new Apple Watch is my favorite product of the event. I’ve been an avid supporter of the Apple Watch Ultra since its launch in 2022, skipping the Ultra 2 last year because there were no significant changes. The choice to use the Ultra is the same reason I choose the iPhone Max: its large screen, fully aware of the Faustian price in terms of girth and weight. That price is no longer necessary with the Series 10, as Apple boasts that its screen is slightly larger than the Ultra’s. The Series 10 is significantly thinner than not only last year’s Series 9 but it’s clearly the Ultra. I enjoy the Ultra, but I can’t wait to get back to wearing the regular model. Between the reduced weight and increased screen size of the Apple Watch Series 10, I’m happy to have my cake and eat it too.

Another marquee feature of the Apple Watch Series 10 is sleep detection. I’ve talked about this situation before, and I’m interested to see how Apple’s detection technology works. The company noted in the presentation that 80% of people have this condition and don’t know it.

A side note on the titanium Milanese Loop for the Ultra. I have to play with one in my hands, and it’s not for me. Must be indeed it’s difficult to unfasten and refasten the belt with my less than perfect car skills, so I can’t see myself using it for accessibility reasons.

AirPods

From an accessibility perspective, the standout feature is Apple’s planned future upgrade to turn the earbuds into external hearing aids. This is a feature I’ve covered extensively, including interviews with Starkey and Soundly executives as well as audiologists, and it’s a quiet moment for the hearing impaired. There are notable technical aspects to Apple’s implementation – users take scientifically validated tests from their iPhone, etc. – but the biggest benefit is the social aspect. In fact, there is an extreme stigma attached to wearing prescription hearing aids because hearing loss is a sign of aging and traditional hearing aids are sleek beige boxes that are out of fashion. On the other hand, almost everyone has AirPods of some brand. They are the white iPod headphones of this generation. So, that Apple is adding hearing aid functionality to AirPods means that the stigma is over. Of course, it remains to be seen how Apple’s software will work, not to mention the fact that some people will live better with a hearing aid depending on their circumstances.

However, AirPods Pro with a hearing aid can be a Trojan horse for a small number of people, young and old, to accept hearing aids as a way to cope with their lifestyles. hearing. At a high level, Apple’s acceptance of health-related features – mainly inspired by the Apple Watch – on AirPods is very different from the old days when, as I claimed for TechCrunch in 2018, Apple was fixed that AirPods are not meant to be. hearing aids. That’s still very true as most people will still use AirPods as a listening device for music and podcasts. The bottom line here is that Monday’s news about AirPods Pro becoming hearing aids is a very important development. It will help a lot of people.

Finally, a quick note on AirPods Max. My partner gave me a pair of blue ones a few years ago, and I use them all the time when I work at my desk. Its Lightning port doesn’t bother me at all, as I keep a USB-C to Lightning cable permanently attached to my iMac for charging various accessories like AirPods Max and MagSafe Battery My favorite pack.

Different types

I’ve seen some armchair pundits lamenting on social media about the standard iPhone 16 still using a 60Hz display in 2024. That’s their prerogative, but it’s important to have some perspective. As a single person, I am not philosophically opposed to high refresh rates; It’s all for the advancement of technology. That’s it i However, contradicting this idea is that 120Hz (or higher) is a table number. That is not only true; maybe if you’re a tech YouTuber or a device reviewer with bad eyesight, you care. But it’s important to remember that not everyone can see the smooth transition of the 16 Pro to the regular 16 – and “not seeing” is worlds apart from “not noticing.” On a psychological level, I understand that ProMotion is on my iPhone and it’s a good thing to know. In action? In fact, I can not perceive any tangible advantage that would not exist if I did not know that Apple put it there. I will admit that Apple will probably need to drop ProMotion sooner rather than later in the name of progress. But it is not at all the disruption that the iPhone 16 will send next week with a pedestrian 60Hz display.

Likewise, with regard to USB-C, the clamor for one cable to charge them all has been overblown. The premise makes sense – sure, a single charging cable for every device would be nice and affordable – but the problem is that these cables aren’t easy to use if you, like me , you have hand-eye coordination. As weird as it sounds, what good is USB-C if you have trouble connecting it? Not everyone has a good vision of a communication vehicle, but the mainstream tech community doesn’t bother to think about it. The real innovation isn’t USB-C at all. Real innovation will be making real situations more accessible. As an Apple user, I would love to see Apple somehow integrate MagSafe and USB-C for its environment. I couldn’t care less about industry-wide standards because, again, what’s the point of having one cable for everything if you can’t easily. usage yes for everything?