If you felt a subtle disturbance in your wallet today, that’s because Apple just announced a wave of new hardware at its September 2025 iPhone event.
Leading the charge is the iPhone 17 Pro, packing Apple’s largest battery ever and a camera “plateau” (or bump, as most people say) so wide it now qualifies as real estate. Then there’s the all-new iPhone Air, a stunning 5.6mm wafer of tech that somehow squeezes in pro-grade performance and a dual camera without snapping in half.
The AirPods Pro 3 now come with heart rate sensing, double the noise cancellation, and the ability to live-translate you asking directions on holiday. For the wrist, a new Apple Watch Series 11 adds 5G, hypertension alerts, and stronger glass. If you’re a tad more adventurous, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 brings 42 hours of battery, satellite connectivity, and a display that stretches right to the edge of its titanium case.
It’s Apple in full flex mode. Let’s break it all down:
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max
This year’s iPhone Pro says it will go all day, but in truth, will probably outlast you after a busy day. With Apple’s biggest battery ever, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max are aimed squarely at power users, road warriors, and anyone who forgets to charge their phone until it hits 4%.
Visually, the headline change is the camera bump (sorry, camera plateau) now stretching clear across the back like a designer monobrow. Apple insists it’s functional. Cynics say it looks silly. Either way, inside that sprawling aluminum arch is a triple 48-megapixel setup, the first time all three cameras — wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto — have reached that resolution. The telephoto gets a notable glow-up with a 56% larger sensor and 8x optical-quality zoom.
Around the front, there’s a sharper 18MP selfie cam with Center Stage smarts, making your front-facing photos even more worthy of the ‘gram. Under the hood, an A19 Pro chip powers it all, promising speed boosts, efficiency gains, and just enough graphics grunt to run your very own large language model on device (a nod to our future AI overlords, no doubt).
The Pro models come in silver, blue, and a new bold orange that’s basically Apple screaming “I’m not boring!”. And after a flirtation with titanium last year, Apple’s back to an aluminum build, with Ceramic Shield protection on both sides making tougher, scratch-resistant, and less likely to shatter when dropped onto tile at 3am.
Starting at US$1,099/AED4,700 (Pro) and US$1,199/AED5,100 (Pro Max), with up to 2TB of storage, the iPhone 17 Pro is Apple’s loudest, longest-lasting phone to date.
The plateau may be divisive, but the performance isn’t.
iPhone Air
The new iPhone Air is so thin it might just slip between the cushions of your sofa and never be found again. At just 5.6mm, it’s the slimmest iPhone Apple has ever made, a feat of engineering that seems to defy physics, logic, and common sense. And yet, somehow, they’ve packed in a 6.5-inch ProMotion display, up to 120Hz refresh rate, and 3,000 nits of brightness.
Despite looking like it might snap if you stare at it too hard, Apple insists the Air is built for the real world. There’s a titanium frame, sandwiched by Ceramic Shield front and back, making this Apple’s “most durable” design yet.
Under the hood, the Air shares the same A19 Pro chip as the 17 Pro series, which means no compromises on performance, just fewer millimetres to show for it. It also gets a custom-built C1x modem that doubles wireless speeds, plus support for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread.
The camera setup includes a 48MP wide and a 12MP telephoto, plus the same 18MP selfie camera with Center Stage magic. A new recording mode lets you film with front and rear cameras at once, perfect for vloggers, content creators, or people who like talking to themselves.
Battery life? Surprisingly solid. Apple promises “all day” use, or up to 40 hours of video playback if paired with the new Air MagSafe battery, which is about as thin as a slice of lettuce. To make space, the Air ditches the SIM tray entirely. It’s e-SIM only, so your physical SIM card is now just a sad little relic of the past.
The Air starts at US$999/AED4,300 for 256GB, and comes in a quietly stylish palette: black, white, beige, and light blue. Accessories include an ultra-thin translucent case, a reinforced bumper, and a new cross-body strap.
The iPhone Air is proof Apple can still surprise us. It’s thinner, lighter, smarter, and unapologetically a little extra.
AirPods Pro 3
Gone are the days when headphones were just used to play music. Apple’s new AirPods Pro want to monitor your vitals, translate your conversations, and gently judge your life choices. These are the biggest upgrades the AirPods Pro line has seen in three years, and Apple’s come swinging with features that feel closer to a wearable medical device than a humble set of earbuds.
The headline feature is a tiny heart rate sensor, which uses an infrared PPG sensor pulsing 256 times per second to track your blood flow. Pair that with onboard AI, gyros, GPS, and accelerometers, and you’ve got a surprisingly comprehensive workout companion, now backed by a new “Workout Buddy” feature in the iPhone’s fitness app.
Apple’s also cranked up the active noise cancellation, now claiming “the world’s best” thanks to foam-infused ear tips and a new audio architecture. According to Apple, it offers twice the noise reduction of the previous generation, ideal for tuning out reality, your inbox, or the person next to you watching TikTok with no headphones.
Also new: Live Translation. When enabled, your AirPods can listen in real time and whisper a translated version back to you. It’ll even lower ambient noise so you can focus on the interpretation.
The design has been tweaked too, making them slightly smaller, more ergonomic, and now available in five ear tip sizes. They’re also now IP57 rated, so they’re more resistant to sweat and the odd accidental dip.
Still $249/AED959, the AirPods Pro 3 are available to preorder today, shipping September 19th. They’ll also benefit from new iOS 26 features like camera remote control, sleep detection, and studio-quality audio support across more devices.
Apple Watch Series 11
The Apple Watch Series 11 doesn’t look wildly different at first glance, but look a little closer, and you’ll notice Apple has gone on a un-subtle health kick.
It’s the slimmest Apple Watch yet, now with a redesigned cellular antenna for improved 5G connectivity, stronger Ion-X glass coated at the atomic level (science!), and an upgraded optical heart sensor that monitors not just your heart rate, but now tracks hypertension by quietly watching in the background for signs your blood pressure’s been riding a little high.
There’s also a new Sleep Score feature, which crunches data on your stages of rest and how long you’ve actually slept. (Spoiler: it will never be enough.) It won’t tuck you in, but it might finally guilt you into skipping that third episode of whatever it is you’re bingeing at 1AM.
Visually, it’s still the familiar curved square, but Series 11 adds a bit more polish. Literally. It’s available in jet black, space grey, rose gold, and silver aluminum, alongside natural, gold, and slate titanium if you’re feeling flush.
The Smart Stack widget system has been improved, and there’s a new wrist flick gesture that lets you dismiss calls and notifications with a casual wave. And like the rest of Apple’s lineup, Series 11 embraces the Liquid Glass design language, giving UI elements a bubbly, high-gloss transparency effect.
Battery life stays at 24 hours, which feels quaint next to the Ultra’s beefier stats, but is perfectly fine for mere mortals who sleep indoors and have access to a charger.
Starting at US$399/AED1,600 for the 42mm GPS-only model, it’s available to preorder now, and ships from September 19th.
Apple Watch Ultra 3
If the regular Apple Watch is a polite gym buddy, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is the trainer who wakes you up at 4am for a run through the desert. This thing is still massive, still titanium, and still shouting “adventure” even if the wildest place it’s going is the inside of a CrossFit class.
This year’s Ultra gets a few important upgrades, starting with 42 hours of battery life. It also adds satellite connectivity, giving you a potential lifeline in an emergency with even when there’s no signal or Wi-Fi.
The display is bigger, or rather bigger-looking – the case size stays the same, but the screen now reaches closer to the edges, making it feel more immersive. Notifications are louder, brighter, and harder to ignore.
On the health front, the Ultra 3 joins its Series 11 sibling in offering blood pressure monitoring, tracking signs of chronic hypertension quietly over 30 days. It also offers Sleep Score, Workout Buddy, and Apple’s new AI-powered fitness feedback features, all wrapped in watchOS 26 and that shiny Liquid Glass UI.
Available in natural or black titanium, the Ultra 3 keeps its signature rugged charm, complete with those oversized buttons and that knowing air of superiority over lesser wearables. It’s still $799/AED3,200.
All the new devices announced today are available for preorder starting Friday, September 12, with general availability from Thursday, September 19.
