Week 36 in review: iPhone 14 series, new Apple Watch models, Huawei Mate 50 series

A big week in terms of announcements just concluded and this is you recap. Huawei kicked things off on Tuesday and unveiled its Mate 50 series with the Mate 50, Mate 50 Pro, Mate 50 RS Porsche Design and Mate 50E.

The Mate 50, 50 Pro and 50 RS are all equipped with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset sans 5G connectivity and support for BeiDou Satellite Messaging for those times when you don’t have network coverage. All three share the new 50MP main cam which has a variable aperture that ranges from f/1.4 to f/4.0. The ultrawide module is of the RYYB variety and an f/2.2 lens while the Pro and RS models also get a 3.5x telephoto camera.

Mate 50 Pro and 50 RS have 6.74-inch OLED displays with 120Hz refresh rates while the vanilla Mate 50 gets a 6.7-inch 90Hz OLED. Mate 50Pro and 50 RS get 4,700mAh batteries with 66W wired charging while the regular Mate 50 has a 4,460mAh cell.

The Mate 50 Pro starts at CNY6,799 ($980) for the 256GB option, the non-Pro asks CNY4,999 ($720) for the base 128GB flavor. The Mate RS Porsche design asks for CNY12,999 ($1,870). There’s no word on international availability for now.

The biggest event of the week belonged to Apple. After months of rumors and leaks, we finally got the long-awaited iPhone 14 series. There’s the regular iPhone 14 and the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus which look just like the iPhone 13 from last year, but now boast a larger 12MP camera sensor that captures 1.9µm pixels as well as longer-lasting batteries and Emergency SOS via satellite which is the big new feature also present on the Pro models.

The 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max get rid of the notch that has been around since the iPhone X days and replaces it with the a pill-shaped punch hole Apple calls the Dynamic Island. It serves a dual purpose by housing the selfie camera and Face ID sensor as well as acting like a multitasking bar and widget shelf.

Elsewhere, the new Pro iPhones get brighter displays with up to 2,000 nits peak brightness in the same 6.1 and 6.7-inch sizes as well as an all new 48MP main camera sensor with an f/1.78 aperture and 1.22μm pixel size before binning – 2.44μm with binning. Apple also made the A16 Bionic chipset exclusive to the new Pro models.

Apple’s iPhone 14 starts at $799, while the 14 Plus is $899. The 14 Pro starts from $999 while the 14 Pro Max is $1,099. Sadly, international buyers get a sizeable price hike in prices with the iPhone 14 being anywhere from 4% more expensive in Australia to 24% pricier in Poland compared to the iPhone 13 launch prices.

Apple also announced a slew of new smartwatches with the Watch Series 8, new Watch SE and Watch Ultra. The Ultra is the rugged Apple Watch we’ve been hearing about for so long and it brings dual-band GPS connectivity, cellular connectivity as standard and 36 hours of battery life. Its display can reach 2000 nits peak brightness and the watch is also WR100 and EN 13319 certified as a recognized dive accessory. Watch Ultra starts at $799, Watch Series 8 can be had for as low as $399 while the SE model is $249.

The new Apple AirPods Pro 2 cover a wider range of sound frequencies, offer personalized Spatial Audio and get 2x better noise cancelation all while offering 6 hours of listening time. They start at $249.

Moving on, Xiaomi announced its Redmi 11 Prime 5G, Redmi 11 Prime and Redmi A1 phones. The Prime 5G gets a 6.58-inch IPS LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate alongside the Mediatek Dimensity 700 chipset and a 50MP main camera. Redmi 11 Prime has the same display and main camera but is equipped with the Helio G99 SoC. Redmi A1 is a 6.52-inch entry-level device with a Helio A22 chip, 8MP single camera on the back and a 5,000 mAh battery.

Redmi 11 Prime 5G starts at INR12,999 ($160), Redmi 11 Prime will go for INR12,999 while the A1 is INR6,499.

Qualcomm debuted two new chipsets – the midrange Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the entry-level Snapdragon 4 Gen 1. The 6 Gen 1 is built on a 4nm manufacturing process, while the more affordable SD 4 Gen 1 stays on the 6nm node. The first SD 6 Gen 1-powered devices are expected to arrive in Q1 2023 while the SD 4 Gen 1 will make its debut this quarter on iQOO’s upcoming Z6 Lite.

Motorola unveiled three new Edge series smartphones. The Edge 30 Ultra is a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship with a 200MP main camera that uses Samsung’s ISOCELL HP1 – a 1/1.22″ sensor that does 16-in-1 pixel binning and outputs 12.5MP shots with a combined 2.56µm pixel pitch. The sensor can also output 50MP stills with 1.28μm individual pixels, and even the full 200MP resolution with 0.64μm pixels. Edge 30 Ultra also packs 6.67” pOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, a 4,610 mAh battery and 125W wired charging. Pricing starts at €900.

Edge 30 Fusions tones down the specs a bit and is equipped with the Snapdragon 888+ 5G chipset as well as a 50MP 1/1.55″ main camera sensor. It still packs a 6.67-inch pOLED with a 144Hz refresh rate while its 4,400 mAh battery supports 68W fast charging. Pricing starts from €600.

Edge 30 Neo is the more affordable entry – it gets a 6.28-inch 120Hz pOLED display, Snapdragon 695 5G chipset, and a 4,020mAh battery with 68W charging. It will retail for €370 once it goes on sale.

We saw a pair of new Poco phones – the M5 and M5s.

These were the biggest headlines of the week, see you in seven days.

There’s a new chipset too, unlike the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus.

That’s right, the new 6.7″ non-Pro model is called “Plus”. It and the 6.1″ model use the A15 chip from last year and have improved cameras on the front and back.

And a notched display with advanced facial unlock.

As always, there were more than just iPhones during Apple’s annual event.

The prices in the US, Canada and China are the same as last year’s models, but that is not true for most of the rest of the world.

As is the iPhone 13 Pro duo, of course. No more iPhone 11 models either, at least not from Apple.com.

Sales begin on September 9.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 offers big jump in performance, photo and video capture and connectivity.

The new ad came out right after the Apple keynote ended.

Steeper prices for the new iPhones outside of the US.

It looks like the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are not missing out on much.

“Buy your mom an iPhone”, he said in response to a journalist’s question.

The new watches bring a temperature sensor, crash detection, and low-power mode.

The headline-grabbing 200MP sensor is optically stabilized and can do 16-in-1 binning.

Both midrangers have a 5,000 mAh battery, competitive prices.

Rumors point to a November launch.

The Poco M5 has the new 6nm Helio G99 chipset and a 5,000mAh battery.

Apple’s latest lineup of products is out and all major US carriers have posted their offers and deals.