| Hey everyone, it’s Mark. Apple held its biggest product launch event of the year on Tuesday, ushering in four new iPhone models, an end-to-end refresh to the Apple Watch line and new AirPods. Here are my takeaways. Last time in Power On: Apple’s hot new iPhone Air won’t be the right choice for most buyers.  The iPhone 17 Pro has a new aluminum unibody design. Photographer: Chris Welch/Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s launch event delivered a perplexing message to customers. On one hand, the company touted its new ultrathin iPhone Air as an essential product for Apple users — a “game changer,” as Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook put it. But the device, while indeed cool, compromises on the very things that are most important to users: battery life, audio and camera capabilities. Meanwhile, the new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and AirPods Pro are far more practical upgrades. They might not have been the eye-catching showpiece of the presentation, but they deftly handle the tasks that matter most. iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: The iPhone 17 Pro is the closest we’ve come to the kind of seismic upgrade we saw with the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020 or the iPhone X in 2017 (or the iPhone 6 Plus several years before that). In a market defined by incremental improvements from Apple and rival Samsung Electronics Co., this new product family is compelling and delivers on the iPhone’s main strengths. - Durability: One of the top reasons people buy a new phone is because they destroyed their old one. While iPhones have become gradually more durable, this new version takes a leap in two main ways. First, the front glass uses a new material called Ceramic Shield 2 that is tougher and three times more scratch-resistant than prior iPhone glass. Second, by moving to an aluminum unibody frame, the phone now has less glass on the back. That means the device has fewer vulnerable spots for cracks. There’s still some glass in the rear — to enable the wireless charging area — but that portion is now also made from the tougher Ceramic Shield material.
- Fixing Overheating: Two years ago, Apple pushed back vehemently on the idea that the iPhone 15 Pro had an overheating problem. The company blamed software, rogue apps and everything but its design, which was the first to use titanium. Now, two years later, we’re back to aluminum. Apple says this handles heat much better than titanium (who knew?), and we have the inclusion of a vapor chamber to cool off the device’s internals. The approach also helps improve performance and shows that Apple is being pragmatic.
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