Apple is full of new features. It focuses on photography, video, sports, as well as security and makes the iPhone 14 a better everyday companion.
Tim Cook’s group held its back-to-school keynote yesterday. The iPhone 14 and a whole range of news Apple Watch, including Series 8, Ultra and SE, were at the heart of this event. These new generations of smartphones and of connected watches embed innovative features, some of which may have gone somewhat unnoticed. Let’s come back to these details which will however significantly improve the user experience.
Action Mode
Filming a scene while yourself in motion or recording a feat, a sporting event or simply your child playing in the garden, can be complicated with a smartphone. After having significantly improved the performance of the sensors and the AI of its iPhones in recent years, the American manufacturer is now attacking videos and announces the arrival of Action Mode.
This is a new option, offered alongside the Cinematic, Slow motion and Fast motion modes. Action Mode offers advanced video stabilization, which captures all moving scenes with the utmost clarity. No additional hardware such as a gimbal is required. This technology is responsible for reducing the effect of jolts, movements and vibrations. As a bonus, it supports Dolby Vision and HDR. No compromise therefore on the quality of the videos thus filmed.
This feature is available on the entire iPhone 14 series.
Connexion satellite
Like Huawei in particular, the Cupertino group announces the arrival of SOS calls via a satellite connection. It is useful in an emergency when cellular networks and Wi-Fi fail.
To deploy such a service, Apple has partnered with the satellite telecommunications company Globalstar. Concretely, the iPhone 14 thus makes it possible to send messages to the emergency services and to the contacts configured as being to be notified in the event of a major problem. Unlike iMessages and SMS, they appear gray in the feed and are limited in length.
However, the manufacturer warns that this system is relatively slow and depends on the weather and the visibility of the sky. If it would take about 15 seconds to send a message with a clear sky, this delay can rise to several minutes in the event of clouds or when the user is in an enclosed place, for example.
At this time, Emergency Satellite Connection is only available in the United States and Canada. It is free for 2 years with any purchase of an iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max.
Photonic Engine
This new technology intervenes in the processing of the image during a photo capture. It goes further than the Deep Fusion launched in 2019 with the iPhone 11 and improves the quality of photos taken in low light. Note that this is not a specific option offered in the camera, like Action Mode, but the Photonic Engine intervenes natively on all shots.
It uses both hardware (chip, sensors), AI and iOS 16 to enhance shots taken in low light. Apple specifies that it processes photos pixel by pixel and thus improves the texture, as well as the level of detail. This technology is available on all sensors.
Road accident detection
The iPhone 14 now detects when its owner has a serious car accident. It then automatically alerts the emergency services and emergency contacts.
In concrete terms, the accelerometer analyzes extreme accelerations and decelerations, the gyroscope monitors sudden changes in orientation, the microphone is on the lookout for extreme noises and the barometer records changes in pressure in the vehicle.
This service is complementary to the SOS functionality deployed in the United States. It will nevertheless be available in France on the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro.
Apple Fitness+ sans Watch
Launched in 2020 in the United States, this fitness program was until then only offered to holders of an Apple Watch. The Cupertino company will remove this constraint next month and make its sports training service accessible directly from an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV (but still not a MacBook), including in France.
In total, the Fitness+ catalog includes more than 3,000 audio and video sports sessions (up to 4K Ultra HD) led by coaches. All types of activities are represented, from yoga, to HIIT, through guided meditation and treadmill running, for workouts of 5 to 45 minutes, with a catalog that changes every week.
As with the option launched on the Apple Watch, it requires a subscription, 9.99 euros per month or 79.99 euros per year.