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Here's everything Apple announced during its 'Far Out' event

Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 14 lineup, as well as new versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods.
Written by Stephanie Condon, Senior Writer

Apple on Wednesday held an event, dubbed "Far Out," to officially unveil its iPhone 14 lineup. Apple is also showcasing new versions of the Apple Watch and Apple AirPods. 

Broadcast from Apple Park, the company's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California, the event follows a major iPhone milestone: According to Counterpoint Research, the device recently hit 50% market share in the US. The research firm noted Apple shipped 237.9 million iPhones last year, an all-time high. 

Here's a look at everything announced during the Far Out event:

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Jason Hiner/ ZDNET

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus

Apple introduced the iPhone 14, the iPhone 14 Plus, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The base iPhone 14 models now come in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes.

The iPhone 14 starts at $799 and is available on Sept. 16. The iPhone 14 Plus starts at $899 and will be available on October 7. You can pre-order either beginning on Sept. 9.

The iPhone 14 offers a new front camera with autofocus. It has a more advanced camera system for pictures in any light. The camera also offers an Action mode for extra smooth videos. 

The new devices also offer the iPhone's best battery life yet. They're powered by the A15 bionic chip and come with crash detection and the new Emergency SOS via Satellite service. 

The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus come in five colors: midnight, starlight, blue, purple and red.

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The iPhone 14 Pro

Jason Hiner/ ZDNET

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max

Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max feature the new A16 bionic chip.

The always-on display dims the wallpaper for a lockscreen with information that's readily available. There's a new "dynamic island" on the top of the display -- an interactive place that bubbles up alerts, notifications and activities. 

The devices also feature most impressive iPhone camera system yet. The 48-megapixel camera has a quad-pixel sensor -- the equivalent of four pro lenses at the ready. It captures 4x more information than ever before, and the A16 bionic chip analyzes and perfects every pixel. Now, professional photographers can capture an uncompressed 48 megapixel raw image.

The camera also includes a new Action mode that offers gimbal-like stabilization. It offers 4k resolution video and 24 frames-per-second recording.

The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999, while the Pro Max starts at $1099. They're available for pre-order on September 9 and will ship on Sept. 16.

There are four colors for the iPhone 14 Pro models this year. They are space black, silver, gold and deep purple.

apple-watch-series-8
Jason Hiner/ ZDNET

New Apple Watch models

Apple also has new Apple Watch models on tap. Three of them, to be exact.

Apple added menstrual cycle tracking to the Watch three years ago. Now, the Apple Watch Series 8 comes with a suite of advanced cycle tracking features, including valuable information about ovulation -- a critical aspect of women's health. 

The Series 8 also offers crash detection. When a car crash is detected, it will automatically connect you with emergency services.

The watch still offers an 18-hour battery life. It now includes a low-power mode, which can give you 36 hours of battery life on a full charge. 

The Series 8 is priced at $399 for GPS and $499 for cellular. It's available to order now and will ship on Sept 16.

The new Apple Watch SE 2 offers all the core benefits of an Apple Watch. That now includes crash detection. It's available in silver, midnight and starlight. It's priced at $249 for GPS and $299 for cellular. It's available to order now and will ship on Sept 16.

The Apple Watch Ultra is a bigger, more rugged version of Apple's popular wearable. 

At a higher price point, it's going up against Garmin's high-end rugged watches. While the Apple Watch has long dominated the smartwatch and wearables categories, Garmin leads in market share for smartwatches over the $500 mark.

The Apple Watch Ultra starts at $799. It's available to order now and will ship on Sept 23.

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The Airpods Pro 2 offers case engravings, including Emoji and Memoji options. 

Jason Hiner/ ZDNET

AirPods Pro 2

The new AirPods offer up to six hours of listening time, as well as up to 30 hours of total listening time with the charging case. 

They're available for $249. Order on Sept. 9 for a Sept. 23 launch.

iPhone 14 satellite location
Image: Apple

Emergency SOS service via Satellite

The new, game-changing service will be included for free for two years with iPhone 14. It launches in November in the US and Canada.

It connects your phone to a satellite-based network. There are some places, like winding back roads, that cell towers don't reach. Communication satellites -- traveling hundreds of miles above the Earth at thousands of miles an hour -- are difficult to reach, but they can offer a lifeline when you are out of reach of a cell tower.

To overcome the technical challenges of reaching a satellite, Apple built custom components and software.

Connecting to a satellite-based network is only possible when the phone is pointing directly at a satellite, so Apple created a unique user experience that shows you were to point your phone to establish a connection. No bulky antenna is needed. 

Apple also created a custom, short text compression algorithm to reduce the size of average messages by a factor of three. Thanks to this algorithm, it can take less than 15 seconds to send a message. 

After your message is relayed to a ground station, it needs to reach the right emergency service provider. Apple has set up relay centers, staffed with trained emergency specialists ready to get your text. 

This service can also be used in more casual, less dire circumstances. Use the "FindMy" app to share your location manually via satellite.

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