Apple launches new iPhones (again). Here is a guide

Customer participation will go a long way in determining Apple's results over the next year. Although unit sales of iPhone have stagnated, the company has achieved record revenues by raising prices. He extended this strategy this fall, raising the price of the high-end XS Max model to $ 1,099 from $ 999.

The new handsets, which include Apple's larger displays, faster processors, and upgraded batteries, are designed to encourage upgrades of older devices by nearly 500 million customers using two-year-old iPhones or more.

"If we get a lot of people with older phones, that's a good sign," said Gene Munster, managing partner of investment and research firm Loup Ventures.

The company's latest smartwatch watch is also hitting stores on Friday.

The Series 4 watch is the first to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to perform an electrocardiogram and measure the electrical activity of the heart. Apple has stated that this feature will be added later via a software update.

About one in 15 customers on the first day of iPhone sales plans to buy a watch, said Munster, whose company estimates the demand each year in about five stores.

Buyers who are preparing to go down to $ 1,099 on a new device need all the information that they can get. Here are the Wall Street Journal's guides on new devices and features from Apple this year.

The iPhone XS and XS Max Review: Sit Well for the XR

The new iPhone XS and XS Max are excellent phones, but the XR, due out in October, looks more like a great deal. It really depends on what you want and what you want to spend. Here are the basic differences:

• iPhone XS: A 5.8-inch iPhone X upgrade from last year, with a vibrating OLED display and edge-to-edge and two cameras in the back. It always starts at $ 1000. (The original X is gone.) RIP.

• iPhone XS Max: A giant version of the XS with a 6.5-inch screen, the largest Apple screen ever designed. It starts at $ 1,049.

• iPhone XR: A new model that does not have both rear cameras nor the OLED screen, but a large 6.1-inch LCD and an apparently higher battery life. It starts at $ 749, but you can not get it until October 26th.

The result: choose the features of your iPhone that matter most to you, ignore Apple's deadlines and make your decision from there.

-Joanna Stern

iOS 12 Review: Free Update Delights Old Phones, Makes Siri Useful

Apple's biggest upgrade this fall does not cost $ 1,000, and you do not have to go to the Apple Store. In fact, after testing iOS 12, the latest version of software that powers iPhones and iPads, many people may ignore the purchase of a new phone.

The new operating system is available for download on all devices capable of running iOS 11. This means that every iPhone since the 5s and each iPad since the Mini 2. (If you are using an older device, it's really time a new one.)

The best thing about iOS 12 is the way it works on old gadgets. Some iOS 12 features, such as Enhanced Do Not Disturb and Screen Time (see below), can even improve your relationship with devices by helping you use them less.

-David Pierce

Screen time: Apple could not cure the addiction of my iPhone

Screen Time provides graphs and graphs of your daily and weekly usage: how often did you pick up the phone, how long did you spend in certain applications, and so on. It's not an application – it's hidden in settings.

This feature is based on the idea that if you know how much time you spend on your devices, you will do less. It has tons of information about your usage, and you can set time limits for specific applications so you can not use them anymore.

Just a small problem: For those of us who compulsively consult our phones – sometimes even when we watch our children on the playground or cross the street – the lock of Apple looks like tape on a pack of cigarettes. It's too easy to ignore the limitations you set. If you are not super addicted, there is hope. Here is how it works.

-Joanna Stern

Apple Watch Series 4 First Look: A Medical Laptop in a Nice Disguise

It has never been clear why the Apple Watch exists. It certainly does a lot of things: providing notifications, tracking fitness, making phone calls, helping you pay for things, and more. However, your phone does all these things, so why spend hundreds of dollars on another gadget that you need to recharge all the time?

With the new Apple Watch Series 4 of $ 399, Apple offers the most convincing solution for the Observatory to do what the iPhone can not do: help you monitor and monitor your health in a medically useful way.

-David Pierce

Write to Tripp Mickle at [email protected]