Apple Inc. introduced new iPhone 14 models capable of using satellites to send emergency messages and an adventure-focused Ultra Watch for sports like diving and triathlons.
The outdoor-focused products will test whether Apple’s relatively affluent customer base will keep spending in the face of rising inflation.
Prices of the high-end iPhone 14s are the same as last year’s iPhone 13 models. But Apple dropped its cheapest option, the iPhone mini, meaning the cheapest model now costs $100 more than last year.
The iPhone 14 will start at $799 and the iPhone Plus at $899 and be available for preorder starting Sept. 9. The iPhone Pro will cost $999 and the iPhone Pro Max $1,099 and be available Sept. 16.
“It’s interesting that they decided to essentially maintain pricing despite inflationary pressure,” said D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte. “The decision or the strategy is Apple believes that it can sustain margins by discontinuing a lower-priced device in the lineup.”
Apple said its satellite SOS will work with emergency responders. It also said that in some situations, users will be able to use its FindMy app to share their location via satellite when they have no other connectivity.
The service will be free for two years with the iPhone 14. Apple did not say what would happen after that period.
Shares in Globalstar Inc. jumped 20 percent on Wednesday after the satellite services firm announced it will be the satellite operator for Apple’s emergency SOS service.
Apple will pay for 95 percent of the approved capital expenditure for the new satellites that would be needed to support the service, but Globalstar said it will still need to raise additional debt to construct and deploy the satellites.
The stock had gained almost 70 percent from mid-June to Tuesday’s close, following speculation of working with Apple.
Other companies are working on similar functions. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said last month it is working with T-Mobile to use its Starlink satellites to connect phones directly to the Internet.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Plus model will have a larger screen like Apple’s iPhone Pro models but an A15 processor chip like the previous iPhone 13.
The Cupertino, California-based company also showed a trio of new Apple Watches, including a new Watch Ultra model aimed at extreme sports and diving and designed to challenge sportswatch specialists such as Garmin and Polar.
“Apple is competing for a consumer segment that already has high loyalty toward their existing products and vendors, and it will need to prove itself over time,” said Runar Bjorhovde, an analyst at Canalys.
The Ultra has a bigger battery to last through events like triathlons and better waterproofing and temperature resistance to operate in outdoor environments, as well as better GPS tracking for sports.
The new Watches include an upgraded budget model called the SE and a Series 8 Watch with crash detection and low-power mode for 36 hours of battery life.
The Series 8 with cellular will start at $499 and the SE will start at $299 with cellular. The Ultra, which includes cellular in its base model, will start at $799 and be available Sept. 23.
Apple said the new Series 8 watch has a temperature sensor that will work in conjunction with its previously released cycle tracking app to retroactively detect ovulation. The company emphasized the privacy approach of its cycle tracking. Privacy and reproductive health data has become a focus for tech companies in the wake of a US Supreme Court decision that ended a constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
Apple said it does not have the key to decrypt health data such as cycle tracking.
Apple also touted that its second-generation AirPods Pro will double the amount of noise cancelation over the original version.
But while accessories like the Apple Watch have driven incremental sales from Apple’s existing user base, the iPhone remains the bedrock of its business with 52.4 percent of sales in its most recent fiscal year.
Apple’s stock was up 0.8 percent after the presentation, lagging the S&P 500’s gain of 1.8 percent for the session.
Apple did not give any hints or a preview of its mixed-reality headset on Wednesday. The device is expected to have cameras that pass-through view of the outside world to the wearer while overlaying digital objects on the physical world. Analysts do not expect the device to go on sale until next year at the earliest.
A rival headset called Project Cambria is in the works from Meta Platforms Inc, which is spending billions of dollars on the project.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)
Apple unveils iPhone 14 with satellite SOS, Ultra Watch for outdoors
https://arab.news/jsbqc
Apple unveils iPhone 14 with satellite SOS, Ultra Watch for outdoors
- The iPhone 14 will start at $799; the Pro Max will be $1,099
- The new Watch Ultra model is aimed at extreme sports and diving
‘The age of electricity’: WEF panel says geopolitics is redefining global energy security
- Surging demand, critical minerals, US-China rivalry reshaping energy security as nations compete for influence, infrastructure, control over world’s energy future
LONDON: Electricity is rapidly replacing oil as the world’s most strategic energy commodity, and nations are racing to secure reliable supply and influence in a changing energy landscape.
Global electricity demand is growing nearly three times faster than overall energy consumption, driven by artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and rising use of air-conditioning in a warming world.
“We are entering the age of electricity,” said Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, during a panel discussion titled “Who is Winning on Energy Security?” at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.
Unlike oil, electricity cannot be stockpiled at scale, forcing governments and companies to prioritize generation, transmission, and storage, making regions with stable infrastructure increasingly important on the global stage.
US-China rivalry
Energy security is increasingly about control and influence, not just supply. The rivalry between the US and China now extends beyond oil to critical minerals, energy infrastructure, and long-term energy partnerships.
“The contrast between the US approach and China’s is stark,” said Meghan O’Sullivan, director of Harvard University’s Belfer Center. “The US, until recently, focused on access, not control. China flips that, seeking long-term influence and making producers more dependent on them.”
O’Sullivan highlighted China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which invests in energy infrastructure and critical minerals across Africa, Latin America, and Asia to secure influence over production and supply chains.
“It’s not just the desire to control oil production itself, but to control who develops resources,” she said, citing Venezuela as an example. The South American nation holds some of the world’s largest crude oil reserves, giving it outsized geopolitical importance. Recent US moves to expand influence over Venezuelan oil flows illustrate the broader trend that great powers are competing to shape who benefits from energy resources, not just the resources themselves.
“There’s no question that the intensified geopolitical competition between great powers is playing out in more competition for energy resources, particularly as the energy system becomes more complex,” O’Sullivan added.
Global drivers of the electricity era
The rise of electricity as a strategic commodity is also transforming global supply chains. Copper, lithium, and other minerals have become essential to modern energy systems.
“A new ‘energy commodity’ is copper,” said Mike Henry, CEO of BHP. “Electricity demand is growing three times faster than primary energy, and copper is essential for wires, data centers, and renewable energy. We expect a near doubling, about a 70 percent increase in copper demand over 25 years.”
Yet deposits are harder to access, refining is concentrated in a few countries, and supply chains are politically exposed.
“The world’s ability to generate electricity reliably will increasingly depend on materials and infrastructure outside traditional oil and gas markets,” Birol said.
AI and digital technologies amplify the challenge with large-scale data centers consuming enormous amounts of electricity.
The Middle East’s strategic relevance
While the global focus is on electricity demand and great-power rivalry, the Middle East illustrates how traditional energy hubs are adapting.
Majid Jafar, the CEO of Crescent Petroleum, highlighted the region’s enduring advantages: abundant reserves, low-carbon potential, and strategic geography.
“Geopolitical instability reinforces, if anything, the Middle East’s role as a supplier with scale, affordability, availability, and some of the lowest carbon reserves,” he said.
Jafar emphasized the region’s ability to navigate the growing US-China rivalry.
“Amid US-China global friction, the Middle East has managed to remain on good terms with both sides,” he said, noting that flexible policy and engagement help preserve influence while balancing competing interests.
The region is also adapting to the electricity-driven era. AI data centers and digital technologies are multiplying power needs. Jafar said: “One minute of video consumes roughly an hour’s electricity for an average Western household. Multiply that across millions of servers and billions of people and the scale is staggering.”
Infrastructure investments further strengthen the Middle East’s strategic position. In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Runaki Project has expanded natural gas–fueled power plants to provide 24/7 electricity to millions of residents and businesses, reducing reliance on diesel generators and supporting economic growth.
According to Jafar, the combination of energy resources, capital, leadership, and agile policymaking gives the Middle East a competitive edge in meeting global electricity demand and navigating the complex geopolitics of energy.
While the panel highlighted the Middle East as one example, in the age of electricity, energy security is defined as much by influence and infrastructure as by barrels of oil, with the US-China rivalry determining who gains and who is left behind.
