Apple unveils $999 phone, new Face ID technology

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a number of new phones, including its most expensive one yet, as well as new versions of its Apple Watch and its streaming TV device. Here's a rundown of the announcements.

The new iPhone 8 Plus is displayed in the showroom after the new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

IPHONE X

Apple is releasing a super-premium iPhone with a super-premium price tag, starting at $999. The new iPhone X — pronounced like the number 10 — will have a screen with higher resolution and richer colors.

It will also lose a distinct home button to make more room for the 5.8-inch display. That's slightly more than the Plus model's 5.5 inches, though the phone's size is closer to the regular iPhone model.

The features are similar to what Samsung offers.

The new design will enable new ways to interact with the phone. Instead of pressing the button to get the home page, you swipe up instead.

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, discusses features of the new iPhone X at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, announces features of the new iPhone 8 at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The new iPhone X is displayed in the showroom after the new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple is also offering the ability to unlock the phone with facial recognition rather than a fingerprint or passcode. Though some Android phones offer this, Apple is adding sensors to improve performance and says it worked with mask designers during testing to improve security. An executive initially failed to unlock the phone this way in a demo Tuesday, though.

The new phone, which is coming Nov. 3, will also permit animated emojis that mirror your facial movements and promises two more hours of battery life than what's in the current iPhone 7.

Such an iPhone has been widely anticipated for the iPhone's 10th anniversary and comes just weeks after Samsung unveiled its own super-premium phone, the $930-and-up Galaxy Note 8.

IPHONE 8

Apple is refreshing its lineup of iPhones with camera, display and speaker improvements.

The new phones promise to shoot pictures with better colors and less distortion, particularly in low-light settings. The display will adapt to ambient lighting, similar to a feature in some iPad Pro models. Speakers will be louder and offer deeper bass.

The new iPhone 8 will keep its predecessor's size — 4.7 inches — but have a higher starting price of $699, up from $649. The 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus starts at $799, up from $769. The new phones come out Sept. 22

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, shows features of the new iPhone 8 at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook, right, and Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer shows the new iPhone X in the showroom after the new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook kicks off the event for a new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook kicks off the event for a new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, announces features of the new iPhone 8 at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple is bucking its traditional naming convention by calling the new phones iPhone 8 rather than 7S. The S designation might have given consumers the impression that the new phones are mere incremental updates from the current iPhone 7.

The Plus version will continue to have two camera lenses and now has the ability to optimize lighting as you shoot.

Both versions will allow wireless charging. Many Android phones, including Samsung's, already have this.

APPLE WATCH

Apple is coming out with a new smartwatch designed to be less dependent on the iPhone. A new model will still require a companion iPhone, but comes with cellular access. That makes it possible to do more — like receiving messages — while the phone is at home. The watch will use the same number as the phone. The feature will require a $5 or $10 data add-on to an existing phone plan.

Apple CEO Tim Cook shows new Apple Watch Series 3 products at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple CEO Tim Cook talks during a presentation on new products at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The new cellular model, called Series 3, will start at $399. One without cellular goes for $329, down from $369 for the comparable model now. The original Series 1, without GPS, sells for $249, down from $269. The new watch comes out Sept. 22.

Existing Apple Watches will get a software update next Tuesday that will provide more analysis of your heart rate. The Series 3 also delivers warnings for elevated heart rate when you don't appear to be active.

APPLE TV

A new version of the Apple TV streaming device will be able to show video with sharper "4K" resolution — a step up from standard high definition — and a color-improvement technology called high dynamic range. Many rival devices already offer these features. However, there's not a lot of video in 4K and HDR yet, nor are there many TVs that can display it.

People arrive for a new product announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software, shows the new Apple TV product at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software, shows the new Apple TV product at the Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple campus on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Apple says it's been working with movie studios to bring titles with 4K and HDR to its iTunes store. They will be sold at the same prices as high-definition video, which tends to be a few dollars more than standard-definition versions. Apple says it's working with Netflix and Amazon Prime to bring their 4K original programs to Apple TV, too.

The 4K version of Apple TV will cost $179 and ships on Sept. 22. A version without 4K will cost $149.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Congo ’s government is questioning Apple about the tech company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” from a conflict zone in the African country that could be smuggled into its supply chains and is demanding answers within three weeks.

A group of international lawyers representing Congo said Thursday that they sent letters to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week, raising concerns about human rights violations involving the minerals extracted from mines in the country’s troubled east that might end up being used in the company’s products.

They included a list of questions challenging Apple to show how it monitors its supply chains in a region where more than 100 armed rebel groups operate, some of whom have been accused of carrying out mass killings of civilians.

Writing to Cook, the lawyers said “it has become clear to us that year after year, Apple has sold technology made with minerals sourced from a region whose population is being devastated by grave violations of human rights.”

"The iPhones, Mac computers and accessories that Apple sells to its customers around the world rely on supply chains that are too opaque, and that are tainted by the blood of the Congolese people," the lawyers said.

Eastern Congo is one of the most mineral-rich regions in the world but is also the site of a huge humanitarian disaster, with the armed groups fighting for years for control of the mines and the valuable minerals in them, and millions of people displaced and affected by the worsening violence. The situation has deteriorated badly in the last few months.

Apple’s press representatives in Europe didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Apple, which has a market value of around $2.6 trillion, has denied using minerals from mines and regions where human rights violations take place and says it conducts business ethically. It said in a 2023 report that it “responsibly” sources minerals in Congo and its neighboring countries.

The minerals it buys don't finance war or armed groups, it says. The lawyers for the Congo government said “those claims do not appear to be based on concrete, verifiable evidence.”

The Congo government said it has suspicions that some of the tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold — known as the 3TG critical minerals — that Apple sources from suppliers is smuggled out of Congo to neighboring Rwanda and then infiltrated into the global supply chain. The 3TG minerals are key components in electronics.

“In Congo, people have been dying for 30 years as a result of illegal mining,” Congo government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said. “We want clarification on the sources of supply for major technology companies, in particular Apple, to verify whether they are acquiring minerals produced in completely illegal conditions.”

He said Rwanda “is presented” as the supplier for many of the minerals while having few reserves of its own.

Congo has accused Rwanda of financing and directing the notorious armed rebel group M23 in eastern Congo to help extract minerals illegally. The United Nations also says M23 is backed by Rwanda.

Rwanda denies that but tensions between the countries are increasingly high, while M23 and other groups are accused of regularly carrying out attacks that include the killing and raping of civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.

The lawyers for the Congo government quoted a 2022 report by the nongovernmental organization Global Witness that claimed Apple had previously applied “few meaningful mitigation measures” to avoid using smuggled minerals.

The Congo government was now seeking “effective redress” against “end-users of blood minerals” across the world, the lawyers said.

They asked Apple to respond to questions over its supply chain controls within three weeks and said they had compiled a report on “the laundering” of Congo's minerals by Rwanda and private entities that would be made public this month.

They also would seek instructions from the Congo government as to what legal measures it is considering against Apple, the letter said.

AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London and AP writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

FILE - A Congolese miner sifts through ground rocks to separate out the cassiterite, the main ore that's processed into tin, in the town of Nyabibwe, eastern Congo, Aug. 16, 2012. Congo’s government is questioning Apple about the tech company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” from a conflict zone in the African country that could be smuggled into supply chains. A group of international lawyers representing Congo said Thursday, April 25, 2024, that it sent letters to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week raising concerns about human rights violations involving the minerals extracted from mines in the country’s war-torn east. (AP Photo/Marc Hofer, File)