ForeFlight Community,
As is true every September, the tech world – and the aviation community in particular – is buzzing with excitement over Apple’s latest device updates. My colleagues at ForeFlight and I watched the keynote live and after taking some time to think about the benefits Apple’s latest announcements might have to aviators, I thought I’d share some of my ideas.
Of course, with every Apple Event, I’ve come to expect further improvements to device camera quality, processor performance, and efficiency, as well as hardware design updates. This event lived up to those expectations, and while it didn’t include a new addition to the device ecosystem (unlike the June event, when we were introduced to the Vision Pro), in traditional Apple fashion it did include incremental improvements and further refinement of existing capabilities that the ForeFlight team is already exploring in our continued drive to bring innovative features and user experience improvements to ForeFlight Mobile.
USB-C
As expected, Apple announced the transition from Lightning to USB-C as the primary port on iPhone. It’s worth noting that USB-C is not new to Apple devices, as the MacBook product line first shipped with USB-C way back in 2015. In 2018 the iPad Pro was the first Apple mobile device to utilize the standard, which was quickly added to the iPad Air in 2020 and the iPad Mini (a pilot favorite) in 2021. USB-C on iPhone potentially means one less cable in your flight bag and an easier and more seamless charging experience between devices. ForeFlight’s Sentry device utilizes USB-C, as do most modern laptops and external batteries. It took longer than we would have liked to get to this point, but I’m glad we’re here.
Brightness
Screen brightness plays a crucial role in enhancing visibility, especially under direct sunlight. With Apple’s latest iPhones, peak brightness reaches up to 2,000 nits — twice as bright as the previous generation. Additionally, the new Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes with an upgraded 3,000 nit display – the brightest ever on an Apple device. For pilots who fly during nighttime hours, the ability to adjust the screen brightness down to as low as 1 nit is a welcome enhancement, especially when combined with the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s night mode. This not only improves safety by helping to preserve night vision but also contributes to an overall more comfortable flying experience. As we continue to enhance our recently released Apple Watch application, it’s nice to know customers will be able to use ForeFlight on their wrist confidently in any lighting condition.
Action Button
Surprisingly, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max now ship with a new hardware button. The Action Button, which replaces the previous silent switch, is appropriately named – it allows the user to customize the function of the button to whatever their heart desires. Personally, I’m using it to immediately open the Camera app on my device at the moment, but what really excites me is the Action Button’s integration with iOS Shortcuts. The button can be set to trigger any shortcut a user has created in the Shortcuts app. At ForeFlight, we’re looking into ways this button might be better utilized in the context of an EFB. I’m glad to see Apple investing in customizable hardware features, and I’m excited to see the various Shortcuts users invent to take advantage of this new functionality.
Emergency SOS
Building upon the Emergency SOS and Find My via satellite features introduced with the iPhone 14 and more recent Watch models, Apple has now incorporated Roadside Assistance as an additional safety feature. In cases requiring emergency assistance, iPhone and Apple Watch users can send text messages to emergency services when they are off the grid in locations without cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. For me, this raises the question of whether pilots facing emergency situations such as an emergency off-airport landing might effectively utilize this feature on their Apple devices. As ForeFlight continues to explore ways to harness Apple’s latest advancements to improve our user experience, safety remains our top priority, and it’s nice to see Apple’s continued investment in this space.
A17 Pro Chip
Apple’s new A17 Pro chip boasts a six-core central processing unit (CPU) and a six-core graphics processing unit (GPU). The inclusion of an extra GPU core promises to significantly boost graphics performance, enabling more efficient graphic processing within various applications. One of the great benefits of building products on the iOS platform is the tight integration of software APIs and hardware capabilities. As an example, there are a variety of visualizations in ForeFlight Mobile that utilize Apple’s Metal graphics API. Customer favorites like Airport 3D View, Synthetic Vision, and Aeronautical Map are all built on the Metal API. This new capability holds the potential for enhancing rendering quality and power efficiency for these features, and opens new possibilities for additional types of visualizations in the future.
I am excited about the continuous innovation and advancements driven by Apple through its hardware releases. ForeFlight remains dedicated to harnessing the potential of these updates to deliver exceptional products and services that exceed the aviation community’s expectations. Our team now has a wide variety of new capabilities to explore, and we’re already working on some new ideas we hope to share soon.
Blue skies,
Ryan
Ryan McBride joined ForeFlight in 2013 and currently holds the position of Head of Community. His qualifications include a Private Pilot license earned at The University of North Dakota’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications from Michigan State University. Ryan’s dedicated work in developing aviation tools that enhance safety, affordability, and enjoyment has played a vital role in the company’s growth and success.