Where media and analysts could hold and try out the iPhone 15 on Tuesday after it was announced.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
Apple announced its new iPhones for 2023 on Tuesday at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
This year’s models are called the iPhone 15. There are four new models, ranging from the entry-level iPhone 15 at $799 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which costs at least $1199.
I was able to hold and test out the new devices on Tuesday, and although most of this year’s improvements aren’t immediately noticeable to the untrained eye, there was one aspect of the new devices that made me go “wow.”
The new Pro devices are significantly lighter, thanks to their new bodies, which replaced steel with titanium. The moment I picked one up, I could immediately can tell that it’s way easier to hold and won’t weigh down my pockets as much.
It feels a lot lighter.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
In fact, I think the reduced weight is so significant that people with last year’s Pro phones — like me — should consider updating. After all, people hold their phones for hours a day. Even shaving off a little bit of weight makes it a much more pleasant experience.
Apple says that the 6-inch iPhone 15 Pro is 187 grams, or 9% lighter than last year’s model. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a bigger 6.7-inch screen, weighs 8% less.
Apple’s titanium is clearly titanium, but most people will put it in a case, and it is a fingerprint magnet.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
In the 2001 comedy “Zoolander,” one memorable gag spoofed cell phones by implying that they would get smaller and smaller until they were a tiny speck.
The iPhone and the rise of smartphones changed that, as people wanted bigger, brighter screens and longer battery life, and were willing to trade size and weight for a more useful device.
In fact, Apple’s “pro”-level iPhone with a 6-inch screen has been getting heavier every year since 2019, despite no major changes in the phone’s general shape. The light-and-small “mini” iPhones, introduced in 2020, haven’t been a success in terms of sales, and haven’t gotten an update in two years.
But the trend towards brick-like smartphones has firmly shifted this year with the iPhone 15. I don’t care for the very biggest Pro Max phones, even though they have bigger screens and more battery life, simply because they are so large and heavy. But this year’s model, with the lighter titanium body, was much more manageable from a heft perspective, and some people who had previously written off the most expensive devices may find themselves taking another look.
The weight is such a big deal that I think that some people will upgrade simply for the lighter weight. I’m considering it, even though $999 (or more, if you need more than 128GB of storage) for an iPhone 15 Pro is a lot of money, especially if you have a phone that works just fine — but at the very least, my pinky finger, which holds up my phone when I’m using it, will appreciate it.
Other notes from the iPhone 15 hands-on
The new Apple iPhone 15, with EU ordered USB-C charger, is displayed amongst other new products during a launch event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on September 12, 2023.
Nic Coury | AFP | Getty Images
This year’s colors don’t really pop. In particular, the titanium colors on the iPhone 15 Pros aren’t very bright and appear at a distance to look like shades of gunmetal.
Apple isn’t making leather and silicone cases anymore. They’ve been replaced by a new woven material case, which doesn’t really stand out. From a distance, it looks a lot like last year’s silicone.
The mainstream iPhone 15, which comes in two sizes, hasn’t changed that much on the outside from last year’s model. However, the bezels around the front have been smoothed, which is a nice touch.
The iPhone 15 gets the Dynamic Island, a feature that can show updating information at the top of the phone, where the front-facing camera is hidden.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
The entry-level iPhone 15 models also have the “Dynamic Island,” a software feature that hides the phone’s front-facing camera under the screen.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max did get a $100 price increase, now starting at $1,199 in the U.S., although you get more storage at the entry level.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
The button that has replaced the mute switch on the Pro phones has a very fun animation when you hold it down. I suspect most people will customize it to pull up the camera app quickly.
CNBC/Kif Leswing
USB-C is the default port on all the devices this year, and it’s glorious. Finally, someone with a Mac, iPhone, and wireless headphones will be able to charge them all with the same charger. People with Android phones will be able to borrow chargers from iPhone users and vice versa, and finding a way to juice up will just get a little bit easier for iPhone users.
Sword Health, a startup focused on helping people deal with pain through digital services, is expanding into mental health and has raised additional capital to fuel its growth.
The 10-year-old company is introducing Mind, which uses a combination of artificial intelligence, hardware and human mental health professionals to treat patients with mild depression and anxiety. Sword said Mind will help users access care whenever they need it, rather than during sporadic, hourlong appointments.
“It’s really a breakthrough in terms of how we address mental health, and this is only possible because we have AI,” Sword CEO Virgílio Bento told CNBC in an interview.
Also on Tuesday, Sword announced a $40 million funding round, led by General Catalyst, in a deal that values the company at $4 billion. The fresh cash will support Sword’s efforts to grow through acquisitions, as well as its global expansion and AI model development, the company said.
The round included participation from Khosla Ventures, Comcast Ventures and other firms. Sword had raised a total of more than $450 million as of September, according to PitchBook.
The financing lands as the digital health market shows signs of recovery following a difficult post-Covid stretch, when rising inflation, higher interest rates and a return to in-person activities led to a dramatic retreat in the industry.
Earlier this month, Omada Health, which offers virtual care programs to supports patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, held its Nasdaq debut, though the stock is trading below its initial public offering price. Weeks before that, digital physical therapy provider Hinge Healthhit the New York Stock Exchange. The shares are trading a few dollars above their offer price.
Sword, which was founded in Portugal and is now based in New York, offers tools for digital physical therapy, pelvic health and movement health to help patients manage pain from home and avoid other treatments such as opioids and surgery. Patients can sign up for Sword if it’s supported by their employer or their health plan.
Mind users will receive a wrist wearable called the “M-band” that can measure environmental and physiological signals such as heart rate, sleep and the lighting in a user’s environment. Mind also includes access to an AI Care agent and human mental health professionals, who can deliver services such as traditional talk therapy.
Bento said a human is always involved with a patient’s care, and that AI is not making clinical decisions.
For example, if a patient has an anxiety attack, Sword’s AI will recognize that and could ask a clinician to approve some physical activity for later that day to help with recovery. The clinician would either approve the physical activity that the AI suggested, or override it and propose something else.
“You have an anxiety issue today, and the way you’re going to manage is to talk about it one week from now? That just doesn’t work,” Bento said. “Mental health should be always on, where you have a problem now, and you can have immediate help in the moment.”
Bento said Sword has some clients that have been on a waiting list for Mind, and the startup has been testing the offering with some of its design partners. He said early users have approved of Mind’s personalized approach and convenience.
“We believe that it is really the future of how mental health is going to be delivered in the future, by us and by other companies,” Bento said. “AI plays a very important role, but the use of AI — and I think this is very important — needs to be used in a very smart way.”
Disclosure: Comcast, the parent of Comcast Ventures, is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC.
US President Donald Trump uses a cellphone aboard Marine One before it departs Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 24, 2025. Trump is returning to the White House after attending a MAGA, Inc. dinner at the Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC.
Alex Wroblewski | AFP | Getty Images
The Trump Organization’s newly-announced smartphone will likely be made in China, experts say, despite claims that the device will be manufactured in the U.S.
Owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, the company on Monday announced the T1, a gold-colored device which it said would retail for $499. The smartphone will run Google’s Android operating system.
The Trump Organization says the phone will be “built in the United States” — but experts note the phone was likely designed and would be manufactured by a Chinese firm.
“There is no way the phone was designed from scratch and there is no way it is going to be assembled in the U.S. or completely manufactured in the U.S.,” Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corporation, told CNBC on Tuesday. “That is completely impossible.”
Jeronimo suggested that the phone would likely be produced by a Chinese original device manufacturer (ODM) — a type of company that designs and manufacturers products based on the specifications of another firm.
“Despite being advertised as an American-made phone, it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese ODM,” Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research said in a note on Monday.
Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research added that “the U.S. does not have local manufacturing capabilities readily available.”
Smartphone manufacturing came into focus after Trump threatened tariffs on devices imported into the U.S. While those have yet to materialize, the American president has poured scrutiny on Apple‘s supply chain, urging the iPhone maker to manufacture its flagship handset in the U.S. The call is part of a broader desire from Trump to see more manufacturing of electronics be undertaken in the U.S.
Several experts have noted that manufacturing iPhones in the U.S. would be nearly impossible and would certainly raise the price of the product substantially. On top of that, getting large-scale manufacturing off the ground in the U.S. would take several years.
Phone will need foreign components
Even if some manufacturing of the device were done in the U.S., smartphone supply chains are global, and handset components come from several countries.
The Trump Organization’s T1 is no different. While no information has been revealed on particular components, the specifications could give a hint of what to expect.
The device will have a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, a kind of screen that is made primarily by South Korean firm Samsung. LG, another South Korean firm, also produces the screen, as does Chinese firm BOE.
For comparison, Apple’s top end iPhone 16 Pro Max, has a 6.9-inch display and starts at $1,199.
At T1’s $499 price point, the smartphone will likely use a processor from Taiwanese firm MediaTek, which would be manufactured in Taiwan. If the device were to contain a Qualcomm chip instead, that would also likely have to be made in Taiwan.
The phone’s advertised 50-megapixel camera will meanwhile require image sensing chips — a market that is dominated by Japanese firm Sony for smartphones. There are smaller players in China and elsewhere.
The device’s memory is one area that could use American technology, potentially from Micron, which manufactures its components in the U.S. But other players, like South Korea’s Samsung, could be potential suppliers.
“Even when there is local manufacturing available the company will have to rely on components that are being imported from outside the US,” Counterpoint Research’s Fieldhack said.
Chinese tech company Tencent is a gaming giant and the parent company of WeChat, the ubiquitous social messaging app in China.
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Tencent has spent years evolving into a gaming and social media giant in China and in the process, has built up its cloud computing capabilities.
The technology firm is now looking to bring that expertise to Europe as it ramps up expansion of its cloud business overseas, Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent’s cloud group told CNBC.
“We have strengths and competence in very specific technology areas, as well as industry verticals,” Tong said in an interview last week. “These are are very unique technology capabilities that have been developed over many years [and] started from our products in China.”
“So we intend to bring a lot of this technology expertise to Europe. We’re talking to a lot of interested potential customers.”
Tencent’s European push will pitch it against U.S. hyperscalers Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet-owned Google, which collectively make up 70% share of Europe’s cloud market.
But the Chinese firm is hoping to focus on specific areas where it has built up capabilities to differentiate from rivals.
Tong said these include cloud technologies for areas like optimizing video streaming, ensuring a smooth gaming experience, and developing and hosting so-called “super apps” like WeChat — China’s biggest messaging service. WeChat is often seen as the pioneer of super apps, a term that refers to an application with multiple functions, such as messaging and payments.
Tong gave an example of Tencent’s cloud computing work with French telecommunications firm Orange in supporting the company’s Max it app in Africa. In the area of gaming, Tencent’s cloud technology can improve “latency,” which is a technical term for the lag between a player’s actions and what happens on screen, Tong said.
The Chinese company is also betting on European companies opting for multiple cloud providers for services, instead of relying on one or two of the big players.
“I would say that’s actually a … deliberate strategy of ours to make the customers feel more comfortable using our technology, especially in a multi-cloud environment,” he said, adding that customers want to be able to interoperate.
AI push
Cloud computing companies have put an increased focus on selling artificial intelligence tools as a way to boost revenue and differentiate their offerings from rivals.
Tencent has built up its own artificial intelligence foundational model in China called Hunyuan. But it also uses some models created by Chinese firm DeepSeek in its products.
Tong said Tencent would take a similar approach in Europe when it comes to AI, potentially offering products built on European models.
“Our focus would be providing tools that would work with different foundation models and ultimately, it’s the customer’s decision which model works best for them,” Tong told CNBC.
“So I think at the end of the day, we would always go to our customers, find the problems they wanted addressed, provide them tools so that they can accomplish what they need, and realise the cost efficiency that we can offer.”
