Apple and Meta have recently developed new products with upgraded features that can benefit students. In fact, the new iPhones have just been released, and the new Ray-Ban Meta Displays have been announced. And there are many reasons to be excited about these new products this month.

The regular iPhone 17 is a great choice for students seeking a good value for their money. This is because the battery can last up to 30 hours while doing video playback. 

For comparison, the iPhone 16 can only last up to 22 hours. The new iPhone can also charge up to 40 watts, allowing students to quickly charge their phones before leaving for class. For students who take pictures of their notes in class, both the wide-angle and ultrawide lenses feature 48-megapixel sensors. 

This functionality allows students to take even clearer photos of notes on the board. It also comes standard with 256 gigabytes of storage, a capacity that is ideal for students enrolled in multimedia journalism classes and those pursuing videography. And having that base storage increase is nice for students who film a lot of 4K content.

The iPhone Air is a new addition to the iPhone lineup. It replaces the Plus model and slots below the Pro. It can also be great for students who are looking for a slim phone that fits easily in their pockets. It can also be useful for durability while being carried in a backpack. 

This is because the new iPhone Air has Apple’s 2nd generation of Ceramic Shield, making it 2x more scratch-resistant than before.

It is also made with a titanium frame to prevent it from bending. So students who put their phones in their backpacks don’t have to worry about them getting damaged, especially if they don’t have cases. 

However, the primary apprehension among some students regarding the new iPhone Air is its battery life. Freshman marketing major Seth Stokes noted he would not buy the iPhone Air due to the battery life.

“Me personally, probably because I think I can go ahead and just get the Pro because of the battery life. That is probably the biggest thing for me because I am always on my phone,” Stokes said.

The iPhone 17 Pro is a fantastic phone for students who are studying photography and videography. The cameras got a major upgrade this year over the iPhone 16. Now, all of the back cameras feature 48-megapixel sensors, which provide photos and videos with extra detail. Students can also get up to 2 terabytes of storage if they get the Pro Max model — the smaller Pro caps out at one terabyte of storage.

 For students who shoot ProRes videos or ProRaw photos, having 1-2 terabytes of internal storage is very helpful. 

The 17 Pro also has USB-C 3.0 transfer speeds for students who need to transfer large files to a computer fast. The regular 17 and Air only have USB-C 2.0 transfer speeds, which are considered slow by today’s standards.

 The 17 Pro can also zoom in up to 40x. This functionality is great for students who want to see their notes on the board more clearly. 

When Joseph Callahan was asked about the iPhone 17 Pro, he said that it was great that students can zoom in further with the camera to see notes on the board better. 

“So far with the zoom, you can see the board easier from just zooming in,” Callahan said.

The new Meta Ray-Ban Displays are excellent smart glasses for students with hearing challenges. These glasses can give users live captions of the words the person in front of them is saying. This option is excellent for students in a lecture who cannot hear what the professor is saying. They also have a built-in camera, so students can take pictures of notes on the board. 

When Britni Testa, a former student of SLU, was asked about the live captions, she said that this feature would be helpful for students in a lecture who need to read what the professor is saying.

“I think that would help a lot because they would be able to read what their professor is saying as they are saying it. That would be even better if those captions automatically saved to their phone notes. I don’t know if that is a feature yet, but that would be useful,” said Testa.