When Apple announced its all-new iPhone 15, it also revealed two new Apple Watch models, which also go on sale this week.

While I've had these models for testing, I'm here to tell you that it's hard to even suggest there's a vast difference to recent Apple Watches.

The changes are either incremental, internal, or the key feature you might be keen on is actually not yet available to the public.

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Apple Watch specs and performance

Either the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 would be the perfect first Apple Watch for anyone wanting to get into this market.

But at the same time they pack a few neat features that previous generations have not, which makes them a viable upgrade candidate for someone with an older Apple Watch.

Thanks to an all-new System in Package — the S9 — which is basically the brains of the computer in one chip, there are a few things your Series 9 or Ultra 2 can do that might just be the reason to upgrade.

Apple Watch Siri improvements

Firstly, Siri is more advanced because the watch itself is able to process your Siri requests. In my testing this works an absolute treat, it's fast and responsive and that's all down to that S9 SiP.

What this means is that if your Siri request does not require the internet — that is to say you're not asking for a live sports score, or online information — the data is not ever leaving the watch.

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What you say is heard, interpreted, and responded to entirely offline.

Just think about that for a second. Your watch can hear, understand, and respond to you on its own.

This is useful for things like starting a workout, setting a timer, setting alarms, or accessing your health data like step progress etc.

I asked Siri, "How long did I sleep for last night?" and the response was exactly what had been saved within the health app.

To some this won't seem like a lot but it is a big leap forward in the capabilities of the Apple Watch.

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Apple Watch Find My iPhone improvements

Other tweaks are similarly "under the hood", like the second-generation ultra wideband chip, which means you can find your iPhone 15 a whole lot easier because it can pickup the "scent" of another device much better.

If you're outdoors a lot you might appreciate the 2000 nits of brightness in the screen on the Series 9 and a massive 3000 nits on the Ultra 2. While you sleep that goes down to just 1 nit when you're in sleep focus mode.

Apple Watch Double Tap

The much hyped Double Tap gesture will allow you to "click" the screen by pinching a finger and thumb together twice, but it isn't yet available to test.

While some say it's already available as an accessibility feature, Apple tells me the gesture being released with the Series 9 and Ultra 2 is far more accurate and responsive thanks to the on-board processor and sensors.

Apple Watch colours

The Series 9 comes in a new pink aluminium colour, to match the pink iPhone 15, as well as midnight, silver, starlight and Product Red.

The stainless steel colours are silver, gold, graphite and space black (with Hermes).

Credit to Apple for its environmental achievements too with the Apple Watch. I noticed the "Carbon Neutral" branding on each Apple Watch this year, a certification that applies with the right watch band.

It's a first for an Apple product and I can't think of another consumer electronics product that is carbon neutral.

Both new Apple Watches go on sale Friday. The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $649 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $1399.

Over 1.1 million people tuned in to watch the debate.

Fire and Emergency NZ say they will be fighting the blaze “well into the night”.

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It started with odd gardening jobs during university, but now 25-year-old Conor McGreevy has grown his business to include nine staff, four utes and a removal truck.

"It was a bit of a dream being able to run my own business," Conor McGreevy said.

He bought into Jim's Mowing in 2020, and says the brand recognition and training the franchise provides has helped him grow his customer base.

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"The marketing they provide gives us enough leads, enough work to actually grow it," McGreevy said.

Franchising is a $170 billion dollar industry in Australia, and when it works well, it gives people the chance to become their own boss and run a lucrative business.

But when it goes wrong, franchisees are trapped running bad or unprofitable businesses, with no way out of expensive and complex contracts.

Jim's Mowing founder Jim Penman has serious concerns about the sector, saying regulations protect big business, not hard-working franchisees.

"What goes on is an incredible rip-off game across the country, so many franchisors act unfairly," said Penman.

"The law as it is stands fully behind the franchisor, and does stuff all for the franchisees."

Penman has made submissions to the independent review, commissioned by the Treasury, currently underway into the Franchising Code of Conduct.

"The code is pathetic. The code is weak as water. Worthless, nothing," Penman said.

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One business owner who knows the dangers first-hand is Laziz Mirdjonov, who opened a UFC Australia gym in Castle Hill.

"I thought it would be quite an honest and high-integrity company," said Mirdjonov. "It was pretty much my lifetime investment going through the bin."

He sunk millions into the business, including on set-up costs and fees which were not disclosed upfront.

"They're like a spider that's sucking blood out of you and they've got all the power," said Mirdjonov. "You're still paying your fees through the whole thing and to get out of the franchise you're going to lose everything."

Mirdjonov teamed up with two other UFC Gym Australia franchisees to take the franchisor to court.

"At the time I was quite naive about the franchising code, but later I realised that the franchising code is just a bunch of rules that doesn't apply to the franchisor until you take them to court," said Mirdjonov.

"We went through the litigation, it took us a good four years and a million out of pocket, not including any expenses we had for the business to run."

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The Federal Court ruled in their favour in May, ordering the parent companies of UFC Gym Australia pay more than $5 million to the three franchisees.

But a day later, the parent companies went into voluntary administration.

"Even though we got the result, we still haven't seen the money," said Mirdjonov.

Regardless, he's still pushing on with his business under a new name "Rival".

"We're just going to continue growing and growing and opening more clubs,"  said Mirdjonov.

The public is being encouraged to have their say in the franchising review by September 29, either by phone, email or mail, and submissions can remain anonymous.

But some experts think reform should go much further than tweaking the code of conduct.

"The franchise code is just one part of the picture," said Professor Jenny Buchan, a UNSW Franchise Law Expert. "They should be regulated by stand-alone legislation."

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Kingi Paewai has amassed a list of black marks for violence, weapons and drug offending.

Qantas paid former CEO Alan Joyce $21.4 million in the 2023 financial year, the airline's annual report has revealed.

However, on the back of the airline's plummetting reputation, $2.2 million in bonuses was withheld from Joyce, and the national carrier says another $14.4 million is subject to clawback and financial penalty provisions.

"While customer satisfaction levels improved during the year, they are well below where they should be," chairman Richard Goyder said.

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"As a result, this part of the scorecard was judged at zero out of a possible 20 per cent and this had a corresponding impact on senior executive pay.

"In addition, the board has applied its discretion to reduce short-term incentives for senior executives for FY23 by 20 per cent in recognition of the customer and brand impact of cumulative events."

Goyder laid the blame for the carrier's poor reputation at the ACCC's High Court action, which alleges Qantas continued to sell tickets for already-cancelled flights.

But he made little mention of travellers' frustration at customer service, high prices, and flight cancellations and delays.

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"(The report) comes at a time when the company is experiencing an acute loss of trust from the community, and accumulated disappointment from customers, which the board and management are determined to fix," Goyder said.

"Much of the loss of trust stems from allegations by the ACCC. We recognise the important role of the ACCC and the company has cooperated fully with its investigations, which only crystallised into material allegations when legal action was announced on 31 August this year.

"These allegations are concerning and have the Board's full attention.

"The legal process now underway limits what we can say for the time being and we look forward to the opportunity to respond properly on the detail of the allegations.

"What we can say is that Qantas' longstanding practice is that when a flight is cancelled, customers are offered an alternative flight or a refund."

Qantas shares dropped more than 2 per cent to $5.33 on Wednesday, the latest slide in a rough month that has seen its share price fall more than 13 per cent.

The annual report was released on the same day the High Court ordered new CEO Vanessa Hudson to attend mediation with the Transport Workers Union to discuss compensation for the almost 1700 workers the airline illegally sacked in 2020.

The death will be referred to the coroner