Three months after announcing its A.I. strategy known as “Apple Intelligence,” Apple (AAPL) today (Sept. 9) revealed the newest iPhone 16 lineup with the technology’s integration in mind. Available Sept. 20, the new iPhones have “been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up,” CEO Tim Cook said during today’s “It’s Glowtime” event at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
Apple introduced four new iPhones today: the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. All are powered by Apple’s A18 chips, which represent a two-generation jump ahead of the company’s previous A16 chip and display an upgraded neural engine optimized for large generative models and boast 17 percent more system memory bandwidth.
Apple Intelligence “puts generative models right at the core of your iPhone,” said Cook. Apple’s suite of A.I. features will be available across the new iPhones, as well as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. For example, users can create a new emoji by writing a description or use their camera to discover a dog’s breed by simply taking a photo of the animal. Via a partnership with OpenAI, Apple is also integrating ChatGPT into Siri in hopes of making the voice assistant more natural, relevant and personal. The GPT-powered Siri will be able to understand users even if they stumble over their words, can respond to texted commands and will be able to take action by retrieving albums or specific songs.
Apple Intelligence will be available in beta next month as a free software update. While most regions will start with English, Apple hopes to roll out new languages like Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish next year.
Apple’s new iPhones feature enclosures made of 85 percent recycled content, a dedicated camera shutter button and three new color options: ultramarine, teal and pink. The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max come in a different set of colors, have slightly larger screens, and tout the thinnest Apple product borders and the best iPhone battery life to date.
How are Apple’s competitors faring?
Apple isn’t the only company introducing smartphones centered around A.I. Rivals like Google and the China-based Huawei have also touted A.I. features in new smartphones to challenge Apple’s leading stance in the industry. Last month, Google unveiled its new A.I.-enabled Pixel smartphones that will feature aspects like integration of Gemini, Google’s chatbot, and an image generator. The announcement took place in August instead of its usual timing in the fall, a strategic move that allowed Google to reveal details about its A.I. smartphones ahead of Apple’s annual September event.
Huawei, meanwhile, poses a threat to Apple in China, where the iPhone maker has been losing ground amid domestic competition and weakening consumer demand. During the April-June quarter, Apple’s China sales fell 6 percent year-over-year to $14.7 billion. The company has also yet to formalize a path to releasing Apple Intelligence in the Chinese market, as OpenAI has blocked access to ChatGPT in the country. This is where companies like Huawei, which earlier this week received more than 3 million pre-orders for a Z-shaped tri-fold phone that will be unveiled tomorrow (Sept. 10), have a major advantage.
Don’t forget the new Apple Watch and AirPods
Other Apple devices like Apple Watch and AirPods are getting a new look and slew of primarily health-related features as well. The Series 10 Apple Watch will incorporate a new sleep apnea detection tool that analyzes user data every 30 days. Available later this month, it is the company’s fastest-charging watch yet and will also remind users to take medications when needed and warn them of loud environments. The Apple Watch Ultra, the company’s more rugged sports model, will include features like a scuba depth gage and swimming lap count.
Active noise-canceling is coming to the AirPods 4, which will also emphasize personalized spatial audio. The AirPods Max is introducing three different colors and USB-C charging, while the AirPods Pro 2 will notably unveil a new trove of hearing aid options. Alongside adding a hearing protection feature and hearing test available to users, the product will soon contain a professional-grade hearing aid, according to Apple. “Hearing is an essential part of how so many of us communicate and experience the people and the world around us, but hearing loss can significantly affect these important experiences and relationships,” said Sumbul Desai, vice president of health at Apple, who noted that the World Health Organization estimates some 1.5 billion people live with hearing loss.
