The biggest news from Apple's biggest event of the year is that the new iPhone 16 will be enabled with AI — that’s Apple Intelligence to ya.
The iPhone 16, which will be released on Sept 20, will contain the new A18 chip “designed for Apple Intelligence”, the company’s artificial intelligence software. It’s supposed to do things like summarise messages, write emails, clean up photos, generate and edit text to fit certain tones, as well as use the device’s camera to recognise real-world objects. Forget Chat GP!
The event at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, advertised a range of new hardware, and highlighted the ways Apple was integrating AI into its products. Apart from the new iPhone 16, Apple also showcased the new AirPods 4, the Apple Watch Series 10 and more. Guru By Bangkok Post takes a look at the highlights.
iPhone 16
The baseline model starts at US$799 (6.1in. screen), with the 16 Plus (6.7in screen) starting at $899. Both come with 128GB memory and are available in five colours: black, white, pink, teal and ultramarine. The iPhone 16 Pro (6.3in.) starts at $999 and iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.9in.) starts at $1,199 with 128GB going up to 1TB in storage. These will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium and desert titanium. All models will be available starting Sept 20, with pre-ordering beginning on Friday.
Apart from the A18 chip, there is also enhanced camera technology, including a 48-megapixel camera and ultra wide camera, and a redesigned Photo app with AI-enabled features. A new feature is a physical button — Camera Control, which lets you launch the camera and take a photo or start video recording. A new camera preview helps frame the shot and adjust other control options by sliding your finger on the Camera Control switch, as demonstrated by Apple.
Siri has a new look, too, and produces an “elegant glowing light” that wraps around the edge of the screen when active, according to Apple. Following the release of iOS 18 on Sept 16, beta features of Apple Intelligence will be available in the iOS 18.1 software update in October, the company said. In addition to iPhone 16, Apple Intelligence will be available for users of iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, as well as iPads and Macs with M1 chips and later.
However, we in Thailand cannot get excited about Apple Intelligence till 2025, as it first launches in American English, followed in December by localised English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. Additional language support, including Spanish, Mandarin, French and Japanese is slated for 2025.
Apple Watch Series 10
The brand’s slimmest watch with the largest screen yet, Series 10 starts at $399 and is also available from Sept 20. Apart from the new design, the Apple Watch has faster charging, as well as health app features, like detecting sleep apnea (though this is pending USFDA approval). For the first time, users will be able to play music and podcasts on the watch without wearing AirPods, as it's powered by a new S10 chip.
The new charging coil offers 80% of life in 30 minutes, with 18 hours of battery life on full charge, says Apple. The watch comes in a new titanium option, making it lighter than before. The best bit is that the new watch is Apple’s latest carbon neutral device.
AirPods 4
The only pair to get an upgrade this year, the AirPods 4 come in two variations — the standard AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancellation. Apple claims these are the “most comfortable AirPods ever”. Time will tell.
With a new A2 chip and a bit of a design tweak, the AirPods will have Personalised Spatial Audio, along with machine-learning for Siri to pick up head shakes and nods as responses to prompts. The AirPods 4 bring USB-C to the base model case across both tiers, which the company says will offer 30 hours on a charge.
Available from Sept 20 at $129 and $179 for the active noise cancellation, the new models are joined by a long-awaited update to the AirPods Max, as well as new hearing health-related features for the AirPods Pro.
Visit Apple’s website.
