Apple’s iPhone 16 Debuts With Little Fanfare

Apple’s annual Fall event, which is highlighted by the introduction of its newest iPhones, was devoid of the controversy of the company’s product introductions this past May, when the company teased its latest iPads and other products with a head-turning video featuring a hydraulic press crushing musical instruments and other products. This time, the company simply unveiled its iPhone 16 and 16 Pro variants along with new Apple Watches and iPods through the usual company personnel, starting with CEO Tim Cook, touting the products’ features and capabilities.

Unlike previous Apple iPhone launches, there did not seem to be much buildup leading to the Fall event, which was also held earlier than the October dates for many previous iPhone introductions. Given Apple’s recent declaration that it has developed AI that works effectively while ensuring user privacy, it was not surprising the company chose the Fall event to tout the important role AI is playing in its latest iPhones and other consumer electronics to improve functionality and usability.

Initial Reaction Lukewarm

The absence of major surprises from Apple did not inspire much buzz among industry analysts. On the site Seeking Alpha, analyst Bill Maurer summed it up best: “In the end, Apple's product launch event on Monday was about as expected. The company showed off its new Watches, iPhones, and AirPods, all with a focus on artificial intelligence. Apple AI will start to roll out next month for its smartphones, but only in the US for the English language, with expansion coming in December and further in 2025.”

Related:Apple Is an AI Company After All

In a similar vein, analyst A.J. Button said in a note on Seeking Alpha, “While the event showcased some quality products, none of them were game changers of the sort that could unlock large new revenue streams for the company. That’s significant because Apple operates at a massive scale, and would require a truly enormous, successful product launch or investment to move the needle on the bottom line.”

But Apple continues to unveil technical advances at these events, this time driven largely by AI advances, which analyst Michael McGrath lauded in a Seeking Alpha note. “Apple's introduction of its iPhone 16, built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence, and its roadmap for deploying Apple Intelligence across all of its products are among the best-ever examples of the advantages of a platform strategy,” McGrath noted.

He added, “Apple's unique strategy is that it can use your iPhone as a generative intelligence device rather than send all requests to servers like Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT. This preserves confidentiality and can incorporate unique information on your phone. And this all starts with the new iPhone 16.”

Related:Apple Enters AI Race with Powerful Processor

AI Is the Driver

Apple spared no effort in touting how its version of artificial intelligence gives users the best of both worlds: providing a powerful set of capabilities to perform numerous tasks, while minimizing exposure of a user’s private information. Called Apple Intelligence, the AI algorithms are integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. According to the company, most of the AI models are designed to run on the device, while Private Cloud Compute flexes and scales computational capacity between on-device processing and larger, server-based models that run on dedicated Apple silicon servers. 

Users of iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max will have the advantage of devices that are designed from the ground up to take advantage of Apple Intelligence. For instance, the writing tools built into iOS 18 enables users to proofread, and summarize text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, Pages, and third-party apps. In the Notes and Phone apps, users can also record, transcribe, and summarize audio. Initiating a call in the Phone app automatically notifies participants and signals Apple Intelligence to generate a summary to recall key points.

Related:Apple Unveils New iPad Amidst Jarring Video Promotion

Apple has also injected AI into its mail program, which now conveys the most important information in each e-mail instead of showing the first few lines. And, Apple’s Siri function now has richer language capabilities and can switch rapidly between text and voice while speeding tasks.

Smart Control Functions

Apple has constantly improved the functionality and performance its iPhone controls, and the new 16 family is no exception. An Action button enables access to access various functions with just a press, including opening the camera, flashlight, or controls; switch between Ring and Silent; recognize music; activate a range of functions and accessibility features; or use Shortcuts for more options.

Also new to the 16 family is Camera Control. This includes a tactile switch that powers the click experience, a high-precision force sensor that enables the light press gesture, and a capacitive sensor that allows for touch interactions. A new camera preview helps users frame the shot and adjust other control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a photo or video by sliding their finger on the Camera Control. Additionally, developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Snapchat.

In the not-too-distant future, Apple says the Camera Control function will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before. Users can click and hold Camera Control to find out information about places they pass or encounter, as well as add an event from a flyer to their calendar.

Powerful Hardware

Apple has packed more power into its 16 family of iPhones, using its A18 Bionic chip. The chip is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology, with an upgraded 16-core Neural Engine is optimized for large generative models. It runs ML models up to 2x faster than the A16 Bionic chip. According to Apple, the 6-core CPU is 30% faster than the A16 Bionic chip and faster than competitive chips. The company also says the A18 is more power efficient and can run the same workload with 30% less power than A16 Bionic.

Not surprisingly, Apple has further improved the cameras on its 16 family. A 48 megapixel Fusion camera enables a 2x optical-quality Telephoto option, which is like having two cameras in one, enabling users to get closer to the subject to easily frame a photo. In addition to wider-angle shots, the iPhone 16’s new 12MP Ultra Wide camera with autofocus enables macro photography. The 16 family of phones can also take spatial photos and videos.

On the higher end 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, Apple has also incorporated a 5X telephoto camera. These models can also shoot 4K videos at 120 frames per second in a slow-motion or video mode, and adjust the playback speed after capture in the phone’s Photos app. The 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max also incorporate four studio-quality mics, and can capture video in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system.

Apple's 16 Pro and Pro Max iPhones

Apple says its new 16 lineup will go on sale September 20, with prices ranging from $799 to $1,199 depending on model.