(CNN) –– Apple on Monday unveiled a host of new technologies, including the iPhone 16, which includes some impressive upgrades that the company hopes will win over customers, many of whom have been clinging to their older devices.
Since the 2020 launch of the iPhone 12, which was Apple’s first smartphone with 5G connectivity, the company has given customers little reason to buy the latest generation. Phone cameras have greatly advanced to the point where they are sufficient for most people’s everyday needs without major hardware changes, and there comes a time when the human eye is not even capable of perceiving resolutions of taller screen.
That’s why roughly 300 million iPhones worldwide haven’t been updated in more than four years, according to a research note by investment firm Wedbush analyst Dan Ives last month. As a result, iPhone sales, which account for half of the company’s revenue, have been sluggish.
This Monday, Apple made several announcements that it believes could promote a major new sales cycle.
Apple announced that the iPhone 16 will be the first model designed specifically for generative artificial intelligence, allowing users to create text and images with just a prompt in everyday language. Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro will be available for pre-order starting this Friday and in stores starting September 20, Apple announced.
Camera control button: A new camera control feature, accessed with a button on the side of the phone, will give users access to “visual intelligence,” Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, said Monday. For example, after clicking the camera control, a user can point the camera at a restaurant and the iPhone 16 will display information such as reviews, the menu, and how to make a reservation. It can also be used to identify things like dog breeds or places of interest and to add things to your calendar.
Siri improvements: Siri will now be able to extract information from users’ text messages, meaning it can remind you of TV and music recommendations sent by friends, Federighi said. For example, the user can say, “Send Erica the photos from Saturday’s barbecue,” and Siri will understand which photos to send and automatically send them to the correct person.
New colors: The phones come in white, black, teal, “ultramarine” and pink. They are also available in two sizes: 6.1 inches for the iPhone 16 and 6.7 inches for the iPhone 16 Plus. The 16 line also comes packed with buttons, including the customizable Action Button from the previous generation. Additionally, it adds a new camera slider, which is a small flush area on the side of the phone that works by touch, just like the phone’s screen that responds to a finger. Users can slide a finger along it to access and use different camera functions, such as depth of field.
Fastest processor: The iPhone 16 comes with 17% more system memory bandwidth to better support Apple Intelligence, a glass-ceramic display that promises to be 50% stronger, and a 40% faster GPU than the previous model.
While “Apple Intelligence” is artificial intelligence, the words “artificial” or “AI” were not mentioned in the presentation.
Instead of “powered by AI,” Apple CEO Tim Cook and others refer to Apple’s “smart” features. That’s because Apple is one of the most brand-conscious companies on the planet, and it knows something that’s often lost in the bot-filled Silicon Valley bubble: regular people don’t like AI.
Same price: The new iPhone 16 will have a starting price of US$ 799, according to the company. The iPhone 16 Plus will have a starting price of US$899.
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The iPhone 16 Pro, Apple’s high-end phone, features even more AI features than the iPhone 16.
Larger screens: The iPhone 16 Pro line is 0.2 inches larger than last year’s models: the initial Pro measures 6.3 inches and the Pro Max measures 6.9 inches, allowing users to see and do more on the screen . Apple said the devices include the thinnest edges yet.
Better battery, new colors: The iPhone 16 Pro also has the longest battery life of any of their iPhones, and comes in four colors: White Titanium, Dark Titanium, Natural Titanium, and a Desert Brown Titanium.
4K Video: The high-end iPhone 16 also lets you record in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second, with the ability to do the video in slow motion after recording a clip, rather than trying to get the settings right while the action is happening. The Pro line will also receive an improvement in audio recording, including spatial audio with background noise reduction, which allows videos to capture conversations of people focused on the video, separating them from the ambient noise around them.
Price: The Apple iPhone 16 Pro will start at $999 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will start at $1,199, the company announced this Monday.
