Apple's biggest event of the year has arrived, with the announcement of the iPhone 16 lineup and a slew of AI-related updates in iOS 18. Like WWDC in June, Apple Intelligence was the main focus of this year's Apple event, and Apple's announcement lineup reflected a number of highly anticipated hardware announcements, including new iPhone 16, AirPods 4, and Apple Watch Series 10. Broadcast live from the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Apple's “Glowtime” event began at 10am PST, and you can watch the full recording of the Apple event here.
It remains to be seen whether Monday's announcement will spark or delay a “supercycle” of customers adopting the new iPhone 16 lineup, but it's clear that Apple is focusing on AI as a core part of its sales strategy going forward. We'll continue to update this article as reports emerge from the demo rooms and briefings following the event.
iPhone 16
Not surprisingly, the iPhone 16 is, in CEO Tim Cook's words, “engineered from the ground up for Apple Intelligence,” with tweaked designs and new colors unveiled at Apple's event. The new iPhone 16 lineup also features side-mounted camera controls for physical access to camera features. It also comes with the new A18 chip, which Apple says makes the iPhone 16 up to 30 percent faster than the iPhone 15. Pricing for the iPhone 16 starts at $799 for the 128GB model, while the 16 Plus starts at $899 for the same amount of storage. Keep up to date with the latest iPhone 16 news here.
Apple Intelligence
Apple Intelligence, first unveiled at WWDC, has been presented primarily as a more private, large-scale language model that works behind the scenes to improve existing apps and features. Apple echoed many of its WWDC announcements, touting Intelligence's ability to mine your inbox: email summaries are displayed, notifications have also been modified to provide summaries, and high-priority notifications have been elevated to the top of the stack. Apple claimed a “new era for Siri,” boasting that the Intelligence upgrades allow Siri to understand less-than-skillfully communicated requests, guide users through specific tasks within the iPhone, and recognize actions taking place on the phone on the screen.
Apple Intelligence will be released in beta in the US this fall, with English coming to select markets in December, with additional languages including Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish targeted for 2025.
Apple also detailed visual search, powered by Apple Intelligence, which combines the power of reverse image search and text recognition to add event details to your calendar from a photo, or get information about a restaurant directly from a photo of that restaurant.
Ultimately, one of the biggest questions that arises from Apple's claims about Intelligence's potential to improve user experience across multiple product lines is simple: is Siri actually useful right now?
iOS 18 is scheduled to be released on September 16th
Image credit: Apple
We've already gotten our first impressions of iOS 18 with its beta release earlier this year, but the initial rollout without Apple Intelligence features wasn't particularly impressive. As mentioned, many of the most anticipated AI features will arrive in late 2024, but iOS 18 still has some Messaging and Control Center updates that you can find out more about here ahead of its newly announced September 16th launch date. All iPhones from the iPhone XR and SE (2nd generation) onwards are eligible for the update.
iPhone 16 Camera Controls
One of the biggest physical updates to the iPhone 16 lineup is the camera control button. The camera control responds to clicks and a variety of physical gestures – a light press gives you a clear preview, a firm click takes the photo. Run your finger along the button to dial and change settings. Learn more about what the camera control can be used for.
iPhone 16 Pro, Pro Max
Apple's more premium iPhone models come with expected screen changes, with a 6.3-inch screen on the Pro and a 6.9-inch screen on the Pro Max, the largest ever on an iPhone. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max also come with a new A18 Pro chip, upgraded cameras with faster shutter speeds and the ability to shoot 4K video at 120fps, among other changes you can see here. Pricing for the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 and the 16 Pro Max starts at $1,119, and both will open for pre-orders on Friday and be in stores on September 20.
Apple Watch Series 10
Image credit: Apple
Apple kicked off the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch with a series of updates within the Apple Watch Series 10 range, including a tweaked design with rounder corners and updated aspect ratios, Apple's first wide-angle OLED screen. The Series 10 display is up to 40 percent brighter when viewed at an angle, and at 9.7mm thick, it's the thinnest Apple Watch ever and up to 10 percent lighter than previous models. Naturally, AI was featured in the Apple Watch Series 10 announcement, with a new photo watch face that uses AI to curate photos that appear on the display, and a translation tool that uses machine learning to improve output.
The Apple Watch also has an update pending FDA clearance that will enable sleep apnea detection on both the Series 10 and Series 9 watches. The Apple Watch Series 10 will start at $399 and will be available on September 20th.
For more information about Apple Watch Series 10, please click here.
Apple Watch Ultra
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Apple has previously promoted the Ultra as a device for fitness enthusiasts, boasting custom workouts, running track detection, biking as a live activity, etc. And ahead of the launch, Apple clarified that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is not yet available, instead unveiling a new satin black color for the Ultra 2.
Airpods 4
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Apple claims the new AirPods 4 are the “most comfortable AirPods ever,” with a new A2 chip underneath the revamped design. The AirPods 4 also feature personalized spatial audio and add machine learning to help Siri recognize a head shake as a nod in response to a prompt. The new AirPods 4 will be available on September 20th, starting at $129, with the $179 tier adding active noise cancellation. You can find a full rundown of the AirPods updates here.
Airpods Pro 2
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The AirPods Pro 2 update emphasizes three points: prevention, awareness, and assistance. For prevention, hearing protection is added for passive noise reduction managed by machine learning and will be turned on by default. For awareness, Apple is adding “clinically validated” hearing tests that owners can take at any time.
And for people whose hearing has been tested and found to be able to benefit from hearing aids, Apple is launching hearing aid features. Apple expects FDA clearance for these features to come “soon,” with iOS updates coming this fall.
Airpods Max
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During the Apple event, the AirPods Max got a series of incremental updates, including the addition of USB-C, and the updated headphones will also be available in a series of new colors on September 20 for the same $549 price point. Check out more details here.
Voice memos with background music
Image credit: Apple
Apple has shown off a new feature in its Voice Memos app that lets you layer vocal tracks over pre-recorded music or instrumentals. Read more here.
New macOS Sequoia will be released on September 16th
Image credit: Apple
In an unusually fast release of macOS updates, Apple has announced that the updates first shown off at WWDC 2024 will be released within a week, including a set of updates based on Apple Intelligence, which you can find here.