Apple iPhone 16 event: new AirPods, Apple Watches, other key announcements
The tech behemoth’s is making up for lost ground in the AI race with its new iPhone 16, Apple Watch and AirPods. Here’s what you need to know.
Apple has released new watches, iPhones and AirPods in its biggest product launch for the year, with chief executive Tim Cook declaring it was introducing “breakthrough technologies” that have been built “from the ground up”.
Apple unveiled bigger and more powerful iPhones and Apple Watches as well as updated headphones at its Cupertino headquarters in California early Tuesday morning (Australian time).
The new devices are equipped with new artificial intelligence features, dubbed Apple Intelligence, which Mr Cook said would enhance creativity, accessibility and health awareness. But Apple Intelligence won’t be launched in Australian English until December.
“For years, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been essential in delivering so many of the features and experiences you love,” Mr Cook said.
“I’m proud that we’re continuing to deliver on Apple’s commitment to health with a breakthrough experience that will enrich so many people’s lives.”The launch of Apple Intelligence is expected to breathe new life into its flagship product and reverse sluggish sales. Apple is seeking to make up ground against its rivals, having largely sat out of the AI frenzy for the past two years.
New features included the ability to perform “clinically validated” hearing tests using AirPods Pro, which can also act as a “clinical grade hearing aid”, sleep apnea detection on Apple Watch. These features are all subject to regulatory approval
But the biggest update was the iPhone 16 range, which Mr Cook said had been “redesigned from the ground up” to harness the AI boom. “It marks the beginning of an exciting new era,” he said.
“Because it’s been designed to take full advantage of Apple, intelligence, it’s more powerful and useful than ever.”
More powerful chip
The new phones include a new A18 chip, which Apple said was up to 30 per cent faster than the iPhone 15 and up to 60 per cent faster than the CPU and iPhone 12. The Pro line-up’s chip is 15 per cent faster than the previous model and uses 20 per cent power.
This is crucial to perform power-hungry AI tasks on device, which include writing tools such as the ability to polish “hastily written notes” into more a “polished tone”, which other generative AI platforms offer. People can also use the iPhone camera to gather more information and perform tasks, such as taking a picture of a restaurant to access its menu, or a flyer promoting an event and adding it to your calendar.
Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi said the company was also introducing “private cloud compute” to strengthen privacy. This follows Apple attracting criticism from Elon Musk, who threatened to ban iPhones at his company earlier this year after Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI, claiming it was a privacy risk.
“Private Cloud Compute maintains the privacy and security of your iPhone while giving you access to generative models, much larger than what fits in your pocket. It runs on servers we built, especially with Apple silicon, protecting your personal information,” Mr Federighi said.
“When you draw on private cloud compute, your data is never stored or shared with Apple. It’s used only to fulfil your request, and in a first for the industry, independent experts can continuously verify this privacy promise.”
Bigger displays and battery
In the pro models, the displays have received size upgrades. The regular pro model will 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches, while the larger Pro Max’s screen is 6.9 inches, up from 6.7 inches. But are still the same size overall, thanks to thinner bezels.
There are no changes to the screen sizes of the regular iPhone models. But they come with a bigger battery, which Apple said was designed to better dissipate heat and make battery service easier.
New cameras
All iPhones are now equipped with a new ‘camera control’ button on the side of the phone that allows different photographic functions – such as zoon and depth of field adjustment – via a soft touch. A full touch will take the picture.
The regular iPhone models now have a 48 megapixel main camera, that Apple said delivers four times more resolution than the iPhone 14. It also has a new wide angle camera that can capture 2.6 times more light, and a 2x telephoto lens.
The Pro models also come equipped with a 48MP ‘fusion camera’ and a 48MP ultra wide and 5x telephoto cameras. It can also shoot videos in 4K resolution at 120 frames a second, enabling smooth slow motion videos.
Enhanced microphones
The Pro models feature “four studio quality” microphones, that Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak said enabled spatial audio capture during video recording. He said it also enable “creative sound editing” by using artificial intelligence to identify and separate background noises from speech.
Why it matters
All eyes are on iPhone sales, given it accounts for more than half of Apple’s business. Last financial year – which ended September 30 for Apple – iPhone sales dipped 2.4 per cent to $US200.6bn. If the iPhone division were its own company, it would be the 15th biggest on the S&P 500 – outranking Ford and General Motors.
But it is expected that many people will upgrade their phones this year, after 2021 recorded strong sales – with revenue totalling $US192bn, a 71 per cent surge on 2020 – coupled with demand for more AI-powered features.
Apple Watch Series 10
Apple unveiled its Series 10 watch, which has 30 per cent more screen area and is 40 per cent brighter when viewed from an angle than the Series 9. It is also about 10 per cent thinner than the previous model at 9.7mm. Ionic glass has continued to be used for the screen rather than sapphire crystal, which its Ultra model uses.
It also offers faster charging. Apple said 15 minutes of charging provides up to eight hours of normal use, while 30 minutes provides up to 80 per cent of its battery life.
Sumbul Ahmad Desai, vice president of Apple Health, said a big update was the ability to detect sleep apnea.
“One of the biggest challenges is that 80 per cent of people with sleep apnea are undiagnosed, so they don’t know they have the condition to detect sleep apnea, Apple Watch uses the accelerometer to monitor a new metric during sleep all breathing disturbances,” Dr Desai said.
“You can view your nightly values in the health app, which can also help you understand the restfulness of your sleep. Every 30 days, Apple Watch will analyse your breathing disturbance data and notify you if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.”
Apple also introduced a new jet black colour and titanium models that come in natural, gold and slate grey.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple’s tough watch has received a new satin black finish, which has been achieved through a “custom blasting process” and is scratch resistant.
The Ultra case is made from 95 per cent recycled titanium, which Apple said was the same grade the aerospace industry uses.
It also unveiled a new titanium band – a Milanese loop “inspired by stainless steel”.
AirPods
Apple unveiled a new H2 chip in its AirPods 4, which vice president of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron said can deliver “ richer bass and crystal clear highs”. “In this open ear design, and that includes personalised spatial audio, which surrounds you with sound and transforms music, movies and games with our most immersive media experience,” she said.
Combating hearing loss was the main feature Apple touted for the AirPods Pro.
“To help our users minimise their exposure, we’re adding hearing protection to AirPods Pro by default across listening modes,” Dr Desai said.
“The ear tips help to provide passive noise reduction whether you’re attending a live show, or playing at the show, machine learning … reduces louder more interesting noise at 48,000 times per second hearing protection.”
She said coupled with the iPhone, the AirPods Pro could also perform a “clinical validated hearing test” in five minutes.”
As expected, the AirPods Max now come with USB-C charging and new colour options.
Pricing
The iPhone 16 starts at $1399 - $50 cheaper than last year’s model - and the 16 Plus from $1599. The standard Pro model is priced from $1799 - $100 cheaper than the 15 Pro, while the Pro Max will retail from $2149.
The Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $649 and the Ultra 2 from $1399. AirPods 4 start at $219, while the AirPods Max will cost $899. General availability begins on September 20.
The author travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple
