Apple unveiled four new smartphones at its annual iPhone event in Cupertino. Apple also launched a new smartwatches with sleep apnea detection and Airpods that can also double up as a hearing aid.
A lot of buzz around this year’s iPhones is down to the new generative AI capabilities that promise to make them a more intelligent, creative and productive tool for humans.
Here are ten new features or changes in the new iPhones that users should know about in case they are in the market for a new smartphone.
Apple Intelligence
The biggest talking point of this year’s iPhones is the new generative AI system called Apple Intelligence. Apple claims that it uses personal context to personalize images, enhance writing, summarize calls and web pages, create unique emojis, and sort important emails and notifications. Though these AI features won’t be available out of the box, they will be rolled out in phases, starting next month with the iOS 18.1 software update. While genAI adds to the novelty, it's not unique to the new iPhones. Google’s new Pixel 9 smartphones and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 models also have similar in-built generative AI tools.
Visual intelligence
The new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models come with a new capability called Visual Intelligence. It uses generative AI to analyze images of any real world object and fetch real time information on them. It can identify text, objects, and landmarks. This feature is quite similar to the Lens feature that Google has been offering on Android phones for many years. Visual Intelligence can also be used to take pictures of even fliers and quickly add the details to the calendar.
New camera control button
In addition to the action button introduced last year on Pro models, Apple has added a dedicated camera control button. This button not only allows users to capture photos and videos quickly with a simple press, but also supports touch gestures for controlling zoom, exposure and depth of field with a simple swipe of a finger. Third party developers, such as Snapchat, can also leverage the camera control features within their app.
Bigger display on Pro models
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have slightly larger screens than their predecessors. The base Pro model now has a 6.3-inch display, up from 6.1 inches in iPhone 15 Pro, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 6.9 inch display, up from 6.7-inches in iPhone 15 Pro Max.
iPhone 16 Pro gets 5x telephoto camera
Apple is offering a 5x telephoto camera on both iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This is an upgrade from last year, when only the iPhone 15 Pro Max had a 5x telephoto camera, while the iPhone 15 Pro had a 3x telephoto camera. Having a 5x telephoto camera is a big boost for camera buffs as it means superior zooming capability and image quality.
Siri gets a new design, understands language better
Powered by generative AI, Siri comes with a new design and improved language understanding. Siri can now have more natural and free-flowing conversations with users as it understands words and context much better in any conversation. The new Siri also supports typing, allowing users to ask questions and write prompts discreetly. It also knows a lot more about iPhone and other Apple devices and can help users if they have any queries related to them.
New A18 chips
Every year Apple claims that its new chips outperform their predecessors. While these upgrades may not seem huge, they are still important to handle the growing workload on smartphones. The standard iPhone 16 runs on A18 Bionic and iPhone 16 Pro models run on A18 Pro. Built on the 3nm process, A18 is 30% faster than A16 Bionic used in iPhone 15. Its 16-core neural engine, optimized for large language models (LLMs), can deliver twice the performance with ML models, claims Apple.
The A18 Pro chip, used in the iPhone 16 Pro models, is 15% faster and 20% more power efficient than the A17 Pro used in iPhone 15 Pro models. It has a 16-core neural engine like the A18 and a 6-core GPU that is 20% faster than its predecessors. Also, it promises two times faster hardware-accelerated ray tracing for a more realistic lighting and reflections in AAA games.
4K 120FPS video recording
The 48MP camera on the iPhone 16 Pro models now support 4K video recording at 120 fps. This is the highest resolution and frame-rate combination ever seen on a smartphone or an iPhone. This will come in handy while capturing gaming events, sports broadcasts, and cinematic experiences.
Macro photography in standard iPhones
One of the limitations in cameras of standard iPhones was the lack of ability to capture macro shots. Both iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus come with a new 12MP ultra-wide camera that supports auto focus, allowing users to capture closeup shots with a lot more detail and clarity.
More control over audio in video recordings
Both iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have four new studio-quality microphones to capture sound with a lot more detail. Apple has also added a new feature called Audio Mix, which allows users to adjust sound after recording. Users can focus on the voice of the speaker, add studio effects, and position sound in surround sound. It also uses ML to reduce unwanted noise for better audio quality.
Image credit: Apple Newsroom