It’s pretty fitting that at an event where Apple dropped some serious hints about its future vision for the iPhone, Watch — and even AirPods — one of the best demos was called Vision Intelligence. Part of a future feature set that should arrive on the iPhone later this year or in early 2025, Vision Intelligence will let iPhone users point their camera at something and then ask a generative AI like ChatGPT to analyze the scene. At one moment in the demo, Apple shows a person pointing their phone’s camera at a math problem while studying and the AI ​​analyzes the problem and solves it. It was cool. But then so were the hints Apple dropped during the iPhone 16 launch event about where it intends to go with the iPhone, Watch, and AirPods.

You see, the iPhone 16 and Watch Series 10 look like incremental updates in their own right. The cosmetic changes — and those are the changes that the iPhone launch day meme crowd loves to make fun of — are pretty minimal and minimal. The iPhone 16 has the camera lenses placed vertically. There are new colours. They get two new buttons — the action button and the camera control. The iPhone 16 Pro have slightly bigger screens, a design similar to the iPhone 15 Pro and an additional button — the camera control. In the Watch Series 10 too we get slightly bigger screens and a slightly flatter body. There has been a change in the material for some variants. Titanium has replaced steel but the difference is not obvious as the mirror-like finish is the same.

Then there are the new AirPods, which are pretty generic in terms of their design, and some minor updates to existing products like the Watch Ultra 2 and AirPods Max.

No wonder Android fans and some technology influencers are happily saying on social media that Apple hasn’t changed anything in its new products or that the company is no longer innovating like before.

Nothing new? Take a closer look

However, if you look carefully, you will see all this is a lie. Because, in my opinion, at the iPhone 16 launch event Apple has in many important ways presented its vision of the future in a way it hasn’t done in many years. We don’t really know if all of this will be successful for Apple. But it exists and it is remarkably simple and bold.

Of course, there are some noticeable updates in the iPhone 16 and Watch Series 10 that will be important to users when they start trying them out a few weeks from now. The Watch Series 10’s screen is just 1mm larger but it looks much bigger than the Series 9 or Series 8 thanks to its improved viewing angles and brightness. In the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, the new A18 and A18 Pro chipsets are bringing more performance and better battery life. Similarly, the camera control buttons could be a handy feature for power users and pro photographers.

But I think the real significance of the iPhone 16, Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4 is in setting the tone for Apple’s future product vision. Take the iPhone 16 for example. Apple hopes that once it introduces Apple Intelligence, the AI ​​system that sits at the heart of iOS 18, the new iPhones will usher in a new kind of phone – an omniscient AI phone that will interact with users using natural inputs like voice and gestures. This, as many people have made the connection these days, will be like the AI ​​system in every movie.

Tracking health everywhere and at all times

Also, the company wants to point out that it is slowly but surely turning the Apple Watch into an all-purpose physical activity and health tracker. The Watch already has ECG features, as well as features like blood oxygen measurement, fall detection, granular tracking of sports and physical activity. Now it is also getting a new temperature sensor, which will measure water temperature if you are into water sports, or like the Watch Ultra 2 will measure depth if you are diving for snorkeling, or track tidal moments which can help surfers.

But most importantly, the Watch Series 10 – and Series 9 – are getting a sleep apnea detection feature with a software update. Combined with ECG, this makes the Watch an even better health device. However, as we know from reports, patents, and rumors, these are part of a bigger plan. We’re not sure when Apple will roll it out but it’s certain that sometime in the future, probably with the Apple Watch Series 11 next year, the company will add blood pressure measurement to its Watch. There’s also talk of implementing some sort of non-comprehensive blood glucose monitor in the Watch, but that’s a holy grail.

Nonetheless, the Watch Series 10 shows that Apple is serious about turning its smartwatch into a comprehensive sports and health tracker.

The company is also set to turn AirPods into a smart health-tracking tool. And it’s starting with the AirPods 4, which will come with a new feature that will not only give users a medically accurate hearing test but also fine-tune the sound based on that test. Not only that, Apple is confident that once the AirPods tune themselves based on the hearing test result, they will act as fully functional hearing aids. Here too we know that the hearing test is part of a bigger plan Apple has for the AirPods. Already in iOS 18 RC (Release Candidate) there are hints that Apple is hoping to add more health sensors to the AirPods. These sensors could range from temperature sensors to EEG for monitoring brain activity to smaller ones that record heartbeat and blood circulation.

Three categories of devices

Though the lines separating them are blurred, broadly speaking, Apple devices can increasingly fall into one of three categories: work and entertainment, smart health tracking, and a device that connects them all together.

The first category, which is related to work and entertainment, will include products like the iPad and MacBook and Vision Pro (although its future is still uncertain, although it is quite a cool gadget). The second category will be all the smart wearables like the Watch and AirPods, which have dozens of unique sensors to monitor health and vital body functions. And the device that will bring everything together, including an AI system like Apple Intelligence, will be the iPhone.

It’s a compelling approach, especially all the health tracking that could give Apple an edge over more mundane and less sophisticated rivals. Whether this approach will materialise and become a reality in the next three to four years is not certain. As the proverb goes, there are many slips between the cup and the lip. A lot can go wrong. But at the iPhone 16 launch event, Apple showed that this is an approach it is going to pursue and this is the year – 2024 – when it is making it clear what it intends to do.