Apple is expected to release its latest range of iPhones featuring generative AI capabilities on Monday as the tech giant seeks to boost sales of its iconic device. The company founded by Steve Jobs has given little information about what it plans to show during the launch event dubbed “Glowtime” at its headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino.
However, this is that time of year when Apple typically updates its iPhone lineup.
Apple has a lot riding on the iPhone 16 and hopes that customers will be attracted by the new AI powers and be motivated to buy the latest model.
With sales of $39 billion last quarter, the iPhone accounts for nearly 60 percent of Apple’s revenue, and remains the main gateway to the company’s services, such as the App Store or Apple TV, which are becoming a growing part of its business.
Apple is recently emerging from a long-term sales slump, as consumers are sticking with older models longer.
“The iPhone 16 will be one of the most important iPhone launches, not because of its exterior, but because of what’s inside — Apple intelligence,” said Dipanjan Chatterjee, principal analyst at Forrester.
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“Apple Intelligence” is a new set of software features for all devices, announced at the company’s annual developers conference in June, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
In the short term, these include small, creative attempts at AI-enabled image editing, translation, and messaging, but not the more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI companies like OpenAI or Google.
‘Super-Powered Siri’
Apple also said that its digital assistant Siri will get an AI upgrade and will now appear as a pulsating light at the edge of the home screen.
“Siri will be a big part of this conversation,” Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said of Monday’s event.
Launched more than 12 years ago, Siri is now considered an outdated feature, overtaken by new-generation assistants like OpenAI’s latest offering GPT-4o.
Apple watchers predict that Apple will introduce iPhone 16 models with custom chips that can power these AI features, including the Siri upgrade.
Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said that by adding AI capabilities, Apple “wants to put an end to the expectation” that the iPhone launch is “only a steady improvement in hardware and software.”
In the long term, Greengart said, Apple could dramatically change the iPhone experience with a “super-powered Siri” that works across all apps.
pixel power
Apple’s announcement comes after Google, which last month unveiled its AI-powered Pixel 9 smartphone as its challenger to the iPhone.
Pixels have a minuscule share of the global smartphone market, which is dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued that its new line was a chance to answer what — after so much hype — AI could really do for consumers.
“When it comes to AI, there’s been a lot of promises, a lot of ‘coming soon,’ and not enough real-world support — that’s why we’re getting a sense of reality today,” Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of devices, said at the company’s campus in Mountain View, California.
Samsung has also demonstrated AI across a range of its consumer electronics products, as it seeks to extend its leadership in global smartphone sales.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
