iPhone 16 Launch 2024 Highlights: Apple introduces AI-powered iPhone 16 series along with Watch Series 10, AirPods 4

iPhone 16: Rs 79,900 onwards

iPhone 16 Plus : Rs 89,900 onwards

iPhone 16 Pro: Rs 1,19,900 onwards

iPhone 16 Pro Max: Rs 1,44,900 onwards

Apple Watch Series 10: Rs 46,900

Apple Watch SE: Rs 24,900

Apple Watch Ultra 2: Rs 89,900

AirPods 4: Rs 12,900 onwards

The new colour variants of the iPhone 16 include ultramarine, teal, pink, white, and black.

You can soon layer another track on top of an existing recording in Voice Memos, Apple says. It essentially uses advanced processing to let users make two-track recordings.

The Apple iPhone 16 Pro will come in black, white, silver, and desert colour options. It is said to have the best iPhone battery life ever. It is powered by the A18 Pro that is built with second-gen 3 nano metre transistors, helping it excel in generative AI workloads. The 6-core GPU makes the A18 Pro 15% faster than A17 Pro while using 20% less power than the A17 Pro.

The iPhone 16 has two camera lens: a 48MP main fusion camera, with 26mm focal length and a new ultra wide camera with auto focus. It also comes with 4K60 video in Dolby Vision and can capture spatial photos and videos. It can also cut down on wind noise in videos, Apple says.

Running powerful experiences like Apple Intelligence on device needs a chip with substantial high performance compute. It makes memory to store large models and bandwidth to access them quickly, and, of course, phenomenal energy efficiency. So we're bringing our latest breakthroughs and jumping two generations ahead from A16 in iPhone 15 to A18, says Sribalan Santhanam.

Our brand new chip created specifically for iPhone 16 features an updated four year old engine that is optimised for running large generative models, he adds.

Apple announces an updated version of its high-end AirPods Max headphones that will be available in midnight, blue, purple, orange, and starlight. It can charge via a USB-C port.

Apple has unveiled the next generation of its AirPods with a refined look that is said to be the most comfortable design with high-tech audio architecture. You can also just shake your head as a 'yes' or 'no' to respond to Siri. The case of the AirPods 4 has USB-C charging port.

We've moved on from the Apple Watch Series 10 to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, mainly designed for athletes.

The Apple Watch Series 10 will alert users to a major health condition that impacts over a billion people worldwide, sleep apnea.

"It's a potentially serious condition where breathing stops repeatedly and causes disrupted sleep. Sleep plays such a vital role in our overall health and well being, and people with sleep apnea can experience excessive daytime tiredness, have difficulties concentrating and be more irritable if left untreated. Sleep apnea can also have significant consequences on your health, including increased risk of hypertension, type two diabetes and cardiac issues," Dr Sumbul Ahmed Desai says.

"To detect sleep apnea, the Apple Watch uses the accelerometer to monitor a new metric during sleep called breathing disturbances. 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," she says.

At just 9.7 millimeters, the Apple Watch Series 10 is nearly 10% thinner than Series Nine, a significant reduction, considering how compact Apple Watch already is. The company says that achieving this radically thinner profile required further miniaturisation of several already tiny internal modules like the SIP digital crown and the speaker system was completely re engineered to be 30% smaller without any compromise to acoustic performance.

The front crystal of series 10 is made of durable, ionic blast and extends further down the sides of the case, creating an expansive top view under the front crystal is Apple's first-ever wide angle OLED display. Each pixel has been optimised to emit more light at wider angles.

"Often you look at your watch from an angle, like while you're walking typing on the keyboard, or when your hand is resting in your lap. So, we made the display on series 10 up to 40% brighter when viewed from an angle, which improves visibility and makes it easier to read your watch with a quick glance. We also developed wide angle OLEDs to be extremely power efficient, which allows the display to update once a second and Always On mode instead of just once a minute," says Apple.

Apple CEO Tim Cook starts his keynote by underlining how “artificial intelligence and machine learning have been essential in delivering so many of the features and experiences” we love today.

“In June, we launched Apple intelligence, our powerful new personal intelligence system, which will have an incredible impact… we are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities.”

Excitement mounts as the clock ticks down to the commencement of the ‘It’s Glowtime’ event which is primarily expected to be a showcase of Apple’s latest range of iPhones. But how will AI be thrown into the mix? Stay tuned as we bring you all the live updates from the Steve Jobs Theater.

Have reached the venue on what is a very cloudy day at Apple Park.

While Apple users can look forward to the new iPhone 16 models, Apple Watch X, and updated AirPods, what are a few products that are unlikely to be announced today? For starters, Apple may not launch a new M4 Mac series even though rumours of its possible release have been circulating. Instead, the company is likely to hold off till later this year to expand the Mac lineup and would want to keep customers' focus on the iPhone 16 series for today. The release date of Apple Intelligence is also not likely to be today as the company is expected to roll out the AI features over the coming months in the US and other countries. Users in the EU may have to wait until the company clears its regulatory hurdles to access Apple Intelligence.

We're still a couple of hours away from Apple's launch of its new range of iPhones. In the meantime, here are a few features that iPhone users may look forward to:

- Higher refresh rate display

- Faster MagSafe wireless charging

- An action button

- Apple Intelligence

- New colour options

Read more here.

The iPhone-maker rolled out the first edition of its Apple Watch series ten years ago to the day. In light of the Apple Watch completing ten years, the company is expected to announce a few upgrades as part of the Apple Watch X (or series 10) such as new health tracking features and a slimmer design. Though the new range of Apple smartwatches is unlikely to have blood pressure monitoring since there have been no reports of the company getting regulatory approval for the same.

More and more purported details of the iPhone 16 series are emerging in the run-up to the launch today. For instance, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman said that the iPhone 16 Pro models will be available in a gold titanium option. "

While the phones will all look mostly the same as last year, Apple is shaking up colors. The Pros will come in a gold to replace blue, while the black, white and natural will still be available. The non-Pros will trade in yellow for white and get new shades of green, pink & blue," he said.

This year, Apple is expected to bring minor design changes to the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models along with improvements to existing features. You can probably expect to see slightly larger screen sizes, with the high-end Pro model rumoured to be going from a 6.1-inch screen to 6.3 inch screen. The larger Max version is expected to increase from 6.7 to 6.9 inches.

This year, Apple's iPhone launch event that is held in September every year is called "It's Glowtime". Invites were sent out by the company last month featuring the Apple logo in neon-like, glowing colours. The event will be taking place live at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, US. But users at home can tune into the livestream of the launch on Apple.com and Apple’s official social media channels. It will kick off at 10:30pm IST on September 9, 2024.