iPhone 16 Series Launch 2024 Highlights: Apple infused it’s take on GenAI, what it calls Apple Intelligence, to take the fight to the competition with its new iPhone 16 series announced on Monday at the “It’s Glowtime” event at its headquarters in Cupertino. The tech giant ushered in upgrades to its Apple Watch and AirPods, while announcing software enhancements that help with accessibility, especially for those with hearing difficulties.
The iPhone 16 series, consisting of the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, will be the first to be natively integrated with Apple Intelligence. The iPhones now have better silicon and even a hardware button that helps users access some of the AI features. “Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been essential in delivering so many of the features and experiences that 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,” CEO Tim Cook said in his keynote.
The company also announced the Apple Watch Series 10 with sleep apnea detection, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in a new colour, and two AirPods 4 versions, one with active noise cancellation and an update on the AirPods Pro that gives users hearing tests as well as a hearing aid functionality.
The new and improved Qi2-certified MagSafe wireless charger, compatible with the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro series can now wirelessly fast charge iPhones at 25W. The new MagSafe wireless charger comes in two variants, a 1-metre variant that costs Rs 4,500, and a 2-metre variant for Rs 5,500.
Apple has discontinued three popular iPhones right after the launch of the iPhone 16 series. The iPhone 13, iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max series are now discontinued and are no longer available via the official website.
Apple has announced a permanent price cut on the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 15, and the iPhone 15 Plus post the launch of the iPhone 16 series.
Here are the new prices:
iPhone 14: ₹59,900
iPhone 14 Plus: ₹69,900
iPhone 15: ₹69,900
iPhone 15 Plus: ₹79,900
Thank you for following our live coverage of Apple's 'It's Glowtime' 2024 event. Visit the tech section on indianexpress.com for more in-depth analysis, comparisons, and more
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 AirPods Max are getting new colours like orange, purple, and starlight, and features USB-C charging.
The Apple Watch Series 10 comes with finish options that include rose gold and silver aluminium. Meanwhile, Apple’s Watch Ultra 2 comes in a new satin black titanium version.
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 iPhone 16 Pro comes with a 48 MP fusion camera, a 48 MP ultra wide camera, and a 12 MP 5X telephoto camera. It also has cinematic slow motion with 4K120 frames per second. The iPhone 16 Pro also has four studio quality mics. It has spatial audio capture during video recordings for a more immersive experience.
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.
Besides GenAI writing tools, iPhone 16 users will be able to use AI to stitch photos into a video with a specific prompt. iPhone 16's Camera Control feature gets visual intelligence that uses AI to recognise names of restaurants, etc when you take pictures of it. You can also use the Camera Control feature to ask ChatGPT for guidance.
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.
Rumours confirmed! The Action button is coming to all iPhone 16 models along with a Camera Control feature that allows users to control the camera with just a sliding gesture.
Apple Intelligence will supercharge these experiences and so many more. It puts powerful generative models right at the core of your iPhone, making it even more useful and delightful. The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple intelligence from the ground up. It marks the beginning of an exciting new era, says CEO Tim Cook.
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.
The all-new Apple AirPods 4 comes with:
- Active Noise Cancellation
- Personalised Spatial Audio
- Voice Isolation
- USB-C and wireless charging
- Force sensors
- Up to 30 hours battery life
- Adaptive audio
- Conversation awareness
- Case speaker
and more.
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.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is available in Satin Black with a scratch resistant case and matching black titanium bands with parachute style lock-in mechanisms. It starts at $799 and is to go on sale from September 20.
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.
Series 10 weighs almost 20% less than the stainless steel. Series Nine. The case is made of aerospace grade titanium and the PVD is coated in one of three stunning colors, natural gold and a dark slate thread.
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.
