Apple’s most-awaited annual event is here, launching the iPhone 16 series with a suite of AI features for iOS 18. It has indeed been an event from Apple this year, with Apple Intelligence being the star of the evening, just as at WWDC back in June. The announcements were pretty much across a set of expected hardware launches, including the new iPhone 16, AirPods 4, the Apple Watch Series 10, and more. Live from Cupertino HQ, Apple’s “Glowtime” event was kicking off at 10 am PT.
We don’t know yet whether Monday’s revelations will accelerate or decelerate what analysts are calling a “supercycle” of customer adoption for the new iPhone 16 lineup. But one thing is unmistakable: The company is placing AI front-and-centre of its sales pitch from here out. We’ll continue to update this post frequently in the days immediately after the event with fresh reporting from the demo rooms and briefings.
iPhone 16
Of course, the iPhone 16 ‘has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up’, says CEO Tim Cook, between the updated designs and new colours shown off during the Glowtime event. The latest in the series of iPhone 16s brings in a side-mounted camera control, allowing for physical interactions with camera features. Additionally, they claim that it has a new chip called the A18 that boosts performance over the iPhone 15 by up to 30%. The iPhone 16 starts at $799 for the 128GB model, and the 16 Plus begins at $899 with the same storage. Follow all the latest on the iPhone 16 here. 
How the camera button on the iPhone 16 works
As our editor Brian Heater observes, Apple seems rather bullish on buttons these days. In a demo following the event broadcast, he observed that the Camera Control button does indeed elevate the iPhone experience, at least for a little while.
“As with any new feature, the camera control takes time and practice to master.” The trick is deducing just how much pressure to apply in order to switch between features, and that, if anything, is what separates it from previous camera buttons. It’s more than launching the camera app and taking a picture. Furthermore, it allows you to move around in-app, he continued, and you can read his full hands-on with the iPhone 16’s most significant physical change here.
Apple Intelligence
Introduced for the first time at WWDC, Apple positions Apple Intelligence primarily as a more private, background large language model that enhances existing apps and features. Fundamentally, Apple reworded several statements it had made throughout WWDC, placing further emphasis on the functionality of intelligence in managing the inbox-email summarisation and updated notifications that show that summary with priority alerts at the top of the users’ stacks. The company recently unveiled “a new era for Siri,” highlighting improvements in its intelligence that enable it to comprehend requests that are not always expressed in the right words, walk users through specific iPhone functions step-by-step, and achieve on-screen awareness of the actions that are currently being performed.
This fall, Apple intelligence will be available in beta in the US, and localised English will start to roll out internationally in December. By 2025, we will target Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish languages, among others.
It also introduced visual search using Apple Intelligence. This nifty feature pushes the boundaries between reverse image search functionality and text recognition, allowing users to easily input event dates into their calendar from within a photo or pull up information about a restaurant directly from an image of the place.
Ultimately, the big question coming from their claims of intelligence in order to amplify user experience across products is pretty simple: Is Siri any good now?
iOS 18 launches September 16.
The beta iOS 18 release way back in early 2023 was supposed to give an initial impression, but the actual rollout sans features bolstered by Apple Intelligence did not leave any lasting impression. As already said, the highly-publicised AI features will be coming later in 2024. For now, iOS 18 offers some of the other messaging and control centre updates, which you may check out below in detail as it approaches its newly-announced September 16 launch date. The update will be coming to all iPhones, starting with the iPhone XR and SE second generation. Please refer to the information herein for a detailed outlook of iOS 18 compatibility with your device.
Camera settings on iPhone 16
That’s to say, the camera control button is a game-changing physical update to the iPhone 16 lineup. The camera control intuitively responds to clicks and a variety of physical gestures. Light presses yield clear previews, while firm clicks capture a photo. By trailing a finger along the button, users can adjust dials and settings fluidly. See the full rundown on the application of the camera control here.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
Their newest premium iPhones are expected to boast new screens, with the Pro model touting a 6.3-inch display and the Pro Max wearing the largest screen ever on an iPhone at 6.9 inches. You can check for other changes: the new chip A18 Pro, improved features of the camera with quick shutter speed, and 4K video recording at 120 fps in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. The starting model prices of the iPhone 16 Pro begin at $999, while the 16 Pro Max starts at $1,119. Preorders for both open this Friday, and both launch in-store on September 20.
Apple Watch Series 10
The company kicked things off by celebrating the Watch’s 10-year anniversary, announcing a slew of updates to make the Apple Watch Series 10. That includes a refined design with rounder corners and an updated aspect ratio, plus the introduction of the first wide-angle OLED screens. The Series 10 display is up to 40% brighter when viewed from an angle, making it the thinnest Apple Watch to date at just 9.7mm. It is also up to 10% lighter compared to its predecessors. As expected, the Apple Watch Series 10 put AI front and centre with a new photos watch face that leverages AI to curate the images shown, among other things. Translation tools have been improved with machine learning to deliver superior results.
The FDA is still waiting for clearance on an update for Apple Watches that will detect sleep apnoea, coming to the Series 10 and Series 9 watches. The Apple Watch Series 10 launches on September 20th, starting at $399.
Apple Watch Ultra
Apple had positioned Ultra as the go-to for the fitness-minded right from the Ultra’s marketing campaign launch touting custom workouts, running track detection, live activity tracking for bike rides, and many more. Having ramped up to the announcement, it was revealed the tech giant won’t actually release the Apple Watch Ultra 3; instead, one new colour option has been added to the Ultra 2: satin black.
AirPods 4
Apple describes the new AirPods 4 as the “most comfortable AirPods ever,” with a redesigned pair of buds and a new chip, the A2. The new AirPods 4 also include personalised spatial audio and enhanced machine learning for Siri that will be able to detect head nods and shakes as responses to prompts. Starting September 20, the new AirPods 4 will start at $129, and active noise cancellation will kick in at the $179 tier. Here’s everything about the latest refreshes for AirPods.
AirPods Pro 2
The updates for AirPods Pro 2 focused on three value propositions: prevention, awareness, and assistance. When it comes to passive noise reduction, AirPods Pro 2 will come pre-activated with hearing protection, and management will use machine learning to improve the prevention. Apple will provide a “clinically validated” hearing test that users can take at any time and convenience.
Third-party developers, we’re adding support for new audio features for hearing aids for customers whose hearing tests indicate that they could benefit from these assistive capabilities. And the company expects to receive FDA clearance for these features soon, and updates are expected to arrive this fall for iOS.
AirPods Max
The Glowtime Event brought a raft of incremental updates to the AirPods Max, including USB-C and a range of new colours. These will arrive with the same price—$549—on September 20.
In India, there’s a slightly more affordable iPhone option.
For those keeping track in the US, the iPhone 16 series carries the same price as the predecessor. In India, however, Apple is offering the new iPhone 16 Pro at a discount of about 15,000 rupees—some $178—compared with the iPhone 15 series. A price cut follows India’s just-started slashing of import duties on electronics, parallel to Apple’s ramp-up of local manufacturing that previously allowed a discount for 15 models sold in the country.
Voice memos with lots of background music
One cool new feature in the Voice Memos app now allows you to make a vocal track over pre-recorded music or instrumentals.
Great Article bro, slot daftar sekarang