Apple launches iPhone 16, with AI taking centre stage

Others, like natural-language photo search “Siri, find me the picture of me dancing in a red dress” will arrive “in coming months”.

Will Apple Intelligence have the power to grapple with our lazy vowels? We’ll have to wait a few months to find out. Support for “localised English” - including New Zulind English - will be added in December. We’ll find out later this year. Chinese, Spanish and other languages will be added next year.

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max

The new top-tier models get bigger displays: 6.3 inches on the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches on the iPhone 16 Pro Max (up from 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches on the equivalent 15 series models).

Both also get a new Camera Control button, in addition to the existing action button.

The Pro will start at $1999, with 128GB of onboard storage and run through to $2999 with 1 terabyte.

The Pro Max starts at $2399 (with 256GB) and is also available in 512GB ($2799) and 1TB ($3199) models.

Ordering opens September 14, with delivery from September 20.

Both models are powered by Apple’s A18 Pro chip, which Apple bills as 30% faster than the 15 Pro series’ A16, and feature “best iPhone battery life ever,” according to Apple. It’s pitches as 20% better than its predecessor due to better heat dissipation.

The company says its new processors are “faster than all the competition, challenging even powerful desktop PCs”.

Clicking the Camera Control launches the camera app. Clicking again takes a picture, while clicking-and-holding records video.

There’s haptic feedback, for an old-school camera click feel, and support for a light press or hard press - used for framing or switching between lenses, which now include a new 48 megapixel ultra-wide option.

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have the same screen size as their predecessors (6.1in and 6.-7in) respectively, but get a dedicated action button (which the Pro and Pro Max models go with the 15 series).

Both models two new buttons: the Action button and the Camera Control.

The Action button can be set for a number of apps and functions, and can vary by time of day. Pressing it during your workday could open the Calendar, at night time the camera or torch, for example. It also supports third-party apps such as Shazam.

Under the hood there’s the new A18 (as opposed to the A18 Pro).

The cases are very close to the 15 series design, bar the shift to the two lenses on the rear being mounted vertically rather than on a diagonal - the better to take spacial pictures or video for Apple’s Vision Pro headset (not yet available in NZ).

The iPhone 16 starts at $1599 with 128GB onboard storage, $1799 with 256GB and $2199 with 512GB.

The 16 Plus costs $1799 (128GB), $1999 (256GB) or $2399 (512GB).

Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence will appear in free software updates for the new iPhone 16 series, and the Pro and Pro Max versions of the iPhone 15, plus Macs with Apple’s M1 chip or later, from next month.

It will include systemwide Writing Tools, which adjust notes or emails to be more friendly, more concise, or add a more professional tone to their writing; check for grammar, word choice, and sentence structure; and summarise selected text to make it more digestible, Apple says.

In the Notes and Phone apps, you can also use Apple Intelligence to record, transcribe, and summarise audio.

When a recording is initiated while on a call in the Phone app, participants are automatically notified, and once the call ends, Apple Intelligence generates a summary to recall key points.

Apple’s AI will enable Priority Messages in Mail, a feature that understands the content of emails and surfaces time-sensitive messages, the company says.. Across a user’s inbox, summaries convey the most important information of each email instead of previewing the first few lines.

Apple Intelligence will also boost Siri’s capabilities so it can follow along if you stumble over their words, and maintains context from one request to the next. There’s also be the more discreet option to type a query.

Hundreds of new AI features will be added over the next few months, Apple says, including the ability to create your own emojis by typing a text description or by selecting a photo of a friend or family member. Users will also gain access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and other third-party gen AIs, but under Apple-set privacy parameters.

AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2 hearing aid capability, AirPods Max refresh

AirPods Pro and AirPods Max already have such ambient audio-boosting capabilities (when you switch them from noise-cancelling to transparent mode) that they can serve as a de facto hearing aid. Suddenly, you can hear the conversation that a couple 10 meters away are engaging in.

That capability will be boosted with the AirPods Pro 2 (already available for $479) get a free firmware upgrade in coming months, pending regulatory approval. The upgrade will provide a new hearing test. Results from the test will be used to “seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid. After set-up, the feature enables personalised dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time.” The new feature will be aimed at people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

At a time when the cost of high-tech dedicated hearing aids cost $3000, or some a lot more,, they’ll be keen anticipated.

The AirPods 4 (available from September 20 for $249) get active noise cancellation, previously only available with the Pro.

And the over-ear AirPods Max get a USB-C connector (the current cans use Lightning) and new colours - “midnight”, “starlight”, blue, purple and orange.

Apple Watch Series 10, breathing disturbance notifications

Sleep apnoea and breathing disturbances notifications are among a range of new sleep health features for Apple Watch users.

The sleep apnoea notification feature is awaiting approval from the FDA and other regulators, but is expected soon. It will be available for Apple Watch Series 9, the new Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. It is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnoea for people 18 years or older without a diagnosis of sleep apnoea, Apple says.

In addition to monitoring important overnight health metrics like heart rate and respiratory rate, Apple Watch also helps users meet their sleep goals and track their sleep over time.

The Apple Watch Series 10, unveiled this morning, is billed as the slimmest-every Watch at 9.7m, or 10% thinner than the Series 9. In its titanium case, it’s also 20% lighter than the Series 9, but also faster charging. It will start at $749 (or $479 for the SE model) with availability from September 20.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.