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Apple iPhone | (Photo: Shutterstock)
Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone is about to innovate with an artificial intelligence upgrade that will do everything from improve its often dumb Siri assistant to create custom emojis on the fly.
The new era will begin Monday with the unveiling of the highly anticipated iPhone 16 in an auditorium in Cupertino, California, named after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who released the first iPhone in 2007 and waved it like a magic wand while predicting it would reshape society.
Since then, Apple has sold billions of iPhones, helping to create about $3 trillion in shareholder wealth. But over the past decade, there have been only minor upgrades from one model to the next, prompting people to delay buying a new iPhone and leading to a recent drop in sales of Apple’s flagship product.
The iPhone 16 is generating even more buzz because it’s the first model to be purpose-built for AI, a technology that’s expected to spark the biggest industry revolution since Jobs launched Apple into the smartphone market 17 years ago.
The advancements included in the iPhone 16 could make Apple the gatekeeper of the consumer AI revolution, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a research note.
Apple’s change of course began three months ago with a preview of its new approach at a developer conference, helping to build anticipation for Monday’s presentation.
Since that June conference, competitors like Samsung and Google have made even more progress on AI. Google even made the unusual decision to unveil its latest Pixel phones with their own AI magic last month instead of sticking to its traditional October schedule in an effort to overshadow Apple’s iPhone 16.
In an attempt to stand out from the early AI leaders, the technology built into the iPhone 16 is billed as Apple Intelligence. Still, Apple Intelligence is similar to the generically named AI already available on Google’s Pixel 9 and the Samsung Galaxy S24 released in January.
Most of Apple’s AI work will be done on the iPhone itself rather than in remote data centers, a distinction that requires a special processor in upcoming models and the high-end iPhone 15s released a year ago.
That’s why investors are anticipating strong demand for the iPhone 16, which will lead to a surge in sales that has sent Apple’s stock price up 13% since Apple unveiled its AI strategy in June. That surge has added nearly $400 billion to the company’s market value.
First published: September 08, 2024 | 3:37 p.m. IST
