At the online presentation of new devices, which took place on September 9, Apple CEO Tim Cook repeatedly emphasized the capabilities of artificial intelligence, which are becoming a new basis for all of the company's products – Apple first announced this at a conference for developers last summer. The new iPhones, as Apple's central product, are becoming a kind of icebreaker, paving the way with the help of AI into an “exciting new era” – for themselves, for us, and, of course, for the shareholders of “apple”.
The technical specifications that Cupertino speakers used to throw around are now not just billions of notorious transistors on a processor, but the foundation on which the company's artificial intelligence works – and, accordingly, all of its capabilities. Apple, with the elegance of a thimblerigger, pocketed the now-household letters AI (artificial intelligence), suggesting that they be perceived as Apple Intelligence.
According to the classic Soviet cinema, a happy life begins “when you are understood.” Apple offers its own recipe for satisfaction with existence, adding generative models to it. “Which understand you,” of course, because the AI that feels so at ease on the wonderful new “hardware” has access to your photos, calendar, music, and other content. And if necessary, the gadget will go beyond its capabilities and connect external AI capacities to work — Apple servers. Alarming. But the participants of the presentation understand this, and a reservation about confidentiality immediately follows: supposedly, everything that was in the iPhone remains in it. Apple even states that it is ready for any verification of this statement by any third-party experts.
In the case of text generation, the AI system will save time in some places, do a disservice to your creativity and sincerity in others, and contribute to laziness in others. In the examples shown, the AI turns thought sketches from a note-taking app into coherent text, rewrites a message to the boss in a “more professional manner,” and changes a book review to something else — according to its digital taste.
No, there are positive aspects too, when AI really takes over routine. For example, it quickly searches for photos not just by a word, but by a complex context like “that murky shot where I’m partying somewhere in St. Petersburg” — and it even works for video fragments. Or in the mail app, it provides a brief summary of the contents of letters without the need to open each one.
A special emphasis is placed on the integration of AI into the camera: take a photo of anything and get an information summary. Well, years after Google Lens – now on the iPhone.
However, as is often the case with Apple, everything was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines. Siri's short-sightedness has already become a meme, so how much more complex AI functions it will be able to handle is still a big question. As well as the moment of their appearance in European, because even other non-English-speaking countries will have to wait months or even years for adaptation.
Against this background, the new “camera” features do not look so bright – although they are undoubtedly significant. The new button on the case is an event (no irony). This is a touch “shutter release” Capture Button, recognizing the force of pressing. A light touch fixes the focus and exposure, and pressing ensures shooting. The iPhone 16 also received the Action Button, which appeared in the Pro version last year.
In beautiful pictures, people are happy about the new product and hold the new iPhones horizontally when shooting, using the capture button, like on old cameras. This undoubtedly cherishes nostalgia for the “tube” past, but practice will most likely show that such a button is a dead-end branch of development. All frame settings are easy to set on the screen now, and the shooting format for most is vertical, at least for stories. In this case, moving the thumb to the side edge will require a change in habit. In a word, convenience is questionable.
This time, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max have merged into one — the devices have received even fewer changes. The frames around the screen have traditionally “slimmed down” (6.3 inches — Pro, 6.9 inches — Pro Max) and received a new copper color. The performance of the “professional” A18 Pro chips has increased by 15-20% compared to their predecessors, which is already common for the latest generations of Apple smartphones. The younger iPhone 16 Pro model now also received a five-fold optical zoom with a proprietary pentaprism.
As always, Apple puts emphasis on computing power, offering to play even AAA games on smartphones, shoot 4K video, using all sorts of slow-mo modes, and, of course, take photos with the most advanced combination of cameras “in the entire history of Apple” (yes, this is also a signature phrase that can be repeated from the stage of the Jobs Theater every year without lying).
