The Artificial Intelligence-boosted iPhone 16 series was the major highlight of the Apple Inc.’s event on Monday (September 9).
Hosted at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, USA to unveil its new products, the American tech giant announced that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, White, and Black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, at the starting price of USD 799 for iPhone 16 and USD 899 for iPhone 16 Plus.
Customers in more than 58 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, and the US, will be able to pre-order the smartphones beginning at 5 am Pacific Day Time (PDT) this Friday, September 13, with availability beginning September 20.
For costumes in Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries and regions, the smartphones will be available from September 27.
IPhones accounted for more than half of Apple's USD 383 billion in sales last year, reported Reuters.
The phones have been built for Apple Intelligence, the company’s AI software, which will be available as a free update, with the first set of features rolling out next month in American English for most regions around the world.
"Welcome to the new era of iPhone!" wrote Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, on social media platform X.
"Built for Apple Intelligence, the iPhone 16 lineup delivers a powerful, personal, and private experience right at your fingertips," reads the tweet. "And with the new Camera Control, you’ll never miss a moment."
Additional Apple Intelligence features will be rolled out later this year, the company said. It will assist users in writing, proofreading, summarising texts in mails, notes, pages as well as third-party apps.
The users will be able to record, transcribe, and summarise audio in the notes and phone apps.
While using iOS 18 features like Siri and writing tools, users will be able to easily access ChatGPT from OpenAI, according to the company.
The tech giant plans to expand its AI software to more languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish in the coming years.
“iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus mark the beginning of a new era for iPhone with Apple Intelligence delivering powerful, personal, and private experiences to our users,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing. “With new ways to discover the world around you and capture memories using Camera Control; a 48MP Fusion camera that gives you two optical-quality cameras in one; a big boost in battery life; and powerful, efficient performance thanks to the A18 chip, this is the perfect time for customers to upgrade or make the switch to iPhone.”
Available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch display sizes, the Super Retina XDR display with OLED technology and the Dynamic Island offers an exceptional viewing experience.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have gone through an internal design change to fit a larger battery and to better dissipate heat, according to the company. Apple has also introduced an action button in iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, allowing users to easily access a variety of functions with just a press.
The iOS 18 will be available as a free software update from Monday, September 16, according to the company.
Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Huawei, one of Apple's competitors, has reportedly received more than 3 million pre-orders for its trifold smartphone set to be launched on Tuesday (September 10). The company is yet to make public the price of Mate XT, whose sales will officially begin on September 20, according to a CNBC report.
