Apple on Monday unveiled the iPhone 16 at its “It’s Glowtime” event in Cupertino. CEO Tim Cook claimed that the new device is “designed around Apple Intelligence, from the ground up,” a reference to new generative AI features announced at WWDC in June. The new handset is made from “aerospace grade” aluminum, according to the company.
The display has a new, 50% stronger ceramic shield for scratches and drops. The display is available in both 6.1- and 6.7-inch options.
The new design also brings a new devoted camera button on the side to quickly snap shots. The button can also be held down to shoot videos. It utilizes Apple’s long-standing Taptic Engine to recognize swipes and the level of pressure being applied for different features.
The handset runs on Apple’s new 3 nm A18 chip, which features an improved neural network designed specifically for the company’s new generative AI models. It has a 6-core CPU with four efficiency cores. The company claims the new chip is “up to 30%” faster than what’s in the iPhone 15, while bringing more power efficiency. The new GPU, meanwhile, brings more power, while improving power efficiency by 35%.
The added efficiency is coupled with larger batteries to extend life. Apple hasn’t announced the specific new size, so we may have to wait until someone cracks the thing open.
Naturally, Apple Intelligence was the star of this show, as the new iPhone 16 line joins last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models as the only members of the line that can run the company’s new small model offering. As noted at WWDC, the offering runs both offline on the device’s chips and via remote servers, via the new Private Cloud Compute options.
The handset’s main camera is 48-megapixels. The dual-lenses have shifted from last year’s diagonal layout to vertical. The camera offers 2x telephoto at “optical quality,” utilizing details from the large image files.
The ultra-wide camera has been updated, as well, to include auto-focus. Apple says that sensor is capable of capturing up to 2.6x more light for low-light images. It can also shoot images in macro model. The new vertical design allows the handset to capture Spatial Photos and Videos that can be viewed on the Vision Pro headset.
The iPhone 16 starts at $799, while the Plus starts at $899.
