Last night, Apple officially launched the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. This was a highly anticipated launch given that this is the first generation of iPhones ever built from the ground up for the Generative Artificial Intelligence or ‘Gen AI’ era that we are all currently experiencing. I have been watching iPhone launch events for over a decade and I treat each one as being akin to watching a blockbuster movie given that each tended to be the unveiling of something quite unexpected and spectacular. 

To be honest, last night’s launch felt a little underwhelming as we all expected ‘Apple Intelligence’ to be front and centre of the iPhone 16 range and that was actually announced 2 months ago. All this being said, whilst Apple is almost always never first, they tend to do things best in most instances when it comes to bleeding edge technologies across their range of offerings. 

As I have said before, what makes Apple Intelligence different is that Apple had made it intuitive and user friendly by ‘hiding’ the complexity of the technology itself so that average folks can actually use it. A case in point, in this instance, is enabling users to effortlessly create text and images using just natural language prompts — directly from the phone. Nothing fancy really — its just works, even for grandfathers and grandmothers! 

One of the new features of the iPhone 16 is the camera control button. Its located on the side of the phone gives users access to “visual intelligence.” This enables them to for instance point the camera at a restaurant, and the iPhone 16 will instantly pull up reviews, the menu, and even help you make a reservation. It can also identify dog breeds, landmarks, and more — right from your camera — and even lets you add events to your calendar with a simple click. These are things we have also seen on Android smartphones like Samsung’s Galaxy S24 range, Z Fold 6, and Z Flip 6 using Galaxy AI and Google’s Gemini AI. 

Siri, the much derided AI Assistant prior to Apple Intelligence, has received a major upgrade as well. It can now reference your text messages, making it even more intuitive. You can say things like, “Send Mwangi the photos from Saturday’s Koroga,” and Siri will automatically know which photos to send, and to whom. It’s a seamless experience that brings even more value to daily interactions. This seems to be defining feature of smartphone Gen AI capabilities where everything is connected and accessible. 

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus also include a customizable action button from the previous generation of the iPhone 15 range. There is also a new camera control slider that sits flush on the side of the phone and allows users to adjust camera settings like depth of field with a simple swipe — its looks fantastic from the videos of how it works. For some reason, the camera control slider reminded me of the now discontinued ‘touch bar’ on Macbook’s that promised so much but seemingly failed to catch on and become a permanent feature. Maybe this will actually stick. 

The iPhone 16 features a processor with 17% more system memory bandwidth, supporting even better performance for AI tasks, while a 40% faster GPU ensures smoother graphics and gaming. Apple has also equipped it with a tougher glass-ceramic screen, making it 50% stronger than before. The iPhone 16 Pro takes it a step further with even more advanced AI features and bigger screens. Battery life has also been enhanced, especially for the Pro models, which now offer the longest battery life ever seen in an iPhone — according to Apple 🙂 The Pro models also come in a new titanium finish. 

Another key feature of the iPhone 16 Pro is that it now supports 4K video at 120 frames per second (impressive!), and you can add slow-motion effects after recording. The Pro models also introduce spatial audio recording, with reduced background noise, so your videos capture clear conversations even in noisy environments. 

All in all, as I see it, the main reason most people will opt for the iPhone 16 is to get a taste of the Gen AI enhanced features and functionalities via Apple Intelligence. This is what really sets it apart from the previous generations of iPhones which have been so good generally that most people have not upgraded for a number of years. One caveat though is that as we saw from the launch many of the Apple Intelligence powered capabilities won’t even be available until later this year so it will be a waiting game to see if they actually make a difference or not — only time will tell!