Apple Unveils AI-Powered iPhones: A New Era of On-Device Intelligence

Apple Intelligence will Soon Be Available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. But There's a Catch

Apple Intelligence will launch in the US as a beta in October - with localised English coming to some markets in December - and in other languages in 2025 Some may dismiss the iPhone 16 as just another upgrade, but the real game-changer in there is the A18 Pro chip. It significantly enhances the performance with its neural engine, AI features, all while maintaining strong privacy through federated learning. Built on a 3nm process, the chip delivers exceptional efficiency and security. While the biggest highlight from Apple's Glowtime event was undoubtedly the new iPhone series, the Tim Cook-led company also announced a beta roll-out for Apple Intelligence, the company's personal intelligence system that uses generative AI models. It will start rolling out next month, with more features launching in the coming months, the company said in a news release. Apple Intelligence is the company's personal AI system that draws on a user's personal context - combined with generative models - to make multiple tasks easier. Users can utilise the system across multiple apps. According to the company, many of the models that power Apple Intelligence run entirely on devices. At the launch event, CEO Tim Cook highlighted the company's commitment to innovation and user experience. "Some people see innovation as change, but we have never really seen it like that. It's making things better," he said. This reflects Apple's philosophy of continuous improvement rather than merely introducing new features for the sake of novelty. Additionally, Cook emphasised the importance of privacy, asserting, "We see that privacy is a fundamental human right that people have. We are going to do everything that we can to help maintain that trust." To begin with, Apple Intelligence, Google Pixel's Gemini, and Samsung's AI capabilities each offer unique strengths in improving user experience. Apple refined Siri by integrating ChatGPT to improve app functionality like email and photo editing, delivering a more personalised user experience. This approach prioritises privacy and local processing, appealing to users who value seamless integration and creativity. Google's Gemini excels in productivity with photo editing, while Samsung's AI focuses mainly on camera features, trailing behind the innovation of Apple and Google. Overall, while Apple provides a more creative and integrated experience, Google leads in practical AI applications, making the choice largely dependent on user preference and needs. However, each brand tailors its technology to different user priorities. In between all these developments, Apple's A18 Pro chip, introduced with the iPhone lineup, represents an advancement in mobile processing technology, particularly when compared to the chips used in Google Pixel and Samsung devices. The A18 Pro features a 6-core CPU architecture, which includes two high-performance cores and four efficiency cores. It is said to be 15% faster than the A17 Pro while consuming 20% less power. This efficiency translates to quicker app launches, smoother multitasking, and enhanced overall performance for demanding applications, such as gaming and video editing. In contrast, Google's Tensor G3 and Samsung's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, while powerful, do not match the A18 Pro's performance gains. The A18 Pro's architecture is specifically optimised for high-performance tasks, making it particularly adept at handling complex computations and graphics-intensive applications. The A18 Pro's GPU is equipped with 6 cores, providing a 20% improvement in graphics performance over the A17 Pro. This makes it particularly suitable for high-end gaming and graphics rendering, supporting hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which enhances the realism of lighting and shadows in games. In comparison, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers strong graphics capabilities, it does not deliver the same level of performance or efficiency as the A18 Pro. One of the standout features of the chip is its 16-core neural engine, which is designed to handle AI and machine learning tasks with remarkable efficiency. It can process tasks twice as fast as previous generations, making it ideal for applications that rely on real-time data processing, such as image recognition and voice commands. This positions the A18 Pro ahead of the AI capabilities found in both Google and Samsung offerings, which, while competent, do not match the speed and efficiency of Apple's latest chip. The design not only focuses on performance but also on energy efficiency. It uses 20% less power than the A17 Pro for the same tasks, contributing to longer battery life in devices powered by this chip. This is crucial for users who rely on their smartphones throughout the day without frequent charging. In comparison, while Samsung and Google have made strides in energy efficiency, the A18 Pro's advancements set a new benchmark in this area. Today, the dated App Store model is under constant regulatory attack. Meanwhile, users can accomplish a lot of tasks with fairly simple questions to an AI assistant like ChatGPT. Proponents believe AI could become the preferred way we'll search for answers, be productive at work, and experiment with creativity. Where does that leave the world of apps, and the growing services revenue (more than $6 billion last quarter) they generate for Apple? The answer cuts to the core of Apple's AI strategy. Apple Intelligence itself only offers a small set of capabilities out-of-the-box, like writing helpers, summarization tools, generative art, and other baseline offerings. But earlier this year at its WWDC in June, Apple presented new features that will allow developers' apps to connect more deeply with both Siri and Apple Intelligence. That's already an upgrade from the basic functionality today's Siri offers, but it doesn't end there. Apple is also providing developers with tools to use Apple Intelligence in their own apps.

How AI features of iPhone and rival smartphones stack up

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab unveiled a raft of AI-powered features for its latest iPhone 16 lineup at an event on Monday, as global smartphone makers turn to generative AI to encourage customers to upgrade. Here are the key AI features from Apple and rival Android phone providers such as Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, South Korea's Samsung (005930.KS), opens new tab, as well as China's Huawei (HWT.UL): Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Gurugram and Priyanka G in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

How AI features of iPhone and rival smartphones stack up

(Reuters) - Apple unveiled a raft of AI-powered features for its latest iPhone 16 lineup at an event on Monday, as global smartphone makers turn to generative AI to encourage customers to upgrade. Here are the key AI features from Apple and rival Android phone providers such as Alphabet's Google, South Korea's Samsung, as well as China's Huawei: (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Gurugram and Priyanka G in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Apple Shows Off AI-Powered iPhones, Watch

Apple unveiled the next generations of the company's devices on Monday, many of which will use Apple Intelligence, the AI technology Apple previewed in June that taps OpenAI's ChatGPT for some queries. Siri will receive an AI makeover that will allow users to direct the virtual assistant to execute actions like finding and sending photos on the new iPhone 16, as well as the earlier iPhone 15

Apple shows off new iPhone built for AI

CUPERTINO (AFP) - Apple on Monday unveiled new iPhones built for generative artificial intelligence (AI) as it seeks to boost sales and show it is keeping up in the technology race. The tech giant has a lot riding on the new iPhone 16 and hopes that customers are enticed to buy the latest models, attracted by new AI powers. "We are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at an event at the iPhone-maker's Silicon Valley headquarters. "Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced in June at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The features will be available as a software download on the iPhone 16 and other premium models next month, but only as a test and in English. Other languages would follow down the road. In the short-term, the new powers would include AI-infused image editing, translation, and small, creative touches in messaging, but not more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI players, such as OpenAI. The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language. "I think that people are going to love what we're doing with Apple Intelligence," Cook told AFP at the event. "When you start using it, it just changes your life." The new iPhones will also feature a new Camera Control Button that can automatically search for things taken by photo or adding a calendar item based on the photo of a concert poster. "The AI features today are incremental, but going forward they look to be transformative," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said of capabilities coming to new iPhones. Longer term, Apple could dramatically change the iPhone experience with a "super-powered Siri" working across all the apps, Greengart said. Launched more than 12 years ago, Siri has come to be seen as a dated feature, overtaken by a new generation of assistants such as GPT-4o, OpenAI's latest offering. New iPhone 16 models start at USD799 and will be available starting September 20, according to Apple. The company also announced new models of Apple Watch and AirPods at the event, highlighting coming health benefits like hearing protection and detecting sleep apnea. Apple shares appeared unmoved by the iPhone event. With USD39 billion in sales last quarter, the iPhone counts for roughly 60 per cent of Apple's revenue, and remains the main entryway to the company's services, such as the App Store or Apple TV, which are becoming a growing part of its business. Apple is only just coming out of a long sales slump as users increasingly stick with older models longer. The announcement closely follows Google, which last month unveiled AI-infused Pixel 9 smartphones. Samsung has also showcased AI across a range of its consumer electronic products as it looks to extend its leadership in global smartphone sales. "On certain things, Apple is behind (on AI features)," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi told AFP. "But from a usability perspective, Apple's tools are more personal and integrated into the device. That is where the difference is and that takes longer (to design)," she added.

AI takes centre stage in Apple iPhone 16 series, latest Watch, and AirPods

Apple introduced the iPhone 16 series on September 9, marking what Tim Cook described as "an exciting new era" for the iPhone. He emphasised that these are the first iPhones designed from the ground up with artificial intelligence (AI) as a core element. Although the AI features will not be available at launch, they will roll out in beta starting next month as part of the iOS 18.1 update.