By Kenrick Cai
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 16 lineup on Monday, emphasizing how its flagship device’s features have been infused with artificial intelligence, rather than its usual focus on hardware upgrades.
The event at the tech giant’s Apple Park headquarters at 10 a.m. PDT (5 p.m. GMT) follows its developer conference in June where the company unveiled Apple Intelligence, its version of generative AI that can create text, images and other content on command.
It also showcased an improved version of voice assistant Siri, with integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
The update comes as iPhones face fierce competition from Huawei in China, where consumers crave more AI features and are willing to pay for them. Huawei itself scheduled its own product announcement just hours after Apple’s event.
Apple Intelligence needs approval from Beijing to be sold in the Chinese market. In July, OpenAI blocked access to ChatGPT in China, a move that could impact the chatbot’s integration with Siri.
“The Chinese market is more hungry for AI features than the U.S. market,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies. “It’s going to be very difficult to introduce it in China right away, so they’re going to base it on the merits of the hardware.”
iPhones accounted for more than half of Apple’s $383 billion in sales last year, and the new devices are a significant upgrade for the Cupertino, California-based company, which is betting that AI functionality will prompt consumers to upgrade amid slowing iPhone sales.
In China, Apple cut prices aggressively earlier this year, amid government restrictions and increased domestic competition.
The iPhone 16 lineup will be Apple’s first to be designed around these AI features, though they will also be available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, the higher-end versions of the previous-generation devices. New versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods are also expected.
“The software side and how Apple presents it is the biggest question,” Bajarin said. “Investors will be looking at whether the product is compelling enough to warrant a longer than normal upgrade cycle.”
Rivals including Alphabet subsidiary Google are also introducing AI features in an attempt to overturn Apple’s dominance of the premium smartphone market.
Google, the developer of the Android operating system, a competitor to Apple’s iOS, traditionally announced its Pixel smartphones in the fall. This year, it moved the event to August, ahead of Apple’s announcement.
Google has focused on AI features, including Gemini Live, which lets users have live voice conversations with a digital assistant. Many of the AI features Google has announced have also rolled out to Android devices made by manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola.
“The question is who will be the first to combine a true AI personal assistant with precise, personalized knowledge and insights,” said Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research.
Apple has so far shared a timeline for the release of Apple Intelligence only in the United States, where it is expected to launch on compatible devices in the fall.
In June, a week after its developer conference, Apple announced it would delay the European release due to European Union technology rules.
(Reporting by Kenrick Cai in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis)
