Apple presented its new range of iPhones on Monday, the first smartphones equipped with Apple Intelligence, its new generative artificial intelligence (AI) system, the star technology of Silicon Valley in which the California group has fallen behind.
During its conference, the company also launched its new smartwatches (Apple Watch) and new wireless earbuds (AirPods), some of which will feature hearing aids. The California group aims to penetrate further into the health market, but it is mainly awaited in generative AI and the update of its voice assistant, Siri.
>> Listen to the Morning Show: Apple unveiled its iPhone 16, the first to feature generative AI / The Morning Show / 1 min. / yesterday at 06:25
According to Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president, the new AI system makes Siri “more natural, more contextually aware, and more personal.”
With this technology, users will be able to “transform notes into well-written invitations,” create illustrations with a simple request, or ask more complex questions to Siri, such as finding a photo in their albums by describing it verbally.
Declining Revenue
Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence in early June, a year and a half after the startup OpenAI launched the generative AI wave with ChatGPT. The group is betting big on its iPhone 16. It needs a selling point to revive its phones, which are experiencing slightly declining momentum. For the April to June period, iPhone revenue fell by 1% year-on-year, to $39 billion.
However, some observers expressed doubts in advance about Apple’s ability to capitalize on generative AI. “If Apple customers perceive little difference” between the new range and the previous models, “they will not be in a hurry to upgrade,” reminded Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester.
The new iPhone 16s, featuring generative artificial intelligence. [Keystone – Peter Da Silva – EPA]
Meanwhile, Google and Samsung, the world’s number one smartphone manufacturer, have already launched devices equipped with generative AI. Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Microsoft (the main investor in OpenAI), and Google have been providing and marketing similar tools for months, which allow the production of high-quality content on simple natural language requests.
These assistants, such as Gemini (Google), Meta AI, or Copilot (Microsoft), are supposed to gradually become sort of personal secretaries, available and well-informed, depending on their access to messages, calendars, photos, and more.
>> Read also: When AI wants to invade our privacy to become super powerful
Launch Delayed in the EU
The operating system update with Apple Intelligence will be gradually rolled out, starting with the English version for the United States next month, on compatible devices.
In the European Union, the group has indefinitely postponed the launch of Apple Intelligence due to “regulatory uncertainties” related to new digital market laws.
>> Read again: The EU launch of Apple’s generative AI postponed indefinitely
The entry-level iPhone 16 will be marketed starting at $800, the same price as the base model last year, while the most expensive professional model, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, will start at a minimum of $1,200.
>> Analysis by Olivier Good, technology specialist, in Forum:
The new iPhone is presented as Apple’s sales slow down: interview with Olivier Good / Forum / 4 min. / Monday at 18:00