Apple held its “It’s Glowtime” event today, where it unveiled the iPhone 16 series of smartphones. In addition to the flagship iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models, the basic iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus were also introduced. The new models feature an updated design with fresh rear camera arrangements, new controls, and richer colors. Both the hardware and software have been upgraded, with much more AI integrated into the iPhone.The design of the iPhone 16 largely mirrors that of the iPhone 15: flat edges, a glass back, the Dynamic Island cutout for the front camera and Face ID sensors, and a USB-C port for charging and data transfer. The iPhone 16 comes in five color options: black, white, pink, green, and blue, with the latter three being more vibrant than last year’s models. The return to vertically aligned rear lenses might seem like a strange callback to a design element Apple had abandoned, but this choice makes sense for improving support for spatial video, which can be viewed on the Apple Vision Pro.
The iPhone 16 now includes a new capacitive button on the side of the device, making photo and video capture easier. Apple calls it the “Camera Control” button. This button allows for smooth zoom control or shutter release and also offers access to Visual AI search and other Apple Intelligence features.Apple's visual search feature, called Visual Intelligence, works directly on the smartphone. You can point the camera at any object, and the built-in neural network will identify it or provide a link. The same can be done with a math problem or text. If you point the camera at a poster, you can add the event to your calendar.
The iPhone 16 will be the first Apple smartphone to have full access to the beta version of Apple Intelligence after an update is released in October. With Apple Intelligence writing tools, users can adjust notes and emails to be more friendly or professional, check grammar and structure, and summarize text. In the Notes and Phone apps, you can record and transcribe audio as well as create conversation summaries. These text-editing tools are available almost everywhere users type. Apple Intelligence also helps prioritize notifications with summaries and the "Priority Messages" feature in Mail. Siri has received a new design and improved language understanding, allowing for more natural communication. Users can now combine voice input with typing, and Siri has expanded knowledge for answering questions.
