The Apple community is gearing up to experience the newest and most highly-specified iPhone hardware, a novel and tactile user interface centred around the camera, and the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence. Even if these will make you happy, they all seem a little letdown.
Familiar hardware upgrades, but minimal impact
While they may have somewhat better specs than the iPhone 15 models they replace, they are not noticeably better. Depending on the situation, the display can become slightly brighter or dimmer. The A18 Pro processor operates more quickly than the A17 Pro chipset in the iPhone 15 Pro, which was already sufficient to meet the majority of the phone’s needs. Apple has extended the battery life when watching movies and expanded RAM to accommodate new AI features.
None of these feel like progress, even if they’re all bigger and friendlier than they were a year ago. As the sole producer of iPhones, Apple has instead kept up with broader industry trends, leaving users seeking a slightly better model with no option but to purchase the incremental update.
However, Apple has made significant innovations in one field.
Apple has gone button crazy after introducing the customizable Action Button to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max last year. All four iPhone 16 models now have the Action Button, and an additional capacitive button has been added.
Camera control button: A noteworthy innovation
In addition to serving as a shutter button, the Camera Control button’s capacitive nature allows it to do a wide range of other tasks with only one finger.
This features zoom, photo filters, exposure and depth of focus adjustments, and the ability to convert between photo and video modes. The camera control button is unquestionably a useful addition to the UI. David Phelan, a Forbes contributor, highlights one modification that the shutterbugs will find revolutionary:
“This requires some learning, but it’s not too steep and manageable. And the results are amazing—this is by far the greatest way to take picture and video images on an iPhone, thanks to the Control’s quick and responsive mechanics and precisely positioned button.” One of the best things about the new iPhone design is the camera control button, but it’s arguably the only real change.
The slow arrival of Apple intelligence and AI
Of course, there is one big issue with smartphones that is completely changing the industry. the application of AI that is generative.
The first iPhone family to be developed for Apple Intelligence is said to be the 16 series. With the release of the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in October 2023 and the August 2024 release of the second version of the software, generative AI in smartphones gained widespread attention.
Since then, Apple has given press presentations twice: once during the Worldwide Developer Conference in June and again during the introduction of the iPhone 16 family. This generative AI system is known by the awkward moniker Apple Intelligence. It is still not accessible to the general public, though.
The renowned ChatGPT won’t be added to iOS until December, but the first indications of generative AI will be included in the v18.1 update, which is scheduled for release in October. The main features of generative AI, as seen throughout the Android platform, might be available by March 2025.
iPhone owners won’t be able to get the most important smartphone breakthrough until the spring of next year. Most Android users will have seen both the upgraded second-generation software and the entire suite of first-generation generative AI within that same window.
Apple has missed the mark on AI and is having difficulty catching up, even with the most forgiving interpretation of the mythical narrative that claims “Apple is not first, but Apple is the best.”
Artificial Intelligence has revolutionised the smartphone industry, and when Apple Intelligence does arrive, it will continue to do so. It is hard to say for sure right now if Tim Cook and his group made the right move.
The Camera Control button has made the camera experience better. To overlook the fact that the software for this is also unfinished, though, would be a mistake. Important functionality (such as the ability to hold focus with a half-press) is anticipated in a future update, though Apple has not provided a release date.
Is incremental progress enough?
More battery life, brighter screens, faster processors, and more memory are finally brought to us by the Top Trumps-style annual upgrading of each standard by a few percentage points.
There are happy times, excitement for what’s to come, and the appeal of the Apple name. The iPhone 16 Pro, along with the entire iPhone 16 family, is essentially just an improved version of the iPhone 15 Pro from the previous year.
(Tashia Bernardus)