US tech giant Apple unveils its AI-boosted iPhone 16

Apple has unveiled its artificial intelligence-boosted iPhone 16, showing off the long-awaited phone hours after Chinese rival Huawei's tri-fold phone began racking up orders.

"The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up. It marks the beginning of an exciting new era," Chief Executive Tim Cook said at a product launch on Monday.

Apple and technology companies around the world are racing to add AI to products, and phones are expected to be one of the most important battlegrounds. The Cupertino, California-based company also is betting the AI feature will drive consumers to upgrade amid a slowdown in iPhone sales.

Apple Intelligence, the company's AI software, will be used to improve its personal assistant as well as enhance features such as understanding and identifying objects captured by the phone camera.

"Apple Intelligence marks the start of a new era for Siri and makes it more natural, more contextually relevant and more personal to you," said Apple's software engineering chief, Craig Federighi.

A test version of Apple Intelligence will be available in English as spoken in the US next month. It will be available for other localised versions of English in December, with versions in languages including Chinese, French, Japanese and Spanish next year.

The iPhone 16 will use the new A18 chip and have an aluminium back, as well as a new customizable button that can be used for camera controls. The iPhone 16 will start at $799 and the iPhone 16 Plus will start at $899.

Apple also unveiled iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, titanium models with a faster chip, the A18 Pro, and more AI capability, such as offering suggestions on how to set up a photo shoot more effectively. The iPhone 16 Pro will start at $999 and the 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199.

Huawei's website showed on Monday that it had garnered more than 3 million pre-orders for its Z-shaped tri-fold phone. This underscores Huawei's ability to navigate US sanctions and solidifies its position against Apple in China, where consumers are hankering for more AI features and are willing to pay for them.

Apple shares were down 1.5 percent in afternoon trading.

Watches and airpods

Apple also unveiled new Watches and AirPods.

The new Series 10 Watch starts at $399, is thinner than its predecessor and has up to 30 percent larger screen than previous generations. Apple highlighted the Watch's ability to help with sports and health issues, including finding longer-term conditions such as sleep apnea as well as detecting and responding to emergencies such as a fall.

Apple also launched a new version of the more rugged Watch Ultra 2, starting at $799. The new AirPods 4 have a new design for more comfortable wearing and improved acoustics. And Apple rolled out hearing-aid features that it has submitted for US regulatory review.

Apple fans globally have been waiting to see the new phones with AI.

"The Chinese market is hungrier for AI features than the US market," said Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies. For Apple, "it will be very difficult to bring it to China immediately, so they'll be going off the merits of the hardware."

Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence at its developer conference in June, its take on generative AI that can conjure text, images and other content on command.

But these upgrades will take time to reach consumers.

The iPhone 16 lineup is the first Apple smartphones designed around these AI features though those are expected also to be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, the top-end versions of the previous-generation devices..

"The software side, and how Apple frames it, is the biggest question," said Bajarin. "Investors will look for if it's compelling enough to have a larger-than-normal upgrade cycle."

In June, one week after its developer conference, Apple said it would delay the release in Europe due to European Union tech rules.

Apple's event at the tech giant's Apple Park headquarters started at 1700 GMT. Huawei has scheduled an official announcement of its Mate XT phone on Tuesday in China.