Federica Laricchia
Research expert covering the global consumer technology industry
Apple's "It's Glowtime" event - statistics & facts
On September 9, 2024, Apple held one of the most anticipated tech events of the year, unveiling a lineup focused on smarter, healthier, and more enjoyable technology. Highlights included the new iPhone 16 lineup running on iOS 18 and embedding the company’s artificial intelligence (AI), Apple Intelligence. The company also introduced the Apple Watch Series 10 and updated AirPods.
In partnership with OpenAI, Apple Intelligence includes a smarter Siri, which can access app data and describe screen content, schedule and send emails, play podcasts, and provide real-time info, as well as generative AI-assisted writing tools for summarizing, editing, and proofreading text and adjusting tone. Finally, there are photo editing tools that clean up photos and remove background objects, and a tool for generating images of contacts and custom emojis, called Genmoji.
The new headphone lineup includes the AirPods 4, with active noise cancellation, and Pro 2. Running on the H2 chip, these are said to be the “most comfortable AirPods ever”, with a new acoustic architecture and personalized spatial audio. The new AirPods Pro 2 also have more health features, such as loud sound reduction, a hearing test, and hearing aid functionalities. Finally, the AirPods Max have also been slightly updated, with new colors and USB-C chargers.
Apple is serving up a lot of new features to stay ahead of the curve in a competitive consumer electronics industry, which is increasingly shifting towards AI. Apple needs to catch up with other vendors like Samsung and Google in developing their own AI capabilities and creating more intelligent products and services. While Apple Intelligence features are set to be released later in 2024, the company’s focus on providing health-focused wearables continues to add value to its brand.
New (Apple) intelligent iPhones
The new iPhone series includes the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – all water and dust resistant and with larger screens and longer-lasting batteries compared to the previous generation. Furthermore, the iPhone 16 features the “Action” button and the new “Camera Control” button to take better pictures and videos with the new vertical cameras. The cameras also have a new function, “Visual Intelligence,” which allows users to focus the camera on something and perform a search on it. Moreover, all iPhones 16 run on the new A18 chip supporting Apple Intelligence, which will be available with the first OS update in October 2024.In partnership with OpenAI, Apple Intelligence includes a smarter Siri, which can access app data and describe screen content, schedule and send emails, play podcasts, and provide real-time info, as well as generative AI-assisted writing tools for summarizing, editing, and proofreading text and adjusting tone. Finally, there are photo editing tools that clean up photos and remove background objects, and a tool for generating images of contacts and custom emojis, called Genmoji.
Health-promoting Apple Watches and AirPods
For the 10th generation of Apple Watches, Apple has gone big. Powered by the new S10 chipset and running on the watchOS 11, the new watches are thinner and feature larger and brighter OLED screens. The Series 10 is the first Apple Watch able to detect sleep apnea, alert users, and produce a report to be shared with the doctor. Also, new is that the watch’s speakers are powerful enough to play audio, including music and podcasts.The new headphone lineup includes the AirPods 4, with active noise cancellation, and Pro 2. Running on the H2 chip, these are said to be the “most comfortable AirPods ever”, with a new acoustic architecture and personalized spatial audio. The new AirPods Pro 2 also have more health features, such as loud sound reduction, a hearing test, and hearing aid functionalities. Finally, the AirPods Max have also been slightly updated, with new colors and USB-C chargers.
Apple is serving up a lot of new features to stay ahead of the curve in a competitive consumer electronics industry, which is increasingly shifting towards AI. Apple needs to catch up with other vendors like Samsung and Google in developing their own AI capabilities and creating more intelligent products and services. While Apple Intelligence features are set to be released later in 2024, the company’s focus on providing health-focused wearables continues to add value to its brand.
