The previous year saw a lot of deferred iPhone 14 sales due to supply chain issues, and if you accounted for that anomaly, Apple’s iPhone sales in the recent quarter would have been flat.
Can the iPhone 16 change that when the four new models supposedly in development arrive this fall?
And the iPhone 16 is positioned to benefit from that.
AI and iPhone 16 Specifically, we won’t know until the fall if there are any iPhone 16-exclusive AI features coming with this year’s updated phones.
At the very least, you’d expect the A18 chipsets slated for the iPhone 16 models to be capable of supporting any Apple-built chatbot that’s developed later on.
Even if there are no unique AI capabilities slated for the iPhone 16, Apple will likely be able to point to other improvements to tempt would-be upgraders.
Besides the A18 chipset — which is tipped to appear on all iPhone 16 models and not just the Pro devices — the iPhone 16 Pro might offer Wi-Fi 7 support for faster connectivity as well as a slew of camera upgrades.
iPhone 16 outlook Whether that will be enough to prompt a flood of upgrades this fall won’t be known until iPhone 16 pre-orders open up.
Should you require additional evidence that consumers aren’t replacing their phones as frequently as they once did, take a look at Apple’s recently disclosed March quarter financial results. Apple sold slightly less than $46 billion worth of phones in the three months leading up to the start of 2024, but even so, there was a 10% decline in iPhone sales from the same time the previous year.
That figure is subject to a qualification. Due to supply chain problems, Apple saw a lot of postponed iPhone 14 sales the previous year. If you took that anomaly into account, Apple’s iPhone sales for the most recent quarter would have been flat. In spite of this, it’s evident that the iPhone 15 isn’t spurring a significant upgrade wave.
Although Apple doesn’t release estimates this far in advance, executives do seem optimistic that they have something in the works that could help its phone business. Will the iPhone 16 change that when the four new models that are supposedly in development arrive this fall? And the iPhone 16 is in a good position to gain from it.
the final significant iPhone upgrade cycle.
Prior to discussing the reasons why the prospects for the iPhone 16 seem promising, it’s helpful to keep in mind the last time a major wave of upgrades was sparked by an iPhone release. That would have been the 2020 release of the iPhone 12.
iPhone revenue increased by 17% to an all-time high of just under $65 point6 billion during Apple’s 2021 fiscal year’s holiday quarter, which coincided with the launch of the iPhone 12. After the release of the iPhone 13, which increased Apple’s holiday quarter phone sales to $71.6 billion, that record would be broken.
Five-gigabit internet was something those models lacked over earlier iPhone iterations. The iPhone 13 improved on the iPhone 12’s faster cellular network connectivity capabilities by adding better power management features to meet 5G’s higher battery demands. The iPhone 12 was the first Apple phone to support 5G. It is unlikely that you have gone back from those two models, even with the subsequent upgrades to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 lineup, if you were looking for better network performance.
I can talk about this from experience. It’s been almost four years since the release of the iPhone 12, and it’s still my go-to phone. I can use the phone from dawn to dusk without finding a charger because the A14 Bionic system-on-chip can handle anything I throw at it. As I discovered when comparing an iPhone 15 vs. Despite the iPhone 12 camera rivalry, I still find that the images from my older iPhone are satisfactory enough for my purposes.
I venture to guess that many carrying around an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 experience a similar situation – although the latest models may offer more features, we are not compelled to shell out flagship phone costs for a new model. Thus, how does Apple persuade us that we should give up on our older iPhones for good this year?
AI is here.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may have the answer to that query that many tech companies are now relying on. It is widely anticipated by analysts that Apple will prioritize AI-driven functionalities in the upcoming iOS 18 software upgrade for iPhones. Furthermore, Apple isn’t doing much to refute that assumption, even though it doesn’t make comments about upcoming products.
As a matter of fact, Tim Cook’s recent public remarks have consistently emphasized Apple’s internal efforts to work with generative AI. Cook announced that an announcement about AI was coming soon during this week’s call with Wall Street analysts to talk about Apple’s financial performance.
“We remain highly optimistic about our prospects in generative AI,” Cook expressed to analysts. “We are investing heavily, and we can’t wait to soon share some really exciting news with our customers. “.
The Apple CEO didn’t stop there, though. “We think we have differentiators that will set us apart in this new era, like Apple’s special blend of flawless hardware, software, and services integration, our industry-leading neural engines in Apple Silicon, and our unwavering focus on privacy, which is the foundation of everything we do,” Cook continued.
It wouldn’t be bold of you to conclude that that sounds a lot like an early look at iOS 18’s AI integration with the iPhone. There are already rumors circulating that the software update will bring new features like AI-powered summaries of text messages and web pages, writing prompts for Apple’s Pages, suggested decks in the Keynote presentation app, and automatically generated playlists in the Apple Music app. Another possibility is a more advanced Siri, which could be able to handle more complicated requests than the one the Apple personal assistant can handle right now.
When Apple is expected to reveal the details of this year’s software updates for the iPhone, Mac, and other devices at WWDC 2024, we’ll know for sure what AI features are in store for iOS 18. There will still be some puzzle pieces to solve, even though the June conference will go a long way toward explaining how AI fits into the iPhone story.
Artificial Intelligence and iPhone 16.
More specifically, we will not be aware of any AI features that are exclusive to the iPhone 16 until the fall along with this year’s upgraded phones. As iOS 18 is expected to run on the same devices as iOS 17, it should bring AI capabilities to existing iPhones. Furthermore, it’s uncertain what the iPhone 16 might offer that isn’t available on any of Apple’s current models, since the company is predicted to prioritize on-device AI capabilities over cloud-powered features.
I believe there might be an iPhone 16-specific feature, but we won’t know for sure until the new phones are unveiled in the fall. You would think that the A18 chipsets planned for the iPhone 16 models would be able to support any chatbot developed later on by Apple, at the very least. (The majority of iOS 18 rumors state that Google and ChatGPT chatbots will be used by Apple in place of its own chatbot with this software update. ).
Apple will probably be able to highlight other enhancements to entice potential upgraders even in the event that the iPhone 16 does not have any special AI features. In addition to the A18 chipset, which is expected to be found in all iPhone 16 models, not just the Pro models, the iPhone 16 Pro may also come with a number of camera improvements and support for Wi-Fi 7. While all models are rumored to include a new Capture button to aid with photos and videos, the standard iPhone 16 may get the Action button that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple could, in other words, pitch the iPhone 16 as having multiple hardware upgrades in addition to AI-powered features.
iPhone 16 outlook.
It won’t be known until iPhone 16 pre-orders begin to accept orders whether that will be sufficient to ignite a wave of upgrades this autumn. However, Apple appears to be certain that it has everything figured out before moving forward with the first significant step of the process, the June iOS 18 preview.
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