The iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro were recently shown to the public on Sep. 9, 2024, with a wide array of reactions. The main feature that they had emphasized was Apple Intelligence, trying to make it the best experience possible with the new features it brings along. Aram Ansel, a computer science teacher at Ida B. Wells High School speculates about the iPhone 16, “I think at launch it’s gonna be trash, and I think a year from now it might be the best phone on the market.”
Apple’s main selling point is that they skipped a whole generation of computer chips, going from the a16 to the a18 chip, which has been made to optimize Apple Intelligence on the device. A great example of this is the new 16-core Neural Engine which is two times as fast as standard machine learning, a technique AI uses to learn new information and how to do different things.
Apple Intelligence’s main focus is creating a simpler and clearer experience for users new and old. Apple does this in many ways; for example, if you’re searching for something through your camera roll you can just type in a description of what’s going on in the photo and it’ll find it for you. It uses the same process for finding a certain moment in the video so you don’t have to scrub through it.
The new AI also makes Siri a much more powerful resource on the iPhone. Siri will now have a stream of your screen allowing for it to have much more knowledge of what you’re doing. This gives you the ability to ask for something your friend had recommended you a month ago over text and just pull it straight up for you when you ask. You could also ask Siri to send someone photos from a certain event over the weekend.
Apple also has a whole push for privacy with their new AI using the new Private Cloud Compute. This lets the AI connect to Apple servers (when needed) to unlock more of its potential, allowing it to do more complex tasks. The risk of this is that personal information could be shared. With the Private Cloud Compute, it never shares or stores any personal information with the cloud or Apple. “When you interact with the AI we really don’t know what happens,” says Ansel. “You have to trust the companies at that point.” This shows the importance of privacy when it comes to AI.
There are many more unique uses that the new AI introduces, like summarizing notifications, text messages and emails. You can also use it in unison with photos to figure out information about restaurants, general information, instructions and even where to buy similar things to what’s photographed.
In the grand scheme of things, the new Apple Intelligence will have a huge impact on the landscape of iPhones. With a powerful chip allowing for the iPhone to be more efficient for AI, the new simplicity of use it adds to the phone for all users, the private servers allowing for a secure AI experience, an intense increase in Siri’s power and the overall multitude of uses, adds to the new and improved Apple experience. Ansel says “Schools and students and educators and everyone needs to have more conversations about the impact of AI.” All these factors add up to a new era of the iPhone experience with the iPhone 16.
