Apple releases iPhone 16 update that includes artificial intelligence for the first time

Apple on Monday released a free software update that will introduce the first dose of artificial intelligence to the iPhone 16 line, as it tries to catch up with the latest technology.

The iOS 18 operating system update comes more than a month after four iPhone 16 models equipped with the chip needed for artificial intelligence functions went on sale for between $800 and $1,200. Last year’s premium models, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, also feature a processor that uses AI technology after installing a software update.

Latest versions of iPad and Mac can also be updated using this software.

Outside the US, the company will release AI software for its iPhones before next year at a date yet to be determined. Apple has spent the last five weeks testing artificial intelligence software among users who signed up to help the company fine-tune the technology.

The introduction of artificial intelligence is expected to transform Apple’s virtual assistant Siri into a more talkative, versatile and colorful companion, whose presence will be indicated by a bright light that will surround the iPhone screen while processing requests.

While Apple promises that Siri will be able to do more things and be less likely to get confused, it won’t be able to interact with other apps installed on the iPhone until the next software update arrives, the date for which has not yet been set.

Other AI features included in this software update will perform various tasks of writing and proofreading, summarizing the content of emails and other documents. AI will also provide editing tools to edit photos and make it easier to find past photos.

Most of the artificial intelligence features Apple unveiled Monday are already available on Android phones that Samsung and Google released earlier this year.

To differentiate its approach from competitors, the iPhone’s suite of new technologies is billed as “Apple Intelligence.” Apple also promises that its artificial intelligence features will do a much better job of protecting users’ privacy, whether they’re using the technology on-device or holed up in a fortress-like data center where some requests have to be processed remotely.

Since most iPhones currently in use around the world do not have the microprocessor required for Apple’s artificial intelligence, the technology is expected to generate high demand for new models during the holiday season as well as next year. That’s the main reason Apple’s stock price has risen 18% since the Cupertino, California-based company unveiled its artificial intelligence strategy at a conference in early June.

This increased Apple’s market value by about $500 billion, bringing it closer to becoming the first American company to be worth $4 trillion.