The iPhone 16, Apple Intelligence & Looking Back at WWDC 2024
(2024-10-09, Cupertino, CA, Jake Bourke) Apple recently released its latest iterations of the iPhone to market, the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. With a focus on its upgraded, high-performance A18 chip, an advanced 48MP Fusion camera with numerous options, and a host of enhancements and quality-of-life improvements, Apple seeks to make the iPhone experience more intuitive and, with the upcoming release of the highly-anticipated Apple Intelligence, personable.
Its other features include a durable design that’s water and dust-resistant, improved battery life, and a customizable Action Button that gives users more control over their iPhone.
With Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman speculating Apple Intelligence, packaged with iOS 18.1, will be shipped to iPhone 16 users on October 28th, we at USTimes can’t help but look back at the event that marked Apple’s foray into the world of generative AI.
WWDC 2024
Apple had much to unveil at its annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference. Though the keynote lacked news regarding new hardware following the May 7th introduction of the M4 Chip (currently exclusive to the latest iteration of the iPad Pro), Apple still introduced plenty of new features and additions to their longstanding lineup of operating systems, with machine learning and generative AI at the forefront of these updates.
Apple Intelligence
The headlining feature that occupied the final 45 minutes of the presentation was Apple’s answer to AI, Apple Intelligence. This announcement came in the wake of rumors, leaks and speculation also spearheaded by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who accurately reported numerous features discussed at the keynote, as well as the name.
Supercharged by Apple Silicon, Apple Intelligence aims to provide a personalized, streamlined experience through generative models and machine learning, analyzing the “personal context” and habitual patterns of the user to craft a tailor-made AI experience that promises to accelerate productivity.
Apple Intelligence incorporates AI image generation through their Image Playground app and API, which developers can integrate into many 1st and 3rd party apps, with the presentation highlighting its use in Messages, Notes, and Keynote. It also introduces Genmoji, a program allowing users to create custom Apple emojis using keywords or photos.
In addition to utilizing their take on proofreading, rewriting, and other writing assistance tools previously introduced by other AI-centric services such as Grammarly, Apple Intelligence’s understanding of language can detect urgent messages, emails, and other notifications with Priority Messages and Priority Notifications.
Apple Intelligence also enhances Siri with improved language understanding (such as recognizing voice commands when a user stumbles their words), robust connectivity between 1st and 3rd party apps, support for typing commands, and an all-new design touting an ambient glow wrapping around the edge of the screen.
However, the most significant addition to Siri is an expanded bank of intelligence made possible with a partnership between Apple and OpenAI, allowing Siri to tap into the ChatGPT service to answer questions and generate more natural responses.
Furthermore, ChatGPT integration goes beyond Siri, as it works alongside Apple Intelligence’s writing assistance tools to provide comprehensive rewrites and generate new content.
Apple Intelligence features will be available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad & Mac computers built with Apple Silicon this fall.
Private Cloud Compute
With much emphasis placed on AI that relies on personal information and user-generated content, Apple seeks to set a precedent for privacy in artificial intelligence with Private Cloud Compute, which fulfills complex user requests unable to be carried out on client-side Apple hardware. Private Cloud Compute processes necessary data within dedicated Apple servers without storing it.
Only the user can access their data at all times, and Apple touts that independent experts can verify the strength of these privacy protections.
Other new privacy and safety features include:
- Locking and hiding apps behind Face ID, Touch ID, or passcodes.
- Pairing accessories without exposing other devices on the network.
- New Passwords app that allows users to securely store and manage passwords, passkeys, and two-factor codes, with the ability to detect compromised security.
- The ability to message others via satellite.
- Sharing live video with emergency dispatchers through Emergency SOS Live Video.
- Improved Privacy & Security section in Settings.
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18
In addition to taking advantage of the capabilities of Apple Intelligence, the next iteration of iOS embraces enhanced customizability and many other quality-of-life improvements to make the iPhone experience more personable.
Customization enhancements include in-depth home screen features that allow users to adjust the colors, sizes, and specific positioning of app icons and widgets, a redesigned Control Center that enables integration with third-party apps, and selectable lock screen controls.
iOS 18 also introduces an overhauled Photos app that aims to simplify the photo experience with a new unified user interface bolstered with new customization features such as pinning albums curated through Apple Intelligence and a “carousel view” that presents daily photo highlights.
Mail also receives a revamp with enhanced inbox management and categorization, a more intelligent search function able to return relevant and swift results, a “new digest view” that consolidates all emails from a business into a single easily read column, a send later function, and many other additions that strengthen efficiency, organization, and convenience.
iOS 18 also introduces:
- New dynamic effects, enhanced formatting, and expanded Tapbacks in Messages.
- Redesigned Reader and Highlights in Safari
- New hiking and customizable walking routes in Maps that are also accessible offline.
- Improved game mode.
- Enhanced accessibility with Eye Tracking, Music Haptics, and Vocal Shortcuts
- Update to SharePlay allows users to control devices remotely.
All the above features are also coming to iPadOS 18, including home screen customization, the overhauled Photos app, and the capabilities of Apple Intelligence.
iPad-enhanced features showcased at the conference include Calculator (finally coming to the platform after years of being exclusive to the iPhone), which introduces a new function that solves any mathematical equation after typing or handwriting them.
With iPadOS 18 also comes an improved experience to using the Apple Pencil with Smart Script, which smooths and straightens handwritten text as the user writes in real-time, allowing for more legible note-taking. Users can also edit handwritten text, add space, scratch out whole sentences to delete them, and even copy and paste in their handwriting.
macOS Sequoia
Apple Intelligence also comes to Mac with the unveiling of macOS Sequoia. In addition to receiving many Apple Intelligence features, including systemwide writing tools, AI image generation, overhauled Siri, and its personal context capabilities, Sequoia also introduces many improvements and additions to its operating system.
Safari receives many quality-of-life updates, including Highlights, which automatically gathers and displays relevant information about a website’s content, such as summaries, map data, and quick links leading to more details. Safari’s Reader welcomes a new, streamlined design that delivers an unobstructed view of any article while providing a summary and table of contents for longer reads.
Sequoia also introduces iPhone Mirroring, allowing users to control and use their iPhones from Mac computers. All screens and apps are accessible, and features such as notifications work as intended. iPhone Mirroring also supports a keyboard, trackpad, and mouse for seamless iOS navigation. It also makes file transfers easy with the ability to drag and drop from the Mac to the iPhone. The iPhone device remains locked while mirrored, but StandBy remains visible, displaying relevant information as a secondary display.
Last year’s WWDC introduced Game Porting Toolkit for macOS Sonoma, a Wine-based translation layer that accelerated the porting process of video games to Apple Silicon hardware. With macOS Sequoia comes the next iteration, Game Porting Toolkit 2, which includes support for games utilizing AVX2, ray tracing with the M3 chip, increased performance, enhanced graphical capabilities, and the ability for developers to port to iPhone and iPad.
On the consumer side of gaming, Apple also detailed a numerous selection of critically acclaimed games coming to the platform, including the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, fan-favorites Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and the viral indie hit Palworld.
Other additions include improved window organization and arrangement with Window Tiling, a Presenter Preview that allows users on video calls to see and double-check the content they’re about to screen share (which works on apps such as FaceTime and Zoom), and many features introduced in iOS and iPadOS, such as the overhauled Photos, Passwords app, and Message effects.
watchOS 11
New watchOS features unveiled at WWDC emphasize tracking and monitoring the user’s health and fitness with newly-introduced features such as Vitals, an app displaying measurements such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep data, providing insightful notifications based on personal habits and health trends.
Other features include Training Load, which measures the impact of workouts over time by assessing intensity and duration, helping users optimize their workout routine for better fitness outcomes. There is also Pregnancy, which offers enhanced support for pregnant users. It includes tracking gestational age, logging symptoms, adjusting heart rate notifications, and providing walking steadiness alerts during the third trimester to reduce fall risk.
Activity Rings also receive enhancements in watchOS 11, with extensive customization tools to best fit any healthy lifestyle. In addition to integration with the Vitals app, users can now pause their Activity rings indefinitely without affecting their award streaks, allowing for rest days and adjustments. Goals can also be customized, letting users set different targets for different days.
Smart Stack becomes intelligent with suggested widgets, which dynamically display relevant widgets based on a variety of contextual factors with the help of machine learning. Smart Stack is also customizable, allowing users to choose which widgets appear onscreen and adjust various settings to suit their needs. Widgets are now more interactive, with quick actions able to be performed without needing to open the associated app.
Other watchOS features and improvements also include:
- On-device translation for up to 20 languages.
- Enhanced gesture control.
- Redesigned interface for Apple Fitness+
- Improved encryption for personal health data.
visionOS 2
Apple presents its first major update to the Apple Vision Pro after its February 4th launch, introducing many new additions and quality-of-life improvements to the headset.
From the Photos app, users can now create spatial photos from any image in their library through visionOS 2’s new machine-learning capabilities. With SharePlay, users can also share photos and videos with others in real time. Additionally, Canon will offer a specialized lens for its EOS R7 camera that captures spatial photos and videos, which users can edit in Final Cut Pro with a later update.
Apple also introduces new gesture controls for efficient navigation to frequently-used features like Home View and Control Center and can perform actions such as adjusting the headset’s volume. Additionally, users can now customize the arrangement of apps within Home View, including compatible iPhone and iPad apps.
Mac Virtual Display now offers higher resolution and screen sizes, able to be expanded to an ultra-wide display equivalent to two 4K monitors. To further bolster the virtual workspace, the update incorporates mouse support and reveals the user’s physical keyboard, even if immersed in the virtual world.
Additional features and improvements include:
- Environments now support video streaming apps in Safari, such as Netflix, and can even be created with panoramic photos found online.
- Multiview is now supported in the Apple TV app, allowing users to watch up to five streams simultaneously.
- Mindfulness introduces Follow Your Breathing, a mode that displays dynamic animations that respond to the user’s breathing patterns.
- Systemwide live captioning.