Apple event – live: iPhone 16, new Watch and AirPods unveiled alongside big AI updates

The iPhone 16 Pro comes with a pro version of the A18 chip found in the standard model, imaginatively called A18 Pro.

Once again, Apple says it has been built with Apple Intelligence in mind.

Apple claims it is the fastest CPU in any smartphone ever built, offering improved data processing and “never-before-seen camera features”, including new photographic styles.

The AI can understand skin tones in order to better capture subjects in various lighting conditions, while video improvements include cinematic slow-motion effects through a higher 4K120 frame rate. Not sure what they’re doing in Apple’s example of this new feature, but it looks professional.

Tim Cook is back, who tells us that the new Apple iPhone Pro models have been “designed with Apple Intelligence at its core”.

Apple claims that it has “the best iPhone battery ever”, while also being built “from the ground up” with Apple Intelligence at its core.

It comes in four different colours and they feature the largest iPhone display ever made.

And here’s the spec sheet for the iPhone 16:

Here’s the full spec sheet for the new iPhone camera:

The new dedicated camera button leads to an impressive snapper that Apple is calling a “48 megapixel fusion camera”.

For the first time, an iPhone camera can capture spatial pictures to view on the Apple Vision Pro. Here are the specs:

Apple’s AI tool, called Apple Intelligence, is being integrated into the iPhone through the latest iOS software. The funnest feature is a new custom emoji tool that lets you creat brand new emojis from just a simple text command. I imagine there’s some safety controls on this. Here’s the example Apple gave:

Apple Intelligence will also include writing tools to change the tone of a message.

Tim Cook is back with us to introduce the iPhone 16, which he says will “raise the bar for what an iPhone can do”.

As expected, it also comes with a dedicated camera button, which can be controlled by sliding your finger up and down to change different camera functions.

The iPhone 16 comes with a new A18 chip, which has been optimised to work with new AI features. It’s also much faster than its predecessors, and is powerful enough to “challenge high-end desk-top PCs”.

Oh, and there’s some new colours too.