The tech giant has a lot riding on the new iPhone 16 and hopes that customers are enticed to buy the latest models, attracted by new AI powers.

"We are thrilled to introduce the first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence and its breakthrough capabilities," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said at an event at the iPhone-maker's Silicon Valley headquarters.

"Apple Intelligence" is a new suite of software features for all devices that was announced in June at the company's annual developers conference, where it also announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

The features will be available as a software download on the iPhone 16 and other premium models next month, but only as a test and in English. Other languages would follow down the road.

In the short-term, the new powers would include AI-infused image editing, translation, and small, creative touches in messaging, but not more ambitious breakthroughs promised by other AI players, such as OpenAI or Google.

The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language.

"I think that people are going to love what we're doing with Apple Intelligence," Cook told AFP at the event. "When you start using it, it just changes your life."

The features are similar to tools recently released by Meta, Microsoft and Google, which can produce well-crafted content simply by querying in everyday language.

The new iPhones will also feature a new Camera Control Button that can automatically search for things taken by photo or adding a calendar item based on the photo of a concert poster. 

"The AI features today are incremental, but going forward they look to be transformative," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said of capabilities coming to new iPhones.

Longer term, Apple could dramatically change the iPhone experience with a "super-powered Siri" working across all the apps, Greengart said.

Launched more than 12 years ago, Siri has come to be seen as a dated feature, overtaken by a new generation of assistants such as GPT-4o, OpenAI's latest offering.

New iPhone 16 models start at $799 and will be available starting September 20, according to Apple.

The company also announced new models of Apple Watch and AirPods at the event, highlighting coming health benefits like hearing protection and detecting sleep apnea.

Apple shares appeared unmoved by the iPhone event.

'More personal' 

With $39 billion in sales last quarter, the iPhone counts for roughly 60 percent of Apple’s revenue, and remains the main entryway to the company’s services, such as the App Store or Apple TV, which are becoming a growing part of its business. 

Apple is only just coming out of a long sales slump as users increasingly stick with older models longer.

Apple's announcement closely follows Google, which last month unveiled AI-infused Pixel 9 smartphones, its challenge to the iPhone.

Pixels account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued its new line is a chance to answer what -- after all the hype -- AI can actually do for customers.

Samsung has also showcased AI across a range of its consumer electronic products as it looks to extend its leadership in global smartphone sales.

"On certain things, Apple is behind (on AI features)," Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi told AFP.

"But from a usability perspective, Apple's tools are more personal and integrated into the device. That is where the difference is and that takes longer (to design)," she added.