Foreign media commented on Apple's press conference: AI quietly reshaped the iPhone, and the biggest improvement is self-developed chips
Focus
1. After Apple's autumn new product conference, many mainstream media commented on the event, especially for the upgrade of the new iPhone.
CNBC believes that one of the biggest improvements of the new iPhone is Apple's self-developed chip, and the additional GPU core will enhance graphics performance and support new gaming features.
3. Reuters said that unlike other companies trying to make major changes with the help of artificial intelligence, Apple is using this emerging technology to improve the basic functions of its new products, including reshaping the iPhone.
4, CNN said that the new iPhone's switch to USB-C interface is only symbolic and will not do much to reduce the e-waste accumulated around the world.
5, Wired magazine said that Apple's iPhone 15 marks the arrival of a new era, because it ended the 11-year-old lightning interface and replaced the notch design with a smart island.
Tencent Technology News In the early morning of the 13th, Beijing time, Apple held its 2023 fall new product launch conference at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, USA. In this theme event called "Curiosity on the head", Apple released the highly anticipated four iPhone 15 models and two Apple Watch Series 9 smart watches. After the conference, a number of mainstream media commented on Apple's event.
Here are the views of the major media:
CNBC: One of the biggest improvements to the new iPhone is Apple's own chip
Apple's two newly released high-end models, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, have major processor upgrades. They use Apple's self-developed A17 Pro chip, which consists of a six-core central processing unit and a six-core graphics processor. Compared to the A16 processor used on the iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, and this year's low-end iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, the A17 Pro has one more GPU core.
Additional GPU cores will enhance graphics performance, supporting new gaming features such as ray tracing. Rendering techniques allow for more realistic scene lighting elements such as reflections and shadows.
Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies, said: "Apple spends a lot of time emphasizing GPUs, which is telling. Cameras, chips, GPUs, visual experiences, gaming, this is the next platform for the iPhone in the next 4 to 5 years. ”
The enhanced graphics prompted many game developers to develop iPhone-native versions of their hit games for the first time. Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed: Phantom and Capcom's Resident Evil 4 Remake will both arrive on the iPhone 15 Pro next year.
Apple's latest processor is also the first chip to be manufactured with 3-nanometer technology. As the most advanced semiconductor node currently available, it may be the biggest factor in the soaring prices of new high-end phones. Almost all of these chips are made by TSMC, with Apple being its largest customer.
TSMC is currently spending $40 billion to build a new chip manufacturing plant in Arizona, though those plans have been delayed due to a shortage of skilled semiconductor labor in the United States.
Bagarin said the move to 3nm chips is a "big step" for Apple, which will allow the company to enter areas that compete with desktop processors such as Intel.
The new Apple Watch Series 9 also features a new Apple chip, which Apple calls the S9 System in Package (SiP). The tech giant called it "the most powerful watch chip yet."
Reuters: Artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping Apple's phones and watches
Unlike other companies trying to make major changes with the help of artificial intelligence, Apple is using this emerging technology to improve the basic functionality of its new products.
At today's event, Apple did not use the term "artificial intelligence" to describe the emerging technology, but instead showed off new iPhones and watches, which include improved semiconductor designs that power new artificial intelligence capabilities. These features greatly improve the basic functions of the iPhone, such as making and receiving phone calls or taking better photos.
AI also didn't show up at Apple's developer conference in June, but it has been quietly reshaping Apple's core software products behind the scenes for months.
In contrast, Microsoft and Google have set ambitious goals for transforming the AI space. Industry leaders warn of the potential harm of unfettered development of new tools, such as generative AI.
Apple has equipped the Series 9 Watch with a new chip that includes improved data processing capabilities, notably the addition of a quad-core "neural engine" that can process machine learning tasks twice as fast. The Neural Engine is the building block that Apple uses to accelerate AI functional chips.
The artificial intelligence component of the watch chip has increased the accuracy of Apple's voice assistant Siri by 25%.
But including machine learning chip components also led Apple to introduce a new way to interact with the device: People can do things by "double-tapping" with their hands, such as answering or ending a call, pausing music or activating other information such as the weather.
The idea is to give people a way to control the Apple Watch, a feature that uses new chips and machine learning to detect subtle movements and changes in blood flow when the user's finger taps.
Apple also showed off the improved image capture capabilities of its series of phones. The company has long offered "portrait mode" that can use computing power to simulate a large lens to blur the background. But users must remember to turn on this feature. Now, when a person appears in the frame, the camera automatically recognizes and collects the data needed to blur the background later.
Wall Street Journal: Apple is pushing people to spend more money on iPhones
Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 15 series at its latest event, with two Pro models with many major upgrades, and the company expects consumers to be willing to pay a little more for the most advanced features. Clearly, Apple is pushing ahead with its strategy of getting people to pay more for the iPhone.
The 256 GB version of the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1199, up $100 from last year's iPhone 14 Pro. Apple says the model is priced the same as last year's Pro Max model, with the same storage space, but it eliminated the lower-priced 128 GB version.
Apple's standard iPhone 15 model will mainly offer common incremental improvements, such as a better camera and battery, and the addition of new software features.
For the pricier Pro model, Apple is offering a new titanium shell to make the phone lighter. The screen on the Pro extends further towards the edge of the device. The Pro model removes the mute switch that every phone has had since the first iPhone and replaces it with customizable buttons that can quickly bring up the camera or certain apps. The Pro model uses a chip called the A17 Pro, which uses TSMC's new 3nm manufacturing process. The Pro model can also capture 3D video that can be viewed later on Apple's headset, Vision Pro, though the latter won't be available until early next year.
After the conference, Apple's stock price recently fell 2%. Brian Mulberry, a customer portfolio manager at Apple shareholder Zacks Investment Management, said Apple's share price may have fallen because investors wanted the standard model to raise prices for more profit.
Apple hopes that these upgrades will be enough to sustain sales even as the smartphone market cools. According to Counterpoint Research, global smartphone shipments are expected to decline at an annual rate of 6% to 1.15 billion units by the end of 2023, the lowest number in a decade. However, the company said that Apple may take the top spot in smartphone shipments from Samsung.
After Apple launched the Pro version of the iPhone in 2019, this practice of attracting more consumers to buy has kept Apple's sales climbing. Counterpoint Research said the company's iPhone revenue has grown more than 44 percent since 2019, even though shipments grew just 15 percent over the same period.
The iPhone still accounts for about half of Apple's total revenue. In the latest earnings report ended July 1, iPhone revenue fell 2.4% to $39.7 billion, below analysts' expectations.
Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of market research firm IDC, said: "Apple is addressing the long tail of 600 million iPhone users who will upgrade at some point. IDC expects Apple to sell 150 million new iPhones in the next 12 months, similar to last year's sales cycle.
CNN: Apple's switch to USB-C is only symbolic
Finally, Apple eliminated the Lightning connector on the iPhone 15 in favor of a charging cable compatible with non-Apple products. A European regulatory mandate passed last year accelerated Apple's change, but it was largely a symbolic measure, with most other devices having switched to USB-C several years ago. And it won't do much to reduce the amount of e-waste piling up around the world.
Marian Chertow, a professor of industrial environmental management at Yale University's School of the Environment, said: "I would classify EU law and Apple's changes as an evolution, not a revolution. When the European Commission passed the directive last year, Apple initially hit back, in part because it made a lot of money selling additional Lightning charging cables.
However, abandoning the Lightning Charging Cable could even generate a lot of e-waste in the short term, as iPhone users throw their useless charging cables into drawers. And, taken as a whole, this may do little to deal with global e-waste.
Ruediger Kuehr, head of the UNU's Sustainable Recycling Programme, said that about 66 million tons of e-waste are generated globally every year, of which charging cables account for about "hundreds of thousands of tons".
E-waste is a growing problem, but it has not yet entered mainstream consciousness. Much of this ends up where it shouldn't, including our closets and trash drawers, which means manufacturers have to mine more materials, such as copper, gold and platinum, to produce new products.
Kuhl said nearly 80 percent of the e-waste generated globally is not properly treated. But he thinks Apple deserves credit for its leadership in reusing expensive materials like rare earth metals from its recycling programs.
Bloomberg: Apple is struggling to cope with sluggish demand for smartphones
Apple unveiled its latest iPhone at the new product launch, hoping for new materials, camera upgrades and performance improvements to attract consumers to upgrade in the sluggish smartphone market.
The new models, especially the high-end ones, represent the first major upgrade of the iPhone since Apple's first 5G phones came out in 2020. Apple is looking to get out of the sluggish sales, and it hopes to use the device's major improvements to push people to upgrade.
Apple CEO Tim Cook touted the new product as a concentrated showcase of the company's recent breakthroughs. He said: "Our Pro models represent Apple's best innovation, with improvements in design, camera, performance, and more! ”
For the Pro version, Apple has shifted from a stainless steel bezel to a titanium frame, which makes the phone lighter and more durable. All versions come with a 6.1-inch or 6.7-inch screen, and the pricier version has thinner bezels than before.
The biggest change to the iPhone involves the rear camera system. With the launch of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple will increase the 12-megapixel wide-angle camera (i.e., the main lens) to 48 megapixels, which is similar to the technology used by the iPhone 14 Pro.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max still have three cameras: wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses, and an improved telephoto system with optical and digital zoom. Both models have new sensors installed in the camera array, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max adds a telephoto camera that can be magnified by 5x, which is almost twice the 3x zoom power of the regular iPhone 15 Pro.
Financial Times: Apple looks for opportunities in emerging markets
Apple just released four new iPhones and two smartwatches in an attempt to entice consumers to upgrade in an economy where they use their current devices longer. The new iPhone 15 Pro Max will start at $1199, $100 more than a year ago, reflecting Apple's strategy of making up for stagnant sales with a higher average selling price.
Apple's iPhone lineup now ranges from the entry-level iPhone SE starting at $429 to the $1199 Pro Max model. According to Counterpoint Research, despite Apple's more annual new product updates than it was a decade ago, Apple's focus on high-end models has pushed the average selling price up from $627 in 2015 to $890 this year.
PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said: "With the support of numerous trade-in and recycling projects, everyone will find an iPhone that adapts to their habits. The significant enhancement of the camera's optical zoom will help Apple compete head-to-head with competitors such as Samsung, attracting users to the iPhone. ”
The new Apple Watch Series 9 has a new gesture recognition feature that allows users to answer incoming calls and pause music with just the touch of a finger. Apple says the watch, which starts at $399, is Apple's "first carbon-neutral product."
Throughout the event, Apple touted its eco-credentials, saying it would no longer use leather in any accessories. The company launched "FineWoven," a custom material that can be used on straps and iPhone cases, which the company says has a "significantly lower" carbon footprint.
The event comes at a challenging time for Apple. Apple is the world's most valuable company, but revenue has been declining for the past three quarters. The global market share of Apple's most important product, the iPhone, is slowly increasing, even as the smartphone industry is generally in the doldrums.
In the five days leading up to the conference, Apple shares fell more than 5 percent on concerns that problems in China could affect demand and production. Apple shares fell 2 percent after Tuesday's event, signaling investor attitudes that consumers believe will be slow to upgrade and that the launch lacks surprises.
Globally, Apple has been slowly but consistently taking market share from Android and is expected to account for a record 20% of total smartphone shipments this year, up from 15% 10 years ago, according to Counterpoint Research.
Jay Goldberg, a chip business consultant and founder of D2D Advisors, said the "story of the year" for Apple is how it looks for opportunities to expand its market share in India and emerging markets. In these countries, iPhone penetration, although only in the single digits, still has the potential to rise.
Wired Magazine: Apple's iPhone 15 marks the dawn of a new era
Every new iPhone Apple has released over the past few years feels like a small, iterative upgrade, with improvements only in camera and performance. And the new iPhone 15 is undergoing the first sea change in several decades, making them stand out from the similar-looking iPhone, from switching to USB-C interface to removing notches, etc., it is marking the arrival of a new era.
After 11 years of Lightning charging, its era is finally over, replaced by USB-C, a reversible charging port that is available on Apple MacBooks, iPads, Android phones, Windows laptops, and various categories of devices. It's often referred to as the "Universal Connector," and the main benefit here is that you can finally use the same cable to charge your Apple device.
Unfortunately, while USB-C could have supported faster charging capabilities, Apple hasn't announced any improvements in charging speeds. Apple has been adding USB-C to many of its devices since 2015, but it's also charging licensing fees for the Lightning interface.
With the exception of USB-C, all four new iPhones now have SmartIsland, which is a pill-shaped notch on top of the display where the TrueDepth selfie camera is mounted. Spirit Island is adaptive, almost like a second screen. If you're waiting for Uber, the driver's arrival time will be displayed on SmartMotion Island. You can also see notifications from alarms, timers, flight information, real-time sports scores, and more without having to enter the app.
Apple said the GPU is also "the biggest redesign upgrade in the history of Apple's graphics processor" because it is 20% faster than the previous generation. This new GPU can create more detailed environments in mobile games with less power, and it now boasts hardware-accelerated ray tracing that is 4x faster. (Text/Golden Deer)