On Monday, September 9 the tech giant is hosting a special event with the tagline "It's Glowtime." The event will take place at 10 am PT at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park and will be streamed online.
Though it's not quite clear yet what "Glowtime" is referring to, embedded artificial intelligence is expected to be a key feature of the latest iPhone.
In June, Apple announced a slew of generative AI features for the iPhone at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The company unveiled the first batch of tools powered by "Apple Intelligence," from personalized Genmoji - Apple's AI-generated emoji - to a significantly smarter Siri, which can answer questions about your schedule, what's in your email and what time your loved one's flight is landing.
Though iPhone 15 Pro Max users will likely be able to access at least some of the AI features, the upcoming iPhone 16 is expected to be the first device designed fully with AI in mind.
At the conference, Apple also announced a partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which is facing its own scrutiny and challenges.
Artificial intelligence has been integrated in some iPhone features for years now, such as Live Text and an improved autocorrect function over the original. But enhanced generative AI could build on those features aimed at enhancing interaction and personalization, potentially making a new iPhone the first specifically built with some of those features in mind.
But Angelo Zino, a CFRA Research technology analyst, said the outlook for the iPhone 16 is muted, since the new AI features will be rolled out over the next few years - enhanced Siri may even come as late as 2025, for example, Zino said.
"This is going to be more of an evolutionary process, rather than some big cyclical, iPhone cycle," Zino said.
Generative AI enables tools to create written work, images and even audio in response to prompts from users.
Apple's segway into artificial intelligence would most likely be through Siri, the company's virtual assistant, analysts said. Combining Siri with OpenAI's latest ChatGPT-4o model could allow the assistant to recall a picture taken years ago, provide more specific information, and even possibly learn the user's preferences and personality over time.
The launch could change Apple's trajectory for the iPhone. iPhone sales in China have tumbled due to uncertain economic conditions and growing competition.
One of the biggest questions about the device launch is how much it will cost. Apple enthusiasts have debated for years whether iPhone models should be cheaper, while investors would prefer maximum profit. CFRA isn't modeling a huge price spike for the iPhone 16, but the inclusion of AI capabilities "could potentially see them increase prices across the board" Zino said.
Apple's competitors have already dipped into the generative AI space, such as Samsung's "circle to search" feature, which allows users to quickly search for information on a device's screen with a finger gesture.
CNN's Samantha Kelly contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.