The iPhone 16, new AirPods and other highlights from Apple's product showcase

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Apple has squarely shifted its focus toward artificial intelligence with the unveiling of its hotly anticipated iPhone 16 along with a slew of features coming with the next update to the device's operating system

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple squarely shifted its focus toward artificial intelligence with the unveiling of its hotly anticipated iPhone 16 along with a slew of new features coming with the next update to the device’s operating system. While the new phone lineup headlined Monday's showcase, the tech giant also shared updates to its smartwatch and AirPod lineups.

Here are all the biggest announcements from Apple's “Glowtime” event.

Apple's core artificial intelligence offerings are being packaged and billed as Apple Intelligence — first revealed at the company's developers conference in June.

These features include the ability to search for images in your library by describing them, creating custom emojis, summarizing emails and prioritizing notifications. Apple Intelligence will also upgrade Apple's virtual assistant Siri to get it to better understand requests and give it some awareness of on-screen actions taking place on the phone, hopefully making it more useful.

What sets Apple apart from what's being offered by rivals Samsung and Google? It is trying to preserve its longtime commitment to privacy by tailoring its AI so that most of its functions are processed on the device itself instead of at remote data centers. When a task requires a connection to a data center, Apple promises it will be done in a tightly controlled way that ensures no personal data is stored remotely.

Most of Apple’s AI functions will roll out as part of a free software update to iOS 18, the operating system that will power the iPhone