The iPhone 16 could have a big new Siri upgrade but it isn't what you're thinking

Apple might have only released the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models earlier this year but the company is already working on getting what comes next ready for primetime. That of course will be the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro and they are both expected to arrive next year. Now, a new report appears to suggest that all four new iPhones are going to have one big new feature that could improve Siri for those who use it. But if you're thinking that feature will be a ChatGPT-like large language model chatbot, you're sadly mistaken.

That's because Ming-Chi Kuo, a supply chain analyst who has proven to be well connected with these kinds of things int he past, says that Apple intends to release all four new iPhone 16 models with a significantly upgraded microphone setup. That setup will apparently allow for the iPhone to better hear when people talk to it - making it much better at understanding Siri commands and requests. The same speaker upgrade is also expected to offer additional water resistance, although that seems likely to be a happy accident rather than the main reason behind the change.

The report says that AAC and Goertek will be the two companies that benefit from the microphone upgrade, with the cost of each part set to be considerably higher than the microphones used in the iPhone 15 family of devices.

While the microphone will of course make it easier for Siri to discern what is being said, we can also expect that the phone call quality will be improved as a result of this change.

In terms of the AI elephant in the room, Ming-Chi Kuo also notes that Apple has reorganized its Siri team to better integrate a large language model. Siri has long lagged behind the competition like Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant and the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT has done nothing to help.

As for the new iPhones, Apple is expected to announce them in the first week or two of September 2024 before then making them available for preorder the following Friday. If Apple follows its usual release schedule then we can expect it to make the new iPhones available the following Friday. It's also a pretty safe bet that we will see the new Apple Watch at the same time, with the tenth anniversary of the watch's release expected to see the Apple Watch X and what is likely to be the biggest update yet.