In June 2024, Apple will present iOS 18. With this new major version, the iPhone operating system should add features based on artificial intelligence, in particular via a complete overhaul of Siri. According to leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, the Apple firm would improve voice capture thanks to new microphones, thus facilitating dialogue with its voice assistant. This development would also bring benefits for other more traditional uses.
Improved microphones for iPhone 16
In his report published via Medium on December 7, 2023, Ming-Chi Kuo announces “a significant improvement in microphone specifications” on all iPhone 16s. Supplied by AAC and Geoertek at a price 100 to 150% higher than for the iPhone 15, these new components would offer several benefits on Apple smartphones.
The analyst explains that the microphones introduced on the iPhone 16 would pick up voice better and have a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This development would help improve the accuracy of Siri voice commands and dictation.
Thanks to increased hearing capabilities, Apple’s voice assistant would become more responsive to user requests. This increased performance would be perfectly suited to democratizing the artificial intelligence capabilities expected with iOS 18.
As a reminder, Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned in the third quarter that the team in charge of Siri was starting to integrate Apple’s language model and work around artificial intelligence.
In addition to the voice assistant and dictation, these new components would provide benefits for more traditional functionalities, in particular voice calls or the audio quality of videos captured with the camera.
Finally, the analyst specifies that the iPhone 16 microphones would benefit from better water resistance.