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Apple plans a significant upgrade to the iPhone 16 microphone to improve the new AI-enhanced Siri experience, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

iPhone-16-Side-Feature.jpg

Writing in his latest Medium post, Kuo says that "strengthening Siri's hardware and software features and specifications is the key to promoting AI-generated content," adding that Apple's generative AI ambitions and integration of large-language models (LLMs) into Siri will heavily rely on improved voice input processing.

To that end, Apple is preparing a major microphone upgrade for the iPhone 16, with better signal-to-noise ratio a key specification that will "improve the Siri experience significantly," says Kuo. The new microphone will also have better water resistance.

The upgrade corroborates other reports suggesting Apple plans to make enhanced Siri features a key selling point of the iPhone 16. New Siri features powered by LLMs are expected in iOS 18, and Kuo's report notes that Apple reorganized its Siri team in the third quarter of this year to integrate generative AI and LLMs. However, Kuo's predictions also add weight to rumors that additional on-device AI features could remain exclusive to the iPhone 16 models.

According to the analyst's latest survey, AAC and Goertek are the microphone suppliers for the iPhone 16, and will benefit equally from the specification upgrade. "The ASP of microphones for each iPhone 16 will be at least 100–150% higher than that of the iPhone 15," says Kuo. "As a result, AAC's and Goertek's revenues and earnings are expected to benefit significantly from this upgrade."

Article Link: Kuo: Apple Upgrading iPhone 16 Microphone to Boost Siri AI Experience
 
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Looks like another sign that advanced Siri will be limited to the 16 lineup. It should be quite an upgrade from the 15 lineup, especially the 16 Pro with advanced Siri, huge camera upgrades, bigger display, minor redesign, stacked battery tech, improved thermals, 5G Advanced and more.
 
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Is a voice assistant really the feature that will drive sales ? Although it's not as integrated you already have the option to use other voice assistants that are quite capable but very few people do. You can even use chatgpt, with voice via an app, but I don't see that used very much either.
 
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Is a voice assistant really the feature that will drive sales ? Although it's not as integrated you already have the option to use other voice assistants that are quite capable but very few people do. You can even use chatgpt, with voice via an app, but I don't see that used very much either.
That's because for 90% Siri is enough, apart from small children, adults don't need to have conversations with a bot, basic functions are enough, especially when driving!
 
Great! I find that after I upgrade my phone, it takes a few months, and the mic doesn't pick up everything as well as it used to.

Apple also needs to sort out which device picks up requests. I.e. A house full of homepods and the phone responding to music and playing music when you want the homepod to!
 


Apple plans a significant upgrade to the iPhone 16 microphone to improve the new AI-enhanced Siri experience, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

iPhone-16-Side-Feature.jpg

Writing in his latest Medium post, Kuo says that "strengthening Siri's hardware and software features and specifications is the key to promoting AI-generated content," adding that Apple's generative AI ambitions and integration of large-language models (LLMs) into Siri will heavily rely on improved voice input processing.

To that end, Apple is preparing a major microphone upgrade for the iPhone 16, with better signal-to-noise ratio a key specification that will "improve the Siri experience significantly," says Kuo. The new microphone will also have better water resistance.

The upgrade corroborates other reports suggesting Apple plans to make enhanced Siri features a key selling point of the iPhone 16. New Siri features powered by LLMs are expected in iOS 18, and Kuo's report notes that Apple reorganized its Siri team in the third quarter of this year to integrate generative AI and LLMs. However, Kuo's predictions also add weight to rumors that additional on-device AI features could remain exclusive to the iPhone 16 models.

According to the analyst's latest survey, AAC and Goertek are the microphone suppliers for the iPhone 16, and will benefit equally from the specification upgrade. "The ASP of microphones for each iPhone 16 will be at least 100–150% higher than that of the iPhone 15," says Kuo. "As a result, AAC's and Goertek's revenues and earnings are expected to benefit significantly from this upgrade."

Article Link: Kuo: Apple Upgrading iPhone 16 Microphone to Boost Siri AI Experience

Highly needed!

Everybody who needed some recording, e.g. for documentation of strange motor noises, was disappointed, how little the outcome was.

Apple neglect many of basic functions.

Another example is if the recipient of a telephone call is engaged – no automatic reelection is available (the old Nokia already provided this function).
 
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I think the bigger part of the problem is what happens _after_ your input is processed.

The accuracy of the input processing at least in my case is decent most of times (although admittedly I don't often find myself in noisy environments).
 
They need to focus on the back end. Siri is already quite capable of understanding what you say, but the interpretation is rubbish.

But in typical Apple fashion, they will invent some hardware improvement, so that they can link the all new Siri exclusively to the iPhone 16 series. Smart.
 
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