When the phone wants to use ChatGPT (Apple has given examples including generating text from scratch, or asking specific questions about the content of a document) it will ask first, and Apple says OpenAI will not keep your information.

So what does all this mean for the iPhone?

Expect Apple to couch it in terms similar to when it integrated Siri into the iPhone 4s: this will save you time and make your everyday interactions with your device easier, more pleasant and more powerful, without sacrificing your privacy. But there are thornier implications too.

Generative AI still has very real problems. Chatbots designed to collect or summarise factual information routinely (if infrequently) seem to entirely invent details and present them convincingly. Even something as simple as a quick summary of an email can’t be entirely relied upon for any important purpose. Apple avoids some of this by passing complex text processes to OpenAI, but it will still need to work to explain how its features can be both useful and imperfect.

Image generation has its issues too, both in terms of creating meaningless nonsense and in creating convincing and dangerously misleading pictures. Apple appears to only allow the creation of cartoony images so far, and it may seek to differentiate itself from Google and Samsung by rejecting the idea that iPhone will ever allow photo-realistic tampering, despite its own photo clean-up tool.

What else to expect

Of course the entire event won’t hinge on AI alone; as usual, Apple will have a range of new hardware to detail, starting with the iPhones.

All iPhone 16 models are expected to have new chips and more memory to handle the increased demands of the AI features. Rumours indicate four models of iPhone 16, at four different sizes, with the Pro being larger than the standard model and the Pro Max being larger than the Plus. All four models are expected to get the Action Button that debuted on last year’s Pro phone, as well as a new Capture Button for taking landscape photos.

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Apple is also expected to mark the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the Apple Watch with a significantly redesigned device, much like it did for the iPhone X in 2017. Rumours indicate the new wearable will be thinner, and some have suggested a new magnetic band attachment that would make the device incompatible with previous bands.

For AirPods, the rumours are that Apple is preparing two models of fourth-generation non-Pro buds, one that will include noise cancellation and one that won’t. It’s also said to have tweaked the over-ear AirPods Max to replace the Lightning port with USB-C.

Elsewhere, reports have indicated a number of future Apple devices that could potentially show up next week, though that’s far from guaranteed. This includes new iMacs, MacBook Pros and Mac Minis, a new standard iPad and iPad Mini, a new HomePod with a touchscreen, and even a smart display on a motorised stand that can turn to always be facing you.

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