ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — Apple hosted its annual iPhone event and showed off what they proclaim is the latest and greatest iPhone 16 at its launch.

Are the new features worth upgrading from an older iPhone?

In the past couple of years the improvements to the iPhone have been marginal. Now that Apple is going all-in on artificial intelligence, this might be the time to upgrade to the latest and greatest. Or maybe not.

The magic words this time around, apple intelligence and camera control. The soon-to-be-released iPhone 16 is powerful enough to add many new AI features. One of the most impressive is called “Visual intelligence”. Take a photo of a cafe and Apple identifies it, the address, website, and menu. A photo of a concert poster adds the event to your calendar.

The latest iPhone comes in new colors, ultra marine, teal, pink, white, and black. The buzz is the new camera control button that allows you to take photos and record videos with a tap or hold. It also gives controls similar to a regular camera by sliding your finger across the button.

Turning the iPhone from a phone with a great camera, to a camera with a phone attached.

iPhone 16 Pro has the equivalent of four cameras. Apple also demonstrated how someone used it to record a cinematic music video for the artist The Weeknd.

A couple of improvements in an upcoming Apple Watch 10 that’ll feature sleep tracking to identify sleep apnea. And also new iPod Pros add clinical-grade hearing aids, with the ability to block background noise and isolating speech from anywhere in the room.

So is it worth the upgrade? It is if you’re dying to have AI in a phone and your current model is an iPhone 14 or older. If you have last year’s iPhone 15, the decision lies with how much you want the camera control button.

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