Apple iPhone 16 to launch with improved microphone technology for better Siri recognition

Ming-Chi Kuo has outlined previously unknown details about the iPhone 16 series, roughly nine months before its expected release date. As such, we would recommend treating early rumours and speculation like these with a degree of scepticism, particularly given Kuo's occasional faulty pronouncements. However, the analyst's latest claim does not appear too outlandish in its nature.

Supposedly, Apple is looking to equip its next flagship iPhones with improved microphones than those it includes in iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models (curr. $1,079.99 on Amazon - renewed). On the one hand, this new hardware is said to reduce the chance of water ingress. Unfortunately, Kuo has not detailed how Apple could achieve this, nor whether it would affect the iPhone 16 series' overall IP rating. On the other hand, these new microphones are rumoured to provide clearer audio quality thanks to a superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

According to Kuo, this change will be part of a package aimed at upgrading Siri, Apple's digital assistant. For context, Apple only finished reorganising its Siri team in Q3 2023 to allocate more resources to Large Language Models (LLM). Already implemented in the likes of ChatGPT, LLM would allow Siri to move away from pre-defined answers to questions, which is currently a limitation of Apple's digital assistant. While it is unclear to what extent Siri will adopt AI-generated content (AIGC), the new microphone hardware for the iPhone 16 series is reported to cost between 100% and 150% more than the equivalents used in iPhone 15 models.