After Apple launched iPhone 16 series on Monday, driven by Apple Intelligence, backed by new A18 processors, introduction of a new Camera Control button, and upgrading ultrawide sensor to a 48 MP resolution, Indian research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR) anticipates a healthy 30% year-over-year growth for the new iPhone line up in the launch quarter compared to iPhone 15 series.

Riding on the new iPhone 16 series launch, Apple is also estimated to grab nearly 8% market share of the Indian smartphone market in CY2024, CMR points. In Q2 2024, it had 5% market share as per CMR.

It further said that more Indian buyers are prioritising the latest iPhone models, reversing the historical trend of opting for older generations.

The new generation of iPhone includes: iPhone 16 (6.1 inch), iPhone 16 Plus (6.7 inch), iPhone 16 Pro (6.3 inch) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.9 inch). Apple has added 0.2 inch to Pro and Pro Max display sizes this year.

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Reversing its own history, Apple finally introduced a new processor, A18, in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, while it kept A18 Pro for iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

“The new Apple iPhone 16 series will fuel Apple’s growth momentum in India, capitalising on the strong aspirational appeal it holds among Indian consumers,” said Prabhu Ram, VP, Industry Research Group (IRG), CMR.

With the iPhone 16 series, the U.S. based company also forayed into generative AI field by infusing Apple Intelligence into new iPhones. It aims to take on Google’s dominance which sells Gemini into Pixel and Android phones.

Apple Intelligence  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Apple Intelligence works similar to LLM models where it would suggest and simplify complicated tasks for the users like translation, note summary, mail assist and photo/video assistance, touch ups, etc.

“Apple has focused on ease and utility of using gen AI features. For instance, instead of circle to search, the click search throws up contextual info of an image by just tapping the camera button is going to be very convenient to use,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder of research firm, Techarc.

With Apple’s foray into generative AI, the main streaming of consumer-centric gen AI experiences is in the horizon, believes Prabhu.

Earlier, Apple had claimed that its Intelligence works majorly on-device using private computing but for complex tasks it needs to talk to servers.

“This approach ensures that user data remains secure and under their control, without being exposed to external servers,” said Prabhu.

“iPhone 16 series has some interesting additions and upgrades primarily because of Apple Intelligence. For consumers there is a lot to explore with this launch,” said Faisal.

Faisal says that even the base variant, iPhone 16, doesn’t lack in key capabilities which he thinks should result in giving tough competition to Google Pixel, which just tried to go bolder after 9 series. “I see a lot of potential Pixel buyers now preferring iPhone 16 and 16 Plus,” he added.

“The iPhone 16 Pro’s accessible pricing is expected to further fuel upgrades, making it a compelling option for a wider range of consumers,” said Prabhu.

The new Apple iPhone starts at ₹79,900 (iPhone 16) and iPhone 16 Plus costs ₹89,900. The iPhone 16 Pro sells for ₹1,19,900 whereas the iPhone 16 Pro Max begins at ₹1,44,900.