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

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
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."

Related Roundups: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro

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Top Rated Comments

Eldaerenth Faexidor Avatar
17 months ago
Hope this time they’re able to nail it. Siri’s overhaul is long overdue.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Malus120 Avatar
17 months ago
JFC Apple its not the microphone that needs fixing... ?
(That said, better hardware is always a plus!)
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The-Real-Deal82 Avatar
17 months ago

Hope this time they’re able to nail it. Siri’s overhaul is long overdue.
Overdue? Its only been rubbish for 12 years....
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TwoBytes Avatar
17 months ago
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!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
flottenheimer Avatar
17 months ago
Siri and AI are two words that should not be used in the same sentence.

Unsurprisingly, Apple will try to fix Siri with a better mic. ???
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gmarm Avatar
17 months ago
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).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)