Apple unveils iPhone 16, Huawei follows with launch of Trifold Mate XT

Apple unveiled its long-awaited, artificial intelligence-boosted iPhone 16 on Monday and promised improvements in its Siri personal assistant as it rolled out new software, beginning in test mode next month.

"The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up. It marks the beginning of an exciting new era," Chief Executive Tim Cook said at the product launch.

Apple and technology companies worldwide are racing to add AI to products, and phones are expected to be among the most important battlefields. The Cupertino, California-based company is also betting that the AI feature will drive consumers to upgrade amid a slowdown in iPhone sales.

Apple announced that its iPhone 16 Pro Max will start at $1,199 and the iPhone 16 at $799. Both phones will begin in-store sales in the Chinese market from September 20.

The company said the first set of Apple Intelligence AI features will be available in a free software update next month. The new functions can be used by iPhone 16 users as well as those of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

Separately, Chinese smartphone company Huawei launched its trifold phone hours after Apple debuted the iPhone 16. The Huawei trifold smartphone will start at the equivalent of more than $2,800.

Huawei began pre-orders on Saturday and is set to begin in-store sales on September 20 as well.

According to Tuesday's presentation, Huawei's Mate XT also includes artificial intelligence features like text translation and cloud-based content generation.