Artificial intelligence (AI) model training and the ability to embed deep language support within iOS in particular, has been important for Apple. Bob Borchers, who is Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, says in a conversation with HT, it is about being locally relevant. “When we announced Apple Intelligence to the world, one of the things that we did was explain how we thought about the principles by which we would develop it. One of the things that has been critical for us is that we want Apple Intelligence to be locally relevant,” he explains.

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We asked Borchers if the expanded language support as well as the addition of more language support for Apple Intelligence (this arrives in April, as part of the iOS 18.4 update) change the approach towards training AI models — since there are often local nuances that may not be understood as well with a global approach. “We want it to respect the traditions and the cultures. We want all of those nuances to be ready. It takes time to do them, and to do them right, Borchers makes it clear.

In April, users will be able to update the primary iPhone language to multiple Indian languages—Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, or Urdu. HT saw a first glimpse at iOS working in these languages, and the language implementation is deep — it extends to all Apple apps, including Weather, Health and Settings.

The 6.1-inch screen size of the iPhone 16e, makes it the biggest screen size among any ‘affordable’ iPhone before it. The last generation iPhone SE held a 4.7-inch display, while the iPhone 13 mini stretched that to 5.4-inches. Borchers insists we shouldn’t just look at the screen size, but the overall dimensions within which Apple has been able to deliver an iPhone 16e with largely the same screen real estate as an iPhone 16.

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“I think the thing that’s interesting is that what I would contrast the size in your hand versus screen. Our belief is that our customers want as much display as they can, in the most comfortable form factor. What’s great is that if you compare the iPhone 16e to the third generation iPhone SE, they’re very comparable in terms of the fit within your hand. It’s about feet millimetres longer, about four millimetres wider, around e a millimetre less in terms of depth. But in the hand, they feel very different,” says Borchers.

But when you look at them side by side, it’s a night and day difference. It’s a huge leap from SE, and our customers want as much capability and screen in a form factor that’s comfortable to hold,” he adds.

Apple’s latest and presently the most affordable iPhone, the iPhone 16e which goes on sale today in India, also ushers a transition that’s otherwise easy to miss. Apple is moving moves away from Qualcomm’s mobile modems, to the in-house C1 modem tech. This must worry Qualcomm, because it forebodes the beginning of an end for that partnership, coinciding with Apple widest iPhone lineup ever to carry the flagship badge.

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“Our approach to Apple silicon is always about performance per watt, which is how we can generate the highest level of performance with least energy expenditure. That’s what drives this benefit for our customers,” says Borchers. He believes “holistic thinking” is the reason for achieving these performance gains. Apple claims this is the most power efficient modem ever in an iPhone, and also amongst the fastest for 5G connectivity.

“The modem is actually one of the biggest consumers of energy within the system. Our ability to focus on that performance, power, and efficiency in the same way we have with other parts of Apple Silicon, has been transformational,” he adds. That optimisation, is one of the reasons why an iPhone 16e can deliver up to 16 hours of video playback on a single charge, significantly higher than any iPhone SE or iPhone mini, previously. In fact, for any 6.1-inch screen size iPhone, which includes the iPhone 16 as well, the iPhone 16e returns highest possible battery life.

The C1 modem transition takes forward Apple’s belief that certain user experiences require purpose-built technology. In this case, it is closely optimised for the A18 chip, also the chip driving iPhone 16e. “The way that we’ve able to architect this system from a software perspective is there’s an advanced power management system that can turn off parts of the modem aren’t in use and turn them on and when they are,” says Borchers. He is referring to the C1’s smarts including an ability to orchestrate how iOS is using network availability.

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“Kind of how we prioritise traffic. For example, if the uplink is congested, iOS can put less of the time critical, less latency data onto the network. All those optimizations and the fact that we can think about the system as a whole is really what has delivered this kind of the power efficiency,” explains Borchers. The C1 supports sub-6GHz 5G bands, 4G, 3G and 2G, alongside satellite connectivity. The iPhone 16e prices start at ₹59,900 which makes it the most affordable amongst the current generation portfolio.

Apple transitioned from Intel’s chips to in-house Apple Silicon in late 2020 starting with the M1 chip, a process completed across the elaborate Mac portfolio through 2021. That ended a 15-year partnership. The C1 signifies another chapter in that mission for in-house hardware. It is likely that the next iPhone refresh, expected this September, will complete a quicker transition to C-series modems. Unlike Intel’s experience when Apple moved to their own silicon in 2020 and 2021, it’ll be a much faster closing of the window for Qualcomm.