Apple's upcoming iPhone will catapult the tech trendsetter into the age of AI

There have been mostly minor upgrades from one model to the next – a factor that has caused people to hold off on buying a new iPhone and led to a recent slump in sales of Apple's marquee product. — AP

Apple's ubiquitous iPhone is about to break new ground with a shift into artificial intelligence that will do everything from smartening up its frequently dim-witted assistant Siri to creating customised emojis on the fly.

The new era will dawn Monday (Tuesday local time) with the unveiling of the hotly anticipated iPhone 16 in a Cupertino, California, auditorium named after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who pulled out the first iPhone in 2007 and waved it like a magic wand while predicting it would reshape society.