Apple Intelligence — and the cat steals the show in iPhone 16's new ad

 iPhone 16’s new ad shows Apple Intelligence editing photos in a few clicks, joining an entourage of ads by Samsung, Google, and OnePlus marketing their AI-powered smartphones.
Apple has once again captured the internet’s attention—this time with a surprising star. In its latest advertisement for the upcoming iPhone 16, a mischievous yet endearing cat has stolen the spotlight, outshining even the phone’s groundbreaking features. 

The Commercial 
The ad opens with a family of a man, a woman, and a cat trying to capture a perfect portrait, only for their cat to repeatedly leap into the frame. The man, holding his Apple iPhone 16, tries to take a picture of the woman reading alongside the cat, Garett, and then uses AI to erase the cat from the photograph, only to bring it back to appease the clearly displeased woman. Instead of frustration, the ad turns playful, as AI automatically suggests edits, organizes bloopers into a “fun moments” album, and even creates heartwarming reminders of life’s spontaneous moments.

AI saves the day
The ad, designed to showcase the power of Apple Intelligence—Apple’s new suite of on-device AI tools—uses the feline’s antics to highlight the phone’s enhanced photo, video, and smart assistant capabilities.
AI's omnipresence is hard to miss, and one realm where its dominance is particularly profound is the modern smartphone.

Apple joins the entourage of AI ads 

Many top players in the smartphone industry have now incorporated AI into their marketing mix. Recent examples are:
1.    Oppo India’s Aawara Hoon campaign for its OPPO Reno14 Series featuring image enhancement tools powered by AI. 
2.    Galaxy AI is to Samsung what Apple Intelligence is to Apple. It is a suite of on-device AI features such as Circle to Search (on Google), live language translation, AI-driven photo editing, etc.
3.    OnePlus's new suite of AI tools features heavily in its new smartphone ads, which includes tools such as AI VoiceScribe (for recording, summarising, and translating calls/meetings) and AI Call Assistant (real-time translation and automatic call summaries). 
4.    Vivo's latest smartphones incorporate advanced AI features including AI Erase for photo editing, AI Transcript Assist for converting audio to text, and live call translation to facilitate real-time multilingual conversations. 

Apple has long mastered the blend of emotion and technology, and this campaign is no exception. By making a furry, unpredictable animal the face of its most intelligent iPhone yet, Apple not only humanizes its AI but also reminds us that tech should enhance the fun, not replace it.

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