Apple (AAPL.US) is facing an unprecedented challenge: convincing consumers to buy the latest iPhone without its biggest new feature.

The Intelligent Finance APP noticed that on Friday local time, Apple will officially launch the iPhone 16 series in nearly 60 countries/regions, including the USA, China, India, Australia, and South Korea. However, this device will not come pre-installed with Apple Intelligence. The highly anticipated AI feature that the company has been heavily promoting since June means that users will have to wait a few weeks and months to experience these features.

This puts Apple in a dilemma. It has been heavily promoting the AI feature, but if consumers can't immediately enjoy these benefits, some may postpone purchasing the new phone. At the same time, the new iPhone hardware is only moderately upgraded compared to previous models. The most significant change is the touch camera control button, which makes taking photos and videos more convenient.

Nevertheless, Wall Street remains bullish on Apple's ability to accelerate growth during the crucial holiday season. Analysts predict that revenue in the December quarter will increase by 8%, making it the best performance for that quarter since the end of 2021.

The market expects Apple's sales to rebound in the last three months of this year.

The new product line includes two standard models, 16 and 16 Plus, as well as the high-end Pro and Pro Max. These devices were available for pre-order last week and are now being shipped to stores and customers today.

Today, there are few iPhone consumers in Apple stores, but some loyal fans have been lining up at stores around the world. The biggest question is whether ordinary consumers will also rush to buy this new model.

The initial devices will run on the iOS 18 operating system, but Apple's smart technology needs to wait for the iOS 18.1 software update, which will be released in October.

Apple's smart technology was announced at the company's global developer conference in June and has undergone limited beta testing with developers in the past few weeks.

On Thursday, Apple released the public beta version of its smart technology, which is aimed at a wider audience. However, most users will have to wait until next month when the final version of the suite is released to use it. Other features will be ready later and will be rolled out in stages, continuing until next year.

When this tech giant released the iPhone 16 series, the company stated that these devices were the first to be built from the ground up for Apple's smart technology. However, some of the iPhones introduced last year (15 Pro and Pro Max) will also be able to support these features.

The appearance of the new phones has changed little compared to the 2020 iPhone 12 design. However, apart from the new buttons, they have significantly improved battery life and cameras. The starting price for the standard version of the iPhone in China is 5,999 yuan, and the starting price for the Pro Max is 9,999 yuan.

In recent years, consumers who ordered phones from the Apple online store have encountered serious delivery delays, indicating that supply cannot meet demand. This year, this issue is no longer as serious, either because order speed has slowed down or because Apple has produced more iPhones ahead of time.

New orders for the iPhone 16 standard model will be delivered in early October, while the Pro version will be delivered around mid-October.

Apple also released low-end AirPods and an upgraded version of the watch this month. The new headphones are called AirPods 4 and come in two versions: 999 yuan and 1399 yuan, with the latter having noise-cancelling function. This feature was previously only available on the high-end AirPods Pro, which cost 1899 US dollars.

Meanwhile, Apple's latest smartwatch does not provide a reason for upgrade. The new Series 10 has a larger display and a thinner design, but is similar to the Series 9 in other aspects. At the same time, the only change to the high-end Ultra model by the company is the addition of a black option. However, these products may attract customers who have older Apple Watches or are new to the category.

The iPhone, watch, and AirPods will not be the last new products from Apple in 2024. The company also plans to make significant upgrades to its Mac computers later this year.

Apple will port its AI-focused M4 processor from the iPad to the MacBook Pro laptops and iMac desktops. The company is also preparing for the most significant transformation of the Mac mini in twenty years, including a smaller design and new chips.