Wedbush is the latest to believe the iPhone 16 will be a “massive upgrade cycle” for Apple, driven largely by China and Apple’s announced AI features.

Apple is preparing for a major upgrade to the iPhone 16, reportedly increasing its order of chips from TMSC to some 90 to 100 million units. The company is clearly betting heavily that consumers are eager to try its new Apple Intelligence features that were demoed at WWDC 2024.

According to AppleInsider, Wedbush agrees with Apple, saying the iPhone 16 cycle will likely be “monumental” and “a massive upgrade cycle.”

In our own coverage of Apple’s AI announcements, we said WWDC was a case of Apple doing what it does best: provide solid, practical examples of how consumers can use AI in their everyday lives. This is something few, if any, of the leading AI firms have done.

Wedbush agrees with that assessment, saying Apple has effectively positioned itself as the “gatekeepers of the consumer AI Revolution,” (via Investing.com) something no other company has managed to achieve.

It should be no surprise that Apple is quickly being viewed that way, given the company’s long track record of democratizing technologies and spurring widespread adoption. While other companies invented the personal computer, the laptop, the portable music player, the smartphone, and the tablet, Apple has always had a penchant for elevating such products and designs in a way that competitors fail to do. The company also excels at making technologies that seem ambiguous or unattainable commonplace.

If the company is able to apply that approach to AI, in combination with its large user base, it could do more to drive AI adoption than most other companies combined.