I Tried Apple's 2 Big Ai Features Announced At The Iphone 17 Event - And Both Are Game Changers

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

While we didn't perceive overmuch astir Siri aliases Apple Intelligence during nan 2025 Apple Event that launched caller iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches, location were 2 immense AI features announced that person mostly slipped nether nan radar. That's mostly because they were presented arsenic awesome caller features and didn't usage overhyped AI trading language.

Nevertheless, I sewage to demo some features astatine Apple Park connected Tuesday and my first belief was that some of them are astir afloat baked and fresh to commencement improving regular life -- and those are my favourite kinds of features to talk about.

Also: 5 caller AI-powered features that flew nether nan radar astatine Apple's motorboat event

Here's what they are:

1. A selfie camera that automatically frames nan champion shot

Apple has implemented a caller benignant of front-facing camera. This uses a quadrate sensor and increases nan solution of nan sensor from 12 megapixels connected erstwhile models to 24MP. However, because nan sensor is square, it really outputs 18MP images. The existent instrumentality is that it tin output successful either vertical aliases horizontal formats.

In fact, you don't moreover person to move nan telephone to move betwixt vertical and horizontal mode immoderate more. You tin now simply support nan telephone successful 1 manus and successful nan vertical aliases horizontal position you prefer, you tin pat nan rotate fastener and it will flip from vertical to horizontal and vice versa. And because it has an ultrawide sensor pinch double nan megapixels, it tin return arsenic crisp photos successful either orientation. 

Now, here's wherever nan AI comes in. You tin group nan front-facing camera to Auto Zoom and Auto Rotate. Then, it will automatically find faces successful your changeable and it will widen aliases tighten nan changeable and determine whether a vertical aliases horizontal predisposition will activity champion to fresh everyone successful nan picture. Apple calls this its "Center Stage" feature, which is nan aforesaid word it uses for centering you successful nan mediate of nan surface for a video telephone connected nan iPad and nan Mac.

Also: Every iPhone 17 exemplary compared

The characteristic technically uses instrumentality learning, but it's still adjacent to telephone this an AI feature. The Center Stage branding is simply a small spot confusing though, because nan selfie camera connected iPhone 17 is utilized for photos while nan characteristic connected iPad and Mac is for video calls. The selfie camera characteristic is besides aimed astatine photos pinch aggregate people, while nan iPad/Mac characteristic is chiefly utilized pinch conscionable you successful nan frame. 

Still, aft trying it connected various demo iPhones astatine Apple Park aft nan keynote connected Tuesday, it's easy to telephone this nan smartest and champion selfie camera I've seen. I person nary uncertainty that different telephone makers will commencement copying this characteristic successful 2026. And nan champion portion is that Apple didn't conscionable limit it to this year's high-end iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, but put it connected nan modular iPhone 17 and nan iPhone Air arsenic well. That's awesome news for consumers, who took 500 cardinal selfies connected iPhones past twelvemonth according to Apple. 

2. Live Translation successful AirPods Pro 3

I've said this galore times before, but connection translator is 1 of nan champion and astir meticulous uses for Large Language Models. In fact, it's 1 of nan champion things you tin do pinch generative AI. 

It has enabled companies for illustration Apple that lag acold down Google and others successful its connection translator app to return large strides guardant successful implementing connection translator features into cardinal products. While Google Translate supports 249 different languages, Apple's Translate app supports 20. Google Translate has been astir since 2006 while Apple's Translate app launched successful 2020. 

Also: AirPods Pro 3 vs. AirPods Pro 2: Here's who should upgrade

Nevertheless, while Google has been doing demos for years showing real-time translator successful its phones and earbuds, nary of nan features person ever really worked very good successful nan existent world. Google again made a large woody astir real-time translator during its Pixel 10 motorboat event successful August, but moreover during nan onstage demo nan feature hiccuped a bit. 

Enter Apple. Alongside nan AirPods Pro 3, it launched its ain unrecorded translator feature. And while nan number of languages isn't arsenic broad, nan implementation is simply a batch smoother and much personification friendly. I sewage an in-person demo of this pinch a group of different journalists astatine Apple Park connected Tuesday aft nan keynote.

Nina Raemont/ZDNET

A Spanish speaker came into nan room and started speaking while we had AirPods Pro 3 successful our ears and an iPhone 17 Pro successful our hands pinch nan Live Translation characteristic turned on. The AirPods Pro 3 instantly went into ANC mode and started translating nan words spoken successful Spanish into English truthful that we could look into nan person's look during nan speech while proceeding their words successful our ain connection without nan distraction of proceeding nan words successful some languages. And I cognize capable Spanish to understand that nan translator was beautiful meticulous -- pinch nary hiccups successful this case. 

It was only 1 little demo but it traded nan tricks of Google's Pixel 10 demo (trying to put nan words and intonation into an AI-cloned sound of nan speaker) for much applicable usability. Apple's type is simply a beta characteristic that will beryllium constricted to English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese to start. 

And to beryllium clear, nan iPhone does astir of nan processing activity while nan AirPods make nan acquisition amended by automatically invoking sound cancellation. But because of that, the characteristic isn't conscionable constricted to AirPods Pro 3. It will besides activity pinch AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, arsenic agelong arsenic they are connected to a telephone that tin tally Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro aliases newer). That's different triumph for consumers.

Since I'm readying to trial some nan Pixel 10 Pro XL pinch Pixel Buds Pro 2 arsenic good arsenic nan iPhone 17 Pro Max pinch AirPods Pro 3, I'll put their caller translator features head-to-head to spot really good they perform. Every week, I'm successful interaction pinch friends and organization members who speak 1 aliases much of nan supported languages, truthful I'll person ample opportunities to put it to activity successful nan existent world and past stock what I learn.