As September attracts ever nearer, we in flip get nearer to the launch date of the rumored iPhone 16, which we now know might be unveiled on September 9.
And with the iPhone 16, we will count on some tweaks and probably vital upgrades, at the least going by the rumors to this point and my very own expertise overlaying Apple merchandise for the perfect a part of a decade. At its core, the iPhone 16 is more likely to be a automobile for iOS 18 and the sensible options introduced with it within the type of Apple Intelligence and an overhauled Siri.
Major adjustments, equivalent to a radically totally different design, supercharged cameras or perhaps a 120Hz show don’t look like on the playing cards for the usual next-generation iPhone or the iPhone 16 Plus; as ordinary, you’ll be able to count on the headline-grabbing upgrades to characteristic within the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Nevertheless, the iPhone 16 will nonetheless be a smartphone to observe this yr, so learn on for all of the adjustments, upgrades and disappointments we count on and what we all know to this point.
iPhone 16: what you should know
- The iPhone 16 vary might be introduced on September 9
- Expect the iPhone 16 to begin at $799 / £799 / AU$1,499
- Four fashions are anticipated: the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Expect an identical design because the iPhone 15, however with an Action button on all fashions and probably a devoted digicam seize button
- The iPhone 16 household will doubtless get the A17 Pro chip or an A18 Pro chip
- RAM will most likely are available in at 8GB, whereas storage will doubtless begin at 256GB and go as much as 1TB for the Pro telephones
- Camera {hardware} may very well be the identical for the usual and Plus iPhone 16 fashions, however the iPhone 16 Pro Max is tipped to have large upgrades
- Battery upgrades are predicted, with exhausting ware adjustments tipped however we additionally forecast some software program optimization
- All new iPhones will include iOS 18
- All iPhone 16 fashions may include a brand new smarter Siri and probably some early Apple Intelligence AI options
- Color choices look set to observe the iPhone 15’s mixture of inexperienced, pink, yellow and extra, however we may see a purple colorway and a white possibility
iPhone 16 newest rumors and leaks
Potential value hike
- Tipsters are in disagreement over iPhone 16 pricing
- But count on the iPhone 16 to begin at round $799 / £799 / AU$1,499
- Launching on September 9
- The delivery date will most likely be every week or so later
Some tipsters have famous that the iPhone 16 may rise in value over that of its predecessor, although by how a lot stays unclear. The logic of such a value hike may very well be all the way down to elevated manufacturing prices for Apple.
Right now the iPhone 15 begins at $799 / £799 / AU$1,499, so it wouldn’t be past the realms of creativeness if Apple raised the value by $100 / £100 throughout the board. That stated, it may very well be an issue for Apple, as a survey has discovered that inexpensive pricing is the most important consider potential iPhone 16 purchases. For a full value breakdown checkout our information on the iPhone 16 value.
We will discover out what the value actually is on September 9, as that’s when Apple is launching its new iPhones. The Apple occasion will begin at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST, which is 3am September 10 AEST.
Following that, we might guess that the iPhone 16 launch date will observe round every week later.
Can you belief these rumors?
I’m not satisfied Apple will increase the value of the iPhone 16 vary, at the least not the usual or Plus fashions. While Apple has its grip on devoted iPhone followers, the value it expenses for smartphones which can be usually out-specced by the perfect Android telephones, which I believe may imply the value of base iPhones cannot rise an excessive amount of or else their attraction may very well be eroded.
As such, come September I’d count on the iPhone 16 to begin on the identical value because the iPhone 15.
Action buttons for all
- Every mannequin may characteristic a brand new ‘Capture’ button
- Black, inexperienced, pink, blue and white look doubtless for the usual fashions
The Action button on Apple’s telephones made its debut with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and whereas considerably restricted in scope is definitely a helpful button to have; I personally use it to set off the ‘torch’ characteristic on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with out glancing down on the cellphone.
As such, the Action button has been tipped to come back to all iPhone 16 fashions, which might be a helpful improve to the usual and Plus telephones over their predecessors. However, a so-called ‘Capture’ button has additionally been tipped, seemingly designed as a fast set off for the digicam app’s shutter.
From the rumors to this point, I’d surmise that these would be the greatest design upgrades to the iPhone 16, alongside new predicted iPhone 16 colours, which leaks recommend will embrace blue, inexperienced, pink, blue, and white.
You can see how all 5 of those shades would possibly look in a leaked iPhone 16 photograph, which additionally reveals off a brand new digicam design, with vertical somewhat than diagonal lenses.
As is the case with current iPhones one has come to count on evolution not revolution within the design of Apple telephones.
Can you belief these rumors?
On the entire, I’d recommend that the rumors of the Action button coming to all iPhones is sensible as Apple tends of introducing options to its Pro telephones in a single technology then rolling them out to the non-Pro iPhones the technology after.
I’m much less satisfied by the Capture button rumor as that would appear superfluous to the Action button, which may already be set to set off the cameras.
Business as ordinary for the cameras
- Same cameras tipped for the usual fashions
- Expect software program upgrades and sensible options
When it involves the iPhone 16 cameras, the rumors have the usual iPhone 16 to sport the identical 48MP most important and 12MP ultra-wide dual-sensor setup because the iPhone 15. Now that gained’t get pulses racing, however the cameras on the present iPhone are somewhat good, and Apple’s solely had two generations of utilizing the 48MP most important cameras, so there’s scope to get extra out of it on the software program aspect.
Expect upgrades on the digicam aspect to come back within the type of improved picture sign processing and a few sensible modifying options, very similar to these seen on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 telephones.
Can you belief these rumors?
I’m fairly assured that Apple gained’t combine up the dual-rear-camera setup the usual and Plus iPhones use come the iPhone 16. But I do count on the software program aspect to ship enhancements, from higher video stabilization to crisper portrait and low-light photographs.
Expect and A17 Pro or A18 chip
- A17 Pro or A18 chipset doubtless for iPhone 16
To ship the aforementioned photograph upgrades, in addition to give the iPhone 16 extra energy and effectivity over its predecessor, Apple may make use of the rumored A18 chip.
Right now there’s a fork within the chips the iPhone use: the usual telephones use the A16 Bionic chips, whereas the Pro telephones have the A17 Pro, which delivers console-quality gaming on a cellphone in that the iPhone 15 Pro can run Death Stranding, whereas the usual and Plus can’t.
With the anticipated processing calls for of Apple Intelligence AI options, the rumors have the iPhone 16 tipped to inherit the A17 Pro or get an A18 chipset. The rub right here being the Pro telephones may get extra chip optimization and extra RAM to faucet into to justify the step as much as them.
Can you belief these rumors?
I’d say a chip improve is on the playing cards for the iPhone 16, however which chip it’ll get is much less clear. I’d prefer to see Apple undertake some uniformity within the chips it affords throughout all next-generation iPhones so that each one the telephones can energy AI workloads equally and thus clean the best way for widespread adoption of helpful and sensible AI instruments and options.
All that being stated, regardless of the compelling tipped upgrades for the iPhone 16, there is a rumor extolling the iPhone 17 potential specs, which means it may very well be the cellphone value ready for.
Potentially plenty of AI
- iOS 18 will deliver a number of upgrades to core iPhone apps
- Apple Intelligence will deliver Google Gemini-like options to the iPhone 16 line
With iOS 18, Apple is ready to deliver a set of options to each current-generation and next-gen iPhones. But the extra thrilling aspect of the software program may very well be the usage of Apple Intelligence options, notably a wiser Siri.
The solely wrinkle on this potential iPhone 16 characteristic is whether or not sensible AI-centric options might be made in time to work on the iPhone 16 and if the chip the cellphone comes with may have the facility to run probably demanding workloads on-device. If nothing else, I’m anticipating all iPhone 16 fashions to get an upgraded Siri that may higher perceive pure language and compound questions.
Better batteries
- Bigger batteries tipped for all fashions besides the Plus
Larger batteries have been tipped for all iPhone 16 fashions apart from the Plus, with the usual mannequin reportedly set to get a 6% bigger battery. That translated to an increase to three,561mAh from the three,349mAh of the iPhone 15.
This small bounce won’t yield a noticeable improve in battery life in day-to-day use, however I’d count on the iPhone 16 to endure a great day’s value of use, together with accessing AI instruments, with some juice to spare.
Another rumor has the iPhone 16 line tipped to incorporate graphene warmth sinks, which might assist make the telephones run cooler for longer. And higher cooling may also help higher handle battery life.
Expect charging to reaming the identical as on the iPhone 15.
Can you belief these rumors?
I see no cause why Apple couldn’t enhance the battery measurement for the iPhone 16. But Apple by no means actually quotes the milliamp hours of its cellphone batteries so there’s scope for it to spice up the scale of the batteries, along with doing software program optimization and bettering chip effectivity to ship an total longer battery life.
A disappointing show
- Expect a 6.1-inch show with a 60Hz refresh fee
No rumors have indicated that the iPhone 16’s show will get an improve. It seems set to stay to a 6.1-inch show and, extra notably, that display screen will most likely refresh at 60Hz.
That might be considerably disappointing to me as I really feel in 2024, a refresh fee of 60Hz isn’t acceptable when even the perfect low cost telephones can sport refresh charges of 90hz. I hope that as we close to September that we’ll hear rumors of a better refresh fee for the usual and Plus next-gen iPhones, however I’m not holding my breath.
My evaluation
Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer has been overlaying iPhone rumors, information, evaluation, hands-on experiences and extra for round a decade. Having moved from Android to iPhone, he is an skilled customers of the perfect iPhones, tapping into their {hardware} and software program options, and placing the cameras by means of intensive testing.
Overall, it seems just like the iPhone 16 may have however a minor improve on its floor, with a number of {hardware} nips and tucks; most notably a brand new chip. But the promise of the cellphone will certainly be with its software program and simply what number of sensible options it will probably help.
We’re now within the period of the so-called AI cellphone, and Apple wants its reply to smarter Android smartphones. The iPhone 16 may ship that at a horny value level, for an Apple cellphone, and depart some room for the Pro fashions to supply that bit extra on prime.
I’ve develop into accustomed to Apple selecting evolution over revolution on the subject of its iPhones. I’m simply hoping all these tipped minor upgrades add as much as one thing vital and see the iPhone 16 take a shot at the perfect telephones spot.
