iPhone 16: release date speculation, latest leaks, potential price, AI predictions and more
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As September draws ever closer, we in turn get closer to the launch date of the rumored iPhone 16, which we now know will be unveiled on September 9.
And with the iPhone 16, we can expect some tweaks and potentially significant upgrades, at least going by the rumors so far and my own experience covering Apple products for the best part of a decade. At its core, the iPhone 16 is likely to be a vehicle for iOS 18 and the smart features brought with it in the form of Apple Intelligence and an overhauled Siri.
Major changes, such as a radically different design, supercharged cameras or even a 120Hz display don’t appear to be on the cards for the standard next-generation iPhone or the iPhone 16 Plus; as usual, you can expect the headline-grabbing upgrades to feature in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Nevertheless, the iPhone 16 will still be a smartphone to watch this year, so read on for all the changes, upgrades and disappointments we expect and what we know so far.
iPhone 16: what you need to know
The iPhone 16 range will be announced on September 9
Expect the iPhone 16 to start at $799 / ￡799 / AU$1,499
Four models are expected: the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
Expect a similar design as the iPhone 15, but with an Action button on all models and potentially a dedicated camera capture button
The iPhone 16 family will likely get the A17 Pro chip or an A18 Pro chip
RAM will probably come in at 8GB, while storage will likely start at 256GB and go up to 1TB for the Pro phones
Camera hardware could be the same for the standard and Plus iPhone 16 models, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max is tipped to have big upgrades
Battery upgrades are predicted, with hard ware changes tipped but we also forecast some software optimization
All new iPhones will come with iOS 18
All iPhone 16 models could come with a new smarter Siri and potentially some early Apple Intelligence AI features
Color options look set to follow the iPhone 15's mix of green, pink, yellow and more, but we could see a purple colorway and a white option
iPhone 16 latest rumors and leaks
Potential price hike
Tipsters are in disagreement over iPhone 16 pricing
But expect the iPhone 16 to start at around $799 / ￡799 / AU$1,499
Launching on September 9
The shipping date will probably be a week or so later
Some tipsters have noted that the iPhone 16 could rise in price over that of its predecessor, though by how much remains unclear. The logic of such a price hike could be down to increased manufacturing costs for Apple.
Right now the iPhone 15 starts at $799 / ￡799 / AU$1,499, so it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of imagination if Apple raised the price by $100 / ￡100 across the board. That said, it could be a problem for Apple, as a survey has found that affordable pricing is the biggest factor in potential iPhone 16 purchases. For a full price breakdown checkout our guide on the iPhone 16 price.
We will find out what the price really is on September 9, as that’s when Apple is launching its new iPhones. The Apple event will start at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST, which is 3am September 10 AEST.
If you'd like to watch the launch, here's how to watch the iPhone 16 launch event live.
Following that, we'd expect iPhone 16 pre-orders to open a few days later on Friday 13, and guess that the iPhone 16 release date will follow around a week after that on Friday 20.
Can you trust these rumors?
I’m not convinced Apple will raise the price of the iPhone 16 range, at least not the standard or Plus models. While Apple has its grip on dedicated iPhone fans, the price it charges for smartphones that are often out-specced by the best Android phones, which I think could mean the price of base iPhones can't rise too much or else their appeal could be eroded.
As such, come September I’d expect the iPhone 16 to start at the same price as the iPhone 15.
Action buttons for all
Every model could feature a new 'Capture' button
Black, green, pink, blue and white look likely for the standard models
The Action button on Apple’s phones made its debut with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and while somewhat limited in scope is actually a handy button to have; I personally use it to trigger the ‘torch’ feature on my iPhone 15 Pro Max without glancing down at the phone.
As such, the Action button has been tipped to come to all iPhone 16 models, which would be a useful upgrade to the standard and Plus phones over their predecessors. However, a so-called ‘Capture’ button has also been tipped, seemingly designed as a quick trigger for the camera app’s shutter.
This button might be a capacitive key that you can also swipe across to zoom the camera in or out, and one leak suggests this function will even somehow work when the button is covered by one of Apple's official cases.
From the rumors so far, I’d surmise that these will be the biggest design upgrades to the iPhone 16, alongside new predicted iPhone 16 colors, which leaks suggest will include blue, green, pink, blue, and white.
You can see how all five of these shades might look in a leaked iPhone 16 photo, which also shows off a new camera design, with vertical rather than diagonal lenses.
As is the case with recent iPhones one has come to expect evolution not revolution in the design of Apple phones.
Can you trust these rumors?
On the whole, I’d suggest that the rumors of the Action button coming to all iPhones makes sense as Apple has a tendency of introducing features to its Pro phones in one generation then rolling them out to the non-Pro iPhones the generation after.
I’m less convinced by the Capture button rumor as that would seem superfluous to the Action button, which can already be set to trigger the cameras.
Business as usual for the cameras
Same cameras tipped for the standard models
Expect software upgrades and smart features
When it comes to the iPhone 16 cameras, the rumors have the standard iPhone 16 to sport the same 48MP main and 12MP ultra-wide dual-sensor setup as the iPhone 15. Now that won’t get pulses racing, but the cameras on the current iPhone are rather good, and Apple’s only had two generations of using the 48MP main cameras, so there’s scope to get more out of it on the software side.
Expect upgrades on the camera side to come in the form of improved image signal processing and some smart editing features, much like those seen on the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 phones.
Can you trust these rumors?
I’m pretty confident that Apple won’t mix up the dual-rear-camera setup the standard and Plus iPhones use come the iPhone 16. But I do expect the software side to deliver improvements, from better video stabilization to crisper portrait and low-light photos.
Expect and A17 Pro or A18 chip
A17 Pro or A18 chipset likely for iPhone 16
To deliver the aforementioned photo upgrades, as well as give the iPhone 16 more power and efficiency over its predecessor, Apple could make use of the rumored A18 chip.
Right now there’s a fork in the chips the iPhone use: the standard phones use the A16 Bionic chips, while the Pro phones have the A17 Pro, which delivers console-quality gaming on a phone in that the iPhone 15 Pro can run Death Stranding, while the standard and Plus can’t.
With the expected processing demands of Apple Intelligence AI features, the rumors have the iPhone 16 tipped to inherit the A17 Pro or get an A18 chipset. The rub here being the Pro phones could get more chip optimization and more RAM to tap into to justify the step up to them.
Can you trust these rumors?
I’d say a chip upgrade is on the cards for the iPhone 16, but which chip it’ll get is less clear. I’d like to see Apple adopt some uniformity in the chips it offers across all next-generation iPhones so that all the phones can power AI workloads equally and thus smooth the way for widespread adoption of useful and practical AI tools and features.
All that being said, in spite of the compelling tipped upgrades for the iPhone 16, there's a rumor extolling the iPhone 17 potential specs, meaning it could be the phone worth waiting for.
Potentially a lot of AI
iOS 18 will bring several upgrades to core iPhone apps
Apple Intelligence will bring Google Gemini-like features to the iPhone 16 line
With iOS 18, Apple is set to bring a suite of features to both current-generation and next-gen iPhones. But the more exciting side of the software could be the use of Apple Intelligence features, notably a smarter Siri.
The only wrinkle on this potential iPhone 16 feature is whether smart AI-centric features will be made in time to work on the iPhone 16 and if the chip the phone comes with will have the power to run potentially demanding workloads on-device. If nothing else, I’m expecting all iPhone 16 models to get an upgraded Siri that can better understand natural language and compound questions.
Better batteries
Bigger batteries tipped for all models except the Plus
Larger batteries have been tipped for all iPhone 16 models other than the Plus, with the standard model reportedly set to get a 6% larger battery. That translated to a rise to 3,561mAh from the 3,349mAh of the iPhone 15.
This small jump might not yield a noticeable increase in battery life in day-to-day use, but I’d expect the iPhone 16 to endure a good day’s worth of use, including accessing AI tools, with some juice to spare.
Another rumor has the iPhone 16 line tipped to include graphene heat sinks, which would help make the phones run cooler for longer. And better cooling can help better manage battery life.
Expect charging to reaming the same as on the iPhone 15.
Can you trust these rumors?
I see no reason why Apple couldn’t boost the battery size for the iPhone 16. But Apple never really quotes the milliamp hours of its phone batteries so there’s scope for it to boost the size of the batteries, in addition to doing software optimization and improving chip efficiency to deliver an overall longer battery life.
A disappointing display
Expect a 6.1-inch display with a 60Hz refresh rate
No rumors have indicated that the iPhone 16’s display will get an upgrade. It looks set to stick to a 6.1-inch display and, more notably, that screen will probably refresh at 60Hz.
That will be somewhat disappointing to me as I feel in 2024, a refresh rate of 60Hz isn’t acceptable when even the best cheap phones can sport refresh rates of 90hz. I hope that as we near September that we’ll hear rumors of a higher refresh rate for the standard and Plus next-gen iPhones, but I’m not holding my breath.
My analysis
Overall, it looks like the iPhone 16 will have but a minor upgrade on its surface, with a few hardware nips and tucks; most notably a new chip. But the promise of the phone will surely be with its software and just how many smart features it can support.
We're now in the era of the so-called AI phone, and Apple needs its answer to smarter Android smartphones. The iPhone 16 could deliver that at an attractive price point, for an Apple phone, and leave some room for the Pro models to offer that bit more on top.
I've become accustomed to Apple choosing evolution over revolution when it comes to its iPhones. I'm just hoping all these tipped minor upgrades add up to something significant and see the iPhone 16 take a shot at the best phones spot.
