On September 9th, Apple is scheduled to unveil the iPhone 16 during their “Glowtime” event. We won’t know for sure until Apple executives take the stage in Cupertino, but the light might allude to Siri’s new bright edge-to-edge design instead.
The speculated M4 Mac is not expected to be released until October, even if we also anticipate seeing a new Apple Watch and AirPods on September 9. However, there are a few hints as to what the phone will likely contain. This is what credible sources have told us thus far.
Is it possible to preorder the iPhone 16?
The iPhone 16 should go on sale on Friday, September 13, by Apple’s regular schedule. However, since the company is hosting its event on a Monday rather than a Tuesday, we might get a head start on preorders. According to the German site Macerkopf, they’ll start on Thursday, September 12. Even though MacRumors declared the report to be “sketchy,” it did so before Apple had officially announced the date of its Glowtime event.
iPhone 16 Colors: Blue Titanium, Goodbye
We first reported Majin Bu’s rumors about the iPhone 16 Pro back in February. According to him, the phone might be available in “Desert Yellow (Desert Titanium), similar to the gold of the iPhone 14 Pro but deeper and heavier Cement Gray (Titanium Gray), a shade of space gray similar to that used on iPhone 6.”
Although 9to5Mac at the time mentioned Bu’s “mixed track record of accuracy,” the website has since reported that Bu is rumored to have replaced Blue Titanium with a bronze tint called Desert Titanium. Another picture from Sonny Dickson features four iPhones in muted hues. These seem more like a brown Zune, even though they may be intended to replace the gold iPhones of the past.
The camera bumps into something.
The camera bump on the iPhone has become larger over time and is now a solid square. According to 9to5Mac, the iPhone 16 is expected to include two vertically stacked lenses with a flash next to it. This could change.
More Memory and Space for Storage
According to MacRumors researcher Joe Rossignol, the base model iPhone 16 and 16 Plus may see an increase in RAM from the current 6GB to 8GB to accommodate the extra load from Apple Intelligence. It’s unclear if the 8GB RAM that comes stock with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be increased to 10GB or 12GB.
An increase in storage is also anticipated, with the 128GB default capacity now in place being increased to 256GB. According to additional reports, the iPhone 16 Pro variants might provide up to 2TB of storage. The iPhone 12 and 13, respectively, were the most recent models to get an improvement in RAM or minimum storage space. While the iPhone 13 was the first to ship with 128GB of storage, the iPhone 12 saw a 2GB RAM upgrade to bring us to the current 6GB standard.
Tetraprism Zoom Lens for Both Pro Models
The iPhone 15 Pro has the same 3x optical zoom as the iPhone 14 Pro Max and lacks the tetraprism lens featured on the 15 Pro Max. However, Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst, claims that this will alter with the release of the tetraprism feature on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, the next generation of iPhones.
“The tetraprism, which other phone makers have included in their cameras since 2017, is essentially a periscope, or a way to bend light multiple times through glass to bring faraway subjects closer to your smartphone.”
It would be a wonderful financial bonus to be able to get that option on the smaller Pro model, which is now $200 less expensive than the Pro Max. That’s if Apple doesn’t increase the price of the iPhone. Kuo speculates that to pay for the improved cameras on the iPhone 16, we could have to pay more. (Ahead of the iPhone 15’s release, there were speculations of a $200 price hike, but that only applied to the 15 Pro Max, which costs $100 more than the 15 Original.)
Furthermore, the non-Pro versions’ camera modules might revert to the iPhone 12’s vertical configuration. According to Apple Insider’s Malcolm Owen, “The change does give Apple another benefit, aside from tidying up the outside appearance.” “When used in landscape orientation, the pair of cameras could therefore be used to record spatial video that could be viewed by the Apple Vision Pro.” According to Toms Guide, there are also rumors of a second 48MP sensor for the Pro and Pro Max.
A18 Chip is Featured in All Four iPhone 16 Models
According to analyst Jeff Pu, Apple’s next-generation A18 CPUs will power all four of the iPhone 16 variants. In a research note, Pu stated, “We view the A17 Pro as a transition design and now expect all the iPhone 16 models to feature the A18, on TSMC’s N3E.” According to MacRumors, N3E indicates that TSMC’s second-generation 3nm technology, which is less expensive and simpler to fabricate than the first-generation process, will be used to make the chips.
Nevertheless, Pu confirms to MacRumors that there would be some variation in the chips. Specifically, the A18 chip will power the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, while the A18 Pro chip will power the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max.
MacRumors, citing Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, claims that the A18 chip “will feature an upgraded Neural Engine with significantly more cores.”
The A17 Pro chip powers the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, while the A16 Bionic chip, which is also present in the iPhone 14 Pro, powers the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.
iPhone 16 Ultra: What is it?
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said in 2022 that Apple was developing a product dubbed “Ultra” to take the place of the Pro Max. He then clarified in February that it most likely won’t happen until 2024 and that the Ultra variant might not be a Pro Max replacement but rather a brand-new high-end phone.
“But Apple could introduce an even more expensive iPhone above both Pro models rather than calling the Pro Max ‘the Ultra.'” Gurman stated at the time that the business had internally contemplated doing just that, possibly in time for the 2024 iPhone release.
Following Tim Cook’s statement that “people are willing to stretch to get the best they can” in terms of smartphone specifications, that report was released.
What would define an Ultra phone? Gurman speculates, “It will likely provide a quicker CPU, possibly an even bigger display, and more camera upgrades. More cutting-edge features might also be included, such as the eventual removal of the charging port.” The most significant query? Would it last longer on a battery and be more robust than the Apple Watch Ultra?
Support for Wi-Fi 7 on iPhone 16 Pro
The base models of the iPhone 15 Pro range continue to use Wi-Fi 6, while the iPhone 15 Pro lineup supports Wi-Fi 6E. Analyst Jeff Pu claims that Wi-Fi 7 will be supported by the iPhone 16 Pro. By the time the iPhone 16 launches, it should be more extensively accessible in a greater number of consumer devices as it is the most recent standard.
Extended Battery Life
Every iPhone version typically includes a slight increase in battery life. According to a MacRumors story, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is anticipated to be similar, with a battery that might, for the first time, last more than 30 hours. Although Apple first stated that the phone would only have a 5% larger cell than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has a 29-hour battery, there may be other economies (possibly integrated into the A18 CPU) at play.