Unless Apple is launching its next-gen iPhone 16 series in a parallel universe, there’s no denying the fact that the series is due late 2024 and we are more than a year away from the launch. However, when has this ever stopped rumors and leaks from populating? We gathered countless reports and leaks from different sources to paint a picture of what the iPhone 16 series will bring onboard and here’s what we have found so far. As usual, take it with a little bit of salt.
iPhone 16 Pricing
As per the general consensus, iPhones are getting more expensive every year. For instance, iPhone 11 was launched at $699 while iPhone 14 got a listing price of $799. Turns out iPhone 16 could see a similar pricing scheme at $799 although there’s no official update about it.
Apple is working on developing in-house chipsets that should help get to a slightly lower pricing, although, we aren’t even sure if the chipset will be ready by next year. As usual, iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will touch the higher pricing for their base models at $1,099 and $1,199 respectively. There are rumors about iPhone 16 Ultra too which means if it makes it to the market, we expect pricing on the same upwards of $1,200 but keep your thoughts open because it’s an “Ultra” after all.
Apple iPhone 16 Series: Release Date
iPhone 15 series is slated to arrive on September 12th or 13th, 2023, as of writing this (unless you are reading this piece after iPhone 15 series release). Usually, Apple launches its new flagship iPhones in September followed by sales a few days apart (say 10 days) unless there’s a scarcity of components or unavailability of mass production.
With that being said, iPhone 16 series is due to arrive during the first half (probably) of September 2024. However, let’s take it with a pinch of salt as we don’t have a date yet but September 2024 is undoubtedly the apt launch month.
iPhone 16: Design & Display
Every year, we eagerly wait for a new iPhone with a new design and stuff. Although Apple has been upping the game in many aspects, I wouldn’t say the design has been upgraded radically or significantly over the years. iPhone X-esque design has been followed for years with certain changes here and there.
The first of what we have heard about the design changes is with the arrangement of the Face ID components. A previous report by The Elec suggested the iPhone 16 Pro series get an under-the-screen Face ID giving a better sense of immersion. The non-Pro models will still use a standard Face ID but will upgrade to a pill-shaped Dynamic Island that we saw debuting with iPhone 14 Pro.
However, it seems like the plans have been pushed forward as the latest information from Apple analyst Ross Young details a timeline on the display tech. With that being said, iPhone 16 series in 2024 will stick to a pill-shaped Dynamic Island with a standard Face ID cutout across all four models. Starting with iPhone 17 in 2025, we would get an under-the-panel Face ID on the Pro models while iPhone 17 and 17 Plus will still use a pill-shaped display.
What’s more? iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will switch to a taller aspect ratio that should effectively give higher diagonal dimensions from the current-gen 6.1” and 6.7”. However, exactly how much remains a mystery. Some reports suggest a bump of 0.2-inch making the Pro stand at 6.3” while the Pro Max jumps to 6.9” as claimed by Ross and Kuo. If things turn out to be true, iPhone 16 Pro Max will be the tallest iPhone ever thanks to a higher aspect ratio, larger display, and narrow bezels onboard.
Why this increase in screen dimensions, you asked? Well, a larger screen makes more room and that’s something Apple will require to stuff the enthralling camera hardware that we have discussed at large below.
Apple is also working on upgrading the buttons on the sides. We would have seen solid-state buttons onboard iPhone 15 Pro, however, those were canceled only to be listed as one of the upgrades on the iPhone 16 Pro. It means both power button plus volume rockers will receive solid-state buttons with a stronger haptic feedback interface replacing the current mechanical button type. We have heard Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claiming the buttons delayed to iPhone 16 is true so let’s put some faith in it.
The camera bump on the back received a makeover with iPhone 13 when Apple opted for a diagonal camera setup, unlike iPhone 12’s vertical layout. With that being said, iPhone 16 series will bring back iPhone 12-esque design opting for a vertical camera layout as per leakster URedditor on Twitter. However, with its track record in mind, we aren’t locking in the camera layout changes at least at the moment.
iPhone 16: Camera
On the optics front, the iPhone 16 series is believed to bring some phenomenal upgrades. To sum up the rumors around the non-Pro models i.e. iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, both the models are speculated to pack in a 48MP primary and a 12MP ultrawide snapper akin to iPhone 15. Usually, the non-Pro models are slightly watered-down versions of Pro models.
Things about iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max aren’t as simple. Turns out we have heard about Apple upgrading the ultrawide snapper onboard the Duo to a 48MP cam. It means we have a 48MP main and 48MP ultrawide snapper. In fact, there’s a third cam onboard (of course) which is going to be a periscope zoom lens capable of taking out subjects between 5x to 10x optical zoom.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max will go a step ahead with a grandeur lens and a focal length of 300mm onboard its 48MP periscope lens dwarfing Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x 230mm periscope lens. They are calling the same ‘Super Telephoto’ Periscope camera although take it with a pinch of salt. It could be unless the exhilarating lens is for iPhone 16 Ultra which is speculated to drop this year too.
A previous report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that Apple will be using stacked CMOS image sensors onboard the Pro models. A new CIS chip will ensure faster autofocus and image capture, high-end improvements in image quality, power efficiency, less noise with great low-light captures, etc.
iPhone 16: Specs
Every year, iPhones get better especially in terms of performance even if you count incremental upgrades as something. iPhone 15 Pro is set to get Apple A17 Bionic chipset with model number t8130. It is based on the 3nm N3B FinFET process from TSMC with a max frequency of 3.7GHz, 6 CPU, and 6 GPU cores. The iPhone 15 Pro is expected to get an 8GB of LPDDR5 while iPhone 16 will go one up i.e. a faster LPDDR5X onboard.
The 16 Pro will also get yet unnamed Apple A18 Bionic chipset made on a 3nm process bearing model number t8140 that should give a significant performance upgrade over 4nm nodes. iPhone 15 series will see four storage options from 128GB to 2TB and iPhone 16 series will follow the same path. There’s a lot of debate on if Apple will retain the entry-level 128GB (at least on the Pro duo) or start with 256GB altogether.
As the folks at TechRadar put it, the battery capacities on iPhone 16 series are likely to remain the same as that of the iPhone 15 series.
- iPhone 16: 3,877mAh
- iPhone 16 Plus: 4,912mAh
- iPhone 16 Pro: 3,650mAh
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,852mAh
As you can see, the iPhone 16 Plus gets the largest battery although the efficient A17 and A18 Bionic chipsets will be able to give better performance. A faster USB-C with USB 3.2 will make it through the series given the EU’s deadline using a universal charging port across the devices. A reverse wireless charging functionality is likely on the loop as well much like iPhone 15 Pro series. Yes, the entire iPhone 16 series will get reverse wireless charging.
iPhone 15 series is equipped with Wi-Fi 6E whereas iPhone 16 series will upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 as per Kyo. This will allow the users to have a better ecosystem experience on the same local network running multiple hardware products with relative ease. iOS 18 will take on the software end with all its grace. As usual, the testing should begin early next year followed by the big and official iOS 18 debut during iPhone 16 series launch in September.
