iPhone 16: Release date rumours, price, specs and more

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It’s only been about seven months since Apple released the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, but the rumour mill waits for no one. Gossip about the upcoming iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, which are both expected to launch in September, is gathering pace. And if the rumours are true, we could be about to see the most artificially intelligent iPhone ever.

While the iPhone 15 line of smartphones seemed like a fairly modest upgrade over the iPhone 14, with the main updates being the introduction of USB-C, the action button and an all-new titanium design, it was – on the whole – pretty underwhelming.

The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, however, are predicted to be vastly different from their predecessors. New reports and rumours land almost weekly, with the oldest leaks about the upcoming smartphone surfacing long before the iPhone 15 even saw the light of day. Most of which came true.

Below, we’re rounding up all the iPhone 16 rumours, including release date, potential specs, price and design.

The latest Apple iPhone 16 rumours

On 15 April, a Korean news aggregator claimed on the Naver blog that Apple is currently testing an anti-reflective optical coating for the cameras on its future iPhones. This coating, which will use “atomic layer deposition” to place an extremely thin layer onto components, will allegedly let Apple cut out lens flare and glare from images. The user claims that the coating will be implemented on the next line of Apple’s pro devices, though this could mean the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, rather than the iPhone 16 Pro.

On 17 April, Apple tipster Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants revealed that the iPhone 16 Plus could be the last base model iPhone to boast a nice 6.7in screen. According to Young, the iPhone 17 Plus will have a smaller display that will be sized somewhere between the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. That would mean the iPhone 17 Plus display could be a smaller 6.5in.

Apple is expected to release a swathe of new AI-based features with the latest iOS 18, and they’re rumoured to work on-device rather than through the cloud. On 21 April, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in his Power On newsletter that Apple has been developing a large language model (LLM) and that it will work on-device. That would make the AI in your pocket faster and more privacy-maintaining than others, though it may be less powerful because it won’t have unfettered access to the internet.

Apple iPhone 16 release date: When will the new smartphones launch?

Of all the things that are easy to predict about the iPhone 16, the release date is by far the easiest. Apple is a predictable beast when it comes to its launch dates.

The company almost always announces its new line of smartphones on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the first two weeks of September. To give you an idea of the previous iPhone release dates, the iPhone 15 was unveiled on Tuesday 5 September 2023, the iPhone 14 was unveiled on Wednesday 7 September 2022 and the iPhone 13 on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

The iPhone is always available to pre-order on the Friday that same week, before releasing on general sale a week later the following Friday. So, we’re expecting Apple to unveil the iPhone 16 in the first or second week of September, on either 2 or 3 September or 13 or 14 September. The iPhone 16 could then be released on either Friday 13 September or Friday 20 September.

Apple iPhone 16 price: How much could the new handsets cost?

Every single year, the rumour mill predicts that the iPhone will be going up in price. In 2022, leakers predicted that the iPhone 14 would be going up by a significant amount ahead of the launch – it only went up in the UK.

The analysts made the same prediction for the iPhone 15 last year, and it turned out that the iPhone 15 would actually be receiving a chunky price cut in the UK, with the iPhone 15 Pro Max staying the same price as last year’s model.

While there aren’t any leaks about the iPhone 16’s potential price tag right now, there is speculation (as there always is) that the price may go up – eventually.

Nikkei Asia, in collaboration with Tokyo-based research firm Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, claimed that the cost to produce the iPhone 15 was a lot higher than the cost of producing the iPhone 14, with Apple absorbing the added cost, rather than passing it onto the consumer.

Nikkei Asia says that the standard iPhone 15’s components were 16 per cent more expensive compared to the ‌iPhone 14‌, while the iPhone 15 Plus was 10 per cent more expensive, the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ was 8 per cent more expensive and the iPhone 15 Pro Max was 12 per cent more expensive compared to their predecessors.

If Apple continues to pass on its increased costs to consumers, “the company’s bottom line will eventually take a hit”, the publication said, with Fomalhaut’s chief executive officer Minatake Kashio adding that “Apple might try to raise prices next year with models other than the Pro Max”.

Will it go up this year? No one knows, but with the continued cost of living crisis, we expect Apple to keep its iPhone prices the same and continue to absorb the cost of production. If the prices do stay the same, the iPhone 16 could start from £799, and the iPhone 16 Plus from £899. The iPhone 16 Pro could start from £999 and the iPhone 16 Pro Max could start from £1,199.

Apple iPhone 16 design and display

With that out of the way, let’s get to the meat and potatoes, starting with the iPhone 16 line-up’s design. First up – the display.

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are rumoured to be getting even bigger displays when they’re unveiled in the autumn. Multiple reports from reliable leakers surfaced last May.

On 16 May, reliable leaker Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that the iPhone 16 Pro would be getting a slightly larger display to accommodate a new periscope camera, as seen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Earlier, on 9 May, Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants claimed that the aspect ratio of the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max would be increasing in size to 6.3in and 6.9in, giving users bigger displays and (inevitably) bigger batteries.

On 22 May, 9to5Mac released CADs of the rumoured iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the outlet claimed that it will have a 6.9in display, with a larger body. It will be taller, but only slightly wider. The website also suggested that the iPhone 16 Pro Max could ditch its Max moniker and opt to call it the iPhone 16 Pro Ultra, in line with the Apple Watch Ultra’s branding.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, however, are expected to remain the same size. That’s 6.1in for the iPhone 16 and 6.7in for the iPhone 15 Plus. On 29 April, Apple insider Sonny Dickson released dummy images of the upcoming rumoured iPhone 16 models, which reportedly feature bigger displays on the pro models and the same-sized displays on the non-pro models.

The upcoming line of iPhone 16 models could also have thinner bezels. According to the Korean publication The Elec, The report, shared by MacRumors, claims that the iPhone’s display manufacturers have developed a new type of border structure technology that can reduce the size of the bezels, letting companies make displays with smaller inside circuitry. The publication also reports that the iPhone 16’s OLED displays could use micro-lens technology for better power consumption and brightness.     

The entire iPhone 16 line-up is also expected to gain the action button found on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – something that replaced the mute switch. MacRumors claims that it has seen internal documentation suggesting that the action button will go from a mechanical button to a capacitive touch button, allowing for more functionality.

MacRumors says that the new action button will “feature a force sensor, which detects changes in pressure, as well as tact-switching functionality”. While we aren’t quite clear what that means, we assume you’ll be able to use the button to perform multiple actions instead of just one programmed action as it is currently.

It has been widely reported that the iPhone 16 will feature a new capture button. At the end of last year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed that all four iPhone 16 handsets would feature a new capture button, designed to take videos. If true (we’re speculating here), the new capture button could be used to quickly record spatial videos for the Apple Vision Pro.     

Apple is also reportedly changing the camera array on the rear of the base model iPhone 16 devices. Apple Insider published alleged dummy leaks of the iPhone 16, and the new cameras may be oriented in a vertical stack rather than diagonally. The iPhone 15 Pro currently uses stacked cameras for spatial video.

And lastly, iPhone 16 colours. We always get a lot of iPhone tips from the Chinese social media site Weibo, and the latest comes from Fixed Focus Digital. The leaker claims that the base iPhone 16 will come in seven different colours this year. As well as the yellow, blue, green, black and pink seen on the iPhone 15, white and purple are rumoured to be added to the line-up. They did not mention anything about the iPhone 16 Pro colours, however.   

Apple iPhone 16 specs

While we’ve had a number of reports on the design of the iPhone 16, leaks about the iPhone 16’s specs are still fairly thin on the ground.

One interesting rumour comes from a research note from Haitong International Securities’ analyst Jeff Pu, who stated in March 2024 that all four models of the iPhone 16 will receive the new A18 chip. Usually, Apple reserves its latest processor for the Pro model smartphones, and it gives the base models last year’s processor.

There will be differences, however. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will allegedly run on the A18, while the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max could get an A18 Pro chip. The A16 Pro will reportedly have more cores and an upgraded neural engine, allowing for more AI features (we’ll expand on that below).       

A lot of people also complained about their iPhone 15 overheating when they first got their hands on it last year. Apple is reportedly looking at the problem of heat, with Apple insider Kosutami claiming that the company could use a graphene thermal system to fix this issue in the iPhone 16.

There will also reportedly be an upgraded wifi chip in both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro line of smartphones. According to ever-reliable Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 16 Pro will gain wifi 7 support, while the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will gain wifi 6E, which is currently available on the iPhone 15 Pro.

In terms of battery, Jeff Pu also claims that the iPhone 16 handsets will use stacked battery technology, something that’s currently used in the EV market. This could provide a larger battery capacity, giving even faster charging speeds and higher capacity wireless charging capabilities.

Apple iPhone 16 features

We’ll get a more informed look at the iPhone 16’s features when Apple hosts its WWDC event in June and unveils iOS 18 to the public, but for now, we’ll have to go on conjecture.

The iPhone 16 line of handsets is expected to be full of nifty AI features according to a number of reports. The company sees its new operating system, iOS 18, “as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest” in its history, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.

The company is rumoured to be working on a range of artificial intelligence updates for the new operating system. That will include a better version of Siri, new AI within Apple Music to make playlists, and AI assistant tools in apps such as Keynote, Messages and Xcode.

The new version of Siri will include a large language model of the kind that powers ChatGPT, previous reports have suggested. That might let it automate complicated tasks just by asking, for instance.

Apple iPhone 16 cameras

Cameras always see a big spec bump with each new iPhone. So beyond the new vertical camera array on the base iPhone 16 models, what else is rumoured?

According to a research note from Jeff Pu, obtained by 9to5Mac, the iPhone 16 Pro will feature a 48MP ultra-wide camera, a leap from the 12MP ultra-wide camera found on the iPhone 15 Pro. Both smartphones could also get the 12x telephoto lens, instead of just the Pro Max handset.

MacRumors also alleges that both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will feature the new advanced tetraprism telephoto lens. While the iPhone 15 Pro Max uses a tetraprism lens, letting users zoom in up to 5x, the iPhone 15 Pro does not include this lens. With a bigger iPhone on the cards, Apple will reportedly be able to add this 5x tetraprism lens to both handsets with the iPhone 16 Pro line-up.

The verdict: Apple iPhone 16 rumours

While everything here should be taken with a pinch of salt, the upcoming iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max look like very promising upgrades over their predecessors. The action button will be improved, there will be a new capture button for recording video (maybe even spatial videos) and there will be fancy new AI features that will make Siri smarter than ever before. The cameras could get hefty improvements, and the entire line-up will be faster and more powerful. Overall, it looks like an exciting upgrade. We’ll continue to update this page as more rumours come in. 

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