This is only been about seven months since Apple released the iphone 16 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 Never 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.
