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As soon as one iPhone comes out, the rumors about Apple’s next smartphone begin anew. With the iPhone 15 release behind us, it’s open season on iPhone 16 stories.
It was a bumpy rollout for the Pro versions of the iPhone 15, most notably with an overheating issue that made these premium smartphones too hot to handle, as well as reports of burn-in and wonky location settings. Apple seems to have fixed these problems with iOS 17 updates.
Will the iPhone 16 have a smoother release? And what types of upgrades will it feature? Here’s what we’ve heard so far; check back as more details emerge.
Both Pro Models to Get Tetraprism Zoom Lens
The iPhone 15 Pro did not get the tetraprism lens found on the iPhone Pro Max (it comes with the same 3x optical zoom as the iPhone 14 Pro Max). But according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that will change on the iPhone 16, with the tetraprism feature landing on the iPhone 16 Pro as well as the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
As PCMag’s Eric Zeman explains, “the tetraprism is basically a periscope, or a way to bend light multiple times through glass, which is a tool other phone makers have used in their cameras since 2017 to bring faraway subjects closer to your smartphone.”
Getting that option on the lower-end Pro model, which currently runs $200 less than the Pro Max, would be a nice money-saving perk. If Apple doesn’t raise iPhone prices, that is. Kuo suggests we might end up paying more for the iPhone 16 to cover the camera upgrades. (There were rumors about $200 iPhone price increases ahead of the iPhone 15 launch, but we only saw that on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is $100 more expensive than its predecessor.)
All 4 iPhone 16 Models Get an A18 Chip
Continuing this theme, all four iPhone 16 models will reportedly run next-gen A18 chips from Apple, according to analyst Jeff Pu. “We view A17 Pro as a transition design and now expect all the iPhone 16 models to feature A18, on TSMC’s N3E,” Pu wrote in a research note.
That said, Pu tells MacRumors that there will be some differentiation between the chips. Namely, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will run an A18 chip while the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max get an A18 Pro chip. N3E means the chips will be made using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, which is cheaper and easier to produce than the first-gen process, MacRumors notes.
That A18 chip “will feature an upgraded Neural Engine with ‘significantly’ more cores,” MacRumors says, citing Taiwan’s Economic Daily News.
On the current iPhone lineup, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max run the A17 Pro chip, while the the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus both have the A16 Bionic chip also found in the iPhone 14 Pro.
iPhone 16 Ultra
In 2022, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple was working on an “Ultra” branded device to replace the Pro Max. In February, he followed that up to say it probably won’t happen until 2024, and the Ultra version may actually be a new top-tier phone versus a Pro Max replacement.
“But instead of renaming the Pro Max ‘the Ultra,’ Apple could add an even higher-end iPhone above both Pro models. Internally, the company has discussed doing just that — potentially in time for the 2024 iPhone release,” Gurman said at the time.
That came after Apple CEO Tim Cook said “people are willing to really stretch to get the best they can” in terms of smartphone specs.
What would make a phone Ultra? Gurman suggests “it will probably offer further camera improvements, a faster chip and perhaps an even larger display. There also may be more future-forward features, such as finally dropping the charging port.”
Capacitive Capture Button
Apple iPhone SE (Credit: PCMag/Molly Flores)
According to MacRumors, Apple toyed with a capacative touch button on the exterior of the iPhone 15, but the project didn’t come together in time. It may try again with the iPhone 16, however, adding a button that’s similar to the iPhone SE’s home button below the power button. It’s not entirely clear what this button will be used for, but it’ll have haptic feedback and force-touch capability, MacRumors says. The Action button that rolled out for the iPhone 15 Pros will reportedly come to the base iPhone 16, too.
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Wi-Fi 7 Support on iPhone 16 Pro
The iPhone 15 Pro lineup gets a Wi-Fi 6E upgrade, while the base models stick with the Wi-Fi 6 found on the iPhone 14. And according to analyst Jeff Pu, the iPhone 16 Pro will support Wi-Fi 7. It’s an emerging standard, but it should be further along by the time the iPhone 16 debuts.
Screen Size Upgrades
iPhone 15 Pro Max (Credit: Eric Zeman)
Rumors point to larger screen sizes on the iPhone 16 lineup. We’re talking 6.3 inches versus 6.1 inches on the smaller phones and 6.9 inches versus 6.7 inches on the Pros, so it’s unclear if the average person will notice a major difference. Still, we’re potentially creeping back into phablet territory. (Remember those?)
Better Battery Life
Every iPhone iteration usually comes with a boost to battery life. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to be no different, according to a rumor published on MacRumors, with a battery that could go over 30 hours for the first time ever. While it initially reported that the phone would be getting a battery that is only 5% larger than the 29-hour battery in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, there might be other efficiencies at work.
A Smarter Smartphone
What would any rumor roundup be without word of AI these days? It’s the same with the iPhone. The iPhone 16, including Siri, might be getting smarter, if a report from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman is correct. Generative AI is coming to the personal assistant, as well as apps like Messages, Apple Music, Pages, and Keynote courtesy of iOS 18. But while iOS updates trickle down to older phones, generative AI features may be limited to iPhone 16 because of the aforementioned Neural Engine.
What’s Your Color?
A high-powered smartphone is nice, but what about shiny new colors? On X, Majin Bu speculates that the iPhone 16 Pro could come 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.” As 9to5Mac notes, however, Bu has a “mixed track record of accuracy.”
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