Updated August 15 with more feature reports from several distinct sources.
When the iPhone 16 series arrives—and read this for exactly when it looks like that’s going to happen—it will have new colors, new features and Apple Intelligence. Now, an industry heavyweight has leaked what may be coming, and whether it’s worth having.
The iPhone 15 seen here is about to be superseded by the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple Intelligence is certainly the marquee feature that the company has been promoting so far, but it may not be enough on its own to tempt people to upgrade, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter.
“It’s hard to tell how much of an enticement this will be,” he says. He also goes on to comment on all the predicted changes, of which more below: “If you have an older iPhone, these are all nice upgrades—but probably not must-haves. I don’t expect the new models to fuel a gold rush of purchases for Apple. And, if the latest financial guidance is any indication, the company doesn’t either. It declined to give a prediction for iPhone growth in the current quarter. If Apple had expected a meaningful bump, we probably would have gotten an indication.”
I’m not sure I agree with that, though I notice that Gurman is careful to use the word probably.
He also says there will be a new camera control button on the right edge of the new iPhone, though he’s not sure if it’s restricted to the Pro models only. Other sources, such as Tom’s Guide, suggest that all four models of iPhone 16 will have this button, designed to assist with photography and video.
There have been rumors of what is believed to be called the Capture Button. “It will operate like a button on a DSLR camera, allowing you to press in slightly to trigger autofocus,” Gurman says.
This tallies with other reports. MacRumors, for instance, comments that you’ll also be able to swipe left and right on the button to zoom in and out. Additionally, “There may also be a gesture for switching between photo mode and video mode, similar to how you can capture a video with a press and swipe in the iPhone camera app.”
The button, it’s said, will be a capacitive touch surface rather than a mechanical button, a bit like the Touch ID button on earlier iPhones, and still on the iPhone SE. The half-press to focus that Gurman mentions is a key feature on DSLR cameras, allowing a faithful preview of what the final image will look like, though the iPhone has routinely shown accurate previews on the display. None the less, this is likely to be a decent step up.
The positioning of the Capture Button has meant that the mmWave antenna is swapping to the other side of the iPhone, in those countries like the U.S. where the iPhone is mmWave-capable. The placing of the button also encourages users to take photos in landscape orientation.
And while you can currently turn the iPhone on its side and trigger the shutter by pressing one of the volume buttons, that means turning the phone to the right, which is counter-intuitive for many users. Now, there’s a physical button available whichever way around you flip the phone.
Apple will add the Action Button to all versions of the iPhone 16 series, instead of just the pricier Pro models at present, Gurman claims.
He goes on, “the big marketing point will be Apple Intelligence, the company’s new suite of AI capabilities. All the iPhone 16 models will run Apple Intelligence, but it will also work with the iPhone 15 Pro versions. It’s hard to tell how much of an enticement this will be.” His initial reaction to it is that Apple Intelligence on its own isn’t a reason to upgrade. Well, we’ll see.
Similarly, screen displays will grow in size, though he’s not clear if this will be for the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max only. Gurman also expects new colors: for instance, the titanium blue shade on the iPhone 15 Pro will be dropped, while Apple will introduce a new rose gold option.
All the iPhones released this fall will have versions of the A18 processor and 8GB of RAM, needed for Apple Intelligence, he says.
In his newsletter he suggests that the iPhone hasn’t really changed that much since the iPhone 12 released in 2020. Having used all of them since then, I’d disagree with that—my experience of using the iPhone has been transformed in the last four years in lots of ways—but he also goes on to say that 2025 will be a key year for Apple, with a new iPhone SE and in the fall an iPhone 17 with an exceptionally slim design.
Though those possibilities sound great, I think there are enough features, changes and upgrades in what’s been leaked in this year’s iPhones for 2024 to look pretty special already, assuming the rumors are right. Not long until we know everything.