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The iPhone 15 seen here is about to be superseded by the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.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 will add the Action Button to all versions of the iPhone 16 series, instead of just the pricier Pro models at present, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter.
He says that “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.
Gurman also reports 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. 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.