iPhone 16: all the leaks and rumors about Apple’s next smartphone

2024-08-18 08:16:46

Will AI and a new camera button make all the difference?

Apple should be spinning up the iPhone 16 line soon, and while rumors about its phones don’t tend to leak like certain other phones I know, some details have trickled out of the halls of Cupertino and its supply chain. Physically, we mostly expect them to look, well, like iPhones, but as the first new Apple smartphones after the WWDC debut of Apple Intelligence, the changes could be more than meets the eye.

On the outside, rumors suggest Apple has redesigned the camera bump on the vanilla iPhone and that it’s adding a new DSLR-like, pressure-sensitive camera button to at least the iPhone 16 Pro. It’s also expected that the 16 Pro models will get slightly larger screens than their counterparts in the iPhone 15 lineup.

All iPhone 16s are expected to support the on-device AI features of Apple Intelligence. That means they’ll need some boosted specs to enable things like local AI summaries and writing tools, as well as likely more demanding capabilities like those offered by Apple’s Image Playground.

The iPhone 16, dummy.
In what’s become an annual tradition, we now have the non-working iPhone 16 “dummy units” — created for case and accessory makers — from perennial leaker Sonny Dickson. In addition to showing the new colors, we can also see the camera bump aligned vertically in what should be the final size and shape of the device Apple announces this fall.
The iPhone 16 lineup could get more battery life.
Apple is bumping up the energy density of the battery in its next iPhones, letting them last longer between charges, claims supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo notes that more density means more heat, so Apple is encasing them in stainless steel, which he says will also mean they’re easier to replace — something the EU now requires.
Apple might try “electrically induced adhesive debonding” on iPhone batteries.
The Information reports the reversible adhesive could be tried on one iPhone 16 and potentially every iPhone 17, replacing the stretchy pull tabs seen in every teardown.
iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens called it a “cool idea,” even if we’ll need to see how it works in practice. Here’s a demo from adhesives giant Tesa, which is also developing approaches using lasers, heat, solvents, and magnets.

“Debonding on Demand”

Image: tesa
A rose (iPhone) by any other name.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted that the company plans to release the iPhone 16 Pro in “black, white (or silver), grey (I think it’s natural titanium), rose.”
The non-Pro models, he predicts, will come in the same hues as the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, though he notes the colors could “look different,” despite having the same name.
Just how redesigned are we talking, here?
Majin Bu, who had early pictures purported to be of the iPhone 15’s USB-C port and, more recently, apparent images of vertical camera modules for the iPhone 16, posted these mock-ups that may show the next models’ updated design.
Rumors that Apple would switch to a vertical layout for the cameras go back at least a year.
Is the iPhone 16 getting a redesigned camera module?
Leaker Majin Bu has shared an image of what they claim is the new camera module on the iPhone 16. This design appears to stack the camera sensors vertically, similar to the module on the iPhone 12. The leak lines up with some other recent rumors, too, which also indicate a shift away from the diagonal camera placement we’ve seen on the last few iPhones.
MacRumors made mockups of the iPhone 16 Pro.
It seems Apple’s next Pro phones will look a lot like the iPhone 15 Pro, but they’ll apparently have bigger screens and a new capacitive button for capturing video.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will have even larger displays.
Next year’s iPhone 16 Pro display will jump from 6.1 inches (iPhone 15 Pro) to 6.3 inches, while the Pro Max will jump from 6.7 (iPhone 15 Pro Max) to 6.9 inches, say analysts Kuo and Young.
Kuo says the extra space will make room for periscope lenses with better zoom performance, also expected on this year’s iPhone 15 Pro Max.