It's no secret that the iPhone 16 is coming in just a few weeks, expected on September 10, but that seems to be just an appetizer for the main course next year.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s latest Power On report, the iPhone 16 lineup “won’t be significantly different from the current models or add any major new features.” That’s not surprising if you’ve been following the rumors about the lineup over the past 12 months. After all, Apple hasn’t introduced any major changes to the iPhone’s design since the iPhone 12 in 2020.
iPhone 16 is not much different from its predecessor.
Key iPhone 16 features mentioned by Gurman include a new A18 chip with 8GB of RAM on all models to power Apple Intelligence; an Action button for non-Pro models with new iOS 18 customizations; a new touch-sensitive Camera Control button on the side of the Pro models that “will act like a button on a DSLR” with the ability to take photos, autofocus, and zoom; slightly larger screens of 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches for the Pro models; as well as new colors including “the return of the popular rose gold from a few years ago.”
Overall, Gurman described the iPhone 16 as a good upgrade but one that won’t create a “gold rush for Apple” when it launches. However, things will change next year with the iPhone 17, which will most notably feature a new smartphone separate from the standard, Pro, and Pro Max models.
Gurman said the new model will replace the iPhone 16 Plus with the name iPhone 17 Air, similar to what Apple did with the MacBook Air more than a decade ago.
The iPhone Air is considered the "MacBook Air" of the iPhone world.
Apple's pitch for the iPhone Air might be: "If you want something nicer than the standard iPhone but don't really need the performance, screen size, or camera of the Pro model, you can buy something that looks much nicer while still having the specs of the standard iPhone."
Like the iPhone X, Gurman said the new iPhone Air will be the first step toward “something better,” eventually transitioning the entire lineup to the new design.
Weibo user Witty Cat has posted a photo of what is believed to be an iPhone 16 mockup. The images show the back of the device with two finishes and a rear camera system. Specifically, Apple will vertically align the rear cameras, seemingly to allow for spatial video recording on non-Pro models. The regular models are also likely to adopt the Action button, currently only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
Notably, the LED flash appears to have been removed from the main camera cluster. Instead, Apple has placed it separately on the right side of the “camera island.” While this may seem counterintuitive to many users, this placement saves the company from unnecessarily increasing the diameter of the camera cluster.
In addition to white and black variants, the iPhone 16 could come in blue, green, and pink variants. Unlike last year's faded models, Apple could opt for more saturated colors in the upcoming release.
Ultimately, the keynote is less than a month away, so we should get some concrete answers soon. However, it’s safe to assume that this is the final look of the iPhone 16, as the release date is getting closer and Apple has probably finalized its design.