The iPhone 16 is a month away — here’s what to expect

Apple is primed to announce its newest iPhone in September, and industry insiders are dropping clues about the upgrade.

The iPhone 16 isn’t here yet, but Apple Intelligence — the company’s entrance into the artificial-intelligence arms race — will likely be the centerpiece of the launch versus any planned hardware changes.

Bloomberg reported Apple Intelligence will be free at first, but that subscription options might become available for those who want more AI capabilities on their device. Smartphone owners will have to upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro or later if they want to use Apple Intelligence.

One of the other adjustments will be to the virtual assistant Siri, which should become even smarter with iOS 18 thanks to Apple Intelligence and the company’s OpenAI partnership, Apple said at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

As for hardware, iPhone 16 models will reportedly have the Action button that was previously only included on the iPhone 15 Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro models are also said to have a camera control button that performs similarly to the button on a DSLR camera, allowing you to partially press to focus your shot, according to Bloomberg.

Consumers should expect to see a refreshed color lineup and the return of an old favorite: rose gold, the publication reported. Pro models will reportedly have bigger screens, but all of the new phones will have the new A18 chip and the minimum 8 GB required to run Apple Intelligence.

Ming-Chi Kuo, a Taiwan-based analyst known for his Apple predictions, said in May that the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery would differ from previous models.

In a blog post, Kuo said that the energy density of the battery cells would increase in the device, which suggests that it would either have a longer battery life or the battery itself could be smaller.

Such changes would likely raise the battery temperature, Kuo said, but Apple might combat this with a stainless-steel battery case — which would be a first for the company.

Tweaks to the iPhone 16’s battery would also help Apple comply with European Union regulations that require all smartphones to have replaceable batteries by 2027 since it would be easier to remove.

A stainless-steel case would allow “Apple to increase the battery cell density by 5-10% while meeting safety requirements, achieving two goals at once,” Kuo said in an X post.