Apple’s fall new product launch conference will be held at 1 a.m. Beijing time on September 10, and there are only a few hours left. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year is expected to include four models-iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The four new models are undoubtedly the highlight of this event. According to previous reports, the new models in this series have many appearance and function upgrades. But in addition, the new Apple Watch and AirPods are also very exciting.
The following is a summary of the breaking news about the new product.
iPhone 16 series
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
Appearance design : The biggest change in iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus is that they will adopt a vertical camera arrangement instead of a diagonal camera arrangement like iPhone 15. The vertical camera layout is expected to enable spatial video recording.
Action button : iPhone 15 Pro models include an action button, which is expected to expand to standard iPhone 16 models in 2024. The action button used across the entire iPhone 16 series will be the same as the iPhone 15 Pro action button. The action button replaces the traditional mute switch and can perform a variety of functions, such as activating the flashlight, opening the camera, launching shortcuts, enabling or disabling focus mode, using translation, turning silent mode on/off, and more.
Processor : Equipped with A18 chip, supports Apple Intelligence.
5G Modem : The standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are expected to retain the Snapdragon X70 modem.
WiFi support : The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are rumored to support Wi-Fi 6E, which works with the 6GHz band for faster wireless speeds and less signal interference.
Battery capacity : It is said that the iPhone 16 has a 6% increase over the iPhone 15, while the iPhone 16 Plus has a 9% decrease in capacity. It is worth mentioning that Apple may use stacked battery technology to increase energy density and extend the battery life of the entire product line.
Increased memory : Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are rumored to come with 8GB of RAM, an increase from the 6GB of RAM in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Previously, Apple hinted that Apple Intelligence features would require more RAM.
Color : The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will reportedly be available in black, green, pink, blue, and white. Compared to the iPhone 15, this means that white will replace yellow, while the other colors remain the same.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
Screen size : This year’s iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are rumored to have larger displays, increasing to 6.27 inches and 6.86 inches, respectively, making them the iPhones with the largest displays. In comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are equipped with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, respectively.
New titanium body : Apple is rumored to use an improved titanium body finishing process on the iPhone 16 Pro models. The new process will make both phones look more refined, smoother, and less prone to scratches than the brushed finish of the iPhone 15 Pro models.
Ultra-wide-angle lens : The iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to be equipped with an upgraded 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens that can capture more light, resulting in better photos when shooting in 0.5x mode, especially in low-light environments. This also means that the iPhone 16 Pro models should be able to take 48-megapixel ProRAW photos in ultra-wide-angle mode with richer details. In addition, the main camera of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is rumored to be larger as well, thanks to an advanced custom 48-megapixel Sony IMX903 sensor.
Telephoto lens : It is reported that the iPhone 16 Pro Max may be the first phone equipped with an ultra-telephoto periscope camera, which can greatly improve the optical zoom capability. Ultra-telephoto cameras are often used for sports and wildlife photography, but the extremely soft backgrounds they create also make them suitable for portrait photography.
Quad Prism Lens : Both iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to support 5x optical zoom, a feature currently only available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple’s quad prism lens system uses a “folding” design that can be installed inside a smartphone to achieve up to 5x optical zoom and up to 25x digital zoom. In contrast, the current iPhone 15 Pro only supports 3x optical zoom, which is consistent with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
WiFi support : Apple’s 2024 iPhone Pro models are expected to be equipped with Wi-Fi 7, which can transmit data on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously. This will bring faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connections. With technologies such as 4K QAM, Wi-Fi 7 is also expected to provide peak data transfer speeds of more than 40 Gbps, which is 4 times faster than Wi-Fi 6E.
Processor : Equipped with an A18 Pro chip, it is expected to be manufactured using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process (called N3E).
5G Modem : The Pro models are expected to be equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X75 modem. Compared with the X70 used in the iPhone 15 models, the Snapdragon X75 includes improved carrier aggregation and other technological advances for faster 5G download and upload speeds. It is also said to consume 20% less power.
Battery capacity : It is said that compared with the iPhone 15 Pro series, the battery capacity of iPhone 16 Pro Max has increased by 5%, and that of iPhone 16 Pro has increased by 9%.
Fast charging : According to rumors, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will support 40W wired fast charging and 20W MagSafe charging. Currently, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models are capable of peak charging speeds of 27W, and the MagSafe charger can charge wirelessly at 15W.
Increased storage : The maximum storage capacity of iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be double that of the iPhone 15 Pro models, increasing from 1TB to 2TB.
Color : iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are expected to be available in black, white or silver, gray or “natural titanium” and rose. This means that the titanium blue color of the iPhone 15 Pro has been cancelled and replaced by a new rose or rose gold titanium color, which may even appear bronze under certain lighting conditions.
Four iPhone 16 models
Shooting button : It is reported that all iPhone 16 models will be equipped with a new “shooting button” to quickly take pictures or videos. The button will add some functions, such as zooming in and out by sliding the button left and right, tapping to focus, pressing hard to activate recording, etc. The shooting button is located in the lower right corner of the iPhone 16.
More Efficient OLED : Apple is said to be considering using microlens technology to maintain or increase the brightness of the OLED displays on the iPhone 16 models, while potentially reducing power consumption.
Siri Enhancement : Apple plans to significantly upgrade the microphones on the iPhone 16 to improve the Siri experience, including contextual awareness, semantic indexing, application control, and screen awareness. The new microphones are expected to have a significantly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio.
Heat dissipation design : Apple is developing a graphene heat dissipation system for the iPhone 16 series, and the iPhone 16 Pro models may also add a metal battery casing to reduce overheating. Graphene has high thermal conductivity, exceeding the copper currently used in iPhone heat sinks.
Ultra-narrow bezels : According to rumors, Apple plans to maximize the display size of the iPhone 16 series by using new ultra-thin bezel technology. Apple will use the Bezel Reduced Structure (BRS) technology to minimize the bezel at the bottom of the display. Apple plans to apply the borderless display technology to all four iPhone 16 models, but the Pro models will have the thinnest bezels of all smartphones.
Reduce lens flare : Apple is reportedly testing a new anti-reflective optical coating technology for its iPhone cameras that could reduce lens flare and ghosting, improving photo quality.
Apple Watch Series
Apple Watch Series 10
In addition to the iPhone, the Apple Watch series will also be updated. The Apple Watch Series 10 is expected to have a larger case size, with the 41mm version increasing to 45mm and the 45mm version increasing to 49mm, and will also be equipped with a larger display.
Apple Watch Series 10 upgrade highlights
The new models will feature a thinner design and will be equipped with a more powerful chip, which may lay the foundation for future Apple Intelligence. It may also add new health monitoring features such as sleep apnea detection and high blood pressure detection (although there are challenges in developing them).
Apple Watch Ultra 3
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 may be released alongside the iPhone 16 series and is expected to have fewer upgraded features than its predecessor.
The design of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 will likely remain largely unchanged. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently said that this year’s third-generation Apple Watch Ultra will “look largely the same as the first generation.”
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to include improved health tracking features, such as blood pressure monitoring and sleep apnea detection, but the development of these features has reportedly encountered significant challenges and will likely be delayed.
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to have “almost no” new hardware upgrades compared to the Apple Watch Ultra 2. But the good news is that Mark Gurman said the Apple Watch Ultra 3 will feature a new processor, replacing last year’s S9 chip, which could “lay the foundation for some future AI enhancements.”
What is certain is that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 will run watchOS 11, the latest version of the Apple Watch operating system.
AirPods 4
Apple launched the third-generation AirPods nearly three years ago. Now, a brand new model will be launched at the September 10 event, bringing with it a host of improvements and new features.
Many of the changes and improvements introduced with the third-generation AirPods were derived from the first-generation AirPods Pro. Therefore, it seems likely that many of the upgrades to the fourth-generation AirPods will be influenced by the second-generation AirPods Pro.
Apple is rumored to be developing two versions of the fourth-generation AirPods for different price points, and two features that have so far been limited to the AirPods Pro will appear on the higher-end version of the AirPods: active noise cancellation (ANC) and a speaker in the charging case that can play sound for easy location.
The fourth-generation AirPods will feature an updated design that looks like a mix of the current AirPods and AirPods Pro, with a slightly shorter stem. The fit is expected to be improved, but it’s unclear whether Apple will add silicone ear tips.
One key aspect that AirPods 4 may inherit from the second-generation AirPods Pro is the H2 chip. Apple says the H2 chip provides a “superior acoustic experience” when paired with the new low-distortion audio driver and custom amplifier in the AirPods Pro. Thanks to the H2 chip, the fourth-generation AirPods are expected to offer better sound quality than their predecessors, while supporting Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity for faster and more reliable connections, as well as higher power efficiency to help extend battery life.
The MagSafe charging case may also receive multiple improvements to allow for deeper integration with the Find My feature. This will allow the iPhone to display arrows pointing in a specific direction for the AirPods, approximate distance, and even a message stating if they are on different floors. A speaker is even added to the charging case itself, allowing users to hear the alarm sound of the AirPods more clearly.
In terms of charging, the third-generation AirPods can be charged via MagSafe, Qi wireless charger or Lightning cable. In the latest AirPods Pro model, Apple has added the ability to use the Apple Watch charger as an additional charging method. And it uses a USB-C port for charging.
other
In addition, the conference will also announce the release dates of operating systems such as iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, tvOS 18 and visionOS 2. It is worth noting that this year Apple is expected to release macOS Sequoia in September for the first time, breaking the previous practice of delaying the release of macOS versions until the end of autumn.
