Apple to unveil new iPhone 16
At 6pm this evening, people could be rushing to take their crummy old iPhone 15s back to the shop for a new model.
That’s what Apple CEO Tim Cook will be hoping for at least, with the company poised to hold its annual launch event when the iPhone 16 will be debuted.
We’ve come a long way from the days of Steve Jobs’s first smartphone launch in 2007, but there are still big leaps to be found.
Whether there are any surprises remains to be seen, as there have unsurprisingly been leaks about what we can expect at the ‘It’s Glowtime’ event this evening.
What will change in the iPhone 16?
The biggest things to look out for are updates to the camera, and to the iPhone’s use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Many of us have given up carrying a camera unless we’re professionals or very into photography, preferring the ease of snapping on a phone.
See that extra button on the side? This leaked image claims to show the iPhone Pro Max including a new colour of bronze
And Apple is expected to lean into this aspect of its tech, beefing up the capabilities of the iPhone’s already-impressive camera.
One annoying aspect of taking photos with an iPhone can be pressing the touch screen shutter button, or accidentally managing to switch the whole thing off by pressing the wrong physical button on the side.
The new model may avoid all this by introducing a whole new control with a touch sensitive camera button, apparently seen in leaked photos.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has a strong track record of leaking reliable info, said he expects this button to feature on all iPhone 16 models.
In addition, the Pro line will feature slimmer bezels (the frame around the screen), and there will be improvements to battery life.
He said there will be a ‘big focus’ on AI and and an A18 chip across the board to enable it to handle the extra processing.
Apple has been seen as behind the curve in its adoption of AI for its handsets, with Android handsets already integrating it.
But the company has now announced its Apple Intelligence (which also contacts as AI – get it?) which it has already said will be ‘built into your iPhone, iPad and Mac to help you write, express yourself and get things done effortlessly’.
It boasted it will ‘draw on your personal context while setting a brand-new standard for privacy in AI’ and will be used to make its Siri voice control feature more natural.
Apple has already announced it is working on integrating AI in its products (Picture: Apple)
We know the company has been investing in this already, so the question now is how far this will become part of the new launch, and whether we are about to see the first AI iPhone.
New colours will be available, with blue, green, white, black and pink expected for the simpler models while Pro versions are expected to come in white, black, grey, and bronze.
We looked more at the new technical specifications which could be on the way in our explainer here.
Even if you won’t be getting a new phone, if you have an iPhone already you will soon be able to update to iOS 18, with details of the new operating system to be unveiled today too.
Will there be a new Apple watch?
The Apple Watch 10 is predicted to be unveiled, which may in fact be known as the Apple Watch X, mirroring the format of the earlier generation iPhone X.
One of the biggest new features expected is the ability to monitor sleep apnea, which is when breathing stops and starts while you sleep, a feature which is already available with the Samsung Galaxy Watch.
While many expected a new model of the high-end Ultra watch to be announced, leaks suggest we may not see the Ultra 3 but will instead see a new colour option for the Ultra 2.
What else will Apple announced?
We haven’t mentioned Macbooks or iPads yet, and that’s because they aren’t expected to be the focus of tonight’s event.
There could be developments for AirPods, though, with two tiers of the earbuds expected to be unveiled with more advanced sound quality.
When can I watch the Apple launch?
Tune in to the keynote speech from Cupertino on Apple’s YouTube channel at 6pm UK time (10am PT, 1pm ET).
To actually buy the products though, you will have to wait a little longer.
We don’t know for sure, but based on Apple’s previous timelines preorders will likely go live on Friday with the products sent out or appearing in shops a week later.
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