Apple loyalists – the ones who queue up once a year to get their hands on the latest iPhone – are likely beginning to get a little jittery. We don’t blame them. How are they expected to survive with only an A17, or worse, A16 Bionic chipset this far into 2024? Fortunately, they won’t have to wait much longer. Apple’s ‘It’s Glowtime‘ event hits the small screen on Monday, 9 September at 19h00 SAST, where the iPhone 16 is expected to debut.
Perhaps “expected” is a strong word. It’s an open secret that Apple likes to reserve the unveiling of new iPhones for one special evening in September alongside a slew of new peripherals to play with. That’ll be the revamped line-up of AirPods and the Apple Watch Series 10, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The main event
It won’t just be the iPhone 16 appearing on Monday night if Apple’s past showings are any indication. We’re willing to bet good money its siblings are along for the ride – namely the iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and finally, the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
This year, according to MacRumours, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will stick with their 6.1/6.7in display sizes from the iPhone 15, while the Pro and Pro Max models will see their first size upgrade in years. The regular Pro is being bumped to 6.3in, with the Pro Max going as high as 6.9in. Nice.
Remember when Apple introduced an Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro and above? Neither can we, but it’s reportedly trickled down to the baseline iPhone 16, joining the (actually) new ‘Capture Button’ on the device’s right-hand side. Three guesses as to what that button will do.
In a bit of departure from recent tradition, all four iPhone 16 models are expected to feature the A18 Bionic chipset – though Apple’s saving the good stuff such as more GPU cores and a vastly improved Neural Engine to convince potential buyers that Apple Intelligence is worth all the hype.
All the rest
Then there’s still the Apple Watch Series 10 and revamped catalogue of AirPods to worry about.
Expect the Watch Series 10 to feature a slightly larger display and a new standard for body positivity, with the line-up of wearables apparently getting a whole lot slimmer. It’ll be sold in 45mm and 49mm sizes, up from the 41/45mm sizes we saw on last year’s release. Gurman reported earlier this year in his ‘Power On’ newsletter that a new magnetic clasp was in the works, allowing Apple to get creative when it came to internals.
Whether that’ll be reserved for the incoming Watch Ultra 3 remains to be seen. The Ultra and regular Series 10 will use updated OLED technology to boost battery life, though no specifics have been mentioned. Hardware updates for the Ultra 3 are thin on the ground, with most of the innovation headed toward the tracker’s new blood pressure and sleep apnea detection features.
Did you know we’re already on the fourth generation of AirPods? That awaits us in the back end of the ‘It’s Glowtime’ event, where we’ll see two new sets of redesigned AirPods, complete with two different price points to cover all bases. The more expensive model could include ANC (Active Noise Cancelling), and a speaker in the charging case (for Find My functionality) while the cheaper model… won’t.
Oh, and the H2 chip is expected to be carried over from the second-gen Pro buds in both sets of new AirPods.
As for the AirPods Max, which are next in line for an upgrade, we’ll finally see the appearance of a USB-C port, with Apple ditching Lightning tech for good. Bluetooth 5.3 is also expected to feature and bring the headset up to scratch with the rest of Apple’s audio efforts. There’s no word on the updated H2 chipset for the Max, though we see no reason Apple wouldn’t include it to raise that price just a smidgen higher.
How and where to tune in
There are several ways you can get your annual iPhone 16 news on Monday, 9 September at 19h00 SAST. Firstly, you can return here to watch the video above or visit the Big Fruit Company’s YouTube channel on the night in question. Apple’s site is also an option, though we’re not sure why you’d subject yourself to that pain. Or, perhaps the easiest option is to wait for Stuff’s coverage of the event.