11 Things We’re Hoping to See in iPhone 16
Credit: 4RMD
We're only a few months away from Apple revealing the iPhone 16 to the world, and as with every new iPhone, there will also be a bunch of new and cool features we can't wait to try.
Best of all, all the rumors mean we already have a pretty good idea of what the iPhone 16 models will offer. Of course, rumors are never 100% accurate, which is why Apple might still have something up its sleeve that we know nothing about.
While we can't know what Apple is actually working on, we already have our wishlist ready. Read on for eleven things we're hoping to see on the new iPhone 16 lineup.
A Brand New Design
Although Apple slightly changes the design of every new iPhone, these changes have been pretty minimal in the past few years. For example, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an iPhone 14 and an iPhone 15 at first glance.
Needless to say, many of us would love to see Apple shake things up a bit with a brand-new design.
Unfortunately, if the rumors are true, that's not going to happen this year. Most reports suggest the iPhone 16 will be pretty similar to the iPhone 15, at least on the outside.
The biggest difference will be a new "Capture button," which will be located near the right side of the iPhone. This will help you snap photos more quickly, especially when using the iPhone in landscape mode.
Under-Display Face ID
Rumors of Apple moving the Face ID sensors and cameras under the iPhone's front display have been going around for years. While there's no solid word on when it will happen, we can still hope to see a new TrueDepth camera system located under the iPhone's display, giving us a bigger screen with no notch or Dynamic Island to get in the way.
While a few rumors early last year suggested this change might come to the iPhone 16, we've heard very little since, so it seems unlikely. In fact, more recent reports suggest this feature won't see the light of day until 2025. There's still a small chance we'll see it this year, though, so keep your fingers crossed.
A Bigger iPhone
One thing we're hoping to see is a bigger iPhone 16 to take advantage of more screen real estate. The good news is that our wish might come true this year — at least on some models.
Other than the short-lived iPhone mini, Apple has kept its iPhones the same size for what seems like forever now. However, according to numerous leaks and rumors, Apple plans to slightly increase the size of this year's iPhone. The catch? This change will only come to the iPhone 16 Pro models.
According to these reports, the iPhone 16 Pro will move from a 6.1-inch display to a larger 6.3-inch display. Likewise, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will grow to a 6.9-inch display instead of the current model's 6.7 inches.
A Better Display
Of course, the size of the display isn't all that matters. We should also focus on quality. With the introduction of the new M4 iPad Pros earlier this month, Apple revealed a new Ultra Retina XDR OLED screen — something we'd love to see on the iPhone.
The iPhone 15's Super Retina XDR display is great, and it's more than enough for most of us. but it would be even better if we saw Apple's latest displays in a smaller iPhone.
The iPad Pro's new display is a Tandem OLED screen that allows the new iPad to reach a brightness of up to 1,000 nits while also delivering truer blacks and more vibrant colors. That matches what the iPhone 15 Pro is capable of, although it also offers 2,000 nits outdoors. Using Tandem OLED panel technology could push the iPhone's brightness to new heights.
We Don't Want the A17 Chip on the iPhone 16
Two years ago, the iPhone 14 began what seemed to be a new trend of Apple using the same chip from the prior year's iPhone Pro on the current year's standard model. The iPhone 14 got the iPhone 13 Pro's A15 Bionic chip and the iPhone 15 got the iPhone 14 Pro's A16 while the iPhone 15 Pro moved on to a new A17 Pro.
This year we'd like to see Apple use the A18 chip on all the iPhone 16 models, which might actually happen.
Since it would be odd for Apple to use its A17 Pro — the first-ever "pro" chip for an iPhone — in its non-pro iPhone 16, we might see new A18 chips across the board instead. The iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus would have a base A18 chip while the iPhone Pro models would get the A18 Pro.
Rumor has it that Apple plans to use A18 chips on all the iPhone 16 models, so this might actually be true. Apple might also be forced to use a more advanced chip to power new AI features that are said to be coming in iOS 18.
The Action Button Across All Devices
Apple decided to ditch the Ring/Silent switch on the iPhone 15 Pro models and added a new Action button that lets you perform basic actions like turning the flashlight on or putting your iPhone in Silent mode.
Unfortunately, this feature was exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro models. The base iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus kept the Ring/Silent switch.
While the switch is so iconic it'll be hard to say goodbye, it's time for all iPhone models to feature the Action button. The good news is that, according to some leaks, Apple thinks the same way and plans to implement the Action button for all iPhone 16 models this year.
120Hz Refresh Rate For All iPhones
It's 2024, and it's hard to believe that a premium phone like the iPhone 15 doesn't have a 120 Hz display. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus only come with a 60 Hz display. If you want a higher refresh rate, you'll need to get an iPhone Pro.
This is thanks to a feature called ProMotion, which actively changes the refresh rate on the iPhone, slowing it down to save battery for things like watching videos, which don't require high refresh rates, and ramping it up to a full 120 Hz when you're using your iPhone for faster-paced activities like gaming
While it's true that most casual iPhone users don't know or care about ProMotion, most competing smartphones come with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz — even smartphones that are way cheaper than the iPhone.
What do the rumors say? Unfortunately, things don't look great, at least not for this year's iPhone. If rumors are true, we might see a 120 Hz refresh rate come to the standard iPhones in 2025, but then again, we've also been hearing these rumors for a while.
Faster USB Port
Last year, Apple finally made the switch to USB-C for all iPhone 15 models. That was mostly because it had to comply with new rules in the European Union, but a win is a win.
Sadly, the USB-C ports on the standard iPhone 15 models don't offer transfer speeds any faster than the Lightning ports they replaced. The iPhone 15 Pro models got a speed upgrade to 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2, but the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus remain stuck at 480 Mbps USB 2.0 speeds — way less than the current standard.
While that may not matter to every iPhone user, we're hoping Apple will upgrade the USB-C speeds on the base iPhone models and maybe even move to a Thunderbolt port for the iPhone 16 Pro for even faster transfers.
Solid-State Buttons
In the months leading up to the launch of the iPhone 15, there were several rumors that Apple was planning to get rid of physical buttons on the iPhone. Instead, it would reportedly switch to solid-state buttons, which send a haptic response when you press them so you "feel" like you touch an actual button.
This technology was supposed to make its debut with the iPhone 15, which, of course, didn't happen, but we're hoping to see it on the iPhone 16.
Unfortunately, rumors aren't as hopeful, but nothing is certain. Some rumors say there's a low chance for the iPhone 16 to feature solid-state buttons, while others say that it's entirely possible. So we'll have to wait and see what happens.
A Bigger Battery
Your iPhone is only as good as the battery inside. Unfortunately, the iPhone doesn't have the largest battery on the market.
We're hoping that Apple will finally change that and increase the physical battery of the iPhone 16 models. If the rumors are right, we might see that, albeit it will be a small change.
Apple doesn't like to discuss the size of its products' batteries, but rumors suggest some iPhone 16 models could see an increase of up to 6% in battery capacity.
For instance, the iPhone 15 has a 3,349 mAh battery, while the iPhone 16 could potentially feature a 3,561 mAh battery. Likewise, the iPhone 16 Pro is said to feature a 3,355 mAh battery, a small increase from the 3,274 mAh battery on the iPhone 15 Pro.
Last but not least, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will also increase its battery from 4,422 mAh to 4,676 mAh.
But what about the iPhone 16 Plus? Well, unfortunately, rumor has it that Apple will actually decrease the battery size this time around. While the iPhone 15 Plus has a 4,383 mAh battery, the iPhone 16 Plus could feature a 4,006 mAh battery, which would be a decrease of 9%.
Still, it's best to take early battery size rumors with a grain of salt. For example, a report last summer predicted iPhone 15 batteries would all increase by 12-18% while the real numbers turned out to be only 1.3–2.3%.
The Same Price
Inflation hasn't been kind to anyone. Prices on everything seem to increase every week, but we're hoping the iPhone 16 is different.
We'd certainly like to see Apple keep the same price across all iPhone 16 models, although it's hard to say what to expect here. While buying an iPhone 15 Pro Max got more expensive last year, that wasn't technically a price increase as Apple simply eliminated the most affordable 128 GB model; the 256 GB version still sells for the same $1,199 that the 256 GB iPhone 14 Pro Max did.
The 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro kept its 128 GB version and its $999 starting price. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus also remained at the same prices as the iPhone 14 models from the year before.
Still, there are reports that the iPhone 16 Pro will suffer the same fate as the iPhone 15 Pro Max did last year, starting at 256 GB with a higher price tag to match.
There's no word on what Apple will do with the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, but a price increase could be coming because the components to make the iPhone 15 were reportedly at their most expensive last year, which means Apple already ate the production costs for its 2023 models instead of increasing the price.
This year, however, Apple will most likely need to increase the price of the iPhone. We have already seen the company increase the price of iPad Pro models during its Let Loose event. The new iPad Pro models are now $300 more expensive. Granted, a big part of that bump is their new Tandem OLED technology, so we don't expect the iPhone to get a $300 price hike, but we'll probably see a small price increase this year.
Still, we can only hope that Apple keeps the prices the same for yet another year.