Steve Thomas - IT Consultant

The word ‘Patina’ is pleasant to say, but It’s not a word I thought I’d associate with an iPhone. Patina is the attractive mellowing effect of materials, especially metals, that discolor through age and exposure. It’s the green layer over copper that gives the Statue of Liberty a distinct look, and it gives the brass top plate on a Leica camera a satisfying appearance of natural wear. 

After swapping to the rather impressive iPhone 15 Pro Max earlier this year, time was called on my venerable iPhone 13 Pro as I packed it up to be sent to my colleagues in the suitably-patinated historical city of Bath. During this process, my iPhone caught the light spilling in from the office windows on one of the rare sunny days that London can enjoy. 

That electromagnetic radiation beamed 93 million miles from Earth’s nearest star played on the stainless steel sides of my old iPhone. A cacophony of metallic hues and colors bloomed into view on the iPhone 13 Pro’s sides – a pleasing blend of purple, blue, silver and an almost bronze tinge. 

an image of the iPhone 13 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

This wasn’t the first time I’d noticed the rainbow discoloration on the aging stainless steel iPhone chassis, but it hit differently after six months of using the titanium-embraced iPhone 15 Pro Max. While lovely and light with a soft touch, there’s a lack of patina potential to Apple’s best premium iPhone.

Now, there are probably many among you reading this article who are turning your collective noses up at hastily shot photos of a discolored iPhone. People dedicated to keeping tech in pristine order and swaddling the best phones in robust cases find the idea of such metallic aging a travesty.

To my eyes, such patina is special. It takes a soulless, albeit slick smartphone and makes it seem fallible. Fallible equals soul.

an image of the iPhone 13 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

Maybe this appreciation comes from an interest in mechanical watches; seemingly outdated devices for this millennium, also objects that chip, scratch and age with grace. There’s nostalgia looking at a well-loved object – a timepiece, a beaten-up leather jacket – and appreciating the imperfections. The wear and tear holds within one’s story and relationship with the object.

If that materialist metaphor muddles minds, then think of patina as the wrinkles we develop over a long-term relationship. I'm not as sharp and slick as I once was, but my face tells a story of time well-spent and lessons learned.

Am I putting too much weight on (ironically) stained stainless steel? Of course, but it's Friday evening and there's time for such fancy, flippant frivolity.

Do I think we'd benefit if the iPhone 16 returns to stainless steel? Of course not – I’ve already waxed lyrically about titanium on phones.

There is a small part of me that’ll miss the patination found on my iPhone 13 Pro. It marked a pleasant smartphone journey, punctuating a switch from Android to iPhone. Perhaps it could act as a touchpoint for Apple to inject some new colors into the rumored iPhone 16 Pro; I can dream.

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Apple is expected to unveil iOS 18 and a host of other software updates at WWDC 2024 on Monday, June 10 – but in the meantime we've seen an intriguing early look at some of the new features that are on the way.

These upgrades involve the Apple Mail app and, as you would expect, AI. Sources speaking to AppleInsider have outlined how email on the iPhone will get a boost, through an AI initiative that's apparently called Project Blackpearl inside Apple.

The "substantial improvements" are going to include smarter searching inside Mail, for example: so you'll see information from your contacts, relevant locations, and locally stored documents when you run a search inside the app.

There's also said to be a new 'smart reply' feature on the way. If it works like the similarly-named feature already available with Gmail, it'll give you quick auto-responses to messages you can just click on to send. If you deal with a significant amount of email in a day, it could potentially save you a lot of time.

Writing and categorizing

An iPhone on an orange background showing Siri

Siri could give you much more help in iOS 18 (Image credit: Apple)

Some kind of generative AI text feature, in the style of ChatGPT, is also on the way, it seems. You might be able to ask Siri to make the text in an email more professional or more casual, for example. It sounds as though you could even get suggestions on how to improve the composition of an email draft.

Email categorization is also going to be supercharged with AI, AppleInsider says. This means emails can be prioritized based on their contents and their sender, and split into categories such as promotions, social, and transactions (again, much like Gmail).

Apparently, Siri is also going to get some clever summarization skills (as previously rumored). You'll be able to get quick summaries of emails, email threads, messages, notifications, notes, web articles, and more. These summaries could be anything from a handful of words to a full paragraph.

AppleInsider also goes over some of the other rumored upgrades we've heard before for Siri, including a new ability to interface with apps, and photo editing skills. All of this will be made official on Monday, and we'll be covering the WWDC 2024 event live from 10 am PT / 1 pm ET / 6 pm BST on June 10 (1 am ACT on the following date in Australia).

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Until now, Apple has never made any sort of promises as to how long it would support its phones for, but thanks to the UK’s Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regulation it has now had to for the first time.

As spotted by Android Authority, Apple has published its compliance statement for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which reveals that the phone’s “defined support period” is a “minimum five years from the first supply date.”

That “first supply date” is when the iPhone 15 line launched, on September 22, 2023, so in other words the iPhone 15 Pro Max will get software updates until at least September 22, 2028.

A PSTI compliance statement for the iPhone 15 Pro Max

(Image credit: Apple / Android Authority)

However, these updates don’t have to be new iOS versions, rather the “defined support period” refers just to security updates, so it’s possible that the phone will get less than five years of iOS version updates.

In practice, we doubt that will be the case, and this revelation isn’t surprising, since Apple typically delivers five years of iOS updates to its phones, and occasionally as many as six years, with security updates arriving for at least as long.

And while this document is only talking about the iPhone 15 Pro Max, we’d expect the rest of the iPhone 15 series will be updated for just as long.

Also note that Apple said that five years was the minimum support the phone would get, so it might get updated for longer – though as noted, in terms of iOS version updates five years is fairly standard for iPhones, so we wouldn’t count on that.

Beaten by Samsung and Google

That’s a reasonable duration in any case, and until recently would have had any Android phone beat, but these days Samsung and Google both promise more with some of their handsets.

Both the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and the Google Pixel 8 line for example will get seven years of both Android version updates and security patches.

So it’s a shame Apple didn’t take this opportunity to match or beat what Samsung and Google are now promising, but five years of support is still more than what a lot of other Android brands are offering. And you never know, maybe Apple will save any extended support announcements for the iPhone 16, which is probably now only a few months away.

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The iPhone 16 Pro Max is expected to be a big upgrade on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but it could also just be a big phone period, with the latest leak suggesting it will have a size increase in all dimensions.

According to @UniverseIce (a reputable leaker) posting on X, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have dimensions of 163.024 x 77.575 x 8.26. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro Max has dimensions of 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25mm.

So that wouldn’t make for a drastic increase, but it would make the iPhone 16 Pro Max taller, wider, and thicker than the iPhone 15 Pro Max – and the latter is already quite a large phone.

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There’s a good reason for this though, because @UniverseIce adds that the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s screen will be 6.883 inches, which is up from 6.7 inches on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That’s in line with previous leaks pointing to a 6.9-inch display for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and indeed we suspect it will be marketed as 6.9 inches even if it’s technically 6.883 inches.

So with a bigger screen it was always likely that the dimensions would increase too, and if anything the increase listed in this leak isn’t all that much considering how much bigger the screen will reportedly be.

A bigger phone with smaller bezels

That though could be because the bezels are smaller this year. We recently heard that the iPhone 16 Pro Max could have the smallest bezels of any smartphone, and this leak adds some more details, saying that all four screen edges have a 1.153mm bezel, concluding that “the iPhone 16 Pro Max will be the world's closest smartphone to a borderless sci-fi form factor.”

None of this really explains why the iPhone 16 Pro Max is reportedly marginally thicker than its predecessor though, but we’re hopeful that this could be a sign that the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a bigger battery, as has been previously leaked.

In any case, it’s still probably a few months until the iPhone 16 Pro Max will launch, so we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt, but it comes from a reliable source as leakers go. We should find out exactly how big the iPhone 16 Pro Max is in September, but until then stay tuned for further leaks and rumors.

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Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) is usually all about software, but this year we’re expecting it to be more specifically focused on AI, and Siri could be the star of the show.

As spotted by Phone Arena, Apple’s latest WWDC 2024 teaser is in similar colors to Apple’s digital assistant, with blue, purple, white, and pink all featuring heavily in both. So, while Apple hasn’t said what we’ll see at WWDC 2024, this is a good sign that Siri will take center stage.

As for what Siri’s upgrades could entail, well, we heard as early as last year that Siri could be getting an AI-powered overhaul. One that puts it at the heart of the likely AI-infused iOS 18.

A WWDC 2024 teaser

(Image credit: Apple)

This could – among other things – allow it to better understand complex, multi-part requests, and make Siri more versatile and conversational, in much the same way as you can have a conversation with ChatGPT.

Whatever Apple’s plans for Siri entail though, it could certainly use an upgrade. We recently put Siri up against Bixby and Gemini, and it was roundly beaten by Samsung’s Bixby assistant – which itself is generally seen as worse than Google Assistant.

AI might not be the answer

Interestingly though it did beat the AI-powered Gemini, so simply adding AI to Siri might not be what it needs, especially since leaks suggest Apple might use Gemini (or perhaps ChatGPT) for these AI capabilities, rather than building its own AI from the ground up.

Still, with a growing number of AI-powered rivals, Siri can’t afford to stand still, so we’re almost certain we will see some – probably AI-focused – upgrades to the assistant at WWDC 2024.

There’s not long to wait either, as WWDC 2024 kicks off on June 10, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, or at 1am ACT on June 11 in Australia. As well as upgrades to Siri we’re expecting to see iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, and upgrades to most of Apple’s other software. There might be new hardware too, but don’t count on it.

The WWDC keynote will be streamed live online, so you’ll be able to tune in, or just head back to TechRadar for all the news and our expert analysis.

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As WWDC 2024 nears, all sorts of rumors and leaks have emerged about what iOS 18 and its AI-powered apps and features have in store.

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The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max already have thin bezels, but it looks like the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will have them beat, with multiple sources suggesting the bezels will be even slimmer this year.

First up, leaker Setsuna Digital posting on Weibo (via Phone Arena) claims that the iPhone 16 Pro has 1.2mm bezels and the iPhone 16 Pro Max has 1.15mm bezels. For comparison, they claim that the iPhone 15 Pro has larger 1.71mm bezels, though they don’t list the bezel size on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The source claims to have actually measured the bezels of the upcoming phones themselves, so this could well be accurate, though as ever we’d take this with a pinch of salt, especially as this source has a mixed track record. They previously claimed for example that the iPhone 15 would be available in green (which it is) and that the iPhone 15 Pro would be available in red (which it isn’t).

Thinner than thin

Still, if this is accurate then it should make for impressively thin bezels, with the source appearing to say (via Google translate) that these bezels would be “the narrowest in the world.”

This claim has also been echoed by leaker @UniverseIce on X, who has a good track record and claims that their “friend confirmed” that the iPhone 16 Pro will surpass the Samsung Galaxy S24 to have the narrowest bezels of any phone.

The friend they’re referring to is very likely Setsuna Digital, but this at least means that a credible leaker is taking the claims seriously – though they point to the iPhone 16 Pro as having the slimmest bezels, while Setsuna Digital said the iPhone 16 Pro Max would.

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This also isn’t the first we’ve heard of slimmer bezels on the iPhone 16 line, so there’s likely some truth to it.

Does any of this matter when many of the best phones already have tiny bezels? Probably not massively, but it could allow Apple to increase the screen sizes (as it’s rumored to be doing) without increasing the overall footprint of the phones too much. And it’s sure to help make the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max look even more premium than their predecessors.

Whether this will happen remains to be seen though, and we probably won’t find out for sure until September, as that’s when these phones are likely to launch. Stay tuned to TechRadar in the meantime though, for all the credible news, leaks, and rumors.

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Apple opened up the iOS App Store to game console emulators back in April, and since then we've seen numerous apps of this type launched – and the latest one brings Nintendo 3DS emulation to the iPhone for the first time.

The app is Folium (via Android Authority), although you're going to have to part with some cash to get it: the emulation app, which also supports Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games, will set you back $4.99 / £4.99 / AU$7.99.

If you've been longing to play Nintendo 3DS titles on your iPhone, now's your chance – though note that this social media post and video suggests there's still work to be done in terms of game optimization and customization.

Folium has been in testing for a while now, and the developer is promising plenty of updates to come. Based on this Reddit thread, if you're wanting to use the Nintendo 3DS emulation, you need a fairly powerful iPhone or iPad to get the best results – though that might change as the app is improved and optimized.

The rise of iPhone emulators

Folium iOS app

One of the consoles Folium emulates is the Nintendo 3DS (Image credit: Folium)

Under pressure from regulators, Apple has now allowed third-party app stores on iOS in the EU – and opening the door to emulators on the official iOS App Store (not just in the EU but globally) is a move Apple seems to have made to ensure those third-party alternatives aren't quite as appealing.

Emulators are tricky from a legal perspective, as technically you're breaking the law if you download and play a retro game you haven't paid for. Apple says the emulator developers are responsible for making sure their apps comply with "all applicable laws".

For now, it seems to be something Nintendo, Sony, and other console makers are prepared to tolerate. Since April, we've seen numerous emulators appear on iOS, including the Gamma app that runs Sony PS1 games.

While one Game Boy emulator has been kicked off the App Store, that was down to it ripping off another app, rather than anything it did in terms of emulation. As time goes on, we can expect more of these apps to make their way to iOS.

Please note the use of emulators may be in violation of the game developer and publisher terms and conditions as well as applicable intellectual property laws. These will vary so please check these. Emulators should only ever be used with your own purchased game copy. TechRadar does not condone or encourage the illegal downloading of games or actions infringing copyright.

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Every year Apple hands out Design Awards to the apps and games that it thinks really stand out (the 2023 winners are here): it's a prestigious accolade, and the shortlist for the 2024 batch of awards has now been announced.

The full list (via Neowin) is split into seven categories, covering Delight and Fun, Inclusivity, Innovation, Interaction, Social Impact, Visuals and Graphics, and Spatial Computing. The winners are set to be named at WWDC 2024, which gets underway on June 10.

There are some top-tier apps here. In Delight and Fun we've got Dudel Draw for drawing, Bears Gratitude for journaling, and Rooms for playing around with 3D spaces. The games in this category are the chaotic racer What The Car?, the more slow-paced NYT Games, and the "sweet adventure" Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

For Inclusivity we have Oko to help pedestrians, Complete Anatomy 2024 to reveal the wonders of the human body, and Tiimo, a calendar app for neurodivergent people. In this category the games are the meditative Unpacking, the puzzler Quadline, and the brilliantly colorful Crayola Adventures.

Heading into the Innovation category, the apps list features Copilot for helping you with your finances, SmartGym for helping you with your fitness, and Procreate Dreams for digital art. Games-wise, there's the actioner Call of Duty: Warzone, the graphic novel-esque Lost in Play, and the board game adaptation Wavelength.

Interaction and impact

A laptop on a red and pink background showing the Apple Design Awards 2024 shortlist

Apple's WWDC 2024 invite (Image credit: Apple)

As for Interaction, Procreate Dreams appears again, and we've got the Arc Search app that's taking on Google (which we're fans of) and the Crouton app for managing recipes. The games here are the "engagingly eerie" Little Nightmares, music rhythm game Rytmos, and Finity, which is a thoughtful matching game.

When it comes to the Social Impact finalists, the picks are How We Feel, Ahead: Emotions Coach, and Gentler Streak Fitness Tracker (as previously featured on TechRadar), all designed to improve your well-being. The games in this category are visual novel The Wreck, city sim Cityscapes: Sim Builder, and bedtime experience The Bear.

For Visuals and Graphics, the finalists are Sunlitt for tracking the sun, Meditate for tracking your meditations, and Rooms again. The games shortlisted for this category are Death Stranding Director's Cut – which looks fantastic, even on mobile – then the imaginative and immersive Lies of P and turn-based combat game Honkai: Star Rail.

The final category (with a nod to the Apple Vision Pro) is Spatial Computing. Here we've got the apps Sky Guide (for stargazing), NBA (for basketball), and Djay (for music making). The games shortlisted here are "effervescent rhythm game" Synth Riders, and the peaceful puzzlers Blackbox and Loóna.

We haven't been able to test out all these apps and games, but they all seem to be of a very high quality – as you would expect, if they've been shortlisted by Apple. Maybe give some of them a try while we wait for WWDC 2024 to roll round next month.

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iOS 18 is expected to bring several new AI features to iPhones when it lands at WWDC 2024 next month, but rumors have also hinted at an important detail – exactly which iPhones might and might not get these new tricks.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggested in his latest Power On newsletter that iOS 18's new AI features – which could include a more natural Siri and voice memo transcriptions – may be restricted to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, plus the new iPhone 16 and 16 Pro series.

Referring to the new AI features, Gurman stated that "most of the on-device features will be supported by iPhone, iPad and Mac chips released in the last year or so." For the iPhone, that would mean the A17 Pro, which landed in September 2023, but probably excludes the A16 Bionic, which arrived in September 2022.

Of course, these rumors only refer to AI features that are processed on-device. We also expect cloud-based AI features, as Apple is rumored to have sealed a partnership with OpenAI. Cloud-based features could presumably be available to any iPhone capable of running iOS 18. That would be ideal, since iOS 18 is now expected to support the same models as iOS 17.

For on-device AI features, there will likely be a cut-off for software support – and these latest rumors suggest that even recent models like the iPhone 15 or iPhone 14 Pro could see some restrictions on the iOS 18 features they can fully support. 

That is likely because the A17 Pro chipset in the iPhone 15 Pro made a significant jump in the number of operations it could manage per second (twice as many as the A16 Bionic). We've also heard rumors that the iPhone 16 series could get a significantly upgraded neural engine. A neural processing unit (NPU) powers on-device AI and machine learning tasks, though it's possible that the rumored A18 Pro chipset could be restricted to an iPhone 16 Pro series.

In any case, it sounds like AI features will be Apple's next big reason to get us to upgrade our iPhones – though fortunately, the rumored features don't sound so dazzling that you'll be lured into a premature upgrade...


Opinion: AI unlikely to be a reason to upgrade

Two iPhones on a blue background showing Siri and Shortcuts

(Image credit: Apple)

I'm planning to upgrade to an iPhone 16 Pro this year, but not because of AI features – instead, it's down to the latest camera rumors and the fact that I skipped the iPhone 15 Pro last year to wait for a more refined version of Apple's optical zoom on a smaller phone than a Pro Max.

So far, I'm not hugely excited about iOS 18's rumored AI features. Apple's focus is likely to be on-device AI, and that is by definition far more limited than cloud-based AI, which OpenAI is rumored to be supplying in part. 

Those rumored on-device features include minor quality-of-life upgrades, including Safari improvements, some Photos retouching tools and AI-generated emojis. I don't know about you, but I could probably live without AI emojis for a few years.

Of course, Apple could yet come out with a barnstorming new AI feature in iOS 18, but I'm dubious. Mark Gurman's newsletter has suggested that iOS 18's new AI tricks may come with "preview" labels to indicate that "the technology isn't yet fully baked".

From the rumors so far, it sounds like AI features will take at least another year to fully develop and become upgrade-worthy temptations like Apple's camera hardware has been in recent years. That said, it could still be a good year to upgrade your iPhone, with Apple likely to lay the hardware foundations in the iPhone 16 series for future AI features.

I'll be happy to future-proof my iOS garden with an iPhone 16 Pro in September, but the reason will be camera hardware rather than new AI tricks.

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We've been hearing rumors for months about how iOS 18 will be a major upgrade – perhaps one of the biggest in its history – and a new report adds some more details about what we should expect when the software is officially unveiled next month.

These details come courtesy of Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, usually one of the most reliable reporters when it comes to accurately predicting Apple's future plans, and leaking its software and hardware announcements ahead of time.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman outlines some of the AI-infused upgrades rumored to be heading to iOS 18 (and macOS 15 in some cases). Here's what we think might be coming, based on his latest update.

1. Voice memo transcribing

Using AI to turn voice memos into text is common practice these days – the Google Pixel Recorder app does it, for example – and this is apparently one of the features heading to iOS 18. It could well be built right into the Voice Memos app that's included with iOS.

2. Photo retouching

This is also something we're now familiar with: see the generative AI editing tools available on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, for example. Options could include moving or erasing objects, or optimizing colors (the Photos app has already been tipped for an upgrade).

3. Better searching

According to Gurman, searches across iOS 18 and macOS 15 will become "faster and more reliable" thanks to AI. As previously rumored, we might see search results from more apps, and improved support for natural language queries when you're looking for something.

4. Automatic replies

It sounds as though you'll soon be able to generate smart AI responses in the Apple Mail and Apple Messages apps, if you want to hand over writing duties. These will be suggestions though: you'll still be able to review and edit them before sending.

5. Safari improvements

Safari is in line for a pretty hefty upgrade this year. Gurman follows up on earlier leaks to say Safari will get an improved web search with the help of AI – this should mean more relevant results, alongside the ability to get quick summaries of the websites you visit.

6. A more natural Siri

As previously reported, Siri is going to get easier to talk to, as well as coming up with better responses – more like a person and less like a bot. Siri will offer more "natural-sounding interactions based on Apple's own large language models" according to Gurman's article.

7. AI-generated emojis

One AI-related feature mentioned in Gurman's report that we haven't heard about before is an AI emoji machine. Apparently this will bring up custom emojis instantly, based on what you're typing – so you'll never be stuck looking for an emoji to match your message.

8. Smart summaries

Expect smart summaries to be everywhere in iOS 18: Emails, webpages, messages, and more. This is something that has leaked before, and which may well cover notifications too. If it works like it sounds like it will, the feature should save you a lot of reading time.

9. Home screen customizations

This isn't strictly speaking AI related, but following up on what he's said previously, Gurman states that iOS 18 home screen app shortcuts can be arranged any way you like – not just in a grid – and that their colors can be changed to match a particular theme.

There's likely to be more besides, once iOS 18 finally sees the light of day – tighter integration between Calendar and Reminders, improved math functions in Notes, smoother song transitions in Apple Music – but the features listed above are the ones Gurman specifically refers to in his new report.

Apple AI and OpenAI ChatGPT

The WWDC 2024 Logo

We'll hear a lot more at WWDC 2024 (Image credit: Apple)

Gurman's new report also sheds some light on Apple's rumored partnership with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT and Dall-E. Apparently, Apple's own AI models – both stored on the iPhone and in the cloud – will be used to handle the core AI tasks listed above, but they won't extend to powering a fully fledged AI chatbot.

For that, Gurman says, Apple will partner with OpenAI to give users the option of ChatGPT on the iPhone. It's not clear how this will differ from simply using the ChatGPT app for iOS, but deeper integration with the iPhone software is presumably on the way. The partnership will be announced at WWDC 2024 on June 10, Gurman says, alongside all these new features for iOS and macOS.

However, Apple doesn't want to rely on OpenAI exclusively, according to Gurman – so talks are still ongoing to offer Google Gemini as an AI chatbot option too. That won't be talked about at the WWDC 2024 event in June though. Other chatbots could also be added further down the line.

This new report also states that Apple will emphasize the privacy of its AI tools – both on-device and in the cloud – compared to those offered by the likes of Google and Meta. Finally, Gurman mentions that the AI features in iOS 18 might come with a 'preview' label attached, to indicate they're still in development.

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Apple has been making big strides in the camera specs of its phones lately – and with the iPhone 16 Pro Max it looks like might see another major step up, with two of the phone’s sensors reportedly getting an upgrade.

According to the leaker OvO Baby Sauce OvO on Weibo (via MacRumors), who has a relatively limited track record so far, the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a new Sony IMX903 sensor in place of the IMX803 used by the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This new sensor would still be 48MP but should lead to photographic improvements.

The phone could be taking an even bigger leap with its ultra-wide camera though, which will reportedly be 48MP this year, up from 12MP on the current model.

Sadly, the 12MP 5x optical zoom won’t be getting any upgrades according to this source, but improvements for two out of the three rear cameras is good going in any case.

Two upgrades for the Pro as well

The Samsung Galaxy S24 and iPhone 15 Pro on a yellow background

(Image credit: Samsung / Apple / Future)

The same source also mentions the iPhone 16 Pro, saying that this will also get a 48MP ultra-wide camera, and that its telephoto snapper will be upgraded to match the 5x zoom already found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, its main camera apparently won’t be upgraded. So that’s two of the three sensors being improved here too.

While we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that both iPhone 16 Pro models will get a 48MP ultra-wide camera, and nor is it the first mention of an improved main sensor for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. So this could well be accurate.

The only conflicting information we have is talk of a new ‘super telephoto’ camera for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, most leaks mentioning this are older, and are more likely referring to the long-rumored iPhone Ultra, which probably won’t land this year. So for now, we’d say the leaks above are looking more likely.

We should find out exactly what the iPhone 16 line’s camera specs are in September, as that’s when these two phones along with the base iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are expected to land.

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