It might seem strange to say it so soon after the iPhone 15 launch, but the iPhone 16 is coming later this calendar year – and we've already seen a smattering of leaks around the 2024 flagships. The latest rumor to reach us teases both good and bad news about the internal storage on these phones.
As per sources speaking to DigiTimes (via AppleInsider) Apple is one of a few smartphone manufacturers mulling a switch over to Quad-Level Cell (QLC) NAND flash memory modules in handsets with larger 1TB capacities.
Don't worry if you're not familiar with QLC, or the Triple-Level Cell (TLC) memory currently used by Apple: essentially, QLC stores four bits of data per memory cell, rather than three. That means more capacity with the same number of cells, or the same amount of capacity with fewer cells.
We'll start with the good news – QLC potentially means the 1TB iPhone 16 won't be as expensive to make for Apple, savings which might be passed on to the user. In theory, it could also mean more room for other components in the iPhone 16 to expand into... such as, for example, a larger capacity battery.
And now the bad news
This switch to QLC wouldn't necessarily be all good news though, even if the lower production costs are attractive to phone makers. QLC flash memory is less reliable than the TLC equivalent, and as a result the write speeds for the iPhone 16 storage could end up slower than they were for the iPhone 15.
As we're not privy to Apple's engineering labs, this is all speculation – but that's the nature of leaks and rumors. It's something worth bearing in mind as the expected launch date of September 2024 draws closer.
One substantial upgrade that we have heard about with the iPhone 16 is that more RAM is on the way for the standard and Plus handsets – something that would improve performance, especially when multitasking. At the same time, the Pro models are also expected to get a boost to 5G speeds.
As for the physical design of the iPhone 16, it would seem that Apple can't make up its mind about whether or not to tweak the Action button introduced on last year's models. A new Capture button on the other side has also been rumored.
The latest iPhone 16 leak contains both good news and bad news for the standard model and the iPhone 16 Plus – they could have an increase in RAM, but might not benefit from a new 5G modem.
Specifically, Pu (via MacRumors) claims that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will have 8GB of RAM, which is up from 6GB in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. That would bring them in line with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as, reportedly, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max; Pu claims the Pro models won’t be getting a RAM increase this year.
Faster 5G and better battery life
What the Pro models will apparently be getting, though, is a new Snapdragon X75 modem (again via MacRumors). This will reportedly provide faster 5G download and upload speeds than the X70 modem found in current iPhones, while using up to 20% less power.
Sadly, the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus apparently won’t be getting this upgrade, and will instead stick with the Snapdragon X70 found in every iPhone 15 model.
On the plus side, the standard models are at least said to be getting Wi-Fi 6E support, which would boost their Wi-Fi performance and bring them in line with the Pro models in that regard.
While Pu seems confident in these claims, we’d still take them with a pinch of salt, especially as the iPhone 16 line isn’t likely to land until September, so it’s still early days for rumors.
However, if this does all pan out then the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus could be better at multitasking than their predecessors, while the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max might be better equipped to make the most of 5G, and could offer better battery life when using 5G.
What's going on with the iPhone 16 button design? We've previously heard the 2024 models will get a new Capture button and switch to a solid-state design for all of their buttons, and now there's a fresh report of button tweaks to digest.
MacRumors claims to have seen prototype designs of the iPhone 16 that feature an Action button and volume buttons that are very similar to the configuration implemented on the current iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
On its own that wouldn't be particularly notable – but there have already been three previous prototype designs that feature different configurations of these buttons, which sit on the left hand side of the phone as you look at the screen.
In other words, it looks as though Apple may have once again abandoned plans to implement something a bit more innovative. We were expecting solid-state (or capacitive) buttons on the iPhone 15 series too, but in the end they never showed up.
Pressing issues
Capacitive buttons don't actually move – instead they vibrate very subtly to give feedback when they're pushed. Apple already uses them in the trackpads on its MacBook laptops, and in the Home button for the iPhone SE launched in 2022.
You can go back and look at the previous prototype rumors to see how these capacitive buttons might look on the iPhone 16, and at one stage a larger Action button was being considered alongside a unified volume button.
The latest design, MacRumors says, shows separate volume buttons with an Action button that sticks to the current size. A new Capture button is still included, on the other side, and while it's not capacitive, it is said to be flush with the frame of the phone.
Something else that capacitive buttons might bring with them would be different responses based on how hard they are pressed. For the time being at least though, it seems like this tech isn't going to make an appearance on the iPhone 16.
It's shaping up to be another huge year for generative AI – and one of the biggest stories could be Apple's AI upgrades for iOS 18 and the iPhone, which are reportedly still on track for an announcement at WWDC 2024 in June.
We've previously heard that Apple is planning to reveal AI boosts for Siri, Messages, Apple Music, Pages and more during its developer's conference this year, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has confirmed that these announcements are still on track for a big unveiling at WWDC 2024.
The foundation for these upgrades is apparently a large language model (LLM) called Ajax, which Apple has seemingly been testing since early 2023. But what's interesting about these latest rumors is how broadly Apple is apparently planning to apply its capabilities across hardware and software, and not just on the iPhone.
We've already heard that Apple is planning to give Siri a major brain transplant to make it more conversational, like ChatGPT – and that's something it undoubtedly has to do in order to keep pace with AI rivals in 2024. But Gurman also claims that Apple is planning to add features like "auto-summarizing and auto-complete" to core apps like Pages and Keynote.
Arguably the biggest deal, though, is that Apple is apparently "working on a new version of Xcode and other development tools that build in AI for code completion" – If developers are able to harness AI to both write code and create new AI features, that could dramatically improve the quality of third-party apps on your iPhone. This follows the news in December that Apple had quietly released a new machine learning framework called MLX for Apple silicon.
The bad news? Gurman suggests that "the totality of Apple's generative AI vision" won't happen until at least 2025. Given how far behind Apple seemingly is with the technology that certainly seems likely, but we should at least get our first look at its next-gen AI upgrades in June at WWDC 2024.
What AI features could we see on iPhones?
The iPhone already has several features that use machine learning, like Personal Voice (above) which can create a near-exact replica for your voice (Image credit: Apple)
The biggest is likely to be that long-rumored, next-gen Siri assistant. If you're tried using ChatGPT's free voice function on your iPhone, you'll know that it's a far more conversational voice assistant than Siri – albeit one that's still prone to hallucinations.
Plug those kinds of skills into iOS 18 and we should get much-improved voice control of our iPhones, which should work particularly well if you have AirPods. In other words, not just staccato, two-sentence commands like cooking timers, but a genuinely smart assistant that can handle multiple requests simultaneously, like smart home commands, calendar summaries and more.
Elsewhere, we can expect to see AI appear in Messages to help answer questions and auto-complete our sentences. Apple has been using machine learning to improve the accuracy of the iOS keyboard for a few years now, so this would be a natural development of that work.
According to Gurman, Apple also plans to give Apple Music a major boost with AI features, for example by using it to "better automate playlist creation". This would see Apple Music begin to catch up to Spotify, which has already been pushing out similar features, such as its AI DJ.
A few big questions remain about Apple's AI announcements for WWDC 2024. Firstly, will Apple even refer to the new iOS 18 features as 'AI-powered'? Previously, it's avoided the term, sticking to the lesser-used (but often more accurate) 'machine learning'.
Also, will its AI features only work on-device, or will some be bolstered by cloud processing? The Google Pixel 8's new Video Boost with Night Sight feature relies on the extra power of the cloud, but Apple's focus on privacy may see it stick to local processing. If so, will the new AI features be restricted to newer iPhones? And which models?
We should find out the answers to all of these questions and more in around five months' time at WWDC 2024.
You may remember that back in 2020, Apple settled a class action lawsuit in the US by agreeing to compensate iPhone users for deliberately slowing down (or throttling) performance on older iPhones. Now those payments are being sent out.
As reported by MacRumors and others, people who filed a claim for compensation from Apple are now getting their payments of $92.17. The official website for the litigation confirms that the last appeal was dismissed in December 2023, and that therefore payments can be issued from January 2024.
The payments can total up to $500 million (about £393 million or AU$746 million), depending on the number of claimants. Don't expect any money if you haven't already registered a claim though – the deadline for applying for compensation from Apple was back on October 6, 2020.
To be eligible, you had to have been a US-based owner of an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and/or SE device running iOS 10.2.1 or later before December 21, 2017, and/or a US-based owner of an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus device running iOS 11.2 or later before December 21, 2017.
Paying up
As you may remember, the lawsuit was originally filed all the way back in December 2017, after Apple admitted that iOS slows down iPhone performance as batteries get older, in order to ensure device stability – a practice it didn't tell users about.
Apple's reasoning was that it kept older iPhones running for longer, but users weren't happy about the lack of transparency: a sizable number of people felt they were being pushed into upgrading their iPhones, or having to order an expensive battery replacement for them, sooner than they otherwise would.
This kind of performance management is still in place today on iOS 17 – only now it's fully detailed and explained, and users have the option of turning it off. Apple has always insisted it was in the right, and says that it only agreed to settle the lawsuit in order to avoid a lengthy and expensive court case.
If you did get your compensation claim in before the deadline in 2020, check your bank account – you may well now have a 2024 bonus payment from Apple, almost four years after the settlement agreement was reached.
One of the most exciting rumors we’ve heard about the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max so far is that these phones might have under-display Face ID, meaning only the front camera would be visible in the screen, allowing for a tiny punch-hole cut-out rather than the iPhone 15 Pro’s big Dynamic Island.
We’ve even now seen some renders from AppleTrack showing how this might look, and it makes a drastic difference to the design of the iPhone, with much less interruption to the screen. Except, the latest leak suggests that such a change might not be happening after all.
MacRumors claims to have received new information on the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, and has used that to create mockups that are apparently based on Apple’s internal designs, one of which you can see below. And, as you’ve probably gathered, these mockups include a full-size Dynamic Island.
(Image credit: MacRumors)
The rest of the design is also largely similar, including an identical looking Action button to the current Pro models. MacRumors notes that Apple has apparently experimented with larger sizes and different designs for this button, but seems to have settled on the current design – which also means it will probably be a standard mechanical button, rather than switching to a capacitive design, as had previously been rumored.
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will also reportedly use the same titanium frame as their predecessors, and may largely be available in the same colors.
Apple has apparently tested these upcoming phones in the same shades as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but MacRumors says one additional color is also planned, though they don’t know what shade this is.
Bigger screens and more buttons
So other than an extra color, what’s different here? Well, for one thing the screens on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are reportedly bigger. MacRumors echoes previous reports in saying that the iPhone 16 Pro will have a 6.3-inch screen and the iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a 6.9-inch panel.
In both cases, that’s 0.2 inches larger than their predecessors, and in the case of the iPhone 16 Pro it reportedly makes the phone large enough to be equipped with the same 5x telephoto camera as you’ll find on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. So both Pro models this year will likely have that further-reaching camera.
The biggest difference shown here though is a new Capture button on the iPhone 16 Pro models, which has been widely rumored for inclusion, and which according to a previous report will be used for shooting videos.
All that said, we’d take these claims with a pinch of salt. It's still very early for iPhone 16 rumors, and some of these claims are at odds with earlier reports. MacRumors also notes that “the prototypes are not quite finalized”, so things could change. But it sounds like the site’s information is the most up-to-date available.
You might also like
iPhone 16: release date speculation, latest leaks, price predictions and more
Best iPhone: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme?
Apple’s rear-facing iPhone cameras are some of the best in the business, and nowhere is that more so than on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Its selfie cameras lag behind in terms of quality, however – but that might change with the iPhone 17, according to a new report.
In a blog post on Medium, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the front-facing lens in the upcoming iPhone will receive a major boost, which will be encouraging news to anyone who regularly uses the selfie camera and is thinking of upgrading in the next couple of years.
According to Kuo, “The front camera of the iPhone 17 will be upgraded to 24MP/6P.” Right now, the front camera in the iPhone 15 series has a 12MP lens, meaning the iPhone 17 could double up on the megapixel count. That, Kuo says, “will significantly improve the image quality.”
Apple has not upgraded the megapixel amount of its iPhones’ front-facing cameras since the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which was the first iPhone to offer a 12MP selfie snapper, and was a step up over the iPhone XS Max’s 7MP lens. That shows just how long it’s been since Apple has boosted the megapixel count for selfie lovers.
Significant improvements
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Kuo also touched on other areas of the iPhone’s camera system in the report. For one thing, he notes that the upgraded 6P lens system in the iPhone 17 could be 100% to 120% more expensive to produce than the 5P system in the current iPhone range – if so, it’s possible that Apple could pass that price increase on to buyers.
Elsewhere, Kuo says Apple is making good progress on the iPhone 16 Pro’s periscope lens setup, which will be inherited from the iPhone 15 Pro Max and will bring much better zoom capabilities to the next Pro model. That phone will also see an improved ultra-wide camera featuring a 48MP resolution (versus the 12MP resolution of the iPhone 15 Pro’s ultra-wide lens), which will again “significantly improve image quality,” Kuo believes.
Kuo’s report also mentioned that the iPhone 16 Pro will feature a larger screen, a claim we’ve seen elsewhere. Combined with the camera upgrades, it looks like there could be a slate of improvements on the way for this year’s iPhones – in stark contrast to a recent report from Barclays, which painted a much gloomier picture.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Kuo’s predictions will come to pass, whether that’s for the iPhone 17 or iPhone 16 ranges. But the analyst has a solid track record when it comes to Apple leaks, so we wouldn’t rule out these forecasts entirely – an if they turn out to be correct, there could be a lot to look forward to for Apple fans.
The iPhone 15 might be one of the best smartphones you can buy, but a new report has predicted that its successor, the iPhone 16, won’t come anywhere near it. In fact, if the report is correct the iPhone 16 might be an upgrade to skip completely.
That’s according to the analysts at Barclays, at least (via 9to5Mac). The group’s latest research note claims that the outlook is bleak for Apple in the coming year, with “weakness on iPhone volumes and mix, as well as a lack of bounce-back in Macs, iPads, and wearables.”
Perhaps the harshest words are reserved for the iPhone 16. Barclays says that “we see no features or upgrades that are likely to make the iPhone 16 more compelling,” suggesting that the next iPhone could be a total dud – at least in the analysts’ opinion.
The report is also gloomy about Mac sales volume and Apple services performance for the coming year – and it makes no mention of the Vision Pro at all, perhaps due to the low sales expectations for the device. All in all it's hardly painting a rosy picture of Apple’s future.
A gloomy outlook
The claim that the iPhone 16 will lack any “compelling” features is an interesting one, as it’s not entirely reflected in the rumors we’ve seen elsewhere. Is the Barclays report inaccurate, or do its analysts know something that no one else does?
Elsewhere, we’ve seen reports that the iPhone 16 range will feature haptic buttons and a new 'Capture' control, an improved camera system, new sizes and a major chip upgrade. One leak has even claimed that Apple will use graphene tech to keep the phones cool. So, while some of those rumors might be wide of the mark, there’s still a lot that could make it into Apple’s next phone lineup.
That said, it’s often best to err on the side of caution when it comes to Apple. The company prefers a patient approach rather than rushing features out the door, and that often leads to delays, and rumors that prove not to be accurate. With that in mind, the Barclays report’s reserved outlook might end up being on the money.
Or it could be overly pessimistic – at this stage we’ve got no way of knowing for sure. While Apple fans will be hoping there will indeed be a lot to get excited about with the iPhone 16, we’ll have to wait until its launch, likely in September, to know for sure.
If you ever want a legitimate excuse to say you’ve missed your alarm, well Apple may have just handed you one, albeit unintentionally. That’s because a bunch of iPhone users are reporting that their phone alarms aren’t going off when they should.
Over on Reddit, iPhone users have noted that, despite setting alarms on their phones, the actual alarm bell/sound never went off. And apparently, these alarms weren’t set to be recurring, so there shouldn’t have been any reason for them to go silent or reset until they’ve been acknowledged. In these reports, all the alarm does is trigger the screen to turn on, but it offers no sound.
It would appear that this is an iOS 17 issue, with one Redditor noting it has to do with the ‘Attention Aware’ feature, whereby the iPhone can detect when you're paying attention to it. Seemingly in the cases of these alarms not sounding, it could be down to iPhones on iOS 17 thinking their users are looking at the phone, and therefore not requiring a blaring alarm to get their attention.
As an iPhone alarm user on iOS 17, I haven't noticed any problems myself. But taking a closer look at my iPhone 13 Pro’s settings, I found that the Attention Aware setting was off – somewhat ironically, I wasn’t aware of the option in the first place, as I don’t think it was ever brought to my attention.
Arming alarms
(Image credit: Future)
The solution to this lack of iPhone alarms is to turn off Attention Aware, which can be found in a couple of places. One of them is in the Voice Control subsection of the Accessibility settings in iOS 17, and the other is the Face ID & Attention menu (above).
But Reddit users also note that switching off the Standby Mode in iPhones, reducing the number of alarms you might have going off close by each other, and switching any custom alarm sound to default ones, can solve the silent alarm issue.
However, these workarounds aren’t exactly ideal, and I hope Apple can patch over such a flaw in its next iOS 17 update. After all, I can only imagine the excuse of ‘my alarm didn't go off’ will only work a finite number of times with one’s work bosses.
And if this has put you off iPhones then check out our list of the best Android phones you can get right now. Or take a look at our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra hub to get a feel for what the next big Android flagship phone could bring to the smartphone table.
There’s good news for anyone who doesn’t want to shell out on a pricey (rumored) iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, as the latest leak suggests all four iPhone 16 models will have the same chipset.
MacRumors has received information about early development versions of iOS 18, and it includes references to all four expected iPhone 16 models, namely the iPhone 16 itself, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. And all four of them are listed as using the Tahiti chipset, which is reportedly Apple’s internal name for the A18.
In the last couple of years, only the Pro iPhones have received the latest chipset, with the standard and Plus models getting the chipset from the previous year. So for example, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have an A17 Pro chipset, while the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have an A16 Bionic, a chipset that you’ll also find in the older iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
Peak power at a palatable price
But if this leak is accurate, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will get a brand-new chipset, and the same one as the Pro models. That would mean a big, two-generation leap in power from the A16 Bionic-powered iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
It would also mean you’d be able to get the most powerful iPhone chipset without buying one of the most expensive models. Though it’s possible the Pro models will have more RAM, which could give them an edge.
MacRumors notes that it’s also possible that there will be two versions of the A18, such as an A18 and an A18 Pro, with the Pro phones getting the latter. In which case these phones might not all get exactly the same chipset after all.
In any case, one other interesting detail in this leak is that there’s no mention of an iPhone 16 Ultra, which some reports suggest might land instead of, or as well as, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as an even more premium option.
All that said, it’s still early days for iPhone 16 leaks, as these phones probably won’t land until September, so we’d take all of this with a pinch of salt. In the meantime, there are loads of great Apple options among the best iPhones.
You might also like
iPhone 16: release date speculation, latest leaks, price predictions and more
Best iPhone: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme?
One of the most intriguing rumored changes coming to the iPhone 16 is the addition of a new ‘Capture button’. We’ve heard mention of a new button with that name a number of times, but until now no one knew exactly what it might do.
Given the name, it was always likely that it related to the camera, and according to Mark Gurman – a leaker with a great track record for Apple information – writing for Bloomberg, it does; but more specifically the Capture button is apparently “a new dedicated button for taking video.”
So in other words, tapping it would probably launch the camera in video mode, or maybe even start instantly recording a video. This would obviously be useful for anyone who records a lot of videos, or for when you don’t want to miss a fleeting moment, but we’d wager that plenty of people hardly use the video camera, so for them this would be a near-useless button.
Given that Apple added a customizable Action button to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, it seems that an obvious and far more useful thing to do would be to make this a second customizable button, so people have two buttons that they can use for whatever they want.
So that’s a bit disappointing – or not, if you’d use it for video regardless – but this is still just a rumor for now, and Gurman could be wrong.
The iPad Pro could be getting a revamp
In any case, this isn’t the only new Apple information from Gurman, as in the same article he also detailed several upcoming iPads, albeit largely just reiterating claims he’s made before.
Gurman says that the iPad Pro 2024 is getting “revamped”, and while he doesn’t say what that revamp will entail, we’ve heard elsewhere that it might come in a larger size and have an OLED screen.
He also says a larger screen is planned for the iPad Air 6 (which we’ve previously heard could be 12.9 inches), and claims that both the iPad mini 7 and the iPad 11 will have a faster chipset than their predecessors, as you’d expect.
As for when we’ll find out how accurate any of these claims are, rumors suggest that at least some of these new iPad models will land in March, while the iPhone 16 line will almost certainly launch in September.
You might also like
iPhone 16: release date speculation, latest leaks, price predictions and more
Best iPhone: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme?
One of the most intriguing rumored changes coming to the iPhone 16 is the addition of a new ‘Capture button’. We’ve heard mention of a new button with that name a number of times, but until now no one knew exactly what it might do.
Given the name, it was always likely that it related to the camera, and according to Mark Gurman – a leaker with a great track record for Apple information – writing for Bloomberg, it does; but more specifically the Capture button is apparently “a new dedicated button for taking video.”
So in other words, tapping it would probably launch the camera in video mode, or maybe even start instantly recording a video. This would obviously be useful for anyone who records a lot of videos, or for when you don’t want to miss a fleeting moment, but we’d wager that plenty of people hardly use the video camera, so for them this would be a near-useless button.
Given that Apple added a customizable Action button to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, it seems that an obvious and far more useful thing to do would be to make this a second customizable button, so people have two buttons that they can use for whatever they want.
So that’s a bit disappointing – or not, if you’d use it for video regardless – but this is still just a rumor for now, and Gurman could be wrong.
The iPad Pro could be getting a revamp
In any case, this isn’t the only new Apple information from Gurman, as in the same article he also detailed several upcoming iPads, albeit largely just reiterating claims he’s made before.
Gurman says that the iPad Pro 2024 is getting “revamped”, and while he doesn’t say what that revamp will entail, we’ve heard elsewhere that it might come in a larger size and have an OLED screen.
He also says a larger screen is planned for the iPad Air 6 (which we’ve previously heard could be 12.9 inches), and claims that both the iPad mini 7 and the iPad 11 will have a faster chipset than their predecessors, as you’d expect.
As for when we’ll find out how accurate any of these claims are, rumors suggest that at least some of these new iPad models will land in March, while the iPhone 16 line will almost certainly launch in September.
You might also like
iPhone 16: release date speculation, latest leaks, price predictions and more
Best iPhone: which Apple smartphone reigns supreme?
