With just a few hours left until “It’s Glowtime,” let’s do a recap of what to expect. In case you missed it, we’ve already covered the rumors and leaks surrounding the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus , here’s everything we (think) know about the two Pro models.
The event will start at 17:00 UTC and we will have a coverage of all the new releases. Until then, here is a recap of everything that has happened over the past few months.
Releasing
Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will begin tomorrow, if not later than today. We’ll likely be waiting two weeks for pre-orders, so the first deliveries and in-store availability should be September 20 (Apple always chooses Friday).
Apple Intelligence, the major update to iOS 18, missed its deadline and will arrive later as part of iOS 18.1. That’s why Apple is testing two betas at the same time. Apple clearly didn’t want to delay the iPhone launch until Intelligence was ready, but we expect it to be a major part of the presentation.
Design
This section will be brief – we’ve seen mannequin photos of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and if it weren’t for the new color (gold, not bronze), we might have been fooled into believing it was just the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Speaking of colors, there’s of course Titanium Black and Titanium White, as well as Titanium Silver and Titanium Gold. There have been rumors of a Rose option, but there’s no photographic evidence of that shade. If you want colors, you might want to buy the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Dummies in White, Black, Silver and Gold
The gold model also makes an appearance in a short unboxing video, where it’s labeled “Desert Titanium” (the shade was apparently inspired by the sands of the Sahara). That video offers the briefest glimpse yet of the front of the phone—or rather, the front of the box, which features an image of the front of the phone—which shows that not much has changed. The Dynamic Island is still there, and seemingly no smaller than it was last year.
Size comparison of four iPhone 16 models
Apple has slightly improved the design, but it’s not immediately obvious. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will supposedly have the world’s thinnest bezels, but the phone will still be slightly larger. The reason becomes obvious when we get to the display section.
| Dimensions | iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 16 Pro | iPhone 15 Pro Max | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 146.6mm | 149.6mm | 159.9mm | 163.0mm |
| Width | 70.6mm | 71.5mm | 76.7mm | 77.6mm |
| Thickness | 8.25mm | 8.25mm | 8.25mm | 8.26mm |
| Libra | 187g | 194g | 221g | 225g |
Larger displays
Both Pro iPhones will retain their exclusive ProMotion panels, meaning if you want 120Hz LTPO, you get the Pro model. The two regular phones will continue to use the outdated 60Hz technology for another year. But this year, the pair will diverge even more, as they will no longer offer the same screen sizes.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Retail Packaging
The iPhone 16 Pro will have a display measuring up to 6.3″, while the regular 16 will remain at 6.1″. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will be the largest iPhone yet, with a 6.9-inch display, up from 6.7 in the previous Pro Max and the upcoming Plus. The resolution will likely be bumped up slightly to keep the pixel density the same as before.
In the previous section, we mentioned that the bezels will be thinner to offset some of the increase from the larger displays — not enough to completely cancel it out, but still. The iPhone Pro’s bezels will shrink from 1.71mm to 1.2mm compared to last year’s model, while the Pro Max’s bezels will shrink from 1.55mm to 1.15mm.
Here is a mockup that Ice Universe done to show the difference:
iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) and iPhone 15 Pro Max (right) bezels
We’re not sure why so few photos (or videos) of the front of the iPhone Pro have leaked, but it’s clear that any major changes around the Dynamic Island will have to wait until next year (it will reportedly become narrower).
Action and capture buttons
The side views of the mannequins show the tentatively named Action and Capture buttons, which will trigger custom actions and act as a camera shutter button. However, this means that the Alert Slider will be removed.
All four iPhone 16 models will have an action button
And the capture button
The Capture button looks like it will be more of a capacitive touchpad than a physical button, allowing for swipe gestures – it could be used to control zoom, for example.
Apple A18 Chipset and AI for Everyone
Last year, the two Pro phones were powered by Apple’s A17 Pro chipset, while the two vanilla models had to reuse the A16 from the previous year. That, and less RAM, means the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus won’t get Apple Intelligence.
Again, we suspect this will be an important part of today’s presentation and an important marketing element for the new 16 Series, which is why all four models must have it.
This means that all four iPhone 16 models will run on Apple’s A18 chipset. They may not be identical, for example, the Pro models may have more GPU cores. The NPUs will likely be identical, so AI tasks on the device will feel equally fast.
They could also have the same amount of RAM, 8GB. We’ve seen leaks claiming that capacity is available for the two standard models, and no credible rumors that the Pros will get 12GB. The 12GB may have to wait for the 17 series, and even then it could be reserved for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. AI models need a ton of RAM to run, and Google has even reserved some of the extra RAM in the Pixel 9 phones to keep the model on all the time. It remains to be seen how Apple approaches this issue.
5x Telephoto Lens for iPhone 16 Pro, Minor Improvements
Like the ProMotion, the telephoto cameras are exclusive to the iPhone Pro. That will be the case this generation as well, but at least the two Pro models will be closer to each other. Previously, only the Pro Max had a long 5x telephoto lens.
Now, both the Pro and Pro Max will have a 5x telephoto camera – the same one we got last year, apparently with a 12MP sensor and an f/2.8 aperture. The main camera will also remain unchanged, a 48MP sensor with 0.7µm pixels (and binning to 1.4µm). It will offer a 48MP ProRaw mode, there’s talk of JPEG-XL (as an alternative to HEIF), and a new video mode – 3K at 120fps with Dolby Vision.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
The ultra-wide-angle camera will have the same 12-megapixel sensor, but will get a new lens on the entry-level models – it will have a wider f/2.2 aperture (up from f/2.4) and will have autofocus, just like on the Pro models.
We’ve already mentioned the Capture button above. Since it’s a capacitive button, it will support swipes (e.g. to zoom in and out) and will also be pressure-sensitive, so there’s a virtual half-press for focusing.
Batteries and charging
Apple, like Samsung and Google, simply isn’t a fan of fast-charging phones. Both the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max charged at a leisurely 27W via USB-C and 15W via MagSafe. This year’s models will noticeably increase the power limits, although nothing crazy.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will reportedly support 40W wired charging and 20W MagSafe charging. Okay, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s an increase of 48% and 33%, respectively. That’s more than the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s improvement (23% wired, no Qi charging upgrade), and Samsung hasn’t changed the charging rates for its flagships at all (and hasn’t for a while).
Since the two Pro phones are bigger, we expect bigger batteries too, right? Well, yes, but only slightly – the table below compares to previous models and shows only minor improvements.
| Capacity | Wired charging | MagSafe charging | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 15 Pro | 3274mAh | 27W | 15 In |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 3355mAh | 40 W | 20 W |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 4441mAh | 27W | 15 In |
| iPhone 16 Pro Max | 4676mAh | 40 W | 20 W |
Increased production, professionals from India
You may or may not care, but it’s worth mentioning. Apple is expected to continue expanding its manufacturing base in India, and this year, for the first time, Pro models will be made in the country. Previously, Indian factories only made regular iPhones. India is expected to account for 25% of total iPhone production next year.
The move will help boost sales in the country, but also overall production volume — Apple reportedly plans to produce more iPhones this year, mostly focused on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. The goal is to make around 90.1 million in total, up from 86.2 million last year. The non-Pro duo will apparently account for around 33% of production, with the rest going to the Pros.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max alone is expected to account for 37% of total units sold (33.2 million units, up from 24.2 million for the previous Pro Max model), while the 16 Pro should account for 30% of sales, selling 26.6 million units (up from 21.8 million for the 15 Pro).
What happens next?
Since we know most of you don’t upgrade your phone every year, it’s important that we mention what’s next – of course, this is just speculation, but some may decide to put off their purchase until next year.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max could get a 48MP periscope camera for excellent zooming. That leak came from late 2023, though, so plans may have changed since then — it also mentioned that the iPhone 16 Pro phones would have 48MP ultra-wide cameras, which won’t happen. All four iPhone 17 models are expected to have 24MP selfie cameras, up from the current 12MP.
As mentioned above, the iPhone 17 Pro Max could get 12GB of RAM (but not the smaller 17 Pro). The Pro models could also get an exclusive chipset, the first chip from TSMC’s 2nm foundry.
