Apple has confirmed that its next big product unveiling will take place on September 9. Titled 'It's Glowtime', the event will almost certainly bring official news of the iPhone 16 lineup, which we expect to include the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
We don't think we're the only ones looking forward to seeing official specs for Apple's top-of-the-range smartphones, as the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max were the two best-selling smartphones worldwide in 2023.
If, as we predict, resource-intensive artificial intelligence in the form of Apple Intelligence is coming to the iPhone soon, it will be crucial for Apple to ensure its best iPhones have the power to handle these new features.
Naturally, leaks and rumors about iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max spec sheets have been circulating for a while now, and below we've rounded up the most relevant predictions about Apple's upcoming powerhouse phones.
Incremental internal updates
We're expecting to see some changes to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in the chipset and storage departments, but nothing as revolutionary as on the software front.
The new iPhone Pros will likely receive a new 'A18 Pro' SoC, which offers a performance boost compared to the A17 Pro chip found in the previous generation, especially When it comes to AI.
According Geek Test BenchThe iPhone 15 Pro saw an 11.4% increase in single-core CPU performance and a 7.5% increase in multi-core CPU performance compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, with similar changes for the Pro Max.
If the trend continues, we can expect a small but noticeable improvement in performance from the supposed 'A18 Pro' – of course, we'll do our own testing once we have the new iPhones in hand.
As for RAM, we don't expect any changes from last year, and one leak even specified Paired the A18 Pro with 8GB of RAMThis has raised Questions about the iPhone 16 Pro's ability to handle AIWhile the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are expected to match the Pro models with 8GB of RAM, it's possible that Apple Intelligence is optimizing for this amount of memory.
There may be a bit more movement when it comes to storage. We expect to see the same 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options, though a leaker with a mixed track record suggests a 2TB option will join the lineup.
It's worth noting that the iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely continue to eschew the 128GB option its smaller sibling starts with and instead come with 256GB as a minimum.
Bigger screen, bigger battery
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will likely continue to have OLED panels with an adaptive refresh rate of 1-120Hz (which Apple calls “ProMotion”), but there are some suggestions that the size of these panels could be changing.
In April, leaker Sonny Dickson shared images via X (formerly Twitter) that appeared to show prototypes of the iPhone 16 line, with the Pro models measuring 0.2 inches larger than the previous generation.
This same amount (0.2 inches) was suggested by another leak in October 2023. Other leakers suggest that part of the increase could be due to reduced bezels, which MacRumors proposed could be the thinnest ever seen on a smartphone.
We're expecting Apple to fill that larger frame with a slightly larger battery, with the iPhone 16 Pro's battery increasing from 3,290mAh to 3,355mAh and the iPhone 16 Pro Max's battery increasing from 4,422mAh to 4,676mAh.
Camera Updates
In the case of the iPhone 16 Pro, this larger frame is also rumored to make room for a 5x telephoto lens inherited from the Pro Max, an upgrade from the current 3x lens.
Any potential parity depends on whether the iPhone 16 Pro Max will get the 'super telephoto lens'camera suggested by an old leak, which could finally allow Apple to challenge the 10x lenses used by Samsung and Huawei.
Other rumored iPhone 16 Pro camera upgrades include a larger sensor, a bump from 12MP to 48MP for the ultra wide cameraa new one Lens coating that reduces artifactsand a 'stacked camera' design that could allow for much more light to be captured. The front camera is unlikely to change, meaning any sharper selfies would be a product of better software or AI.
These rumors come from various sources with different backgrounds. For a detailed breakdown, be sure to check out our dedicated article iPhone 16 Pro cameras page.
