There are just a few hours left until “it’s glowtime”, so let’s recap what to expect. In case you missed it, we’ve already covered the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus rumors and leaks, here we’ll discuss everything we (think) we know about the two Pro models.
The event will start at 5 PM UTC and we’ll be covering all the new launches. Until then, here’s a summary of everything that happened over the past few months.
Yacht
Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will begin tomorrow, if not today then later. We’re expecting possibly two weeks of pre-orders, so the first shipments and in-store availability should be on September 20 (Apple always picks Fridays).
The major upgrade for iOS 18, Apple Intelligence, has missed the deadline and will come later as part of iOS 18.1. This is why Apple has two beta branches being tested simultaneously. Apparently Apple 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 pictures of iPhone 16 Pro Max dummies and if not for the new color (gold, not brown), we could have been fooled into believing they were simply the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Speaking of colors, there’s Titanium Black and Titanium White, as well as Titanium Silver and Titanium Gold. A Rose option was rumored, but there’s no photographic evidence of such a color. If you want the color, you’ll want to get the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus instead.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Dummy in White, Black, Silver and Gold Colour
The gold colour model also appeared in a short unboxing video, where it is labelled “Desert Titanium” (this colour was apparently inspired by the sand of the Sahara Desert). This video offers the barest glimpse of the front of the phone – well, the front of the retail box, which has an image of the front of the phone – which shows that nothing much has changed. The Dynamic Island remains in place, apparently no smaller than last year.
Size comparison between the four iPhone 16 models
Apple has made a slight change to the design, but it is not immediately obvious. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will reportedly have the world’s thinnest bezels, but still, the phone will be slightly larger. The reason for this will become clear when you move 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 |
| weight | 187 grams | 194 grams | 221 grams | 225 grams |
Large Displays
Both iPhone Pros retain exclusivity on ProMotion panels, meaning if you want 120Hz LTPO, you’ll get the Pro model. Both vanilla phones will continue to use the older 60Hz technology for another year. But this year the two pairs will diverge even further as they will no longer offer the same screen sizes.
iPhone 16 Pro Max Retail Package
The iPhone 16 Pro will have a 6.3″ display, while the vanilla 16 will have a 6.1″ display. The iPhone 16 Pro Max will be the largest iPhone ever with a 6.9″ display – up from the 6.7″ display on the previous Pro Max and the upcoming Plus. The resolution will probably be increased slightly to keep the pixel density the same as before.
In the previous section we mentioned that the bezels will be thinner to balance out some of the enlargement from the larger display – not so much that it’s completely gone but still. Compared to last year’s model, the iPhone Pro’s bezels will shrink from 1.71mm to 1.2mm, while the Pro Max’s bezels will shrink from 1.55mm to 1.15mm.
Here is a mockup that Ice universe Created to show the difference:
iPhone 16 Pro Max (left) vs iPhone 15 Pro Max (right) bezels
We don’t know why so few photos (or videos) have been leaked showing the front of the iPhone Pro, but it’s clear that any major changes to the Dynamic Island will have to wait until next year (it will reportedly get narrower).
Action and Capture buttons
The side view of the dummy shows temporarily named Action and Capture buttons, which will trigger a custom action and act as a camera shutter key, respectively. However, this does mean that the alert slider will be removed.
All four iPhone 16 models will have an action button
and a capture button
Apparently, the capture button will be more like a capacitive trackpad than a physical button, allowing for swiping gestures – for example, it could be used to control zoom.
Apple A18 chipset and AI for everyone
Last year both Pro phones were powered by the Apple A17 Pro chipset, while the two vanilla models had to reuse last year’s A16. This and the smaller amount of RAM means the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus won’t get Apple intelligence.
Again, we suspect this will be a major part of the presentation later today and will also be a major part of the marketing of the new 16-Series, so all four models will need to have it.
This means all four iPhone 16 models will run the Apple A18 chipset. They may not be identical, for example, the Pro models may have more GPU cores. The NPUs will likely be similar so that on-device AI tasks feel equally fast.
These may also have the same amount of RAM, 8GB. We have seen leaks that claim this capacity for the two vanilla models and there are no credible rumors that the Pro is getting 12GB. 12GB may have to wait for the 17-series and even then it may be reserved for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The AI models require a lot of RAM to run and Google has also reserved a chunk of extra RAM on the Pixel 9 phones to keep the models loaded at all times. We will see how Apple tackles this problem.
5x tele camera for iPhone 16 Pro, minor upgrade
Just like the ProMotion, telephoto cameras are exclusive to the iPhone Pros. That will be the case for this generation as well, but at least the two Pros will be brought closer together. Previously, only the Pro Max had a longer 5x tele lens.
Now, both the Pro and Pro Max will have a 5x telephoto camera – the same as last year, obviously, with a 12MP sensor and f/2.8 aperture. The main camera will also remain unchanged, a 48MP sensor with 0.7µm pixels (and binning down to 1.4µm). It will offer a 48MP ProRaw mode, JPEG-XL (as an alternative to HEIF) and a new video mode – there’s talk of 3K at 120fps with Dolby Vision.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
The ultra-wide camera will have the same 12MP sensor, but will get a new lens over the vanilla model – it will have a wider f/2.2 aperture (up from f/2.4) and have autofocus, just like the Pro model.
We’ve already mentioned the capture button above. Since it’s a capacitive button, it will support swipes (such as to zoom in and out) and it will also be pressure-sensitive, so there will be a virtual half-press to focus.
Battery and charging
Like Samsung and Google, Apple is not a fan of fast charging for phones. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max both charged at a slow 27W over USB-C and 15W over MagSafe. This year’s model will see a significant increase in power limits, although not by much.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max phones will reportedly support 40W wired and 20W MagSafe charging. OK, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but it represents an increase of 48% and 33%, respectively. That’s more than the Pixel 9 Pro XL upgrade (23% wired, no upgrade for Qi charging), Samsung hasn’t changed the charging rates for its flagships at all (and it hasn’t for a while).
Since both Pro phones are bigger, we’d expect to see bigger batteries too, right? Well, yes, but just a little – the table below compares with previous models and shows only minor improvements.
| Capacity | Wired Charging | MagSafe Charging | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 15 Pro | 3,274mAh | 27W | 15W |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 3,355mAh | 40W | 20W |
| iphone 15 pro max | 4,441mAh | 27W | 15W |
| iphone 16 pro max | 4,676mAh | 40W | 20W |
Increase in production, benefits from India
You may or may not care about this, but it’s worth mentioning. Apple is expected to continue expanding its production base in India and this year will see Pro models made in the country for the first time. Previously, only vanilla iPhones were made in Indian factories. By early next year, India is expected to account for 25% of total iPhone production.
The move will help boost sales in the country, as well as increase overall production volumes – Apple is reportedly planning to make more iPhones this year, focusing mostly on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. The target is around 90.1 million in total, up from 86.2 million last year. The non-Pro pair will apparently make up around 33% of production, with the rest going to the Pro.
Sales of the iPhone 16 Pro Max alone are expected to account for 37% of total sales (33.2 million units, up from 24.2 million for the previous Pro Max), while the 16 Pro will account for 30% of the mix with 26.6 million units (up from 21.8 million for the 15 Pro).
what comes next
Since we know most of you don’t upgrade your phones every year, it’s important to explain what’s coming next – of course, this is just pure speculation, but some people might decide to wait another year.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max could get a 48MP periscope camera for better zooming. However, this leak was from late 2023, so plans may have changed since then – it also mentioned that the iPhone 16 Pro phones would have 48MP ultra-wide cameras and that’s not happening. 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 model could also get an exclusive chipset, which would be the first chip from TSMC’s 2nm foundry.
