Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 will feature Apple Intelligence AI, a smarter Siri and battery improvements, industry insiders report.
iFixit
Apple is primed to announce its newest iPhone in September, and industry insiders are dropping clues about the upgrade.
The iPhone 16 isn't here yet, but Apple Intelligence — the company's official entrance into the artificial intelligence arms race — will likely be the centerpiece of the launch versus any major hardware changes.
According to Bloomberg, Apple Intelligence will be free at first, but subscription options might become available for those who want more AI capabilities on their device. Smartphone owners will have to upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro or later if they want to use Apple Intelligence.
One of the other adjustments will be to virtual assistant Siri, which should become even smarter with iOS 18 thanks to Apple Intelligence and an OpenAI partnership, the company announced at its Worldwide Developer Conference in June.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a Taiwan-based analyst known for his Apple predictions, also said in May that the iPhone 16 Pro Max's battery will differ from previous models.
In a blog post, Kuo said that the energy density of the battery cells will increase in the device, which suggests that it will either have a longer battery life or the battery itself could be smaller.
Such changes would likely raise the battery temperature, Kuo said, but Apple might combat this with a stainless steel battery case — a first for the company.
The tweaks to the iPhone 16's battery will also help Apple comply with European Union regulations that require all smartphones to have replaceable batteries by 2027 since it would become easier to remove.
The stainless steel case "allows Apple to increase the battery cell density by 5-10% while meeting safety requirements, achieving two goals at once," Kuo said in an X post.
