iPhone 16: New Features and Pricing Hikes
Apple’s iPhone 16 will bring several new features, from bigger screens to faster chips, but it might also come with a higher price tag due to market changes and production costs.
Apple’s latest offering is the iPhone 16 and it is expected to pack a few mean upgrades. The smartphone market has been one of the fastest to grow in the previous years. The foldable phone, AI machine learning, 5G connectivity, and super-fast refresh rates are some of these changes. Of course, Apple has been quick to learn and adapt. The iPhone 16 will definitely turn the market’s head when it launches on September 20. But that could mean potential price changes as well. Let’s see what we know.
New Features in iPhone 16
A lot of new changes will be coming to iPhone 16, or so say the rumors. We have listed most of them down below.
- Display sizes of the iPhone 16 Pro models
The talk on the internet says that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will have a slight increase in their display size. The current size is 6.12 inches and 6.69 inches respectively for the two Pro models. These will increase to 6.27 inches and 6.86 inches. Of course, once the screen size increases, the phone size will automatically get bigger. - Video capture button
Capture buttons for videos and photos are great for taking selfies. There will be a new Capture button in the new iPhone. You can use it for taking photos and videos in landscape orientation while more granular control to it.
The location of this Capture button will be on the same side of the iPhone, just beside the power button. The button will have pressure sensitivity, which means one button will have multiple functions. The experience of pressing this will be similar to a two-step shutter button used on digital cameras. - Action model on all models
The standard iPhone 16 models will see the mute switch getting replaced by the Action button. This is the same button that was used and introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro models. As for the function of this button, the name tells it all. It performs all sorts of actions. If you want to turn on the camera, launch a Shortcut, enable or disable some mode, like Focus Mode, turn on Translate, switch on/off Silent Mode, or do any other similar task, the Action button will take care of it. - Faster Chips
The evidence, or leaks, suggests that every phone in the iPhone 16’s lineup will be fitted with the A18 chip. The same leaks also tell us that the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max models will feature an “A18 Pro” chip. But the entire chipset over all the models has the same chip identifiers.
So how do we differentiate between the processors of the Pro and the base models? Well, the A18 chip might have some binned or disabled modules. Also, the A18 Pro chip might have an enhanced Neural Engine and a lot more cores. More cores essentially lead to better machine learning capacity, meaning Apple Intelligence will function that much better. - Camera enhancements
In the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, it is expected that the layout would be vertical, like what was in the iPhone 12. This change, or reversion, potentially has implications for the spatial video recording with the Ultrawide and Wide cameras.
For the iPhone 16 Pro models, a 48-megapixel Ultra Wide lens will be featured. Given such high numbers, the photos clicked from this camera will be of superior quality, even in low lighting conditions. The Ultra Wide lens will probably work in tandem with the 48-megapixel Wide camera. Apple employs clever technology to improve the camera quality called pixel binning. This process combines the data of four pixels into one “super pixel,” thereby improving the image quality. - Faster Wi-Fi
WiFi is always getting faster. So it is not a big surprise to hear that Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the iPhone 16 Pro models will adopt the next-generation WiFi 7 technology. The speed of this WiFi is “at least 30” GB/s and could go up to 40 GB/s. This might be limited to the Pro models, but not to worry because the base models will feature WiFi 6E which supports the 6GHz Wi-Fi band.
iPhone 16 Pricing
Apple has always been consistent with the upgrades to the hardware and software of newer iPhones. However, they’ve always managed to keep the prices more or less steady as well. But that trend might change with the launch of the iPhone 16. The smartphone market is in flux and Apple might well have no choice but to increase their prices, given the global economic situation.
The cost of producing iPhones has increased over the years. Apple spent $423 to manufacture the standard iPhone 15, which was a 16% increase over the iPhone 14’s cost. The iPhone 15 Plus’s initial cost was $442, a 10% hike from its predecessor. The iPhone 15 Pro came up to $523, which was an 8% increase. In the face of all these statistics, it is only fair that Apple increases iPhone 16’s retail price.
Then again, Apple might choose not to do that given the rising cost of living. Resellers in China have had difficulty moving stock without any promotional discounts. Or the company could remove certain parts so that people are essentially paying more without knowing it, as was the case with the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year.
Well, whether or not Apple increases the price, the iPhone 16 will be a significant turn for the company.
