Renowned tech journalist Gurman: iPhone 16 series will have minor adjustments, Apple's sales will remain stable

According to Zhītōng Finance, renowned tech journalist Mark Gurman revealed that Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) will maintain stable sales of the iPhone 16 until next year when more innovative models are launched. Additionally, Gurman pointed out that a smaller Mac mini is currently in development, the photo app for iOS 18 is undergoing changes, and Apple's AI feature, Apple Intelligence, still has a long way to go to achieve the market's expectations.

Since Apple revamped the entire iPhone series in 2020 (introducing a new design and 5G connectivity), this device has not undergone any major changes. This trend will continue when the iPhone 16 is launched later this year.

Although the iPhone 15 Pro introduced a titanium exterior last year, it remains largely similar to the 14 series. While the iPhone 14 Pro added the Dynamic Island — hailed as a new interface — it did not bring significant changes compared to the 13 Pro, which was just a minor adjustment to the 12.

The iPhone 16 series this year will follow this pattern. The four new models — likely to be named iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max — do not appear significantly different from the current versions and will not introduce major new features.

Updates on the 16 Series

Apple's main selling point will be the AI feature, Apple Intelligence, which is the company's new suite of artificial intelligence functions. All iPhone 16 models will come equipped with Apple Intelligence, but the iPhone 15 Pro version can also utilize this feature. Gurman commented, "It's hard to say how attractive this really is; as I said last week, I don't think these features alone are a reason for an upgrade."

The standard version of the iPhone 16 will add a gesture button, a feature already present in last year's high-end version. However, Apple will introduce a more customizable control center and changeable lock screen options in iOS 18, which may reduce the importance of the gesture button.

Speaking of buttons, there will be a new camera control on the right side of the phone (at least on the new Pro models). It functions like a button on a digital SLR camera, allowing you to trigger autofocus with a slight press. You can also slide the button to zoom in or out while taking photos and videos.

Another change that may only appear on the Pro models is a slightly larger screen. The Pro will increase from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches, while the Pro Max will go from 6.7 inches to 6.9 inches.

As usual, there will be color updates. For the Pro models, blue is expected to be replaced, and the once popular rose gold from a few years ago will make a comeback. They will also be equipped with the new A18 chip. All four models will now have 8GB of memory, the minimum requirement for running Apple Intelligence These are all nice upgrades, but they may not be necessary. Gurman believes that the new models will not bring a gold rush to Apple. Moreover, the company has not provided the latest financial guidance - the company has refused to predict the sales growth of the current quarter's iPhones. If Apple expects substantial growth, we may get some hints.

Future Products

But there will definitely be bigger changes in the iPhone product line next year. Gurman confirmed the existence of the ultra-thin iPhone 17 and wrote that their idea is to create some form of "Air" iPhone, a product that falls between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. He expects this new ultra-thin model to be "more popular" than the iPhone 12/13 mini and iPhone 14/15/16 Plus.

Gurman predicts that next year, Apple will once again try a fourth concept model. This time, the approach is: a thinner design. Apple's idea is to create an "Air" version similar to the iPhone, positioned between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. The most appropriate comparison may be the first generation MacBook Air over a decade ago, which fell between the regular MacBook and MacBook Pro.

In addition, he also described some details about other future iPhone models. Gurman revealed that Apple hopes to integrate Pro-level performance into smaller models, a goal that the company may not achieve until at least 2027. With a thinner form factor, Apple may introduce an iPhone Ultra model, which is more attractive than the rumored iPhone 17 Slim.

The combination of the new SE and ultra-thin models may be enough to restore meaningful growth to the iPhone in 2025. Gurman believes that Air-style phones will be more popular than Mini and Plus phones in recent years.

But even this thinner entry is just a step towards something better. Ultimately, Apple hopes to compress Pro features into this smaller design. This feat may not be achieved until at least 2027. Gurman also predicts that Apple will release a foldable iPhone, but all internal signs indicate that a foldable iPad is equally important. This means we may soon see a foldable tablet version.

In any case, these choices will take several years. In the short term, consumers will see a familiar scene: an iPhone that looks very similar to last year's model.

Gurman also revealed that the iPhone SE 4 not only looks like the iPhone 14, but also has a clearer OLED display across the entire device, and will support Apple Intelligence, which means this new device is expected to be equipped with a high-performance chip, marking the first upgrade to its low-end phones since 2022