The new iPhone is nearly here! Should you consider upgrading?

As you may already have heard, the arrival date for the new iPhone 16 range was announced on Sept 10.

Pre-orders for the new iPhones open on Friday 13th September AEST (from 10pm), with the new range available in Apple stores from Friday 20th September.

​Also announced last Tuesday was the arrival date for iOS/iPadOS 18 - which will be early morning on Tuesday September 17th (AEST).

The big question I have been asking myself is whether I should upgrade my current iPhone to one of the iPhone 16 range. Maybe you are wondering the same.

I have read mixed opinions on this - some saying that this is definitely one to get, and others saying that it might be worth waiting until next year for the iPhone 17 range.

It is a big expense, and no-one likes spending lots of money on a device that seems to be quickly superseded.

In fact, those of you who purchased the iPhone 15 last year (or this year) will find that this device, though relatively new, will not be able to use any of the new AI features. Only the iPhone 15 Pro models will have the AI capabilities.

The pricing for the new range on iPhones is apparently slightly lower than that which applied to the iPhone 15 range. These prices can be viewed by visiting this page on the Apple Online Store.

On one hand, this new iPhone is a major leap ahead for Apple due to the inclusion of AI (which Apple calls 'Apple Intelligence) features - and these look impressive. But some say that might be worth waiting for the 'second generation' of AI iPhone next year, rather than jumping in and getting the 'first generation'. There are also rumours that the iPhone 17 will be 'ultra-thin' when compared to its predecessors.

Here are a couple of articles for you to read and decide for yourself:

• Four reasons I'm not upgrading to an iPhone 16 Pro from my iPhone 14
• iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Should you upgrade to the latest model?

Here are some things that will factor into my own decision on whether to upgrade my current iPhone 12 Pro to the new iPhone 16.

Current iPhone age

My current iPhone 12 Pro is nearly 4 years old, so I had thought I would probably upgrade this year. If I had a newer model of iPhone, I think I would find it harder to justify the upgrade - unless I really wanted to take advantage of new features, some of which are listed below.

​Longer Battery Life

Even though I replaced my iPhone 12 Pro's battery about 15 months ago, it still often needs a charge during the day or at the end of the day. So I am very keen on the idea of a longer battery life. The iPhone 16 Pro models especially will provide several hours extra of usage when compared to my current iPhone.

Here's an article that compares the different batteries for the iPhone 16 models against past models:

• iPhone 16 battery life: How much better is it?

New Buttons

One of the features that attracts me to the new iPhone range is an extra Camera Control button on the outside, for taking photos/videos and for controlling the settings before you take the photo/video - something that looks like it will be fantastic if you value your iPhone as a camera (which I certainly do).  

And there is the Action Button that arrived with the iPhone 15 Pro range - which is now available for the full iPhone 16 range.

Here's an article about these buttons:

• Here's What the New iPhone 16 Camera Control Button Can Do

Better Camera

While the camera on my iPhone 12 Pro has served me very well, I'm sure I would notice a big difference in the camera features of the new iPhone 16 - a 48 megapixel camera than includes a new ultra-wide lens, 5x zoom, and auto-focus.

Here's are a couple of articles that talk about the camera on the new range of iPhones:

• iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max hands-on: don’t call it a shutter button
• All the iPhone 16 Camera Upgrades
• What's New With the Camera App in iOS 18

AI Features

Of course, some of the most talked about features or the new range are the AI capabilities - most of which are not available  not available until later this year.

There will be the ability to 'cleanup' photos that will also be very useful - to remove people and objects from photos (which Google Photos has been able to do for a while now!).  It will be interesting to see how Apple's 'cleanup' feature compares to Google's.

There will be Writing Tools, a smarter Siri, summarisation of text, new Mail features, transcription summaries for audio recordings, and other AI-driven features.

I like that Apple's focus for their AI is on privacy - ensuring that a lot is done on then device only, using data on that device, and not shared elsewhere. Here's what they say:
"Apple Intelligence is designed to protect your privacy at every step. It’s integrated into the core of your iPhone, iPad and Mac through on-device processing. So it’s aware of your personal information without collecting your personal information. And with groundbreaking Private Cloud Compute, Apple Intelligence can draw on larger server-based models, running on Apple silicon, to handle more complex requests for you while protecting your privacy."

You will also be able to choose whether to also utilise ChatGPT for more AI features integrated into Siri and Writing Tools. You will be asked before any information is shared. And this use of ChatGPT will be free - no account will be required. Learn more here:

• What is Apple Intelligence? The new Apple AI coming to your iPhone, iPad and Mac explained

These AI features won't be available until later releases of iOS 18, rumoured for October and December. And the initial releases will be 'beta' releases, meaning that they might still be buggy and evolving. Here is an article on this:

• Here are all the iPhone 16 features that won’t be ready at launch

​So, will I upgrade? And which model would I get (Standard or Pro)

Given that the AI features won't be available until later this year, I am going to hang on to my iPhone 12 Pro for at least a few more months, given that it provides me with all the other non-AI features of iOS 18. 

I will then see how the rollout of the AI features goes, and make a decision later in the year on whether I will upgrade to the iPhone 16 or wait another year for the iPhone 17.

Usually, when I buy a new iPhone, I go for the Pro model. If I do end up ordering the new model. I might just go for the standard model this time.  Here's an article that explains why.

• It's a good year to buy the vanilla iPhone 16

Other new products announced last week

Also announced with the iPhone 16 were new AirPods models and new Apple Watches. Read more about these here:

• Apple introduces all-new AirPods 4 with industry-defining audio and design
• Apple Watch Series 10 unveiled: What's new for Apple's thinnest, lightest watch yet?​
• AirPods Pro's health innovations are more exciting than the iPhone 16​

​
But wait, isn't there more?

The rumours swirling around before the Apple event talked about the possible announcement of new iPad/s, perhaps a new MacBook Pro, and maybe even an all-new HomePod with display.

None of these were announced, leaving the possibility (or likelihood) of a further set of announcements in October - which will most likely include the announcement of the release date for the next operating system for Mac, macOS Sequoia.

Here are some articles on this topic:

• What we did not get at Apple's September event

Need help to decide what to get (or with any other technology question)?

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