Apple will launch the iPhone 16 series within its traditional September timeframe this year, despite the absence of Apple Intelligence in the initial public release of iOS 18.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says his sources indicate that the iPhone launch will occur around the same time as last year, with Tuesday, September 10, suggested as a potential launch day.
Apple will ship the new iPhone lineup with its latest iOS 18 operating system, but users will not receive Apple’s initial set of AI features, collectively dubbed Apple Intelligence, until the release of iOS 18.1 a few weeks later in October.
Apple and its investors are counting on Apple Intelligence to be a significant draw that will attract new and upgrading iPhone customers, particularly since only the Pro models in the current iPhone 15 lineup are capable of powering the new features. However, the company is not planning to delay the launch of the iPhone 16 series to coincide with the availability of Apple Intelligence.
Gurman notes that ahead of the 2011 launch of the iPhone, Apple chose to postpone the device’s release from its then-usual June timing to October to align it with the availability of iCloud and Siri, which were new online services at the time. This year, however, Gurman does not see the delayed arrival of Apple Intelligence as being a significant enough issue to change Apple’s hardware launch plans, especially since the initial tools that will be rolled out aren’t particularly game-changing on their own.
Apple Intelligence features in the iOS 18.1 beta include Writing Tools for proofreading, rewriting, and summarizing text, a new Siri interface with Type to Siri, Mail and Messages app improvements like summarizing emails and Smart Reply, phone call recording, and audio transcription in Notes and other apps.
Some of the more significant and compelling Apple Intelligence features that Apple plans to introduce at a later date include Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration with Siri, priority notifications, and several other additions.
