Predicting most of the specs of a new iPhone is difficult until details leak out. Predicting the release date, however, is a lot easier, because Apple generally sticks to a pattern.
While no actual iPhone 16 release dates have leaked yet, we can take a pretty good guess at when these phones — which include the iPhone 16 itself, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max — are likely to launch.
Below, you’ll find our predictions for the iPhone 16 announcement date, when the iPhone 16 line will be available for pre-order, and when the phones will actually be available to buy.
iPhone 16 announcement date predictions
Apple typically announces new iPhones in September; the iPhone 15 series, for example, will be unveiled on September 12, 2023.
More specifically, the company typically uses the first or second week of September to make its announcement, and its preferred day is Tuesday. That makes the most likely announcement date this year either September 3 or 10.
However, Apple sometimes holds its events on Wednesdays as well, in which case September 4 and 11 are also possible announcement dates.
Of course, it’s always possible that Apple will break with tradition this year, as it has done before, with the iPhone 12 line announced in October of the year it was released.
But that seems unlikely, especially since iPhone 16 production was on track to begin in May, so there would be no obvious reason for a delay. So for now, the dates above are our best guesses, with either September 3rd or September 10th being the most likely.
iPhone 16 pre-order date predictions
Apple typically opens pre-orders for its new phones on the Friday of the week they’re announced. So if the company announces the iPhone 16 line on September 3 or 4, pre-orders would likely open on September 6.
If, on the other hand, the phones are announced on September 10 or 11, you can expect pre-orders to start on September 13.
These predictions assume that our announcement date predictions are correct. If Apple chooses a different day to announce the iPhone 16, the pre-order date will likely be different as well.
iPhone 16 Shipping Date Predictions
Apple also follows a predictable pattern for the date its new phones ship and go on general sale, which is typically a week after pre-orders open.
So if pre-orders open on September 6 as predicted above, then the iPhone 16 will likely go on sale on Friday, September 13. However, if pre-orders start on September 13, then the phones will likely ship the following Friday, September 20.
But again, this assumes our pre-order date predictions are correct, which in turn assumes our announcement date predictions are correct. So there’s a chance Apple could deviate from these dates.
Will all four expected iPhone 16 models release at the same time?
Given the previous developments, we certainly expect all four models to be announced at the same time. There is also a good chance that they will all be released at the same time.
The only reason this wouldn’t be the case is if Apple runs into production issues, as happened with the iPhone 12 series. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max didn’t ship until almost a month after the other models.
There have been no reports of production issues with the iPhone 16 series so far, so we don’t expect any delays for any model.