We might be saying goodbye to these Apple devices as soon as next week

This coming week, when Apple introduces the iPhone 16 series, it will discontinue last year's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, 2022's iPhone 14 Plus, and 2021's iPhone 13. This isn't terribly surprising since Apple has typically stopped producing and selling the previous year's Pro models while introducing the new line. For example, last year it dropped the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max when it announced the iPhone 15 line.

When Apple introduced the iPhone 14 line in 2022, it got rid of the iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max and, the iPhone 12 mini. While removing the previous year's Pro models is an Apple tradition, this year the practice has a little more meaning because the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are currently the only two iPhone models that support Apple's Apple Intelligence AI initiative. Of course, this will change when the 2024 phones are released since all of the phones in the iPhone 16 series will support Apple Intelligence.

By not keeping the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max around for another year, Apple is not giving consumers a chance to save some money and experience its AI initiative. But there is no need to get bummed out totally. After all, you're sure to find the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max still available on eBay and even through some carriers. You just won't find it available from Apple.

Regardless of whether you end up with an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any of the four iPhone 16 models, unless you install the iOS 18.1 Beta you won't be able to run Apple Intelligence until the stable version of iOS 18.1 is released in October. I've been running the iOS 18.1 Developer Beta on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and the most useful AI features thus far have been the summaries that can be created for webpages, emails, and texts. You can also change the tone of emails and texts you write to make them more concise, more professional, and more friendly.

What I'm looking forward to is the integration between Siri and ChatGPT that will allow Siri to turn to the chatbot when she is stumped by a query. No more will Siri throw three websites at you and ask you to find the answer. Genmoji creates custom emojis based on your descriptions, and the Image Playground can help you create a sketch in Messages, Notes, Keynote, Pages, and more.

We might also be saying goodbye next week to the Apple Watch Series 9, the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the Apple Watch SE 2. Considering that the Apple Watch SE 3 could be getting a plastic build and a lower price point, this is one new device that could be priced lower than the model it is replacing (although to be honest, that is unlikely).

Apple is reportedly planning on bringing two new AirPods 4 variants to the market. One lower-priced model will carry basic specs while a more premium version is expected to feature Active Noise Cancelation. With these two models en route, the AirPods 2 and AirPods 3 will probably be removed from Apple's lineup.

A new iPad mini, the seventh-generation model, could make it to the September 9th event or be introduced during the first half of 2025. Either way, the tablet will support Apple Intelligence and the Apple Pencil Pro. That means we will say goodbye to the sixth-gen iPad mini as soon as next week. We might also see the basic iPad 10 call it a night after getting replaced with the 11th-generation iPad also possibly set to greet the light of day this coming Monday.

Apple's Glowtime event takes place on Monday, September 9th starting at 10 am PDT/1 pm EDT. We will be covering the event so for news and real-time analysis, stay with us right here at PhoneArena.