Why Tim Cook thinks you’ll upgrade to an iPhone 16 model; is he right?

After Apple's earnings announcement was released on Thursday, Tim Cook was on a conference call with Wall Street analysts and some media types. As is typical during these post-earnings report calls, representatives of both Wall Street and Main Street wanted to get Cook to reveal exactly how many iPhone 16 series purchases he expects will come from upgrades this year. And just as typical was the executive's tight-lipped non-response.

With approximately 1.5 billion active iPhone models worldwide (which is nearly 22% of all smartphones used globally), Apple counts on a certain percentage of these users to upgrade every year and this year, the company is even giving some users an incentive to upgrade with Apple Intelligence. Because Apple's AI initiative requires a minimum of 8GB of  RAM to run, of current models, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max support Apple Intelligence.

All four iPhone 16 models, the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, will sport 8GB of RAM this year which means that all of the new 2024 iPhones will work with Apple Intelligence. While it might be unfair to iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus owners, if they want to experience at least some of Apple's new AI capabilities this year, they will be forced to upgrade to a new iPhone 16 model.  Tim Cook might be biased but he believes that the value of Apple Intelligence is high enough to make it an incentive for users of older models to upgrade.

Besides Apple Intelligence, there are some nice changes coming to the iPhone 16 series. First, the Pro models will have larger screens with the iPhone 16 Pro's display going from 6.1 inches to 6.3 inches. The iPhone 16 Pro Max becomes the largest-screened iPhone of all time with a 6.9-inch display up from 6.7 inches. Both models will be equipped with the Tetraprism periscope lens (delivering an optical 5x zoom) that debuted last year on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be powered by the A18 Pro application processor (AP) built by TSMC using its second-generation 3nm process node (N3E). The upcoming iPhone 16 Pro models might also feature a 48MP Ultra-wide camera.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will have the rear camera alignment changed from diagonal to vertical in order to snap and shoot images and video that show up in 3D on the Vision Pro spatial computer. The two non-Pro models will get the Action button from the iPhone 15 Pro series that allows users to activate a pre-selected feature with a tap of the button. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be powered by the 3nm A18 AP.

All four 2024 iPhones will have the new Capture button which will allow users to zoom in or out by swiping on it, and snap a photo or start recording by pressing on it. The new iPhone 16 series will be unveiled early next month (!) and could be released later the same month.