iPhone 16 Ultra Leaks Summary Fully loaded configuration, same price as the Max version?

Summary iPhone 16 Ultra leaks suggest it will have a fully loaded configuration but the same price as the Max version

【phoneauto】The product lineup of the iPhone 15 series remains unchanged this year, including the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max. However, with the launch of the iPhone 16 Ultra, this product combination may change in 2024. There are rumors that Apple is developing a high-end smartphone and plans to release it as early as 2024.

Similar to the relationship between the standard version of the Apple Watch and the Apple Watch Ultra, the iPhone 16 Ultra is an upgrade to the current Pro models, offering more features and a higher price.

Although it is still in the early stage of rumors, it is rumored that the iPhone 16 Ultra may have a larger display than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, solid-state buttons, and some camera upgrades. Here is what we currently know.

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Discussions about the Ultra version can be traced back to 2022 when Mark Gurman of Bloomberg predicted that the iPhone 16 Ultra would be released in the “coming years” after the Apple Watch Ultra. There were many leaks before that claimed Apple would rename the iPhone 15 Pro Max as the iPhone 15 Ultra, but the results showed that this change did not happen in 2023.

As for Gurman, he does not believe that Apple will release the Ultra version this year. Instead, in a report in February 2022, Gurman stated that Apple is “working on a more high-end Ultra version that could be released as early as 2024 while adding more exclusive features to the Pro Max.”

Since the release of the iPhone 15 series, there have been no signs of an Ultra version, so the earliest appearance of the Ultra version may be in the fall of 2024. We can expect to see the iPhone 16 Ultra along with other models of the iPhone 16 series released in September 2024 at the earliest.

If we don’t know the release date of the iPhone 16 Ultra and are even unsure if it will be released in 2024, then we are even more uncertain about the price. The price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max has increased by $100 this year, reaching $1199 (starting price in the domestic market is 9999 yuan). This seems to set a bottom line for the price of the iPhone 16 Ultra, especially if the Ultra eventually replaces the Pro Max as Apple’s high-end smartphone.

iPhone 15 series global prices (partial)

Currently, the starting price of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $799, which is $400 more expensive than the Apple Watch Series 9. If Apple applies the same pricing strategy to its phone series, the Ultra model will be priced at $1399, as this is $400 higher than the starting price of the iPhone 15 Pro (which should be even more expensive in China).

This would not make the iPhone 16 Ultra the most expensive smartphone, as Samsung and Google’s foldable phones are priced at $1799, but it would exceed the budget of most users, so the possibility is not very high.

It is speculated that the price of the iPhone 16 Ultra may be similar to that of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The biggest rumor about the iPhone 16 Ultra is that the new device’s display will increase from the 6.7-inch of the iPhone 15 Pro Max to 6.9 inches. This would be the largest screen in iPhone history.

As for the display of the iPhone 16 Ultra itself, there was a rumor before the release of the iPhone 15 series that Apple might use a brighter Samsung panel. It turned out that the peak brightness of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the same as that of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, still the highest outdoor brightness of 2000 nits. However, the iPhone 16 Ultra may switch to a brighter panel, especially considering that Google’s Pixel 8 Pro already has a peak brightness of 2400 nits.

Another rumor about the iPhone 15 Pro may also be carried over to the iPhone 16 Ultra. Some people hoped that Apple’s new phone would adopt solid-state buttons. These buttons would not have the “physical movement” like the current volume buttons, but would indicate a press through haptic feedback.

Although the new operating buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro series provide haptic feedback, it has been reported that Apple encountered technical issues when attempting to mass-produce solid-state buttons. Perhaps Apple will find a solution to apply it widely in the iPhone 16 Ultra.

There have been rumors about a buttonless iPhone for many years. If it is really going to happen, it is most likely to be implemented on the Ultra version.

In fact, according to MacRumors, we can see another button on the right side of the iPhone 16 Ultra, which is rumored to be called the “Capture button”. It can be dedicated to the camera or other functions, but there are not many details at this point.

One major improvement in the camera aspect of the iPhone 15 series is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max adopts a periscope zoom lens, which enhances its optical zoom capability to 5x (while the more traditional zoom lens on the iPhone 15 Pro still provides 3x zoom). With the release of the iPhone 16, it is rumored that all iPhone 16 Pro models will adopt periscope lenses, and the iPhone 16 Ultra may also have the same configuration but with stronger zoom capability to challenge the 10x optical zoom of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Other rumors about the camera of the iPhone 16 suggest that the main 48-megapixel camera may be equipped with a larger sensor to capture more light, and the pixel count of the ultra-wide-angle lens may increase to 48 million as well. The iPhone 16 Ultra should also have these two changes.

With the debut of the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro series, it can be deduced logically that the iPhone 16 Ultra will use the top-level chip developed by Apple for the next flagship phone, possibly the A18 Pro, although there are still few rumors about this chip.

According to MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu stated that all iPhone 16 models will adopt some form of the A18 chip, while the more powerful A18 Pro will be reserved for the iPhone 16 Pro series.

It is understood that the iPhone 15 Pro model is equipped with 8GB of RAM. For an Ultra model, 8GB of RAM should also be the minimum requirement, although many high-end phones offer 12GB of memory. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the first iPhone to offer 256GB of storage space in its base configuration. Similarly, it is expected that the minimum storage space for the iPhone 16 Ultra should also start at 256GB.

Furthermore, there have been rumors that Apple has been developing its own modem for its future iPhones. Although this work may still be ongoing, Qualcomm announced in September that it will supply modems to Apple until 2026. If the iPhone 16 Ultra is launched next year, it means it will be equipped with a modem supplied by Qualcomm.

Battery life has always been a prominent feature of the Apple Watch Ultra, with double the battery life compared to the standard version of the Apple Watch. Currently, there are no rumors about the battery of the iPhone 16 Ultra, but it can be imagined that Apple will likely make it the longest-lasting iPhone.

The iPhone 16 Ultra faces a high threshold, largely due to the improvements Apple made to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The device is equipped with the highest-end chip, a stronger telephoto lens, larger storage capacity, and long-lasting battery life, making it the “ultimate iPhone” that users can buy. How will the Ultra version surpass it?

As rumors about the iPhone 16 Ultra gradually increase in the future, we can expect to discover more information about the device.

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