Apple will announce its big annual operating system update on June 6 at its WWDC Keynote. No platform is bigger or more important to Apple and its users than the iPhone, and thus no OS update is more important than iOS. Following the fairly successful reception of iOS 15 in 2021, we expect iOS 16 to add lots of new features, albeit without radical design changes.
Currently, little is known about iOS 16, which is slated for 2022. But there are plenty of clues, leaks and concept designs: a guide for iOS 16 and enough for us to combine the capabilities you should have. Expect to add it to your iPhone.
In this article we gather the latest, weirdest and most plausible rumors and ideas from the Internet, outline possible new features, design changes and release date for iOS 16, and offer a customized list of features we hope to see.
You may be interested to read about the next version of macOS.
iOS 16: Release Date
- We expect iOS 16 to be unveiled on June 6, 2022, and finally released to the public in September 2022.
This is a long standing tradition that the company has been following for many years. Assuming Apple doesn’t break with tradition, we can expect iOS 16 (including iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16 and macOS 13) to be demoed during WWDC 2022 Keynote June 6, then released to beta testers for extensive testing. Will be, and finally released to the general public in September 2022.
- June 6, 2022: iOS 16 unveiled
- June 6, 2022: iOS 16 developers release beta testers
- July 2022: iOS 16 released for public beta testers
- September 2022: The final version of iOS 16.0 is released to the general public
Big releases to the public always happen in the fall, usually to go with the new iPhone release in September. Additional point releases (iOS 16.1, iOS 16.2, and more) followed weeks and months later with bug fixes and additional features.
Which iPhones will run iOS 16?
- We hope to be able to run iPhone 7 and later iOS 16.
At WWDC 2021, Apple surprised viewers that iOS 15 would run on older models, such as the iPhone 6S (2015) or the first generation SE (2016). With that in mind, which devices will the upcoming iOS 16 support?
It is unlikely that the iPhone 6S and 2016 2022 are on the update list. However, we suspect that all devices from the iPhone 7 will be able to run iOS 16. This is because iOS does not support a specific device, but rather includes chip generation. The iPhone 6S has an A9 chip, which Apple last used in 2017, and was featured on the fifth-generation iPad and the first-generation iPad Pro.
The iPhone 7 should be secure, though it runs on an A10 chip, which Apple recently introduced in new products like 2019, so we don’t see the company stop supporting it anytime soon.
iOS 16: Rumor has it new features
Nothing really official from WWDC until we hear it from Apple, but rumors about upcoming iOS features are leaked all the time. Here’s what we’ve heard so far about iOS 16, with some features we hope to see.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed in a newsletter in mid-May that “there should be big changes across the system,” including “new ways to use” and “some new Apple apps.” Let’s find out what this means for the iPhone operating system.
Interactive widget
References to Gurman’s “new interactions” may point to an upgrade of the way widgets work in iOS, which we hope. We want to see interactive widgets in iOS 16. As useful as having widgets on the iPhone home screen, it will be even more effective if you can perform specific functions directly on the widgets. Home screen widgets are not currently interactive For example, you can play, pause, or skip songs via the music widget – without having to enter the music app via the widget. Widgets have a lot more potential.
Always on-display
Before the launch of the iPhone 13, rumors were rife that Apple would finally implement an always-on display with time, date, notifications and other fast data at a glance. It obviously doesn’t come with those phones, but this feature doesn’t need to be integrated with the new hardware. Any OLED display can handle an always-on display, leaving many iPhone models: iPhone X, XS and XS Mac, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, and all of the iPhone 12 and 13 models. So maybe the rumors that the always-on display feature is being tested were actually about an iOS 16 feature.
There seems to be some evidence that in 2022 the iPhones could come with an always-on display, at least in the new iPhone 14 models. Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, tweeted that he would “expect” Apple to adopt an LPTO display that lowers the refresh rate to 1Hz when not in use (the iPhone 13’s OLED display drops to 10Hz). A lower refresh rate is important for saving battery life, and battery life is undoubtedly why Apple hasn’t implemented the feature yet.
Notification changes
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, iOS 16 will make a significant difference in how notifications are handled. A follow-up report from 9to5Mac suggests that the changes include enhancements to Focus mode, although we hope there are more in Apple’s store.
New health and fitness features
It has been claimed that the new iOS will also have new health and fitness features, although they are not exactly the focus of iOS. What we’re hoping is, really, is that watchOS for the Apple Watch has a lot of new health and fitness features, and there may be some exclusive things for the Apple Watch Series 8 in the fall. With iOS 16, fitness apps and fitness apps can get what you need to support those new watch features (such as advanced sleep tracking).
However, it was rumored that iOS 15 would have some sort of food or nutrition tracking feature, and this never happened. Maybe it wasn’t ready in time, and it’s going to be a part of iOS 16?
Another long-rumored health feature is drug management মূলত basically, reminders of when to take your medication.
Women’s health features are also rumored to be expanding into the iOS 16 health app, though we haven’t heard exactly how.
Crash detection
The next version of the Apple WatchOS is rumored to add car accident detection, which will work just like the current fall detection: when it acknowledges that you have been in a car accident, it will call emergency services (after a brief countdown). The idea is to add this feature to the iPhone. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
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AR / VR capabilities
Gurman also mentions that early versions of iOS 16 (codenamed Sydney) have a lot to say about Apple’s upcoming mixed-reality headset and how it interacts with the iPhone. Apple is not expected to release its AR headset at WWDC, though, so the new features will probably not be visible to the user. Instead, what we can get is some really big improvements to the ARKit framework for developers.
iOS 16: New App
Gurman mentioned “Fresh Apple Apps” in the May newsletter mentioned above. This may refer to a general set of refreshments that see Apple add new features and functionality to existing apps, or we may see some completely new apps.
iOS 16: Wish List
We’ve compiled a list of the most wanted features in iOS 16, including interactive widgets, Siri improvements and a new home app. We don’t know if all (or any) of them will come true, but we can dream.