Gurman: iPhone 16 still launching in September despite Apple Intelligence delay

In this weekend’s Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has clarified that despite Apple Intelligence not launching until October, Apple won’t be delaying the release of the new iPhone 16 models.

Last week, Apple Intelligence was pushed to iOS 18.1, resulting in the feature set missing the initial iOS 18 release in September. Apple Intelligence is anticipated to play a big role in making the upcoming iPhone 16 models more appealing to customers, especially considering that only the highest-end iPhone 15 Pro models currently support these features.

In the past, Apple has delayed new iPhone releases due to software features not being able yet. For example, the iPhone 4S was delayed until October because the new Siri and iCloud features wouldn’t be ready for the traditional June release back then. While that example was over 10 years ago, it’s still worth thinking about.

These days, Apple typically releases the iPhone in September. But it faces a similar conundrum. Apple Intelligence — a core feature of the iPhone 16 — won’t be ready until October. This time, though, Apple is taking a different tack and won’t hold back the new hardware until the services are ready. I’m told that the iPhone launch will occur around the same time as last year — a quick look at the calendar makes Sept. 10 a probable date — and users will need to upgrade their new hardware to iOS 18.1 in October to get rolling with Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence launched in beta last week with some of the initial features, such as Writing Tools and Memory Generation in Photos. The new Siri interface also shipped, although most of the Siri upgrades and ChatGPT integration aren’t present yet. Other big features like Genmoji and Image Playground are also missing from the existing beta.

While Apple Intelligence features are likely to be a significant upgrade for consumers, I agree that it’s not worth delaying the phones. After all, the all-new Siri won’t be available until a later iOS 18 update next spring, which is likely what most users will be interested in.

Gurman reiterates that iPhones will launch around the same time as last year, likely around September 10th. Users will have to update to iOS 18.1 a few weeks later to experience the first Apple Intelligence features.