According to tech site CNMO (translated from Chinese), "Apple plans to release a new iPhone 16 series on September 10 next month." Based on previous launches, we knew that Apple would likely debut its iPhone 16 series in September, but we (and many other outlets) thought the event would kick off closer to mid-month on a Monday.

But we're not complaining. The sooner the September event happens, the sooner we can get our hands on Apple's latest gadgets.

If you have your heart set on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, you'll be happy to know CNMO received reports that "the starting price of iPhone 16 Pro Max will remain at $1,199, just like iPhone 15 Pro Max," translated from Chinese. Unfortunately, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the rest of the lineup might be missing a huge selling point at launch: Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence might not make the iOS 18 cut

Since Apple announced its take on AI at WWDC 2024 in June, the term "Apple Intelligence" has been buzzing, but many of its most fascinating features won't see the light of day until 2025.

But we were also expecting — based on Apple's confidence and how hard the company was pushing its AI features — that Apple Intelligence would launch alongside the newly debuted iPhone 16 series and other devices at the (currently unannounced) Apple September event 2024.

Apple iOS 18 one-sheet, summarizing new features for iPhone

Apple has only given us a vague 'fall 2024' release estimate for Apple Intelligence features, but according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in a recent Power On newsletter, these AI features "won't be in the initial version of iOS 18 and other new operating systems. Instead, they'll be included in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1."

This means that they would still lack Apple Intelligence when the iPhone 16 series and Apple's newest software versions debuted in September. Apple's AI features "will probably begin launching publicly in October," roughly a month after its new iPhone series launches.

Although this is disappointing news, it might be for the best. Gurman says, "After testing the first beta version of Apple Intelligence myself, I can tell you that the new features don't yet live up to the excitement."

There are still roughly three months between the potential release of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1, but will that be enough time for Apple to turn things around? We'll see.