iPhone 16 still set to launch September despite Apple Intelligence woes: Report

The iPhone 16 series is expected to be released during Apple’s usual launch schedule in September, despite delays in the rollout of Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence is the new suite of AI features Apple introduced at WWDC in June. These features are currently in beta testing and were expected to roll out with iOS 18 and the new iPhone 16 series in September.

However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in his PowerOn newsletter that Apple Intelligence is not quite ready for a September launch. It will be released with iOS 18.1 in October.

Gurman said that despite this delay in the software features, Apple will hold the iPhone 16 launch at the same time as last year.

The iPhone 15 was announced on September 12 last year, and Gurman has predicted a September 10 launch for the iPhone 16 lineup. You can expect to see the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max during the launch.

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“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,” said Gurman.

Apple Intelligence in beta includes features like an upgraded AI-powered Siri, a writing assistant, and memory generation in Photos. Features like the AI image creator called Image Playground and Genmoji are currently missing.

Even though you might not be able to use Apple Intelligence right away, Apple could still mention and promote it during the event. There have been many times when Apple announced features at launch but only made them available later with software updates.

For example, it announced the Double Tap gesture with the Watch Series 9 but didn’t make it available until October.