iPhone 16 Ultra: All the rumors so far

This year's iPhone 16 family could bring us a new breed of Apple phone — the iPhone 16 Ultra. Although nothing's official, there have been rumbling about a super-premium iPhone for a while now, with a fall launch date a possibility.

We already have the Apple Watch Ultra, plus some Ultra-branded Mac chips, as precedent for Apple making ultra products. How an iPhone Ultra would differ from existing Pro or Pro Max models is another matter though, but that could be addressed by unique features like advanced cameras or a different external design.

Here's what we know about the iPhone 16 Ultra so far. You should also turn to our iPhone 16 Pro Max hub, since it's far more likely that Apple sticks with its current models for the is year's iPhone launch.

iPhone 16 Ultra: latest news (Updated March 26)

• iPhone 16 models could feature an enhanced A18 chipset designed to help power on-device AI

• iOS 18 could bring generative AI features to iPhone 16 series, and should be unveiled at WWDC 2024, which gets underway June 10.

iPhone 16 Ultra: release date speculation

Talk of an Ultra model for the iPhone lineup dates back to 2022 when Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicted that such a phone would follow the Apple Watch Ultra "in the next couple of years." That didn't turn out to be 2023 despite a number of rumor mongers claiming Apple would redub its Pro Max phone as the iPhone 15 Ultra.

For his part, Gurman was not among the people expecting an Ultra model at that time. Instead, in February 2023, Gurman reported that Apple was "working towards an even higher-end Ultra model for as early as 2024 in addition to adding more exclusive features to the Pro Max."

Since Apple's fall 2023 iPhone launch came and went without any sign of an Ultra model, the next earliest date that an Ultra would appear is the fall of 2024. If Apple sticks to its usual launch schedule, the earliest we could see the iPhone 16 Ultra launch is September 2024 along with the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup.

For what it's worth, Samsung Securities — the financial services arm of Samsung — has a road map of potential Apple product releases. There's no mention of an iPhone Ultra under the 2024 heading. That would seem to suggest the firm doesn't expect such a prodcut to arrive this year.

iPhone 16 Ultra: possible price

If we don't know a release date for the iPhone 16 Ultra — or even if the phone is coming this year — then we're even less certain about the price. The iPhone 15 Pro Max saw a price increase this year by $100 to $1,199. That would seem to set a floor for the iPhone 16 Ultra price, especially if the Ultra ends up succeeding the Pro Max as Apple's top-of-the-line phone.

For what's it worth, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799, which is $400 more than the Apple Watch Series 9. If Apple were to apply that same pricing strategy to its phone lineup, an Ultra model would come in at $1,399, as that's $400 than the iPhone 15 Pro's $999 starting price. That wouldn't make the iPhone 16 Ultra the most expensive smartphone out there — both Samsung and Google charge $1,799 for their foldable phones — but it would price the Ultra outside of most shoppers' budgets. We're pretty sure that would be a non-starter.

For now, we'd just assume that the iPhone 16 Ultra would cost around the same as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and adjust our expectations as more pricing rumors emerge.

iPhone 16 Ultra: design and display

The biggest iPhone 16 Ultra rumor is that Apple could grow the display from 6.7 inches from the iPhone 15 Pro Max to 6.9 inches for the new flagship. This would be the biggest screen ever on an iPhone.

Phone Arena compared a 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max render to one featuring the Galaxy S24 Ultra prior to that latter device's January 2024 release, and found that Apple's phone would be fractionally taller but less wide than the rumored specs for the Samsung device. That's relevant to the iPhone 16 Ultra if it ends up supplanting the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the 2024 phone lineup.

As for the iPhone 16 Ultra display, a rumor leading up to the iPhone 15 launch had suggested Apple might use newer Samsung panels that offered more brightness. As it turns out, the iPhone 15 Pro Max's peak brightness remained at the same 2,000 nit maximum outdoors as the iPhone 14 Pro Max. But it's likely the iPhone 16 Ultra will turn to a brighter panel, especially now that Google's Pixel 8 Pro boasts a display with a peak brightness of 2,400 nits.

Reports from Apple's supply chain tip the iPhone 16 models to feature a more power-efficient display. Samsung, which traditionally provides Apple with panels for its phones, is reportedly switching from blue fluorescent technology to blue phosphorescence technology, which will allow the screens to consume less power.

Another iPhone 15 Pro rumor could also find its way to the iPhone 16 Ultra design. Some had expected Apple's new phones to feature solid-state buttons. Instead of moving like the current volume buttons do, these buttons would instead use haptic feedback to indicate a press. The advantage of solid-state buttons is that it reduces the number of moving parts that can break down over time.

While the new Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro models offers haptic feedback, Apple reportedly ran into technical problems trying to implement solid-state buttons for mass production. Perhaps the phone maker figures out a way to resolve that for the iPhone 16 Ultra, but at least one analyst casts doubt on that possibility. Plus it sounds like the iPhone 16 Action button will be basically the same as the iPhone 15 Pro's.