iPhone 16 is now less than six months away from making a debut and hitting the shelves. Some analysts already believe that it might not perform well, despite its AI features, because the major leap is expected with the 2025 iPhone 17 series instead.
Top analysts at JP Morgan are wary of the iPhone 16 launch as they believe that it might not pack much of the AI features and the company may reserve the best for iPhone 17. “In our view, we expect the upgrade cycle to be driven by iPhone 17 [in 2025],” read the analysts’ note, as seen by AppleInsider. That said, the investment firm reportedly doubts that major AI hardware updates could be coming this year, and there might be reduced demand for Macs and iPads for the same reasons.
Consequently, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also raised these concerns, warning of a possible 15 percent drop in shipments due to the lack of innovations. In addition, Barclays analysts assert that there’s little to distinguish the iPhone 16 from its predecessor, potentially impacting sales performance. All in all, there’s something all these analysts have in common: they suggest that the iPhone 17 could be a better purchase.
Meanwhile, Apple is prepping to debut iOS 18 during the upcoming WWDC. It’s poised to debut packed with generative AI features, including Safari browsing assistant, Encrypted visual search, improved Siri, and many more. Despite these speculations surrounding Apple’s push into AI with the iPhone 16, JP Morgan analysts find it peculiar. Instead, they suggest that major upgrades, such as enhanced memory and NPUs, will be reserved for the iPhone 17 line.
We should wait for more related announcements during the upcoming annual Worldwide Developers Conference, slated to kick off on June 10 and run through June 14, because it will confirm what’s coming and what’s not which will likely drive the sales or halt them.
I would wait for the iPhone 18. It comes with self-sharpening blades.
Tech journalism: fiction, but with dull characters.