iOS 16: release date, compatible iPhones, news, all about the update

Every year, Apple delivers a major update for the mobile operating system embedded in the iPhone: iOS. In 2022, it’s iOS 16’s turn to enrich the experience on Apple smartphones. Here’s everything we know about new features, interface changes, improvements coming to iOS.

????️ When is iOS 16 coming out?

Apple is very predictable in its release schedule. iOS 16 will be officially presented during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022, which will take place from June 6-10. As always, during the opening ceremony of the event where the new version of iOS will be introduced. We can expect additional information in the coming days.

A beta version of iOS 16 will be available to developers shortly. A public beta for all users will follow in a few weeks. The big launch of the stable version of iOS 16 will take place in the fall of 2022, paralleling that of the iPhone 14. This will most likely happen in September.

???? Which iPhones are compatible with iOS 16?

While all iPhones that support iOS14 can upgrade to iOS 15, some older models won’t be able to take advantage of the update this year. According to preliminary information, the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and the first generation iPhone SE lack iOS 16. These devices started to be marketed between the fall of 2015 and the spring of 2016, and they have one thing in common: They ship an A9 chip. therefore, it seems that it will no longer be able to support the latest features brought by iOS 16. Here is the list of iPhones that can install the update:

• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Max
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 Mini
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XR
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8Plus
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 7

Please note that this does not mean that all these terminals can enjoy all the features of iOS 16. Hardware limitations (SoC, photo sensors) are likely to prevent certain models from accessing the new options.

On the iPad side, the four models that qualify for iOS 15 will be stuck on this version of the operating system and cannot be upgraded: iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad 5, and iPad Pro from 2015.

???? What’s new in iOS 16?

iOS 16 will introduce new functionality as well as design and interface changes. While we wait for it to become official, what can be expected with this release according to various leaks that have reached us.

Better notification management

Famous journalist Mark Gurman, who works for Bloomberg, assures that Apple is working on changes to its notification system. It doesn’t go into too much detail on the matter, but one of the improvements could be Focus Mode, introduced with iOS 15, a young service that still needs to mature. As a reminder, this mode is used to fine-tune which notifications you receive based on your activity or the day’s schedule, with predefined presets or the possibility to create your own from scratch.

A new status bar?

We speculate that Apple will finally remove the notch on their new iPhone, or at least the iPhone 14 Pro. The disappearance of the notch saves space at the top of the screen and especially at the status bar level, which needs to be redesigned for the case.

Interactive widgets

Apple would work on a widget block. The project would be called “InfoShack” internally and its development would continue. Therefore, it may not represent the final interface we see in the image below, but at least we can see what Apple is trying to do.

Some widgets integrated in this block will also become interactive and no longer just informative, thus making it possible to quickly control a few basic functions: stopwatch, multimedia player, flashlight… iOS would eventually catch up with this Android. space, because pressing a widget on iPhone today only allows one app to open.

Make an emergency call via satellite

Apple has been working on a feature like this for years, we’ve been talking about it for a while and thought we’d get it in iOS 15, but the ability to send messages and make emergency calls via satellites should finally land with iOS. 16. It is possible that only iPhone 14 can benefit from this new feature of iOS.

Health and Fitness apps are accelerating

With new features planned for Apple Watch Series 8 and watchOS 9, iPhone and iOS must adapt to integrate functionality added to the hardware and software of the brand’s connected watches, with the iPhone still acting as a control center. Health and Fitness apps (formerly Activity) will therefore be best updated for sleep monitoring, for example.

Additional options for women’s well-being and health are also provided as a medication tracking tool. One of the functions would be to be able to scan a medicine box to register a product in the app. Many features will be planned for this drug management aid, but not all of them should be available after the release of iOS 16.

Finally, there was talk of a food and nutrition tracker for iOS 15 that didn’t come to light. What if iOS 16 is the right one?

Road accident detection

With iOS 16, iPhone can detect traffic accidents and automatically notify emergency services for any injury to be dealt with quickly.

Virtual reality and augmented reality related options

Apple should release a mixed reality headset (which combines virtual reality and augmented reality) by the end of the year. It might even make an appearance at WWDC before a fall rollout. Apple will surely have to adapt iOS to integrate services and features to get the most out of this first-of-its-kind headset to enter the ecosystem. iOS 16 should come with a new app dedicated specifically to headphone use and definitely more.

Always-on display

Another lack of iOS compared to Android that Apple needs to fill. The always-on display allows important information on the log to be viewed even when not in use: time, date, battery level, notifications… Any smartphone equipped with a display with OLED technology could potentially benefit from the Always-on functionality, but iPhones still haven’t qualified for it several years after abandoning LCD in mainstream mobile phones. Again, it is a sea snake that is mentioned in every update.

New app icons

macOS Monterey brought a new design for the desktop icons of Apple applications, the trend that should continue with iOS 16 on mobile will deepen the work that started with iOS 15 in this area. The new aesthetic will be very close to what we can have on the Mac, which is more modern and minimalist than the current icons.