Commentary: Apple’s next iPhone is likely still months away, but iOS 16 might be dropping hints about what’s coming.
Apple’s next major iPhone operating system, iOS 16, was previewed at WWDC and is now available to download for developers. The new iPhone update will work on the iPhone 8 and newer and likely launch alongside the rumored iPhone 14 this fall. iOS 16 offers a bunch of heavily requested features, such as the ability to customize your lock screen or edit sent iMessages. But if you look closely, iOS 16 might also reveal some clues about the iPhone 14.
While Apple told us a lot about new features coming to current iPhones, it lacked any specific mention of what to expect from the iPhone 14. That’s not surprising; Apple never discusses new products before announcing them. Sometimes the company reserves certain software announcements for its annual iPhone event so it can debut these features as exclusives for the latest iPhone.
For example, Cinematic mode was absent from Apple’s iOS 15 announcement and instead launched as an iPhone 13 feature in the fall. Though if you look closely, there were some subtle hints sprinkled in iOS 15. Since Apple launched Portrait mode for FaceTime calls in iOS 15, it’s easy to imagine Apple creating a Portrait mode for video recording — which is essentially what Cinematic mode is.
iOS 16 seems to be no different. Several features look like they have the potential to offer hints as to what we might expect for the iPhone 14 series. One of these clues is actually buried in the code for iOS 16.