Updated August 10 with new information about Foxconn and the production of this year’s iPhones.
The new iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max will almost certainly be unveiled in a month. But when exactly? You can read my detailed predictions on when the iPhone will go on sale, when the unveiling keynote will take place, and even when the keynote will be announced here. But a new production line report has surfaced that may provide more clarity on what’s happening when, and another report lends it more credibility.
The iPhone 15 is about to be replaced. Find out when the iPhone 16 will be announced here.
The latest clue is the claim that Foxconn, which is crucial to iPhone manufacturing in China, has hired additional staff. And quite a lot: According to Business Korea, 50,000 new employees have been hired, MacRumors has found. Additional staff is another very clear sign that production is ramping up as we approach release. And the timing fits well with the release date of Friday, September 20th – more on the dates below.
Here’s how MacRumors describes the influx of additional employees: “The company has ramped up production efforts with its key manufacturing partner Foxconn in Zhengzhou, China. The factory, which is considered the world’s largest iPhone production site, is now operating at full capacity and has hired 50,000 additional workers in the past two weeks.”
Meanwhile, mass production of the OLED displays that will adorn the iPhone 16 series phones has ramped up, according to ET News. Samsung is on track to produce 80 million, while LG is making 43 million, it says.
So why is this important? Because it suggests that iPhone production is on schedule, meaning that no delays are expected at this time. If this is true, there is a very high chance that the iPhone 16 series will launch in September.
More specifically, the possible date for the keynote, where the hardware will be unveiled – alongside the Apple Watch Series 10 and possibly new AirPods – remains Tuesday, September 10.
As always, Apple likes to be unpredictable, so don’t be surprised if it happens a day early or a few days later. It certainly won’t happen on one day: September 11 falls on a Wednesday, but that’s the day Apple avoided because it’s the anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
If all goes according to plan, that means pre-orders for the phones will begin on Friday, September 13, and the iPhone 16 will go on sale on September 20, the following Friday.
These final pre-order and on-sale dates actually seem very likely: even if the keynote is delayed by a day or two, pre-orders and on-sale are almost certainly set in stone.
Apple knows what’s happening, but can still change everything up until the last minute before the keynote is actually announced.
Look for the keynote to be announced in the first week of September, most likely right when the big electronics show is just getting started. I’ll get into all the details as soon as it’s announced, most likely Tuesday September 3rd or Wednesday September 4th, so please check back here then.
