It’s no secret that Apple’s proud of its latest iPhone 16 series, with the Pro models bringing some improvements over last year’s iPhone 15 Pro models. Historically, Apple’s Pro-series devices have been the more popular phones in its lineup, although things are looking a bit different this year. According to known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Cupertino tech giant’s Pro model phones aren’t the big sales juggernaut that it was expecting.
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Writing on his personal page, Kuo states that there has been a change in sales figures for the iPhone 16 series at the moment, with pre-orders during the first weekend down by as much as 12.7% year-on-year, (numbering to around 37 million units) compared to the iPhone 15’s sales figures during its first weekend on the market. This also includes numbers for initial weekend sales for the regular 16 and 16 Plus.
This downward trend extends to the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Max, which have faced lower demand versus the 15 Pro Max from last year. This isn’t some random occurrence however – Kuo attributes this lessened demand to a number of factors, which include fierce competition from Chinese brands in Asian markets, as well as Apple’s AI features which have been delayed to later this year. He does note that the coming holiday season might turn things around for the iPhone 16 Pro models, as well as the arrival of Apple Intelligence features later on.
By comparison, Google’s new Pixel 9 phones come with a majority of AI features pre-installed, and Google has even gone so far as to roll out certain AI features to its older devices. Likewise, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series phones come with AI features onboard, although there’s been debate among consumers as to the importance of AI functionality when it comes to purchase decisions.
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The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max were launched earlier in September – Apple’s more premium smartphones feature larger displays this time around, measuring 6.3 inches for the smaller Pro and 6.9 inches for the Pro Max, and are crafted from Grade 5 titanium. There’s also a new colour this year in the form of Desert Titanium, which replaces the blue variant that we got last year with the iPhone 15 Pro. Both devices are powered by the A18 Pro chip, built with 3nm technology and a 6-core GPU which the company claims packs powerful enhancements for gaming and Apple Intelligence features, the latter of which are still under development.
As for camera hardware, there’s a 48MP main sensor with the same fusion camera configuration on the regular 16 models, an ultra-wide lens, and a 5x telephoto lens. New camera features include support for real-time photographic styles, and there’s also 4K video recording at 120fps, Spatial Audio capture, and Voice Notes layering. Also present is the new camera control button which also features capacitive input for additional camera functions.
