The new iPhone 16 has announced that its next major product showcase will take place on September 9, with an official reveal of the iPhone lineup almost guaranteed.
Those looking to get their hands on the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max will no doubt be thinking about preorders – and helpfully we can look to previous years for an estimate of when iPhone 16 preorders could go online.
For comparison, the last three iPhone generations were launched mid-week, often on a Tuesday, with preorders opening on Friday of the same week.
With this year’s event on Monday, September 9, we may reasonably expect preorders for the iPhone 16 range to be available on Friday, September 13.
We may also fairly anticipate Apple not to stagger iPhone preorders, given this has only just occurred in the unusual environment of 2020 during the epidemic. As a result, regardless of the model you seek, our prognosis remains valid.
A similar pattern emerges with iPhone release dates, as we detailed in our compilation of the most recent iPhone 16 release date estimates.
Pre-order speculations for the iPhone 16
As previously said, we expect iPhone 16 preorders will go live on Friday, September 13 – and similar reports from The Independent, Forbes, and Tom’s Guide support our forecast. However, other speculations imply a somewhat different date, such as a hazy tip from the German site Macerkopf indicating a presale date of Thursday, September 12.
However, we don’t believe this report is true; as MacRumors points out, the site provided no source or explanation for the shift from Friday to Thursday.
While it is rare for Apple to have an event on a Monday, it is not the first time the firm has deviated from its September event date of Tuesday. The iPhone 14 was announced on a Wednesday, with preorders opening the following Friday as usual.
As for how much the new range will cost, we expect prices to remain consistent from last year, with the base-model iPhone 16 starting at $799 / £799 / AU$1,499 – however, rumors from last year of increasing production costs for the iPhone 16 imply a price hike is possible.
Apple is expected to confirm the presale date when the iPhone 16 family is revealed, so we won’t have to wait long to determine whether our forecast is correct.
As the Apple ‘It’s Glowtime’ event approaches, we’ll have all the latest information on the iPhone 16 and other upcoming goods like the Apple Watch 10, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and iOS 18.