Apple's Button Bet: Why iPhone 16's Preorder Push Hits Different

This is a very curious iPhone upgrade season. Preorders open today for the iPhone 16 lineup — a phone that Apple says is “built for Apple Intelligence” — but it doesn’t look like Apple’s AI tricks will be available when the phones land in stores Sept. 20.

Apple’s website says select Apple Intelligence features “will be available in beta next month as part of iOS 18.1.” So will consumers rush to preorder a phone for a feature not ready yet, or will there be more of a wait-and-see approach to upgrading this time?

In this week’s episode of One More Thing, which you can watch embedded above, I go over the curious things to watch for in this product upgrade cycle, and why I think the iPhone 16 wasn’t the star of the iPhone event. Apple’s updates to the AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2 and Apple Watch Series 10 might be the bigger product hits this fall with all the health-focused upgrades.

The other twist to this iPhone 16 launch is the addition of a camera capture button that is touch sensitive. It leaves me wondering how people will adjust to new button, and how easy (or difficult) it is to set it off accidently when grabbing the phone. 

A button could be just the thing Apple is leaning on to sell phones for people who don’t care about AI. A recent CNET survey found most consumers are motivated to upgrade their phone for a better battery and new camera features —https://www.cnet.com/videos/the-iphone-wasnt-the-star-of-the-iphone-16-event/https://www.cnet.com/videos/the-iphone-wasnt-the-star-of-the-iphone-16-event/ and few are motivated by artificial intelligence.

Time will tell if Apple Intelligence is the big draw for the iPhone 16 to become a popular upgrade year, or if consumers need more persuasion to trade in their current devices.