iPhone 16 Rumors: Screen Size, Resolution, Brightness

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are expected to benefit from some display changes. Here’s what we think is on the way, thanks to the ever-popping rumor mill.

Since the screen is the most important part of a smartphone, rumors tend to pile up with every minute of change. Despite the generally slow pace of Apple’s upgrades from year to year, there have been plenty of small tweaks discussed so far.

The displays were relatively untouched for the iPhone 15 lineup. This means the iPhone 16 lineup could see significant display improvements, especially with the 13-inch iPad Pro featuring a tandem OLED display.

Given the overall volume of rumors, many have focused on the display. This could be due to the importance of the component, the ease of information leakage from that sector, or a combination of both.

Here’s a look at what leakers and analysts say will happen with the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.

Rumors about iPhone 16 Pro screen size

Size is an important factor for screens on a mobile device, and it’s the same for the iPhone 16. This time, they should be bigger and better.

Rumors began in May 2023, before the iPhone 15 was released, indicating that a size increase was imminent. Analyst Ross Young said the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will have screens measuring 6.2 inches and 6.8 inches, respectively, with those numbers rounded down.

This would theoretically represent a small increase for the models, compared to the existing 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro and the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max.

One of the claims for the screen size change is apparently to help the Pro and Pro Max variants accommodate a periscope lens. Adding a large side lens array would require some design changes internally, especially for space.

Another report later that month claimed that the Pro models would gain “a few dozen inches diagonally” in size. The same month, other leaks offered sizes up to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches.

In late September, after the launch of the iPhone 15, rumors re-emerged of a 6.27-inch screen for the iPhone 16 Pro and a 6.85-inch version for the Pro Max.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro bezel rumors

To go with the larger screens, Apple could slim down the bezels a bit to keep the overall size of the iPhone from increasing too much. But this can cause some production problems.

In April, The Elect reported that supply chain members were having difficulty reducing glasses further, leading to yield issues.

A month before

, some claimed that the ultra-thin glasses would use Border Reduction Structure (BRS) technology. However, there was a problem applying it to the bottom edge.

Heat dissipation issues were supposed to improve, but it was still a challenge for suppliers to achieve this.

iPhone 16 Pro brightness changes

A few leaks have emerged over the year suggesting that the iPhone 16 screens could be much brighter than previous versions.

The September 2023 leak insisted that Apple was studying a Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology. He had studied it before, but had not used it as a display.

The concept can increase the brightness of an OLED display thanks to microlenses hit by light that eventually travels to the back panel, reflecting it forward.

One of the problems with this technology is that it reduces the viewing angle of the screen, which Apple has had difficulty accepting.

In May, another leak from Setsuna Digital on Weibo insisted that the Pro models would get a boost. The iPhone 16 Pro is said to have a typical peak brightness of 1,200 nits and a peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits.

Compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, this represents a 200 nit increase in typical peak brightness and a continuation of the HDR brightness level.

At the same time, the leaker claimed that Apple will not use the Tandem OLED structure introduced with the iPad Pro 2024. This system uses two OLED layers instead of one, thereby increasing the overall brightness.

Rumors about Face ID under the screen, again

Over the years, iPhone users have been pricked by Apple’s display compromises to accommodate the TrueDepth line of cameras, thus allowing Face ID to work. Apple has moved from the dreaded notch to the much-loved Dynamic Island, but it could remove it altogether in the future.

In February 2023, The Elect said that an under-display Face ID implementation could happen on the iPhone 16 Pro, allowing for a full-screen display. It was difficult to operate an under-panel camera through the screen specifically for Face ID.

The biggest problem is that it works, but for 4 megapixel camera modules, it’s nowhere near what Apple needed to keep its 12MP sensor.

The prediction of an under-display Face ID camera is much older than that. In April 2022, Ming-Chi Kuo responded to a tweet from Ross Young by predicting that it would arrive by 2024, for the iPhone 16.

Parts for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are in production

With just a few months to go before their release, Apple display makers are reportedly about to start mass production. The Elect reported in May that Apple was preparing to approve its suppliers to begin manufacturing displays.

Samsung Display was expected to receive approval by the end of May, LG Display by mid-June and BOE would follow.

LG and Samsung were to manufacture screens on several models. The report added that BOE manufactured non-iPhone displays.