Quick Summary
After some overheating issues with the iPhone 15, Apple is reportedly redesigning its thermal management system for the iPhone 16.
You won't see the difference but it should make overheating much less likely.
As we reported late last year, the iPhone 15 turned out to be a hot product in the wrong kind of way: early versions of Apple's best iPhone had a tendency to overheat, caused by a bug that Apple fixed with a firmware upgrade.
At the time, tipsters suggested that Apple was considering making some physical changes to prevent the same issue from affecting the iPhone 16. A new report says that Apple has done exactly that.
According to news site The Information, quoting a source with knowledge of the iPhone 16's engineering, the next iPhone models will all have a "larger graphite sheet" inside their chassis.
You won't be able to see it, and hopefully this is the last time you'll need to think about it: if it does its job it should mean that we won't see a repeat of the hot-phone issue when the iPhone 16 launches later this year.
What changes is Apple making to the iPhone 16?
In addition to a redesigned thermal system the iPhone 16 range is expected to get processor upgrades across the board, with one tipster claiming that versions of the A18 processor will be in all of the models rather than just the Pro versions.
The iPhone 16s are also expected to get more on-board memory than the iPhone 15, partly in order to handle Apple Intelligence, and to have improved camera setups too.
We don't expect to see the rumoured iPhone "Slim" this year; that's currently expected to launch as an even higher-end, and more expensive, alternative to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. If Apple decides to go ahead with that one we won't see it until late 2025.
One of the most interesting iPhone rumours isn't about the iPhone 16 but the iPhone SE 4: if the latest leaks are accurate, it too will be getting an A18 processor and will also be getting an OLED display like the more expensive iPhones. That's currently expected to launch some months after the iPhone 16, most likely around March 2025.
