Apple announced a feature-packed iPhone 16 lineup. There are new A18 chips, larger Pro displays, Camera Control, better battery life, Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence, and a lot more. But more so than ever before, a variety of new iPhone features won’t be available at launch. Here are all the new features that will be missing when the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 arrive next week.
Camera Control’s two-stage shutter
One of the tentpole features of the iPhone 16 lineup is a new physical button that powers Camera Control.
With Camera Control, you can quickly access the iPhone 16’s Camera, slide to zoom in and out, and press to snap a photo.
But later this year, a new two-stage shutter is coming that will enable even more. Here’s Apple’s description of the missing feature:
Later this year, Camera Control will introduce a two-stage shutter that lets you automatically lock focus and exposure with a light press — so you can reframe your shot without losing focus on your subject.
New Siri
Apple’s new Siri inspired the artwork for the company’s ‘It’s Glowtime’ event. But that new Siri won’t be available when the iPhone 16 first ships.
Even though the iPhone 16 comes equipped with iOS 18, it will have the existing Siri at launch. That’s because the new, glow-y and more intelligent Siri won’t arrive until iOS 18.1 with Apple Intelligence.
Visual Intelligence
Here’s another Camera Control feature that won’t be ready at launch.
Visual Intelligence (not to be confused with Apple Intelligence) is a feature that uses the Camera to learn about places and objects in the real world.
Later this year, Camera Control will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before. Users can click and hold Camera Control to pull up the hours or ratings for a restaurant they pass, add an event from a flyer to their calendar, quickly identify a dog by breed, and more. Camera Control will also serve as a gateway into third-party tools with specific domain expertise, like when users want to search on Google to find where they can buy an item, or to benefit from ChatGPT’s problem-solving skills.
Think of Visual Intelligence as being like Google Lens, but by Apple. Well, sort of by Apple, since Google and ChatGPT will be contributing smarts here too.
Genmoji, AI notifications, and all other Apple Intelligence features
You may have noticed that Apple spent a lot of time highlighting Apple Intelligence during its iPhone 16 introduction.
What you may not have caught is that no Apple Intelligence features will be included when the iPhone 16 first releases.
Top comment by Pete
Typical Apple. Advertise a bunch of stuff, then say, oh yeah, none of that is available at launch. We 'promise' it is coming, but could be 6 to 8 months away until the end of next Spring. Why buy the phone when they're so-called 'built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence' won't even work until months later, and only in beta form? And how is it built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence when the iPhone 15 Pro supports Apple Intelligence? And the iPhone 16 Pro is only 15% faster than the iPhone 15 Pro.
These anticipated AI features will be missing:
- Genmoji
- AI notification summaries
- Clean Up in the Photos app
- Powerful writing tools
- ChatGPT integration
- and more
Apple’s first batch of AI features will arrive with iOS 18.1 in October. More features will come in iOS 18.2 in December. Then even more will release throughout 2025.
Wrap-up
The iPhone 16 and 16 Pro will still have a lot to offer when they arrive next week. I have no doubt of that. Regardless, having so many missing features at launch is unfortunate. Personally, the Camera Control features I can wait for. There are still some features available to enjoy there. But ideally, the first iPhones built “from the ground up for AI” (as Tim Cook said) should include said AI out of the box.
Which missing iPhone 16 features are you most excited to use? Do you think it’s a problem so many features are arriving later? Let us know in the comments.
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