The iPhone 16 launch could be unusual in one particular way, and you'd better mark your calendar for it

iPhone 15 Pro review back handheld angled camera
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

With Apple set to announce the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro handsets on September 9, it's now only a matter of time until we see what the company has been working on since the launch of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro a year ago. But while we know Apple normally sticks to a familiar cadence, it seems things might change slightly this time around.

With Apple's "It's Glowtime" event taking place on September 9, we'd have expected that the new iPhones would then be made available for preorder the following Friday, September 13. But a new report suggests that Apple might break from tradition and make preorders available a day sooner.

If accurate, that will mean that iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro preorders will be made available for preorder on Thursday, September 12.

It's (almost) preorder time

This suggestion comes via German website Macerkopf which claims that Thursday will be the big day.

"Before Apple unveils the new models on September 9th, we heard that the pre-sales start this year could take place on a Thursday rather than a Friday," the report explains via machine translation. "Specifically, we are talking about September 12th, 2024. The actual sales start could then be on September 19th."

Right now, it's unclear whether this will actually turn out to be the case or not but we won't have to wait too much longer to find out for sure. Apple's September 9 event will include preorder and availability dates for everything the company announces including new iPhones, any new Apple Watches, and more.

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Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.