Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. Mobile
  4. News

The iPhone 16 has a big upgrade Apple didn’t talk about

Add as a preferred source on Google
The iPhone 16 Pro on display at Apple Park.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

During this week’s “It’s Glowtime” event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series and its many new features. However, as this latest news confirms, it didn’t disclose all the details about the new handsets.

According to ShrimpApplePro, certification documents confirm that the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max all support up to 45-watt wired fast charging. This is a notable step up from previous iPhones, which maxed out at 27W to 29W. The new certification comes from the China Quality Certification Centre.

Recommended Videos

Apple does not mention the 45W number anywhere on its website. Instead, it promises that the new phones can be charged withup to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter “or higher” when paired with a USB-C charging cable OR a 30W adapter or higher when paired with a MagSafe charger. It’s important to note that the adapters need to be purchased separately.

The Camera Control on the iPhone 16.
Apple

Before the announcement of the iPhone 16 series, we heard rumors about improved battery specs, at least for the iPhone 16 Pro series. At the time, rumors suggested 40W wired charging was possible.

While 45W charging is a step in the right direction, it’s still dwarfed by other phones like the OnePlus 12, which offers 80W wired charging.

The iPhone 16 series will be available for sale starting tomorrow, September 13, with the first orders being shipped one week later on September 20. These phones offer several new features, including all-new chips, a new Camera Control feature, new colors, and more. Camera improvements are also coming to all four models.

Apple also announced the AirPods 4, a somewhat updated AirPods Max, and new AirPods Pro features at this week’s event.

Bryan M. Wolfe
Former Mobile and A/V Freelancer
Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.
Enter the wrong PIN 13 times and your Galaxy phone is locked for good
New Galaxy phones will require a factory reset after 13 failed unlock attempts
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone in blue color.

Samsung is making the lock screen much harder to break on Galaxy devices launching with Android 17-based One UI 9. Enter the wrong PIN, pattern, or password 13 times, and the phone will stop accepting attempts. A full factory reset will then be the only way to use it again.

The change is designed to stop brute-force attacks, where someone repeatedly guesses different passwords until one works. It is a major shift from older One UI versions, which mainly relied on temporary waiting periods rather than a mandatory final lockout.

Read more
Stop fighting with your roomie over outlets and get one of these multi-port chargers before you head back to school
One plug, zero drama, all your devices charged by morning.
Satechi ChargeView

Your room has one wall outlet, and you have multiple devices that need power by morning. Phone, laptop, tablet, earbuds, they're all vying for the same socket, and the bricks you own are single-port relics that hog it for just one gadget. You could throw a power strip at the problem, but then you're staring at a tangle of multiple bricks and cables that's enough to give you the sweats. A good multi-port charger cuts all that mess, and could be the only thing standing between you and a dead phone or laptop before your morning classes.

Back-to-school season is a smart time to buy one. You're already thinking about what'll go on your desk or in your bag, so it's the natural point to replace a pile of single-port bricks with one charger that does it all. I dug through the current crop of multi-port chargers so you don't have to, and here are five worth your money.

Read more
Back-to-school phone shopping on a tight budget? Here’s the one phone I’d recommend without hesitation
The budget phone market got messy this year, but one phone still makes sense.
Galaxy A17 in all colors on gradient background

Somewhere between the last day of school and the first day back, your phone conked out. Perhaps the screen shattered after a particularly nasty fall, or its battery regularly gives up by noon, or apps take so long to launch that by the time they do, you've forgotten why you opened them in the first place. You don't think it'll last another school year, but between all the school supplies and everything else, a budget phone is all your wallet can handle right now.

Fortunately for you, cheap phones have come a long way, offering better screens, bigger batteries, and more capable cameras than devices launched just a couple of years ago. Since you're already prepping to head back to school, this is as good a time as any to lay your old phone to rest and lock in an upgrade. But unfortunately, the timing isn't great for the smartphone industry in general, and that has had a real impact on entry-level phones.

Read more