The iPhone 16 Pro line seemingly isn’t anywhere near as popular as the 15 Pro, but that’s no surprise

But sales could improve

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In recent years,Apple’s Pro iPhone models have typically been its best sellers, but while that’s still seemingly the case this year, initial demand for theiPhone 16 ProandiPhone 16 Pro Maxis reportedly much lower than for their predecessors.

Ming-Chi Kuo– an analyst with a great track record for Apple information – has carried out a supply chain survey to estimate the pre-order numbers of eachiPhone 16model, and has found that the iPhone 16 Pro is down 27% relative to its predecessor, at 9.8 million units pre-ordered, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is down 16%, with 17.1 million units pre-ordered.

This seemingly came as a surprise to Apple, particularly in the case of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, as the company reportedly produced around 6 million units of the phone ahead of pre-orders, which is 106% more than it produced of theiPhone 15 Pro Max.

Still, it’s not all bad news for Apple, because while initial demand for the Pro models is seemingly down, the standard iPhone 16 andiPhone 16 Plusare reportedly proving more popular than their predecessors, with pre-orders of the iPhone 16 said to be up by 10%, with 7.3 million units pre-ordered, and the iPhone 16 Plus’s said to be up by 48%, though still with the lowest demand overall, at 2.6 million pre-ordered units.

But according to Kuo, that hasn’t made up for the reduced interest in the Pro models, with the iPhone 16 line as a whole estimated to have sold around 37 million units so far, which is down 12.7% from theiPhone 15series on its first weekend.

Missing a headline feature

So why is this? Kuo highlights the lack ofApple Intelligenceat launch as being a major factor. This suite of AI features is one of the key selling points of the iPhone 16 line, but no Apple Intelligence features will be available until October, and even then, we won’t initially get all the features Apple has revealed.

Kuo also suggests that intense competition from Chinese phone brands has impacted pre-order numbers.

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Beyond that, we’d guess the standard and Plus models might be proving more popular than their predecessors because they have more in common with the Pro phones. They have the new Camera Control button for example, which Apple could have easily made exclusive to the Pro phones.

They also gained the Action button from last year’s Pro models, and they have a new A18 chipset rather than inheriting the A17 Pro from theiPhone 15 Proline. All of this could make the Pro models feel less essential, so it’s no real surprise that pre-orders for these are lower than for last year’s models.

Still, Kuo predicts that demand for the iPhone 16 line as a whole could well increase later in the year, once Apple Intelligence does start rolling out, and once we enter the year-end holiday season.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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