It’s official; South Africa’s official Apple distributor iStore marked the sale opening of the iPhone 16 range with special contract price freeze offering which can be initiated at all its stores countrywide.
For the first time, iPhone users can upgrade to the latest iPhone 16 range and keep their monthly contract price the same as their current contract or pay even less each month.
Additionally, customers who are contracted to any of the three major networks – MTN, Vodacom and Telkom – can get their new iPhone 16 of choice on a new or existing contract directly from iStore.
For customers who prefer to purchase their new iPhone outright, they can make use of iStore’s “best-in-world” trade-in values and offers. This comes with up to R5 000 additional trade-in discount when trading in any iPhone 14 range phone (From R11 000 – R22 000 with trade in enhancer); or up to R4 000 additional trade-in discount when trading in any iPhone 13 range phone (From R9 000 – R17 900).
Customers can get this trade-in value as an immediate discount at the time of their purchase, meaning they only pay the difference for their upgrade. Alternatively, they can elect to get this paid as cash back into their bank account to spend on whatever they choose.
The trade-in deal is not only available for iPhone users or customers upgrading, but also for Android devices. For this offer, customers can trade-in their Android phone and get up (maximum) to R10 000 cash back (maximum) for an example when trading-in the Samsung S21, S22 or the S20.
To find out how much your current device is worth, please visit https://www.istore.co.za/trade-in-1.
iPhone 16, 16 Pro and 16 Max; new features
New features to look out for: Camera Control button, and the Action Button which has trickled down from the Pro to the standard iPhone 16. There’s more, from beefy batteries to the A18 chipset (for larger CPU cache sizes and an extra graphics score for better overall performance), vibrant colours and a more powerful easier to repair processor.
More importantly, the entire iPhone 16 range model will be capable of running a full-kit Apple Intelligence, the suite of AI features in iOS 18 with the upgrade coming up late October for all users around the globe. This comes with pretty helpful day-to-day features such as real-time transcriptions in Voice Notes or call recordings, and more excitedly the ChatGPT-powered version of Siri.
Other useful features coming later in the year include Image Playground to enable users to create their own animated images within apps – and custom emoji, called Genmoji.
Meanwhile, all the iPhone 16 models also come with Apple’s new Ceramic Shield glass, which is said to be twice as strong than its predecessor. They also have bigger screens now; 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch OLED screens on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus – same as previous models. Apple has increased the size of the display from 6.7 to 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max (and from 6.1 to 6.3 inches for the 16 Pro).
Also worth pointing out is the powerful 48MP Fusion camera with a 2x Telephoto option, giving users two cameras in one, while a new Ultra Wide camera enables macro photography.
iPhone Prize freeze implications: longer wait?
With so many exciting new features and the lovely new colours that Apple has now introduced without incurring any prize increases (from as back as the iPhone 10 seven years ago, the price has remained the same), it may seem Apple underestimated the number of people that may sign up for the new iPhone 16 from day one.
As several customers pointed out on X, earlier on the day (Friday, September 20) the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max appeared to have been out of stock online, and that could only mean one thing; a good number of consumers may have to wait a little longer, beyond the release date to get their hands on the latest iPhone 16.
However, iStore representatives gave us their word on Friday during a one-on-one product tour – (session with NOWinSA) that they’re working tirelessly to ensure orders are processed as quick as possible – as and when they’re in stock.
iPhone 16 range; pricing and availability
The all new iPhone 16 range officially landed in South Africa on Friday, September 20. Although online orders can be filled immediately, they’ll only be shipped between three and five days.
▪️Starting price is R20 999 for entry iPhone 16 (128GB), R23 999 (256GB), R28 999 (512GB).
▪️iPhones 16 Plus sells for R23 999 (128GB), R26 499 (256GB), R31 799 (512GB).
▪️iPhones 16 Pro R26 499 (128GB), R28 999 (256GB), R34 999 (512GB), R39 999 (1TB).
▪️iPhone 16 Pro Max R31 799 (256GB), R36 999 (512GB), R42 499 (1TB).
, 16 Plus (R23 999), 16 Pro Max (R31 799).){kind=link}