What you need to know
- Apple is set to announce iOS 16 on June 6 with an early developer beta released the same day.
- Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes the update will add a new lock screen feature.
- It's thought that widget-like information could be displayed directly on the lock screen.
Apple could be about to give older iPhones a big lock screen update when it announces iOS 16 next week, according to a new report. The change won't require people buy a new iPhone, unlike other improvements set to be made by the huge new software update.
Writing as part of this week's Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests that the iOS 16 update will bring a refreshed lock screen to existing iPhones, including the current iPhone 13 lineup. Gurman believes that "major enhancements" are coming, "including wallpapers that have widget-like capabilities."
It isn't immediately clear what that would look like or how it might work, but it does appear that the feature is different to one that is thought to be exclusive to the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro — a new always-on display mode.
Apple already allows people to access widgets from the locks screen, although they are currently hidden behind a horizontal swipe. It's possible that the upcoming iOS 16 could allow those widgets to appear directly on the lock screen itself, although it isn't obvious how that might work alongside a stream of incoming notifications.
Apple is set to announce iOS 16 alongside a number of other big software updates during its WWDC22 opening keynote on June 6. The streamed announcement is also set to include the unveiling of iPadOS 16, macOS 13, and more.
In terms of the new iPhone 14 hardware, Apple's next best iPhone will likely be announced during an event in or around September, with a release taking place a week or two later. Those new iPhones will all ship with iOS 16 pre-installed.
