Following iOS 16's public release, Apple has confirmed that users of older generation iPhone models will miss out on the ability to show their iPhone's battery percentage directly in the status bar.
In an updated support document, Apple says that the new battery percentage display is not available on the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, the iPhone 12 mini, and the iPhone 13 mini. Apple provides no additional information about why these devices will miss out on the new feature.
Apple added the battery percentage display icon in an iOS 16 beta over the summer. The new toggle, which can be found within Settings and Battery, lets users always see their battery percentage directly in the status bar without having to swipe down into Control Center.
Ever since the iPhone X with the notch, users have asked Apple to make it easier to see their iPhone's battery level directly in the status bar. Still, Apple's recent implementation has proven to be controversial.
The new icon includes the battery percentage within the icon rather than to the left of it. The white battery icon remains completely filled in until the battery reaches 20% or lower, at which point a fifth of the icon turns red and the rest of the icon becomes translucent.
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle.
Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues.
The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by Juli Clover
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+.
What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year?
Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+
The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here
2026 Plans Still Under ...
Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by Juli Clover
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging.
There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro.
Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by Eric Slivka
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September.
The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today:
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...
Those models specifically have low DPI displays, so rendering something as small as that might make it look weird or illegible.
My iPhone 4 could display that. And I could read it without thinking: Hum, this looks weird?!
It’s a shame those small UI updates are now exclusively for newer models too. Feels like Apple is running out of ideas on how to motivate people to upgrade their phones. So they come up with the most ridiculous ways to cripple the OS/UI.
"users of older generation iPhone models will miss out on the ability" - my iPhone mini 13 was still the latest model until a week ago with a better 476 ppi screen than the normal size iphone 13. Hmmm
Suspect it's text legibility. The Xr / 11 screens don't have the pixel resolution to effectively display the numbers, and the mini's are probably either too tight on space, or the text would be too small.
