Apple iPhone 16 lands in SA, but should you get one? [VIDEO]

Pre-orders for Apple’s new iPhone has officially opened online in South Africa, but hold on to your seats, it doesn’t come cheap.

Apple teased users with a number of new products this week, including the new Apple Watch 10, the iPhone 16 line-up, and a slew of AI-related updates for iOS 18.

However, the tech company’s event was dampened with the launch of the world’s first triple foldable smartphone from Huawei.

Nothing really new

While Apple presented what was touted as a “much-anticipated” event, the new iPhone 16 series summed up gives consumers basically a fancy new “Camera Button” and faster chipset.

With other brands like Google, Honor, Samsung and Oppo taking innovation to the next level, Apple has a lot of catching up to do staying with the same design that has aged, invoking a plethora of memes on social media platforms.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Skyylaff (@skkylaff)

Nonetheless, if you do have a kidney to spare or perhaps an old iPhone, then the new Apple 16 series is for you. But check out the competition before you buy the “something new”, which basically just has a few tweaks from last years model.

ALSO READ: Move over Apple, Huawei debuts tri-fold smartphone Mate XT [VIDEO]

How much does it cost?

So, if you want the new iPhone 16, you can choose to purchase the various models for cash, upgrade mobile cellular contracts through iStore, with a range of trade-in offers.

Depending on the model of your iPhone, you can get up to R22 000 cash back when you trade in your current phone. Customers can get their trade-in value as cash back into their bank account up to 30 days after their iPhone purchase.

The iStore is also offering additional trade-in savings. Customers trading in any iPhone 13 range can receive up to an additional R4 000 in savings, while those trading in an iPhone 14 range can enjoy up to an additional R5 000 in savings.

If you want to buy the iPhone 16 cash, well, you are going to have to dig very deep into your pockets or sell that kidney we mentioned earlier.

Pricing starts from around R21 000 for the iPhone 16 and about, R32 000 for the Pro Max. This is obviously dependant on the model and capacity size.

The competition

This is still cheaper than Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 6 which costs about R45 000 and Huawei’s new trifold at R50 000 without charges, if it even comes to South Africa.

While the new iPhone is getting smashed online by critics, trust consumers to get one, albeit without the massive queues seen in previous years as many express their sentiment about the Cupertino company’s lack of innovation which would see the late CEO of the company Steve Jobs turning in his grave.

ALSO READ: Apple event: Everything unveiled from iPhone 16 to new watches and Apple Intelligence [VIDEO]