Apple discontinued the iPhone 16 Plus on September 9, 2026, exactly two years after the phone first shipped. No fanfare, no explanation, just a quiet removal from the lineup during what appears to be the iPhone 18 launch window.
It's the second time Apple has tried and failed to make the Plus formula work. The original Plus models ran from the iPhone 6 Plus through the iPhone 8 Plus, carving out a niche for people who wanted a bigger screen without Pro pricing. Then Apple killed it in favor of the XR/11/12/13 mini experiment, which also flopped. The Plus returned with the iPhone 14, and now it's gone again after just three generations.
The pattern is clear: people who want a big iPhone are willing to pay for Pro features, and people who want to save money are fine with the standard size. The Plus sits in an awkward middle ground that sounds good in theory but doesn't move units in practice. You're paying more than the base model but getting less than the Pro, and that value proposition apparently doesn't resonate.
What makes this discontinuation particularly notable is the timing. The iPhone 16 Plus launched in September 2024 with the A18 chip, a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display, and a 4674 mAh battery - solid specs that should have appealed to the battery-life-obsessed crowd. It supported the latest iOS 26 software and included modern features like Wi-Fi 7 and USB-C. On paper, it checked all the boxes.
But checking boxes doesn't matter if nobody's buying. Industry observers have noted weak Plus sales since the line returned, and Apple's decision to discontinue it barely two years in suggests the numbers were even worse than expected. The company is essentially admitting that the market it thought existed for affordable large-screen iPhones was a mirage.
For shoppers, this means your options are now clearer but more expensive. Want a big iPhone? That's the Pro Max, which will cost you a significant premium. Want to save money? That's the standard iPhone, which means living with a 6.1-inch screen. The in-between option is gone, and it's probably not coming back. Apple tried this twice, failed twice, and companies this size rarely go for a third attempt at the same strategy.
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