Last week, on September 9, Apple introduced its latest iPhone models: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Duo. Just like clockwork, Apple discontinued the preceding iPhone 17 Pro models; however, there was also one discontinuation some of us may have overlooked. In fact, almost none of the sources reported this discontinuation other than The Mac Observer. Sure, Apple kept the two-year-old iPhone 16 around, but you may have forgotten that Apple offered a second Plus model until September 9. Yeah, you read that right; Apple also (quietly) discontinued the iPhone 16 Plus.
I was aware that Apple continued to offer the iPhone 16, the iPhone 17e, the iPhone 17, and the iPhone Air after the event, although the company did raise the starting prices for each of those phones by $100; however, I honestly didn’t know about the iPhone 16 Plus being discontinued until a video from 91Tech showed up on my feed.
These were the starting storages/prices for those phones before September 9:
| Storage | Price | |
| iPhone 17e | 256GB | $599.00 |
| iPhone 16 | 128GB | $699.00 |
| iPhone 16 Plus | 128GB | $799.00 |
| iPhone 17 | 256GB | $799.00 |
| iPhone Air | 256GB | $999.00 |
And here are the adjusted prices after Apple introduced the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo:
| Storage | Price | |
| iPhone 17e | 256GB | $699.00 |
| iPhone 16 | 128GB | $799.00 |
| iPhone 16 Plus | N/A | Discontinued |
| iPhone 17 | 256GB | $899.00 |
| iPhone Air | 256GB | $1099.00 |
As you have noticed, the iPhone 16 models continued to start at 128GB, whereas the iPhone 17 series and iPhone Air start at double the storage; this further makes the iPhone 16 a far more terrible value overall (not that Apple currently has multiple storage tiers for the smaller iPhone 16; Apple actually continues to offer only the 128GB option for that model for just over a year).
With the iPhone 16 Plus out of the lineup, the current iPhone lineup is a bit cleaner and makes much more sense overall. Still, for what it’s worth, if the iPhone 18 Pro is still out of your budget, the iPhone 17 still offers the best value overall despite the price increase, as Apple has made that phone too fully-featured.
Apple introduced the “Plus” model starting with the iPhone 16 models that were introduced on September 9, 2014, marking the first time that Apple offered two screen sizes for its flagship iPhone in response to larger Android phones on the market. Apple continued to carry the “Plus” moniker all the way up to the iPhone 8 models. Apple did bring back the larger Plus-branded iPhone starting with the iPhone 14 models that were introduced in September 2022, marking the end of the mini iPhone models from the iPhone 12 / iPhone 13 series. Since the regular iPhone 17 has been offered in only one screen size (6.3-inch), this officially marked the end of the “Plus” branding for the iPhone.
It’s a shame to see the iPhone Plus models fade into history again, but I’m glad to see Apple trying out different form factors for its iPhone lineup that will cater to more demographics, particularly the ultra-thin Air model, the utilitarian Pro model, and even the upcoming Duo foldable. Will you miss the Plus-sized iPhone models? Sound off in the comments below.
