iPhone 16 Pro: Apple's Latest Offering Revolutionizes Smartphone Photography

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max Are Apple's Best Phones for Photography

During Apple's "It's Glowtime" event today at Apple Park in California, the tech giant announced its new flagship smartphones, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The premium phones offer much excitement for mobile photographers and videographers. Although both new iPhone Pro models look a lot like their predecessors at first glance, there is a fair bit that has changed both inside and out. There are the expected improvements, like the move to new, faster A18 processors -- which will surely drive some of Apple's AI features in iOS 18 and beyond -- but there are also some surprising tweaks, such as larger screens and slimmer bezels. "Powered by the faster, more efficient A18 Pro chip and built for Apple Intelligence, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are the most advanced iPhone models we've ever made," says Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Customers who are looking for the best possible iPhone will be able to take advantage of this huge step forward, whether they're applying edits to a photo without lifting a finger, rewriting meeting notes for a more professional tone, or using the advanced camera system to capture their next masterpiece in 4K120 fps in Dolby Vision -- all while enjoying extraordinary battery life." The iPhone 16 Pro has a new 6.3-inch display, up from 6.1 inches, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch screen, up from 6.7 inches. The larger displays are Apple's biggest iPhone display ever, and Apple calls them its best ever. The smartphones are only slightly larger, though, as the increased display size is due primarily to much thinner bezels. The iPhone 16 Pro comes in four new grade 5 titanium finishes, including a brand-new desert titanium. Each color has contrasting side colors and frosted back glass. For photographers in particular, perhaps the most welcome change is that customers no longer need to opt for the larger Max device to get all of Apple's latest imaging technology. While the iPhone 15 Pro received upgrades, the iPhone 15 Pro Max exclusively got Apple's "tetraprism" 5x telephoto camera. Google recently took a dig at Apple for this when it announced that the Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL had the same exact cameras and photo features. Apple has put salve on that burn in short order. The iPhone 16 family, including the Pro models, has been designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence. For photographers in particular, people can use Apple Intelligence to analyze a scene (like whether it's photogenic) and find specific photos they're looking for. Apple Intelligence requires powerful processors, so the iPhone 16 Pro series now comes with new A18 Pro chips, which are built on a three-nanometer standard and designed explicitly for Apple Intelligence. The updated chips handle AI tasks up to 15% and promise desktop-class performance across the board, including for CPU and GPU-intensive tasks, like games. Speaking of games, ray tracing is twice as fast on the A18 Pro than the A17 Pro found in the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple calls the A18 Pro the most powerful chip available in any smartphone. The A18 Pro offers faster USB speeds, a new image signal processor, faster encoding, and dedicated media engine support compared to the A18 featured in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Camera Features The iPhone 16 Pro "empowers creativity across photos and videos," per Apple, thanks to hardware and software integration, plus Apple Intelligence. iPhone 16 Pro has a new 48-megapixel Fusion Camera and an innovative interface. The new 48-megapixel camera has a second-generation Quad Pixel sensor that can read data twice as fast, enabling swifter performance, especially when shooting action. The Ultra Wide camera has been totally redesigned, too, introducing a 48-megapixel sensor, up from 12 megapixels. The 5x telephoto camera from the iPhone 15 Pro Max has made its way to iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, so photographers get 5x telephoto capabilities without needing to opt for the larger model. Dedicated Camera Control Button The iPhone 16 Pro features a new touch-sensitive Camera Control button. Using the surface, photographers can zoom or adjust camera settings by just swiping on the button's surface. Pressing and double-pressing have their own functions as well, and an update later this year will add press to expose/focus and press to shoot functionality. Photographic Styles The image processing pipeline is vital to mobile photography. Apple is leveraging this pipeline for a new Photographic Styles feature, enabling photographers to fine-tune specific looks for their photos. People can easily swap through these styles using the Camera Control button. Adjustments can be made to specific colors and tones, so users can precisely grade their images. For example, it's possible to adjust the hue of just greens in a scene, adjusting the foliage, or applying color adjustments to only shadows or highlights. Video The iPhone 16 Pro family boasts major video upgrades, too. The phones now record 4K video at up to 120p, made possible by the faster 48MP Fusion camera system. 4K/120p can be used in regular video recording or slow-mo mode and promises cinema-quality performance, including Dolby Vision HDR recording. Users can adjust the playback speed after the fact, so there's no need to determine slow-motion at the time of capture. This should enable some interesting speed ramping options for videographers using iPhone 16 Pro. When using a compatible SSD attached via the phone's USB-C port, video shooters can capture 4K/120p ProRes and log footage, too. Audio matters, too, and both iPhone 16 Pro phones include a brand-new four-mic array to capture high-quality spatial audio. Pricing and Availability The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 for 128GB and the iPhone 16 Pro Max is $1,199 for a 256GB base model. Preorder starts this Friday and the iPhone 16 Pro models will be available on September 20.

The iPhone 16 Pro is here, and it might be the new best pick for photographers | Stuff

At the "It's Glowtime" Apple event, the Cupertino tech giant unveiled the flagship iPhone 16 Pro. Thanks to a bunch of new camera features and the addition of the Capture Button (plus a bunch of other upgrades), this device might be the new best pick for photographers. Following tradition, it comes in two sizes, but this time even bigger. The iPhone 16 Pro is now 6.3-inches, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is now a giant 6.9-inches. But, the devices themselves are an almost identical size. It's all thanks to some rather swish display tech that's let Apple shrink down the device's bezels to almost non-existent. Last year's customisable Action Button returns, but it's joined by a new button in the form of the Camera Control Button. Rather than a button you actually press, this one you can tap, double tap, and slide around on to control your iPhone's camera. As you'd expect, these devices are event faster, thanks to the new A18 Pro chipset from Apple. This processor has been majorly beefed up from last year, with a focus on the Neural Engines. It makes the iPhone 16 Pros perfect for the AI Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18. Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 Pros open on Friday, and the devices will start shipping and arrive in stores next Friday (20 September). Just like last year, the regular iPhone 16 Pro retails for $999/£999, and the 16 Plus goes for $1199/£1199.

Hands on: iPhone 16 Pro review - The first Pro gets its full zoom and a new button to use it

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test. Running from the Apple Keynote to the expansive demo room right behind it, I was confronted by long tables of new products, including iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max phones on pedestals (as they should be), and hoards of excited media and analysts who crowded so tightly around the products that I could scarcely get close enough to sniff them. Lucky for me, many Apple representatives were milling about who would almost surreptitiously remove the gleaming handsets from their pockets and then just as casually walk you through features. That was how I finally got close to the iPhone 16 Pro, a now 6.3-inch iOS 18 device that is slightly larger than the iPhone 15 Pro while offering noticeably more screen real estate. Apple managed this trick by shrinking the bezel so it's just a thin dark line surrounding the Super Retina XDR display. Apparently, Apple figured out how to reroute some of the screen traces from the edges to underneath the display, which made the razor-thin bezel possible. As they handed me the phone, I noticed its Black Titanium body felt just as solid and smooth as before. It felt familiar because the design was largely unchanged from the last iPhone. The one noticeable and significant difference is the new Camera Control. This tactile/haptic combo button, which adorns the full iPhone 16 lineup, is kind of the star of the new iPhone show. Stuffed full of technology, the button lives below the power button and is used initially to open the camera app. A lighter press activates the haptic response access controls, and a double press accesses a deeper set of camera controls. After that, you can swipe up and down on the bottom to select different photography features. After a quick training, I could use it to access the different lenses, set exposure, and change the depth of field. There's a visual cue on the screen to help you keep track of all the touch, tap, and gesture-based camera changes. Eventually, virtually any app that uses the camera could access the Camera Control button. Snapchat is already doing so. This button might just change how you use your iPhone, and I think people will like it. There is another big and significant change in the iPhone 16 Pro. Again, it has parity on the zoom front with its big brother, the now 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max. While the iPhone 15 Po offered just a 3x optical zoom, the iPhone 16 Pro has the same 5x tetra prism zoom as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Other camera changes include a 48MP ultra-wide and a faster shutter speed on the 48MP main camera. I saw some of these photographic skills in action when I took a few sample photos, but I didn't gather enough evidence to draw any useful conclusions. Demos I saw elsewhere of the 4K 120fps show some impressive video skills. I have yet to see or try out the Cinematic Slo-Mo, but it looks like a great tool for pro videographers. The new A18 Pro CPU powers the iPhone 16 Pro, a mobile processor with more power than most consumers need, but I suspect pro users will appreciate it. It'll also support all those promised Apple Intelligence features. The news here, though, is that the iPhone 16 Pro will not ship with Apple Intelligence. Apple has promised to ship an iOS 18 update next month that will support it. The good news is that I did see some Apple Intelligence features in action. Photo Cleanup works smoothly to identify photographic detritus and expertly remove it with a tap or erase gesture. Writing tools are hidden but appear to have a lot of depth and are ready to not just clean up your writing but almost do your writing for you...if that's your thing. Siri got a literal glow-up and now turns on the entire iPhone 16 Pro screen when activated. It was hard to use her in the crowded room but I do love the look of it. While I didn't spend a lot of time with the phone, the initial operation appeared snappy. A18 Pro has all the power you need for virtually any task and more. Console-level gaming is now a thing on the iPhone. Even at 6.3 inches, the screen might be a bit small for some AAA games, but it can certainly handle the action. Part of that is due to the new heat management system that makes the iPhone more efficient for longer at peak operation. I think it'll be a challenge to over-tax this smartphone. Even with all that power and new AI features, Apple said during the keynote that we should expect longer battery life, and by longer, I mean you might be able to measure it in hours. That's an exciting prospect. It's a shame that this iPhone 16 Pro will start with half the storage of the iPhone 16 Pro Max: 128GB vs. 256GG. 128GB is nothing to sneeze at, but if you're shooting a lot of 4K video, you might wish for that extra 128GB. A better and bigger screen, improved cameras, including 5x zoom, that new Camera Control button, and so much power could make this one of the best iPhones Apple has ever made. Will it be the best smartphone? That's a question I can't answer until I test it. The iPhone 16 Pro was announced at Apple's 'It's Glowtime' event on Monday, September 9. iPhone 16 preorders will begin on Friday, September 9, and the new phone will hit store shelves on Friday, September 20. The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for the model with 128GB of storage, with storage options rising to 1TB. For reference, that's the same starting price as the iPhone 15 Pro. Full iPhone 16 Pro pricing is as follows: Below, you'll find a roundup of the iPhone 16 Pro's key specs.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro First Impressions: It Could Be the Best Smartphone for Photographers

The PetaPixel team flew down to Cupertino to witness the 2024 Apple Keynote event and get our first glimpse at the new iPhone 16 Pro. With all the recent push lately to add AI features to the photography aspects of the phone it's nice to see Apple working on updated camera hardware instead. I want to relay my first impressions about the new Pro series phones and build a list of the most important features to test further. Apple has decided to eschew last year's decision of putting different cameras on different Pro models leaving the only differing factor as screen size. The Pro model features a 6.3-inch screen and the 6.9-inch is on the Max model. Surprisingly we didn't see anything new with the screen specs and peak brightness is still 2,000 nits. Battery life is definitively improved with roughly four hours more of video playback than the previous iPhone 15 Pro phones. Wired USB-C charging times are about the same as before but the wireless MagSafe Charging is now almost up to par with the wired speeds. The cameras are now improved almost across the board with the standard Pro model, with a new and exciting main camera that features the same 48-megapixel resolution and f/1.78 aperture but is roughly twice as fast when it comes to readout speeds. Not only does this unlock 4K at 120 frames per second recording but it could also possibly allow for more images to be compiled with a single shutter press. This is something we definitely want to test further. The ultra-wide camera has also been improved to a new 48-megapixel sensor with autofocus that can deliver decent macro capabilities with more detail than before. The aperture seems to be the same as before at f/2.2. The only camera module that seems to be reused from the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the 5X telephoto f/2.8 lens which is now present on both the Pro and Pro Max. I would have liked to have seen an improvement here because this camera does have limitations and some users will probably miss the 3x camera that was on the 15 Pro. One thing that I found particularly fascinating was the new Camera Control button. This provides haptic feedback and has a satisfying click when you press it fully. The idea is that you can press the button to activate the camera app, and then double-press it to bring up a series of manual controls. By sliding your finger on the button you can switch between controls and then adjust them quickly. In practice I found the operation to be a little fiddly and slow so I want to test it much further and see if it is a quick and practical way of making adjustments. I also want to further test the new creative filters that Apple has released. They now have what are called undertones that give a nice shift of color without harming skin tones. They also have more traditional-looking filters like vibrant and black and white, or more surreal settings like ethereal and luminous. Regardless, all of these filters can be customized fully and can have the opacity toggled as well as revert any of these to a different one at a later date. The aforementioned 4Kp120 mode is now present but can only be used with the new main camera module. It still needs an external recorder if you want to shoot the Log format, however. The new slow motion feature can be re-timed after making the recording and you can even use the cinematic shallow depth of field mode with 4Kp120 as well. Sadly, we still don't seem to get a compressed Log format that can be recorded on camera at this time. Lastly, what I noticed about the keynote was less emphasis on generative AI for photos and even fairly conservative use of AI for things like summarizing information from emails or messages or using Siri as a more powerful personal assistant. It's worth noting that as of the writing of this article, the majority of these new AI-based tools have not yet been released and will be given with future updates. The only real use of generative AI in photography seems to be for making custom emojis and stickers or for erasing unwanted subjects in the backgrounds of images. In this regard, Apple seems to be taking a more measured approach than the what competition is pushing for. Perhaps this is a safer move given how polarized users are when it comes to the use of generative AI. There will be a full review when we can test production smartphones but it's safe to say that there are plenty of new changes that pique my interest and I'm excited to test the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max further.