iPhone 16 Series: A Comprehensive Look at Apple's Latest Smartphones

iPhone 16 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: clash of the titans

That said, there's a lot carried forward from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has the same main camera, display technology, and construction as Apple's newest flagship. So, just how similar are these two phones? In this guide, we compare the new iPhone 16 Pro Max to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, looking at what Apple's changed about its highest-end phone in the space of a year. This guide includes a detailed breakdown of all the key components of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but if you're just after a simple specs comparison, check out the handy table below: The iPhone 16 Pro Max is available now from $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149; the first units hit store shelves on Friday, September 20. The maxed-out 1TB storage option will set you back a hefty $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,849. As mentioned in our iPhone 16 Pro Max review, Apple's latest flagship isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but we're at least glad prices weren't increased this year. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has already been discontinued by Apple, but it was sold for the same prices as the iPhone 16 Pro Max in the US and UK. In Australia, all storage options of the older phone actually cost AU$50 more. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is currently on sale at a slight discount from third-party vendors in the wake of the iPhone 16 release, and you can reasonably expect prices to drop further as the year progresses. However, demand - and therefore prices - for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max may remain higher than other discontinued Pro iPhones, as these two models will both support Apple Intelligence, Apple's suite of AI tools and features. Design-wise, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is very similar to the iPhone 15 Pro Max - just slightly bigger. The display on the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the largest ever fitted to an iPhone. Our review found the new 6.9-inch screen impressively sharp and immersive, thanks in part to the newly thinner bezels. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the same size as the previous three generations, with a 6.7-inch display. This increased size brings the iPhone 16 Pro Max a small increase in resolution; 2868 x 1320 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max's 2796 x 1290. This means both phones maintain the same 460ppi pixel density. Other than the size, there really is very little difference between the two panels. Both are OLED displays with an adaptive 1-120hz refresh rate (which Apple brands as ProMotion), both reach a peak outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits and a peak indoor brightness of 1,600 nits for HDR content, and both feature the Dynamic Island and an optional Always-On display. Still, the difference in display size means the overall dimensions of the two phones are slightly different, an effect somewhat mitigated by the iPhone 16 Pro Max's smaller bezels. The iPhone 16 Pro Max measures 163mm x 77.6mm x 8.25mm, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max measures 159.9mm x 76.7mm x 8.25mm. The iPhone 16 Pro Max also sports the brand-new Camera Control capacitive button on the lower right-hand side, placed optimally for taking shots in landscape (more on that later). The two phones otherwise have a near-identical titanium construction, with a slightly rounded frame, USB 3.0 port, power, volume, and Action buttons, down-firing speakers and a slither of a speaker grille for phone calls and stereo audio. Both are rated IP68 against dust and water, meaning they'll resist dust of any size and can survive submergence in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. As for colors, the iPhone 16 Pro Max carries forward the Black Titanium, White Titanium, and Natural Titanium options from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but swaps last year's Blue Titanium colorway for the new bronze-like Desert Titanium option. The iPhone 16 Pro Max gets a few camera upgrades over the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which together comprise its most tangible hardware upgrades. Both phones come equipped with three cameras in Apple's now-iconic triangular orientation. Both have the main camera and ultra-wide camera oriented vertically, which allows for spatial video recording. The iPhone 16 Pro Max can also capture spatial photographs. The phones both have a 48MP f/1.8 main camera - as far as we can tell, this is the same camera, despite Apple's new Fusion Camera branding for the iPhone 16 lineup. Both come with the same 12MP f/2.8 telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and 25x digital zoom. However, the iPhone 16 Pro Max's 48MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera is a considerable improvement on the 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide found on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and allows for high-resolution macro photography. Most strikingly, the iPhone 16 Pro Max gets the new Camera Control capacitive button. This recessed piece of haptic-enabled touch-sensitive glass can act as a shutter and accept touch gestures for zoom, focus, and other functions. Our review found that Camera Control can make the iPhone 16 Pro Max "feel like a real camera", but also notes that the two-step focus and shutter function familiar to point-and-shoot or DSLR users is, bizarrely, missing at launch. The Camera Control will also tie into Apple Intelligence, wherein it will activate the Visual Intelligence environmental analysis feature, which is fairly similar in operation to Google Lens. Apple is calling the iPhone 16 family the "first iPhones designed from the ground up for Apple Intelligence", and part of that design lies under-the-hood. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, along with its (relatively) little sibling the iPhone 16 Pro, gets the A18 Pro chipset. Apple says the A18 Pro offers 15% better processing performance and 20% better graphics performance than the A17 Pro chipset found in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. On paper, both chipsets have a similar composition: both the A18 Pro and A17 Pro have a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, a 6-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine for machine learning processing. The A18 Pro has 17% more memory bandwidth compared to the A17 Pro, meaning it can process more data in the same amount of time. Both phones come with 8GB of RAM, with storage options including 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. We anticipate a very similar user experience software-wise, as both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max run iOS 18, and both will be able to run the full suite of Apple Intelligence features when they launch with iOS 18.1. Due to the staggered launch of Apple Intelligence, we don't yet know how Apple's AI suite will perform on either phone. The increased memory bandwidth of the A18 Pro chip may afford the iPhone 16 Pro Max some extra AI performance, but both phones have the same 16-core Neural Engine at the center of machine learning tasks, so the difference isn't likely to be that striking. Apple is infamously cagey about the battery capacity of its products and never shares the exact capacity in milliamp hours (mAh), instead preferring to quote hours of battery life for different usage scenarios - though we do now have some unofficial confirmation of the iPhone 16 series' battery capacities. Apple claims the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasts for 33 hours of video playback, an increase of 4 hours compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max's quoted 29 hours of video playback. In our iPhone 15 Pro Max review, we found that the iPhone 15 Pro Max lasted for 28 hours of varied usage, which bodes well for the quoted battery life of its successor, though we can't say for sure until we test it for ourselves. Rumors suggest that the iPhone 16 lineup could be the first Apple smartphone lineup to have gotten 45W fast charging, but Apple hasn't confirmed this yet, instead saying the iPhone 16 Pro Max charges to 50% in 30 minutes using a 20W or higher wired charger, or 30W or higher MagSafe charger. The company issued this same claim with the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Both phones support the Qi wireless charging standard, and as mentioned both support MagSafe charging. As our review declares, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a beautiful and beastly phone that's ready for anything you can imagine throwing at it - at the time of writing, it's the best iPhone money can buy. If you want Apple's biggest-ever smartphone, then the iPhone 16 Pro Max is your go-to, and it helps that the bigger frame holds a larger battery, too. The internal specs are all top-class, but the iPhone 16 Pro has the same internals for $200 less, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max isn't too far off in either performance or price. The Camera Control button revolutionizes how you use the camera app, but if you just want that particular feature, you can get it for less on one of the standard iPhone 16 models. If you've been waiting a few years to upgrade, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the obvious choice, but upgrading from the iPhone 15 Pro Max is a tougher sell. If you're all about AI, it might be worth holding fire until Apple Intelligence is out, as we currently have no idea about how the stable release of Apple's AI package will run on either handset. Internal updates to Apple's top-of-the-line iPhones are becoming more incremental year-on-year, and with Apple Intelligence coming to both phones - and not ready at launch for the iPhone 16 Pro Max anyway - it's currently hard to say whether the software experience will differ much between the two models. Still, we think it's very unlikely that you'll be disappointed with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The Camera Control button is likely to make upgrading worthwhile for photographers, while the larger screen size means videos and games are sure to look phenomenal.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: Upgrade time? | Digital Trends

Apple's smartphones are finally entering a new era -- a phase where the software is driving as much innovation as the hardware. In fact, if one looks at the magnitude of changes that iOS 18 brings to the table with Apple Intelligence at the helm, the hardware enhancements pale in comparison. The Apple iPhone 16 Pro is at the forefront of that movement, thanks largely to the inclusion of Apple's new AI, which is likely to become a core part of everyone's iOS experience when it launches. But is there any merit in holding on to an older iPhone? The iPhone 14 Pro is the focus for most buyers' "keep or jump" dilemma. A remnant of the Lightning port era, the iPhone 14 Pro continues to prove its mettle as a reliable warhorse with a terrific camera. But the kind of comprehensive changes across screen, silicon, charging, and software perameters introduced by the iPhone 16 Pro also make it a candidate for an upgrade. Recommended Videos If you've been holding on tight to your iPhone 14 and aren't sure if there are any meaningful advancements to warrant a spending spree, here's a detailed breakdown to guide your upgrade decision. iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: specs Specs iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Size 149.6 x 71.5 x 8.25 mm (5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches) 147.5 x 71.5 x 7.85 mm (5.81 x 2.81 x 0.31 inches) Weight 199 g (7.03 oz) 206 g (7.27 oz) Screen 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED 1206 x 2622 pixels ProMotion with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate Dolby Vision, 2,000 nits brightness 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED 1179 x 2556 pixels ProMotion with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate Dolby Vision, 2,000 nits brightness Operating system iOS 18 iOS 18 Build Titanium with textured matt glass back Stainless steel with textured matt glass back Buttons Action Button Camera Control Ring/Silent switch Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Processor Apple A18 Pro Six-core CPU Six-core GPU 16-core NPU Apple A16 Bionic Six-core CPU Five-core GPU 16-core NPU Camera Rear: 48-megapixel primary, f/1.8, OIS 48MP ultrawide, f/2.2, 120° FOV 12MP telephoto, f/2.8, 5x optical zoom Front: 12MP, f/1.9 aperture Rear: 48MP primary, f/1.78, OIS 48MP ultrawide, f/2.2, 120° FOV 12MP telephoto, f/1.78, 3x optical zoom Front: 12MP, f/1.9 aperture Video Rear: 4K, up to 120 fps Front: 4K, up to 60 fps Rear: 4K, up to 60 fps Front: 4K, up to 60 fps Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, dual-band Bluetooth 5.3 Wi-Fi 6, dual-band Bluetooth 5.3 Ports USB-C Gen 3.2 DisplayPort Lightning USB 2.0 Water resistance IP68 (maximum depth of 6m up to 30 minutes) IP68 (maximum depth of 6m up to 30 minutes) Battery & charging Up to 23 hours video playback 45W fast charging 25W wireless charging via MagSafe 15W Qi2 wireless charging Up to 27 hours video playback 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging via MagSafe 7.5W Qi wireless charging Colors Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium Space Black, Silver, Gold, Deep Purple Price Starts at $999 Starts at $999 iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: design and display There isn't much to discuss here about any design overhaul, as the fundamental aesthetic language is identical. However, there are a few refinements that can only be felt when the two devices are held in hand. The iPhone 16 Pro is slightly taller and thicker than the iPhone 14 Pro, and a touch lighter too. That weight disparity predominantly has to do with the build's material of choice. The latest flagship from Apple relies on titanium, which is lighter, more resilient, and better equipped to handle heat dissipation. The iPhone 14 Pro, on the other hand, has a stainless steel frame married to a matte glass shell. Another crucial difference concerns the edges. The iPhone 14 Pro's sides were quite sharp and the phone dug into the palm in quite an uncomfortable fashion. The iPhone 16 Pro takes a more rounded approach to the edges, making it cozier to hold, if not a day-and-night difference. Apple has also slimmed down the bezels to accommodate a larger display on the phone. With the iPhone 16 Pro, you also get USB-C (Gen 3 port with Display Port support) with 10Gbps output as it ditches the Lightning Port (USB Gen 2) on the iPhone 14 Pro. In a nutshell, you get faster data transfer bandwidth and liberation from the dongle life. The ingress protection is identical across both phones at an IP68 level, but the color options vary. The iPhone 16 Pro serves up a new Desert Titanium look that's somewhat inspired by the gold trim on the iPhone 16 Pro, but the latter's signature Deep Purple is gone. The rest of Apple's latest options include silver, white, and black. Another core difference, as mentioned above, is the display. The iPhone 16 Pro has a 6.3-inch panel, up from the 6.1-inch OLED screen on the iPhone 14 Pro. The rest of the attributes, such as pixel density, peak refresh rate, and brightness output remain identical. Apple says the latest iteration of Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 16 Pro is twice as strong, while the OLED panel's brightness can drop to as low as 1 nit, which is technically great news from the lens of power efficiency. Another crucial change is the introduction of two extra buttons on the iPhone 16 Pro that replace the mute switch on the iPhone 14 Pro. The Action button has already become a favorite of folks for folks looking to execute tasks or even shortcuts with the press of a button. This year, we also get the Camera Control, a physical button with a capacitive side to it. It's a camera shutter in spirit, but can do a lot more. Using slide gestures, it can also handle adjustments like ISO or zoom level, among other camera controls. iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: camera For users deep into video capture and engaged in professional workflows, the latest from Apple offers plenty. Both phones rely on a mostly identical 48-megapixel main camera and a 12MP zoom camera, but the iPhone 16 Pro takes things up a notch by upgrading the 12MP ultrawide lens to a 48MP sensor. Another crucial upgrade is the inherent zoom architecture. The iPhone 14 Pro has a 3x optical range using a lens tunnel system for zooming. The iPhone 16 Pro reaches a 5x optical zoom range, thanks to the tetra prism lens architecture that was first seen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It also jumps to the Smart HDR 5 pipeline for more effective color contrast output. On the imaging side, the iPhone 16 Pro enables full 48MP macro capture and can also take Spatial Pictures suited for viewing on the Apple Vision Pro headset. There are also new photographic styles on the table, alongside a new pad adjustment system to achieve the exact strength of a specific style. While that sounds appealing, it's really the video capture side of things where the iPhone 16 Pro races into an altogether different league. To start, the rear camera can now shoot 4K Dolby Vision videos at both 100 frames per second (fps) and 120 fps, and the results look incredible. Of course, for users who like more control over their video edits, the phone also opens the doors for log capture (with support for the Academy Color Encoding System), something the iPhone 14 Pro misses out on. Apple has also armed the iPhone 16 Pro with four studio-quality mics, and they play a supremely important role. Apple claims they deliver more true-to-life sounds. The trick in question is audio mixing. Essentially, when you shoot a video, you can pick between directional audio presets like in-frame, studio, and cinematic. These presets let users focus on a certain audio sources in their video. The samples captured by users suggest that it works really well. iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: performance and software The biggest shift between the iPhone 14 Pro and its 16-series counterpart is the processor, which not only stands out based on hardware merits, but also opens the doors for an entirely new software experience courtesy of Apple Intelligence. Now, depending on how excited you are about AI, you may or may not make an upgrade choice, but here's the lowdown. The A16 Bionic in the iPhone 14 Pro is based on TSMC's 4nm process, and it serves a six-core CPU and a five-core graphics engine. The iPhone 16 Pro's A18 Pro, built atop the newer 3nm node, packs six graphics cores. The lift in processing firepower stands at 30%, while the GPU performance is improved by 40% this time around. Even compared to the mighty A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple is touting a two-fold gain in hardware-accelerated ray tracing performance in games. It's just that there are only a handful of games out there that can push ray tracing on the new and improved flagship iPhone. Now, both iPhones have already received the iOS 18 update, but the experience is going to be quite different. The biggest upgrade is Siri interactions, which are not only a lot more natural, but also dig deeper into apps for seamless integration to get work done. It can even handle multimedia content editing using voice commands. That means not only can Siri more efficiently perform tasks across different apps (both in-house and third-party), but it can also look into the details stored by these apps and accordingly respond to user queries. Additionally, when it can't handle certain queries, they will be offloaded to OpenAI's ChatGPT. There's a lot to unpack. The Notes app gets Writing Tools that let you handle rewrites, corrections, formatting, and summarization with a single click. AI smarts have also been extended to the Mail app, where they enable email summarization as well as smart reply suggestions. App notifications are also intelligently brought together, summarized, and passed through focus filters. It works really well, though the system takes a few days to assess the app interaction habit before it can fine-tune the notification behavior. Another cool perk is automatic transcription and voice notes that can also be summarized with a single click. On the more fun side of things, users will be able to convert rough sketches into beautiful drawings with a simple highlight and selection gesture. The Image Playground feature brings text-to-image facility across different places, including Messages. Also, for users who often run into the need to look up Apple's product guides online, Siri will save them a browser trip, as the virtual assistant has ingested those guides and will offer step-by-step instructions right in the dialog box. Another cool upgrade is Screen Awareness, which lets the AI assistant take a peek at the onscreen content and answer contextual queries. Apple Intelligence really is a big difference here -- but it's worth remembering that Apple Intelligence isn't available yet, even on iOS 18. Instead, it will launch with iOS 18.1. iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: battery and charging One of the most notable quality-of-life upgrades offered by the iPhone 16 Pro is improved mileage, as well as faster charging. The iPhone 16 Pro is claimed to last for 27 hours of video playback on a single charge, while the iPhone 14 Pro could only manage 23 hours. That translated into a single day of charge in the iPhone 14 Pro's real-life use, but we won't know if the iPhone 16 Pro can meet or exceed this until we've had time with it. According to regulatory data, the iPhone 16 Pro can technically reach a wired charging pace of 45 watts, which is dramatically faster than the iPhone 14 Pro. Additionally, the Qi wireless charging pace has reached 15W, up from 7.5W on the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple has also boosted the MagSafe output for its latest flagship. The iPhone 16 Pro can reach a MagSafe power delivery peak of 25W when paired with a 30W brick, while the iPhone 14 Pro could only muster 15W for juicing up the lithium-ion unit packed inside its glass-metal chassis. iPhone 16 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: availability and price The Apple iPhone 16 Pro is now available for sale. The base model of the phone will set you back $999, with more storage costing more and rising all the way to a 1TB option. The Apple iPhone 14 Pro is similar, with the same storage options and an initial starting price of $999. However, given the latter's older age, it's likely you'll find the iPhone 14 Pro at a much lower price than the newer flagship. During sales periods, it could be significantly so, making it a much more attractive option to those looking for a bargain. iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro: should you upgrade? The Apple iPhone 16 Pro, as mentioned above, is pushing the envelope with both software- and hardware-side innovations. But that also begs the question -- is the iPhone 14 Pro a laggard that demands an upgrade just two years into its product life? Well, the answer depends on how much utility you are going to get out of the exclusive iPhone 16 Pro perks. The biggest differentiator, of course, is Apple Intelligence. The AI-driven overhaul of iOS 18 puts Siri and next-gen machine learning capabilities into every corner of the iPhone's software. And over time, those AI conversations -- especially Siri integrations -- will appear inside third-party apps, as well. Ultimately, it will boil down to how much one has grown weary of the boring iOS experience and seeks to experience what a next-generation AI-driven experience feels like. Then we have the camera chops. Now, the iPhone is still one of the nicest smartphone camera systems out there, and that applies to the iPhone 14 Pro as much as the iPhone 16 Pro. Is the newer phone better? Yes. Is it a big enough gulf that you'll feel like the older phone is missing out? That's less likely. However, if you intend to push your phone in terms of ultrawide capture and, more importantly, videos that try to challenge a DSLR, the enhanced zoom and high-fps Dolby Vision perks will really light up a social media feed with stunning samples. Now, Apple has kept the asking price the same, which is great news and makes the upgrade even more compelling. For those who can score a good trade-in deal, and can absorb the deficit hit on their wallet, the iPhone 16 Pro is absolutely worth the jump. For the rest, the iPhone 14 Pro is still enough to last at least another year, or two, with ease.

3 ways the iPhone 16 Pro Max beats the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (& 3 ways it doesn't)

Samsung and Apple are often the two giants atop the smartphone market, and they sell great Android phones and the best iPhones to match that reputation. With the new iPhone 16 series out, all eyes are turning to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Can it beat the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra? When we reviewed the Galaxy S24 Ultra earlier this year, we called it the "most feature-packed, do-it-all phone in the world." That's a high bar for the iPhone 16 Pro Max to beat, especially now that it's closer in price to Samsung's top flagship. Neither phone gets everything right, so let's break down three ways each flagship beats the other. If you're in the market for a new phone, or are simply curious about how your phone compares to the competition, you're in the right place. Related iPhone 16 Pro Max review: Apple Intelligence is decent, but the new video capabilities are what really shine The iPhone 16 Pro Max is hyped around its AI capabilities, but most are not ready for roll out. Instead, get this phone for its great video recording. 2:27 Related Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review: The most feature-packed, do-it-all phone in the world The Galaxy S24 Ultra's new AI features along with (slightly) improved camera system and build make for the most maximal, do-it-all phone 6 The Galaxy S24 Ultra has the famous S Pen This internally-housed stylus is great for jotting down quick notes There's still just one mainstream flagship phone that includes an inbuilt stylus these days, and that's the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. It's up to you to decide whether that matters, but I know some people swear by the S Pen as a way to draw, jot down notes, and do plenty of other things on their phone. With Galaxy AI, the S Pen might come in handy while using features like Circle to Search or Sketch to Image. There have been some calls for Apple to bring the Pencil to iPhone, but that hasn't happened. If you want a phone with a stylus, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is absolutely your best bet. 5 The iPhone 16 Pro Max has the better camera Samsung is winning on the spec sheet, Apple is winning in the real world If you simply gloss over a spec sheet, you might be impressed by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra's 200MP main sensor and its ability to take crisp moon shots with space zoom. However, megapixels aren't everything, and those moon shots have been partially debunked. It's the iPhone 16 Pro Max that has the better camera, according to our reviewer. In situations where the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a glossy digital sheen, reviewer Ben Sin says the iPhone 16 Pro Max returns a film-like look. That's due to the new Photographic Styles, which are filter-esque presets. It's also superior in video recording, where the iPhone 16 Pro Max can shoot 4K at up to 120 FPS. Apple's powerful A18 Pro chipset makes it possible to make key changes, like slowing things down in a video or adding portrait mode bokeh, after the fact. Related How to use the Pro camera mode on your iPhone Recent iPhone models have upped their photography game noticeably. Here's how to use the Pro camera mode on your Apple iPhone. 4 The Galaxy S24 Ultra has Gorilla Armor The strength of this glass and its anti-reflective coating are game changers Close A subtle benefit of owning the Galaxy S24 Ultra is having a Gorilla Armor display covering. It's like Corning's stock Gorilla Glass, but stronger and with a better anti-reflective coating. It will help prevent scratches, based on Corning's in-house tests. More importantly, it means the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be way easier to use than an iPhone 16 Pro Max in direct sunlight. Gorilla Armor limits light reflections by up to 75%, and that will be huge in daily use. 3 The iPhone 16 Pro Max has better physical buttons The Action button and Camera Control make for excellent tactile control and customization Close Call the changes iterative if you'd like, but the biggest ones to hit the Pro Max line in recent years are the Action and Camera Control buttons. The Action button replaces the mute switch and is completely customizable. You can choose from a selection of presets or use the Shortcuts app to create your own workflows (and we give you a few ideas here). New this year is the Camera Control button, which mixes a switch with capacitive swipe gesture support and pressure sensing. All told, these specialized buttons are advantages of owning an iPhone 16 Pro Max over a Galaxy S24 Ultra. Related Action button on iPhone: A guide for power users and beginners The Action button, by default, is quite limited, but there are workarounds to make more out of it 2 Samsung has AI you can actually use Apple Intelligence shouldn't factor into your smartphone purchase decision today Close Apple spent a long time talking about Apple Intelligence features on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, but those don't ship with the device. They're set to debut on a rolling basis, with the first wave of tools coming in October. We wouldn't recommend buying an iPhone 16 Pro Max for AI until these features officially launch. Meanwhile, Galaxy AI has been here from the jump, and it's only getting better. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is competing with the Pixel 9 Pro XL for the title of best AI phone, and you could make a case that it's winning. Related These are the Samsung AI features I use on my Galaxy Z Fold 5 Samsung introduced a ton of AI features with OneUI 6.1, and these are the ones I actually use. 1 Apple has the most powerful chip in any phone However, the jury is still out on whether that even matters in 2024 GeekBench 6 CPU scores: iPhone 16 Pro Max with A18 Pro (left); iPhone 16 with A18 (middle); and iPhone 15 Pro Max with A17 Pro (right) The iPhone 16 Pro Max is powered by the A18 Pro chip, which is manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process. It builds upon the success of last year's A17 Pro, which was the first 3nm processor to appear in a smartphone. No matter how you slice it, the iPhone 16 Pro Max has the best phone chip on the planet. It wins in daily use, benchmarks, and can even play a handful of AAA games. It's true that the A18 Pro chip likely has lower memory than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but that is borderline irrelevant due to how optimized iOS 18 is for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Related iOS 18 hands-on: All about finally catching up with Android This update marks the biggest visual redesign of iOS since 2013, and it's notable even without Apple Intelligence. Speaking of irrelevant, it's also true that specs and raw performance might not matter that much in 2024. All the flagship phones, from the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL to the Galaxy S24 Ultra to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, perform well. It's possible that the iPhone 16 Pro Max's power wins in the end, if it can keep up with new Apple Intelligence features for years to come. However, we won't know the true verdict on that for a while. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is simply getting old If you're choosing between the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, perhaps the biggest consideration is the latter phone's age. It was one of the first to release in 2024, and it's late in the Galaxy release cycle to be buying a Galaxy S24 Ultra. The new Galaxy S25 series is likely right around the corner, debuting in just a few months, and might provide better value over the current Galaxy S24 Ultra. With that being said, if you can find a good discount, the purchase could be worthwhile. For most people, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the better buy if you need a great smartphone right now. It has a great display, an excellent camera system, and is blazing fast. There are larger 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch sizes this year, and both phones have complete feature parity. So, if you like the Pro Max but prefer a compact phone, you can pick up the iPhone 16 Pro without losing anything. Compact pick iPhone 16 Pro Apple's iPhone 16 Pro is the latest and greatest compact "Pro" phone. It features a larger 6.3-inch screen than last year's model and includes the new A18 Pro system-on-a-chip. There's also an upgraded rear camera system and a Camera Control button. It uses a physical switch as well as pressure and swipe support to give you more control over your pictures. $1000 at Best Buy$1000 at Apple Big-screen pick iPhone 16 Pro Max Apple's newest and biggest iPhone gets a slightly larger screen, new A18 Pro chip, a better ultra-wide camera, a new physical button for controlling the camera, and the ability to run Apple Intelligence. But with many Apple Intelligence features not quite ready, the overall experience here is still very similar to last year's iPhone, although it's a bit better in every way. $1200 at Best Buy$1200 at AT&T The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has some real perks, even many months after its initial launch. Seven years of full Android version updates, Galaxy AI, the S Pen, and the Gorilla Armor glass covering are key ways the phone beats the iPhone 16 Pro Max. But it's more expensive at full price, and it's older, which makes for a bad combination. Good alternative Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra $1100 $1300 Save $200 The Galaxy S24 Ultra is Samsung's premium flagship phone for 2024, further refining everything Android enthusiasts love about this big, beautiful phone. $1300 at Samsung$1100 at Best Buy

Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus review: Closing the gap to the Pro

The "regular" iPhone has become like a second child. Year after year, this model has gotten the hand-me-downs from the previous version of the iPhone Pro - the older, smarter sibling. The iPhone 15 received the iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island and A16 Bionic processor, and the iPhone 14 before that got the A15 Bionic chip and a larger Plus variant with the same screen size as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. For the iPhone 16 ($799 & up), there are trickle-down items once more. But this time around, that's not the entire story for the Apple phone that's the best option for most people. Surprisingly, Apple gave some of the most attractive features it has for 2024 to both the regular and Pro iPhones at the same time. This means you won't have to wait a year to get expanded camera tools and another brand new button. Sure, Apple Intelligence is still in the works, but that's the case for the iPhone 16 Pro too. The important thing there is that the iPhone 16 is just as ready when the AI features arrive. So, for perhaps the first time - or at least the first time in years - Apple has closed the gap between the iPhone and iPhone Pro in a significant way. ProRAW stills and ProRES video are still exclusive to the priciest iPhones, and a new "studio-quality" four-microphone setup is reserved for them too. Frustratingly, you'll still have to spend more for a 120Hz display. But, as far as the fun new tools that will matter to most of us, you won't have to worry about missing out this time. Another year has passed and we still don't have a significant redesign for any iPhone, let alone the base-level model. As such, I'll spend my time here discussing what's new. Apple was content to add new colors once again, opting for a lineup of ultramarine (blueish purple), teal, pink, white and black. The colors are bolder than what was available on the iPhone 15, although I'd like to see a blue and perhaps a bright yellow or orange. Additionally, there's no Product Red option once again -- we haven't seen that hue since the iPhone 14. The main change in appearance on the iPhone 16 is the addition of two new buttons. Of course, one of those, the reconfigurable action button above the volume rockers, comes from the Pro-grade iPhones. By default, the control does the task of the switch it replaces: activating silent mode. But, you can also set the action button to open the camera, turn on the flashlight, start a Voice Memo, initiate a Shazam query and more. You can even assign a custom shortcut if none of the presets fit your needs. While Apple undoubtedly expanded the utility of this switch by making it customizable, regular iPhone users will have to get used to the fact that the volume control is no longer the top button on the left. This means that when you reach for the side to change the loudness, you'll need to remember it's the middle and bottom buttons. Of course, the action button is smaller than the other two, so with some patience you can differentiate them by touch. Near the bottom of the right side, there's a new Camera Control button for quick access to the camera and its tools. A press will open the camera app from any screen, and a long press will jump straight to 4K Dolby Vision video capture at 60 fps. Once you're there, this button becomes a touch-sensitive slider for things like zoom, exposure and lens selection. With zoom, for example, you can scroll through all of the options with a swipe. Then with a double "light press," which took a lot of practice to finally master, you can access the other options. Fully pressing the button once will take a photo -- you won't have to lift a finger to tap the onscreen buttons. Around back, Apple rearranged the cameras so they're stacked vertically instead of diagonally. It's certainly cleaner than the previous look, and the company still favors a smaller bump in the top left over something that takes up more space or spans the entire width of the rear panel (Hi Google). The key reason the company reoriented the rear cameras is to allow for spatial photos and videos, since the layout now enables the iPhone 16 to capture stereoscopic info from the Fusion and Ultra Wide cameras. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have a new 48-megapixel Fusion camera that packs a quad-pixel sensor for high resolution and fine detail. Essentially, it's two cameras in one, combining - or fusing, hence the name - a 48MP frame and a 12MP one that's fine-tuned for light capture. By default, you'll get a 24MP image, one that Apple says offers the best mix of detail, low-light performance and an efficient file size. There's also a new anti-reflective coating on the main (and ultrawide) camera to reduce flares. The 12MP ultrawide camera got an upgrade too. This sensor now has a faster aperture and larger pixels, with better performance in low-light conditions. There's a new macro mode, unlocked by autofocus and able to capture minute detail. This is one of my favorite features as sharp images of smaller objects have never been in the iPhone camera's arsenal (only the Pros), and the macro tool has worked well for me so far. The iPhone 16, like its predecessors, takes decent stills. You'll consistently get crisp, clean detail in well-lit shots and realistic color reproduction that doesn't skew too warm or too cool. At a concert, I noticed that the iPhone 16's low-light performance is noticeably better than the iPhone 15. Where the previous model struggled at times in dimly lit venues, my 2x zoom shots with this new model produced better results. There wasn't a marked improvement across the board, but most of the images were certainly sharper. The most significant update to the camera on the iPhone 16 is Photographic Styles. Apple has more computational image data from years of honing its cameras, so the system has a better understanding of skin tones, color, highlights and shadows. Plus, the phone is able to process all of this in real time, so you can adjust skin undertones and mood styles before you even snap a picture. Of course, you can experiment with them after shooting, and you can also assign styles to a gallery of images simultaneously. Photographic Styles are massively expanded and way more useful, especially when you use them to preview a shot before you commit. My favorite element of the updated workflow is a new control pad where you can swipe around to adjust tone and color. There's also a slider under it to alter the color intensity of the style you've selected. For me, the new tools in Photographic Styles make me feel like I don't need to hop over to another app immediately to edit since I have a lot more options available right in the Camera app. As I've already mentioned, Camera Control is handy for getting quick shots, and the touch-sensitivity is helpful with settings, but I have some gripes with the button. Like my colleague Cherlynn Low mentioned in her iPhone 16 Pro review, the placement causes issues depending on how you hold your phone, and may lead to some inadvertent presses. You can adjust the sensitivity of the button, or disable it entirely, which is a customization you might want to explore. What's more, the touch-enabled sliding controls are more accurately triggered if you hold the phone with your thumbs along the bottom while shooting. So, this means you may need to alter your grip for prime performance. Like I noted earlier, the new camera layout enables spatial capture of both video and photos on the iPhone 16. This content can then be viewed on Apple Vision Pro, with stills in the HEIC format and footage at 1080p/30fps. It's great that this isn't reserved for the iPhone 16 Pro, but the downside (for any iPhone) is file size. When you swipe over to Spatial Mode in the camera app, you'll get a warning that a minute of spatial video is 130MB and a single spatial photo is 5MB. I don't have one of Apple's headsets, so I didn't spend too much time here since the photos and videos just appear normal on an iPhone screen. I'd argue the most significant advantage of Spatial Mode is Audio Mix. Here, the iPhone 16 uses the sound input from the spatial capture along with "advanced intelligence" to isolate a person's voice from background noise. There are four options for Audio Mix, offering different methods for eliminating or incorporating environmental sounds. Like Cherlynn discovered on the iPhone 16 Pro, I found the Studio and Cinematic options work best, with each one taking a different approach to background noise. The former makes it sound like the speaker is in a studio while the latter incorporates environmental noise in surround sound with voices focused in the center - like in a movie. However, like her, I quickly realized I need a lot more time with this tool to get comfortable with it. Apple proudly proclaimed the iPhone 16 is "built for Apple Intelligence," but you'll have to wait a while longer to use it. That means things like AI-driven writing tools, summaries of audio transcripts, a prioritized inbox and more will work on the base iPhone 16 when they arrive, so you won't need a Pro to use them. Genmoji and the Clean Up photo-editing assist are sure to be popular as well, and I'm confident we're all ready for a long overdue Siri upgrade. There's a lot to look forward to, but none of it is ready for the iPhone 16's debut. The iOS 18.1 public beta arrived this week, so we're inching closer to a proper debut. Sure, it would've been nice for the excitement around the new iPhones to include the first crack at Apple's AI. But, I'd rather the company fine-tune things before a wider release to make sure Apple Intelligence is fully ready and, more importantly, fully reliable. Google has already debuted some form of AI on its Pixel series, so Apple is a bit behind. I don't mind waiting longer for a useful tool than rushing a company into making buggy software. What will be available on launch day is iOS 18, which delivers a number of handy updates to the iPhone, and many of which deal with customization. For the first time, Apple is allowing users to customize more than the layout on their Home Screen. You can now apply tint and color to icons, resize widgets and apps and lock certain apps to hide sensitive info. Those Lock Screen controls can also be customized for things you use most often, which is more handy now since the iPhone 16 has a dedicated camera button on its frame. There's a big overhaul to the Photos app too, mostly focused on organization, that provides a welcome bit of automatization. The iPhone 16 uses Apple's new A18 chip with a 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU. There's also a 16-core Neural Engine, which is the same as both the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 16 Pro. With the A18, the base-level iPhone jumped two generations ahead compared to the A16 Bionic inside the iPhone 15. The new chip provides the necessary horsepower for Apple's AI and demanding camera features like Photographic Styles and the Camera Control button. I never noticed any lag on the iPhone 15, even with resource-heavy tasks, and those shouldn't be a problem on the iPhone 16, either. But, we'll have to wait and see how well the iPhone 16 handles Apple Intelligence this fall. Of course, the A18 is more efficient than its predecessors, which is a benefit that extends to battery life. Apple promises up to 22 hours of local video playback on the iPhone 16 and up to 27 hours on the 16 Plus. For streaming video, those numbers drop to 18 and 24 hours respectively, and they're all slight increases from the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro. Starting at 7AM, I ran my battery test on the iPhone 16 and had 25 percent left at midnight. That's doing what I'd consider "normal" use: a mix of calls, email, social, music and video. I also have a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that's running over Bluetooth and I used the AirPods 4 several times during the day. And, of course, I was shooting photos and a few short video clips to test out those new features. While getting through the day with no problem is good, I'd love it if I didn't have to charge the iPhone every night, or rely on low-power mode to avoid doing so. On a related note, Apple has increased charging speeds via MagSafe, where you can get a 50 percent top up in around 30 minutes via 25W charging from a 30W power adapter or higher. With the iPhone 16, Apple has almost closed the gap between its best phone for most people and the one intended for the most demanding power users. It's a relief to not pine for what could be coming on the iPhone 17 since a lot of the new features on the iPhone 16 Pro are already here. And while some of them will require time to master, it's great that they're on the iPhone 16 at all. There are some Pro features you'll still have to spend more for, like ProRAW photos, ProRES video, a 120Hz display, a 5x telephoto camera and multi-track recording in Voice Memos. But those are luxuries not everyone needs. For this reason, the regular iPhone will likely suit your needs just fine, since splurging on the high-end model has become more of an indulgence than a necessity.

iPhone 16 review: Apple's entry-level model is so good, I'm now questioning the need to pick a Pro option

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Premium features once exclusive to the iPhone Pro models continue to trickle down, like the Action button, macro photography, and ray tracing for games. Apple also gave the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus new features and improvements, like the new Camera Control button and faster MagSafe charging. All iPhone 16 users, not just iPhone 16 Pro owners, will also have access to Apple Intelligence features when they roll out in October. Add a sprinkle of incredible performance that exceeds expectations, an improved ultrawide camera, and Photographic Styles you can add after taking a shot, and the base iPhone 16 models are remarkable devices that continue to blur the line between the entry-level and Pro options. Apple spoils the mood with the iPhone 16's outdated 60Hz display, as high-refresh-rate displays remain an iPhone Pro feature for now. You also won't find a dedicated zoom camera or the more powerful A18 Pro processor in the base iPhone 16 models, but that's understandable. Either way, Apple is on a roll, and the base iPhone 16 models are well worth your consideration. For this review, we tested the iPhone 16 Plus. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are identical in performance and features, except for screen size and battery life. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have a similar design to the iPhone 15. However, the camera island on the back is now a pill-shaped, two-lens oval reminiscent of the iPhone X and iPhone XS. This lens alignment allows the iPhone 16 to shoot stereoscopic spatial videos that would be ideal for viewing with the Apple Vision Pro VR/AR headset. Apple introduced two new buttons to the base iPhone 16 models: the Action button, which was trickled down from the Pro models and replaces the ring/silent switch, and a brand new Camera Control button, which can be found across the iPhone 16 series. The Action button is a shortcut to useful functions and features, like toggling the flashlight or a Focus mode that limits distractions. With iOS 18, Apple added in-app functionality to the Shortcuts app for the Action button, like unlocking your car remotely from your carmaker's app. It's more useful than the old Silent Mode switch, and I'm glad it's on the base iPhone 16, but I wish the button were more prominent to find by feel, as I often mistake it for the volume-up button. In its current iteration, the Action button also supports only a single press, which feels like lost potential -- it could do numerous Actions if it also supported long presses or multiple presses. I've seen evidence in forums like Reddit where the Action button could perform multiple functions with various press combinations using the Shortcuts app, so it is possible. However, using the Shortcuts app to give the Action button multiple functions is infinitely more complex than a simple option provided by Apple. The Camera Control is a physical button with a capacitive sensor that supports various combinations of presses, light presses, and swipes when shooting photos or videos. I describe the new Camera Control button in more detail in the cameras section further down. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are available in four new color options, including Teal, Ultramarine, and Pink, with deeper saturation than the iPhone 15 series. There's also a new white option alongside the usual black colorway. As with every new iPhone, the base iPhone 16 models won't fit older iPhone cases due to its design changes and new buttons. See our guides to the best iPhone 16 cases and best iPhone 16 Plus cases for our vetted top options. Apple Intelligence is the biggest software upgrade in the iPhone 16; it's also supported on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. Yet, Apple Intelligence won't be widely available if you get an iPhone 16 before October's iOS 18.1 release. It's possible to try it out in the iOS 18.1 developer beta, but developer betas don't accurately represent a finished product (even less so than a public beta). Although we have been testing it with an iPhone 15 Pro, we can't definitively comment on Apple Intelligence at the time of writing -- we'll update this review after its release. Still, we can at least give an idea of what's coming. Apple Intelligence introduces several new AI-powered features, like dramatic improvements to Siri's helpfulness. A major theme is simplifying common tasks by eliminating a few screen taps and reducing the need to switch between apps as often. For example, you can ask Siri to play a song when someone shares a new song name in Messages, and the song will start playing in Apple Music. You can also ask Siri to send a photo to a contact, and it'll do so automatically in the Messages app. Siri will also be able to use data in your iPhone to answer questions, like the name of a TV show a friend mentioned a while ago in a Messages conversation or the name of a person you met on a certain day if you had a calendar entry for that meeting. Siri with Apple Intelligence will also understand whether you've fumbled your words during a request, and it'll let you complete your request without starting over again. You'll also be able to type to Siri if speaking out loud isn't possible or appropriate. Apple Intelligence will also include various text-based AI features, like summarizing notes and emails, and turning short-hand notes into complete sentences. There will also be photo-based features, like finding photos from a textual description and collecting photos that match a description into an album or storyline. Apple is using its latest A18 processor for the base iPhone 16 models after repurposing older processors in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. The iPhone 16 Pro models run on Apple's more powerful A18 Pro processor, so there's still variance between the base and Pro models. Even though the A18 Pro processor is more powerful than the A18 in every respect, I wouldn't worry one bit. The iPhone 16's performance, which we tested with the iPhone 16 Plus, is easily strong enough for most users to run apps and games. In fact, its benchmark scores leave the iPhone 15 utterly in the dust, with even higher results we'd expect from a two-generation leap from the A16 to the A18 processors. Specifically for gaming, the A18 processor is powerful enough to support AAA game titles previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro models. Plus, the iPhone 16 is the first base model iPhone to support ray tracing for better lighting graphics. It's great that ray tracing is available across the iPhone 16 lineup, as lighting quality can improve the overall look of a game if it supports ray tracing. However, ray tracing doesn't necessarily make a game more enjoyable, and it's not a reason to upgrade on its own. It also might not even be noticeable. I tried ray tracing with "War Thunder," which Apple showcased during its iPhone launch event, and I honestly can't tell the difference when I enabled it. Apple also improved thermal dissipation in the iPhone 16 to maintain smooth performance during longer gaming sessions. We saw a significant 15% improvement relative to the base iPhone 15 in sustained performance in the 20-minute 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test, which falls within Apple's "up to 30%" claim. Since heat is transferred more efficiently from the A18 processor to the phone's exterior, the iPhone 16 feels hotter during longer gaming sessions. Some people find hot phones uncomfortable, but without fans to blow heat away from the phone's exterior, it's simply part of gaming on all phones, not just iPhones. While the iPhone 16 Pro running the A18 Pro processor is more powerful, it's likely you'll only see and feel the benefits while gaming and other graphic-intensive apps, as it supports faster ray tracing for even better lighting quality and includes an extra graphics core. Apple Intelligence could also be faster thanks to additional components in the A18 Pro processor -- something we'll test when Apple Intelligence rolls out in October. The iPhone 16's display can reach up to 2,000 nits brightness, just like the iPhone 15, for easy visibility in super bright conditions like direct sunlight. However, it can also dim to 1 nit, which is noticeably dimmer than previous iPhones and more comfortable on the eyes in a dark room. Apple also upgraded the iPhone 16's screen to a stronger second-generation Ceramic Shield glass that it claims is 50% tougher than the original Ceramic Shield glass introduced with the iPhone 12 series. We haven't tested the claim on our iPhone review units, but improvements are always welcome, whether you maintain perfect condition of your iPhone screen or scratches and cracks always seem to find you. I can attest that the original Ceramic Shield glass from previous iPhones is incredibly strong and resistant to scratches, but I also know they're not indestructible. I haven't experienced a scratch or crack on the last few iPhones I've used, each for a full year without a screen protector. Yet, my wife's iPhone with the original Ceramic Shield glass has suffered many scratches and cracks, even in a case (no screen protector). So, again, any improvement is welcome. Either way, I'd recommend using a screen protector regardless of Apple's claims on the display's durability. I'm personally going to start using one after accidentally scratching the display on a different phone from a different company. These are nice upgrades, but the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus displays still run at an antiquated 60Hz refresh rate rather than 120Hz, like the iPhone 16 Pro models, and all Pro iPhones since the iPhone 13 series. There is an undeniable difference between 60Hz and 120Hz. Animations are much smoother at 120Hz, and certain games that support 120 frames per second (fps) can run more smoothly, too. By comparison, animations on a 60Hz display look choppy, giving the impression that the phone's performance is slow, which absolutely isn't the case with the iPhone 16. To be fair, 120Hz is a visual upgrade more than anything, as it doesn't meaningfully improve functionality. Still, it has a considerable impact on how premium the device feels, and it meaningfully improves the experience of using a phone, whether just scrolling through social media or playing a game. I expect a higher refresh rate on a premium device that starts at $800, and I don't believe it should be a feature that separates base iPhone models from Pro models anymore. In 2024, even solid budget Android phones that cost as low as $300 have 120Hz refresh rates, like Motorola's latest Moto G Power. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have the same 6.1 and 6.7-inch displays, respectively, as previous iPhones since the iPhone 14 generation. Only the iPhone 16 Pro models have new larger screen sizes, with 6.3 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro, and 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Every camera spec Apple makes available suggests the iPhone 16's 48MP main camera is identical to the iPhone 15's. By renaming the iPhone 16's 48MP camera to a Fusion camera, Apple is highlighting the 2x optical-quality zoom option -- a feature that also existed in the iPhone 15. The iPhone 16's Fusion camera also powers the latest generation of Photographic Styles, essentially high-quality filters that adjust tint and hue with contextual awareness. For example, a vibrant style might deeply saturate colors, but it'll do so more mildly for faces. There are 11 new styles and enhanced controls to adjust each style to your desired look. The best part of this upgrade is that you can add and adjust Photographic Styles after you take a photo with the iPhone 16 (it won't work with photos from older iPhones). Otherwise, photos taken with the iPhone 16's main 48MP camera look just as good as those taken with the iPhone 15's, and there's no perceivable difference or improvement here. The iPhone 16's improved cameras become more appreciable if you have an iPhone 12 or older. Like the iPhone 15, the iPhone 16 can take 2x zoom photos at full optical quality without downgrading to digital zooming. It's made possible by cropping out the middle 12MP of the 48MP camera rather than adding a dedicated zoom camera to the iPhone 16. The 2x zoom isn't as extensive as the 5x zoom on the iPhone 16 Pro models, but it's still a nice option to get a little closer to subjects. The iPhone 16 has a new ultrawide camera that can capture more light than previous iPhones, and it's mostly noticeable in low-light shots. Still, it also helps with shots taken during the day, too. The new ultrawide camera also comes with autofocus. That's great, but I must say I've never had any focusing issues when using the ultrawide camera on previous base iPhones, and I don't see much of a difference in terms of focus in the iPhone 16's ultrawide camera. With that said, autofocus helps enable macro photography, which is a new option in the iPhone 16. It's remarkably good and lets you get incredibly close to subjects while capturing loads of detail. It's a great option to have if you like taking macro shots, or wish you could take them with a base iPhone. Apple claimed that the iPhone 16 series essentially has four cameras, and that's hard to dispute. With 2x optical-quality zoom and the new macro photography mode, you could indeed say the dual-lens camera on the iPhone 16 is closer to a quad-lens camera. The new vertical alignment of the main and ultrawide cameras enables the iPhone 16 to take spatial photos and videos for the first time in a base iPhone model. We haven't tried viewing spatial photos and videos in Apple's Vision Pro headset, or other supporting VR headset like the Meta Quest, but spatial photos and videos supposedly have a 3D effect where subjects pop out slightly against the background. Taking spatial photos and videos only matters if you or anyone else you share photos and videos with owns an Apple Vision Pro or other supporting headset. Another upgrade in the iPhone 16's camera we haven't seen before is an anti-reflective coating to deal with lens glare at certain angles from light sources. We still need more time to test the anti-reflective coating, and we'll update this review when we have the results. Camera Control is useful as a shortcut to the Camera app and to snap a quick photo or quickly start a video recording with one hand, whether holding the iPhone 16 horizontally or vertically. However, it's more useful overall for adjusting settings and options when holding the iPhone 16 vertically with one hand than horizontally. It lets you control common settings that realistically needed two hands, like adjusting zoom, switching Photographic Styles, and adjusting exposure and depth, infinitely more easily with one hand. When holding the iPhone 16 horizontally with one hand, Camera Control's extended controls are more finicky and the phone feels less secure in my hand. Ultimately, I feel more comfortable holding the iPhone 16 with both hands regardless of Camera Control. Here's a rundown of what the Camera Control button does: It certainly needs some acclimation, but thanks to the intuitive interface and haptic feedback, it becomes second nature very quickly. My only complaint is that the Camera Control button itself is a little low on the iPhone 16's right edge, and I wish it was a little higher. Because it's so low, it feels awkward and almost uncomfortable to swipe down on the button with my thumb. I'm pleasantly surprised it's included in the base iPhone 16 models. Apple could have made it an iPhone 16 Pro exclusive like the Action button was in the iPhone 15 series. Yet, the company decided to extend the updated functionality to the base iPhone 16 models, and that's always appreciated. We are still testing the iPhone 16 series' battery at the time of writing, and we will update this review with our results after the tests have been completed. Apple added larger batteries to the entire iPhone 16 lineup. It promises two extra hours of video streaming for the base iPhone 16 and four extra hours with the iPhone 16 Plus. Seeing as the iPhone 15 Plus held the best battery test results we've seen to date, the iPhone 16 Plus' battery should be phenomenal, giving you the best chance at going more than a day without charging. The base iPhone 16's battery life should be excellent for a phone of its size and a slight year-over-year improvement from the iPhone 15. New for the iPhone 16 is faster 25W MagSafe charging with the new MagSafe charger compared to the 15W speeds with the original. That's about as fast as wired charging with the USB-C port, as Apple states both wired and the upgraded MagSafe charging charges the iPhone 16 to 50% in 30 minutes (35 minutes for the iPhone 16 Plus). Parity between wired and wireless charging means you can now get quick battery top-ups with either charging method, not just wired charging. Apple recommends a charger with at least 20W output for wired charging and at least 30W for upgraded MagSafe charging. Apple doesn't include a charger with the iPhone 16, so check out the best iPhone USB-C chargers you can buy. Apple didn't upgrade the iPhone 16's USB-C port to support faster transfer speeds, and it's still limited to USB 2 speeds, which is slow by today's standards. It's a shame but not a dealbreaker, as transferring data to and from another device isn't necessarily as common as it used to be. It's still acceptable if you're transferring smaller files, like a few photos, but it would be nice to have the iPhone 16 Pro's USB 3 speeds for larger files, like 4K videos. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus come with several key upgrades that make them the best iPhones released to date as entry-level options. These include the Action Button, the Camera Control button, the new-generation A18 processor, an improved ultrawide camera, macro photography, and a strengthened display that gets super dim. In October, Apple Intelligence will join the mix. With a solid trade-in offer from Apple or your carrier, the cost of upgrading can be low these days. With that in mind, the iPhone 16 makes a tempting case to upgrade if you have an iPhone 14 or older, with the list of reasons to upgrade getting longer with older iPhones. However, if you typically get your phones at full price and you're not necessarily looking to spend the money, you're not missing out on a revolutionary experience, and you can wait until you become unhappy with your current iPhone.

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max review: Apple focuses on cameras and customization

Until Apple Intelligence arrives, these phones are missing their purpose. It may seem like Apple is behind the competition a lot of the time. The company appeared to be slow to developments like widgets, bezel-less displays with camera notches and screens with high refresh rates. And with the iPhone 16 Pro, it appears to once again be late to the party, bringing generative-AI features and a real button for the camera to its 2024 flagship. But if you'll allow me to play therapist for a moment, I think it's not that Apple is slow. I think Apple is cautious. Perhaps overly so. Caution on its own isn't a bad trait -- in fact, it could be considered thoughtful. Rather than rush to the cutting edge with its peers, Apple deliberates, usually finding a slightly different approach that is often an improvement on what's out there. Just look at the Vision Pro headset or Apple Silicon. Or even the iPod, the iPad and the AirPods, which were far from the first of their kind when they launched. With the iPhone 16 Pro, the focus is on cameras and Apple Intelligence. The problem is, Apple Intelligence isn't quite here yet. We can test some features in the developer beta that's currently available, but that's not necessarily the same as the experience the public will get when the update rolls out in October. It's not unprecedented for new iPhones to launch without some marquee features, sure, and thankfully there's still plenty that the iPhone 16 Pro brings. From Camera Control, the Fusion Camera and other video-related updates to slightly bigger displays and iOS 18, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are intriguing successors, even absent the vaunted Intelligence features that are still to come. I'm getting deja vu. Looking back at my review of the iPhone 15 Pro, I see a picture of that phone and its predecessor lined up side by side to show just how much thinner the bezels are. Apple has once again trimmed the borders on its flagship phones, but while doing that enabled it to reduce the handsets' size in 2023, this year it allowed the company to cram in larger screens without much change in footprint. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max displays have increased in size from 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches up to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively. Both handsets have grown ever so slightly, too, by just under 1mm in width and about 3mm in height. Basically, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are a hair wider and taller than their predecessors, but maintain the same 8.25mm (0.32-inch) profile. And yet, in spite of this minimal change, you won't be able to keep your old cases if you're upgrading from an iPhone 15 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro. Not only would the cases not quite fit, you'd also need something with either a cutout or a sapphire crystal and conductive layer to be able to use the new Camera Control. Of course, Apple sells compatible cases, as do some third parties like Otterbox, so you have plenty of options. I've spent most of this year's hardware review season remarking how Samsung and Google's flagships feel like iPhones, and I've now reached a strange inception point. As I've been comparing competing phones for this review, I've been surrounded by about a dozen handsets from all these different companies on my couch, including last year's iPhones, the Galaxy S24 Plus and the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL. Trying to figure out which one is the iPhone has become more confusing than ever, as they all feel similar in build. The best way to verify at a glance is looking at their camera arrays or my wallpaper. All that is to say that the iPhone 16 Pro feels similar to its predecessor, which is what these other companies have been attempting to emulate. Apple would be right to feel flattered by this imitation, and yet I have to wonder if it's time to do something different. Google's Pixel 9 Pro is actually a whole six grams lighter than the iPhone 16 Pro at 221 grams (7.79 ounces), and I'm absolutely smitten by its rich pink hue and shiny edges. Though I like the new golden Desert color for the iPhone 16 Pro, I do wish Apple's premium flagship had more fun and vibrant exteriors. That said, I do love the base iPhone 16 in pink, teal and Ultramarine. Arguably the biggest change to the iPhone 16 lineup, not to mention the iPhone 16 Pro, is the introduction of Camera Control. This is a button on the right side of the device, which has touch and pressure sensors on it to enable greater control with swipes and semi-presses. (That's in addition to the Action Button on the top left that was added to last year's Pros, and carries over to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, too.) One of the things this was supposed to do was let you push lightly on the button to trigger focus, similar to what half pressing a DSLR shutter button would do. That function won't be available at launch, so I can't say if it's effective. But by and large, Camera Control is a very Apple approach to a feature that has been around for years. From phones by Sony and Nokia with dedicated shutter buttons to Android handsets with hardware-based double-click shortcuts, the notion of quick access to your camera without having to futz with the screen is a popular one. For good reason, too -- I've hated having to swipe or long-press the icon on my iPhone's lock screen in the past, and even though I could set the iPhone 15 Pro's Action button to open the camera, it just wasn't positioned well and I'd have to give up my mute button. So Apple isn't breaking new ground with its hardware shortcut for a frequently used app. But it does do a few things differently with the touch sensor. You can swipe on it to tweak things like exposure, zoom levels and tone, and the half-press still works as a way to select options or go back out of menus within the new Camera Control interface. In theory, it's a nice way to make changes on the fly. In reality, there were a few issues, and they largely have to do with placement. The button sits a little farther from the base of the phone than I'd like, so my fingers have to reach a bit more to press it, whether I was in landscape or portrait mode. This wasn't usually a problem when I had both hands free and could steady the iPhone with my other hand and readjust my grip. But if you're trying to take a quick shot with just one hand, the button's location can feel unintuitive. Of course, everyone has different finger lengths and ratios, so it's entirely possible that other people find this logical. It also depends on your grip -- if you're cradling the bottom of the device in your palm, it's harder to maneuver. If you're covering part of the screen and reaching for the button head on, it's slightly easier to use camera control. Still, even for those with the strongest claws, swiping and half-pressing and double-half-pressing on the sensor is tricky. I was only ever really able to do that if I had my thumb holding up the bottom edge and my middle, ring and little fingers steadying the right end of the phone. Maybe this is a new camera grip I just need to relearn for this button. The awkward placement is a minor gripe compared to what I found most annoying: the button's touch sensor. Not only was it difficult to swipe through different settings when holding the device with one hand, it also reacts to accidental touches and swipes. Sometimes, the phone would slide down my palm and change the exposure or zoom level, completely ruining the vibe. I should point out that you can go into accessibility settings to either tweak the swipe sensitivity or turn it off altogether, if it really bothers you. Honestly, if you're planning on making adjustments with Camera Control, it's best to have time, patience and both hands free. In those situations, I had a lot of fun editing settings and watching them be reflected in the viewfinder in real time. I also liked zooming in and out of subjects, recomposing a shot and tweaking exposure till I liked what I saw, before then pushing down to snap the picture. (This action does lead to some small issues, but more on the actual photo quality later.) I especially loved this while recording video, since it makes slowly zooming in or out of a subject smoother than using the onscreen slider. Then again, for scenarios where I just want to fire off a quick shot without worrying about exposure or zoom settings, the pain of finagling with the sensor mostly goes away. In exchange, being able to rapidly snap pictures is a joy. I found myself taking more pictures than ever thanks to camera control, which if you know me is a feat worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. A random person cut me off in line? Click. Funny sign on a building I pass by in a Lyft? Click, click. From your lock screen, you'll have to press the button twice -- once to wake the phone up and once to open the camera. Then press again to take the photo. It's not ideal, but not too far off the same process on a Pixel phone, for instance. Plus, you can long-press the iPhone's button to start recording a video, and it'll automatically stop when you let go. This sort of rapid access to the camera is the best thing about the new button, and I could see it being potentially useful not just for shutterbugs like me, but for the upcoming Visual Intelligence feature that Apple teased at its launch event. The company's version of Google Lens could allow people to ask questions about things in the real world around them. But of course, since this wasn't available during my review period, I wasn't able to test it. For now, you can go into Settings to either change the number of clicks it takes to trigger the camera app, remap it to a Code scanner or the Magnifier tool or disable it altogether. Since you can also set up the Action button to do these things, you have more choices now over where you want your camera shortcut or free up the former volume slider to do something else. Even if you're not a glutton for buttons, there are still some camera updates that might intrigue you. This year's flagships sport what Apple calls a 48-megapixel Fusion Camera, which has a faster quad-pixel sensor. This enables what the company describes as "zero shutter lag," which is wording it has used repeatedly over the years. In this case, it's referring to how quickly the camera will capture a shot after you press the shutter button (onscreen or hardware). I will admit I was initially confused by this update, in part because it requires relearning some behaviors I had adopted to mitigate the shortfalls of older cameras. Basically, the iPhone 16 Pro's cameras are now so fast that when I asked someone to throw something so I could capture it in motion to see how still the images were, my shots ended up being of the person holding the object. Our video producer and I were very confused, and it wasn't until the "zero shutter lag" concept was explained clearer to me that I got it. I had become used to pressing the shutter early since cameras, in my experience, would be fractions of a second slow. Apple has become so fast that it actually captured the literal moment I tapped the button, instead of the split second after, when the object was in mid-air. This is going to change how people take jump shots, I'm sure, but basically if you and your friends are taking pictures of yourselves floating in the sky, the photographer doesn't have to hit capture before telling you to jump. I know this is a very specific and silly example, but it's also the most relatable illustration of how much quicker the Fusion camera is. Also, why can't camera stories be silly and fun? That's what a lot of the best moments in life are, and some of the new features are great in those situations. The support for 4K video at 120 fps in Dolby Vision, for example, led to some beautiful high-quality, rich and colorful clips of my friend's adorable pomeranian trotting along on a walk. Her little tongue slowly peeking out as she bounded towards the camera looked crisp and smooth when I played it back at 25 percent and 20 percent speeds, too. Depending on your mood, the new Photographic Styles can be fun or serious. Apple's tweaked the built-in camera filters to not only offer more options but give you greater control. Due to how the company has refined its processing each year, there's also an improved depth map captured when it detects a face in the scene. This, combined with a greater focus on color science around skintone, has led to what might be my favorite new iPhone 16 feature. Whether I shot them in Portrait mode or not, photos of people that I took using the iPhone 16 Pro were a dream to edit. Simply switching between the Standard, Natural, Luminous, Quiet or Ethereal styles already resulted in improvements to the colors and shadow, but I could also tap on each thumbnail to access the new editing touchpad and drag a dot around. This let me more precisely tweak the hues and contrast levels, and an additional slider below let me adjust how warm the image was. An ugly selfie with my cousin in the hideous overhead lights of a meeting room became a beautiful snapshot after I switched to the Ethereal or Luminous styles. Both of those are quickly becoming my favorites, but I'm more impressed with how well Apple was able to segment the subject from the background. In almost every shot I edited, adjusting the slider mostly only changed the background, keeping people and their complexions within the realm of reality instead of applying harsh oversaturation or extreme contrast levels to them. They also added a background blur that lent a pleasant soft focus effect, and most of the time the system accurately identified outlines of people in the scene. Perhaps my favorite part is the fact that you can change between styles after you've shot the photo on the iPhone 16. As someone who dwells on her Instagram filters and edit tools for some time before each post, I definitely appreciate how much nicer Apple's versions are and only wish I could retroactively apply them to photos I had taken at a recent wedding. Alas, since the edits are dependent on information captured when the photos were taken, these new retouching features will only work for pictures taken with an iPhone 16 or 16 Pro. One final camera update I'll touch on before telling you about actual photo quality is Audio Mix. This uses the spatial audio now recorded by default with the new studio mics on the iPhone 16 Pro (or even the system on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus) to understand the direction of sound sources in your footage. Then, when you edit the clip, you can choose between Standard, In-frame, Studio and Cinematic mixes, as well as drag a slider to reduce background noise. You'll have to be recording in fairly specific acoustic scenarios to get the most out of Audio Mix. I tested it in a variety of situations, like my cousin talking on his phone on a busy New York street, me interviewing my fellow gym buddies after a tiring workout with the background music quietly playing or my friend talking to me while his wife talks about something else off-camera in their fairly quiet kitchen. For the most part, going to Cinematic or Studio modes from Standard resulted in a noticeable reduction in environmental noise. My favorite is Studio, which generally seemed to improve voice clarity as well, making people sound like they could be talking on a podcast. In-frame, however, rarely did what I expected and occasionally produced some warped distortion. It appears there might need to be more distance between various sources of sound for this to work best, and I have to spend more time testing to better understand this tool. You can check out our review video for examples of a clip with different audio mixes, but for now, while the promised improvements aren't what I expected, there at least appears to be some benefit to Audio Mix. On to the actual photos and how they hold up against the competition. I've long considered Google's Pixel phones to be the gold standard in smartphone photography, since I prefer the company's color and detail processing. I know some people feel that Google tends to oversharpen, so bear in mind that, as with most things, your preference may be different from mine. When I compared photos I took with both phones on the same laptop screen, the differences were minimal. Occasionally, Google would expose better, being more able to retain shadows near a bright light source than the iPhone 16 Pro. But the Pixel's nightscape shots had more light leakage into the sky, whereas Apple was more adept at keeping the background dark against the outline of a skyscraper. Honestly at this point we're really nitpicking and pixel-peeping to find differences. Both companies deliver great cameras, and though I still prefer Google's approach to Portrait shots, Apple has been slowly but surely closing the gap with improvements to its depth maps every year. I will mention, though, that a lot more of the photos I shot on the iPhone 16 Pro came out blurrier than the Pixel 9 Pro, and it might have to do with the fact that I was using the Camera Control to snap them. This was the issue I alluded to earlier, where using a physical button to take a picture is more likely to introduce shake than a software shutter. It's not like Samsung or Google phones are immune to this problem, though I will say that the way Camera Control is built, where the recessed button depresses into the phone's frame, does leave it a bit more vulnerable to this than, say, using a volume rocker might. Oh and finally, a quick note for my Gen Z readers: I know how much you all prefer flash photography compared to night modes in low light scenarios. (Thanks to my much younger cousin for the valuable insight.) I've done the testing and can say that I prefer Google's Pixel 9 Pro for its software, warmer flash compared to the iPhone 16 Pro's, which is stronger and brighter, leading to my face looking washed out. It's been about two months since the public beta for iOS 18 was released, and it was nice to get a taste of upcoming features like the new customizable home pages, expanded Tapback reactions and the redesigned Photos app. With the iPhone 16 launch, iOS 18 is basically ready for primetime... with some caveats. This year, more than ever, it's hard to figure out what's coming to your iPhone and what isn't. With the release of Apple Intelligence slated for October, features like writing tools, Cleanup for photos and the redesigned Siri won't be ready till next month. And even then, your non-pro iPhone 15 won't be compatible. Plus, some features that were teased at WWDC, like Genmoji, still haven't been added to the iOS 18.1 developer beta, which is where most Apple Intelligence features have been arriving as a preview for app makers. Within the iPhone 16 lineup, too, there are things coming only to the Pro models, like multilayer recording in Voice Memos. It's confusing, and can make choosing your iPhone a trickier decision. But for this review, at least the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are getting everything. I cannot wait to try out multi-track recording in Voice Memos, and I hope Apple sees this yearning as a sign that it should bring this to more devices. It was nice to get time with iOS 18, even in the absence of Apple Intelligence. Honestly, I'm not even sure I'd like those features that much. In a similar way, Gemini AI was nice on the Pixel 9 Pro series, but didn't feel like must-haves. Some of the new iOS 18 touches I noticed immediately were the refreshed Control Center, which took some getting used to as I had to re-learn how to swipe back to the home page, since there are more pages to scroll through now. I especially enjoyed seeing the new little chat bubble appear on my voice recordings, indicating that a transcript had been generated for them. And though I haven't exchanged messages with Android-toting friends yet, I'm glad to see RCS support is finally live this week. Though I was excited for the new custom routes tool in Maps, I struggled to actually create them. You can set your start and end points and have the app close the loop for you, or just tap landmarks or points on the map to get the route to basically connect the dots. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried to get the route to cut through a building where I knew a pedestrian walkway existed, Maps resisted me at every turn, forcing the route to go through more established (and therefore more crowded) paths instead. It's not unreasonable, but certainly not the open-world route-creation feature I was envisioning. The best thing about iOS 18, and also some new features in the iPhone 16 lineup (like in the camera controls) is the customizability. I do appreciate that if you don't like something, you can usually turn it off. With the new ability to place apps outside of a rigid grid, you can now lay your home screen out just the way you like. The redesigned Photos app lets you create and pin collections so you can more easily find the pictures most important to you. And again, I'm glad Apple is giving people the option to turn off Camera Control altogether or adjust its sensitivity. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are powered by Apple's A18 Pro chip, which are built on "second-generation 3-nanometer technology and [feature] a new architecture with smaller, faster transistors." All this is meant to deliver "unprecedented efficiency," according to Apple's press release. Some small software glitches aside, I've never run into slowdown on the iPhone 16 Pro, but I was certainly surprised by the smaller handset's battery life. In general, the iPhone 16 Pro would barely last a full day, which is reminiscent of the iPhone 15 Pro, too. It's worth noting that before this review I was primarily using an iPhone 15 Pro Max as my daily driver, which usually gets through a day and a half with no problem, so the drop in endurance is even more pronounced for me. Most days, I'd pick up the iPhone 16 Pro at about 9AM and would get to about 9pm before getting low battery alerts. If I started the day a bit later, closer to 11AM for instance, I got to 1am before the iPhone 16 Pro ran completely dry. On Sunday, I unplugged the phone at about 9:30AM and was shocked on the train home to get a warning that remaining power was at just 20 percent. It was only 6:50PM, and the night had barely just started! You'll get significantly better battery life on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which delivers the same almost two-day runtime as its predecessor. And sure, a phone with a smaller battery not lasting as long makes mathematical sense. But considering the Pixel 9 Pro is a comparably sized handset and manages to last about two days, there's no excuse for the iPhone 16 Pro to conk out before the night is up. One of the best things about the iPhone 16 Pro lineup is that, unlike last year, there isn't much of a tradeoff in cameras if you opt for the smaller device. The iPhone 15 Pro Max had a 5x telephoto zoom camera, while the iPhone 15 Pro only went up to 3x. As a budding photographer of skittish wild animals, I opted for the Max, especially since it was much lighter than its predecessor thanks to the titanium build. With the iPhone 16 Pro having essentially the same camera system as the Pro Max, I thought it was time for me to go back to a size that was much easier on my hands. Alas, with the disappointing battery performance, I might just have to stick with a Max, and you might too. There's also the non-Pro iPhone 16 models to consider, and you can check out my colleague Billy Steele's review of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus for more details. Just as there were fewer differences than ever between the Pro and Pro Max, the tradeoffs aren't as significant this year, either. Apple brought the previously Pro-exclusive Action button to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, while also including the Camera Control on its less-premium phones. The main things that set the two lines apart this year are processors, screen quality, camera sensors and onboard mics. You'll lose support for ProRaw photos and multi-layer recording by opting for the cheaper devices, too. Basically, if you want all the best features Apple has to offer, or you plan on using your phone to create high-quality videos and get 5x telephoto zoom in your photos, the Pros are the way to go. Otherwise, you'll still have all the iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence features coming to the Pros, as well as spatial audio recording, which enables the Audio Mix I described in the camera section earlier. Apple's caution is sometimes warranted. Especially at a time when mistrust of AI-generated content runs rampant, the company taking its time to get Apple Intelligence right is understandable. But its deliberation doesn't always lead to winners. While I appreciate the attempt to differentiate camera control with the touch sensor for more versatility, I'm not yet convinced of its usefulness. The good news is, and I cannot stress this enough, you have the option to tune it to your liking. And that's a theme I'm seeing in recent Apple features that hint at more thoughtfulness than usual. If you don't like something, or if something isn't right for your needs, you can adjust or disable it. In iOS 18, you have greater control over your home screen's app layout and can pin custom collections for easier reach in the Photos app. The Action button introduced last year could have been a spectacular fail had Apple not let you still keep it as a mute switch, but it managed to give people more functionality while maintaining the status quo for those who are just as resistant to change. Change is scary. Change is hard. But without change there is no progress. Apple's cautious approach is a tricky balancing act that's evident on the iPhone 16 Pro. Some new features, like Audio Mix and custom routes in Maps, deliver mixed results. Others, like Photographic Styles, are hits. Then there are the basic ingredients, like good battery life and durable, attractive designs, that Apple cannot neglect. The iPhone 16 Pro's subpar battery life holds it back from beating the competition, which is stiffer than ever this year, especially from Google. Luckily for Apple, most people who have iPhones are going to stick with iPhones -- it's just easier. For those already sucked into the ecosystem, the iPhone 16 Pro (and particularly the Pro Max) are worth the upgrade from a model that's at least two years old. If you already have an iPhone 15 Pro (or even a 14 Pro), for the sake of our planet and your wallet, you might prefer to hold off on upgrading, especially since this year's devices aren't that much different.

I upgraded to the iPhone 16 Plus - here's why it's the model most people should buy

The features that I hoped Apple would improve this year -- such as the 60Hz refresh rate and slower-than-average 20W wired charging -- haven't changed. Being a tech enthusiast means I always default to the beefiest, most powerful, wallet-shredding devices that companies have to offer. So, every year, when the latest iPhones roll around, testing the standard models brings me back to mainstream reality. These are the iPhones that most people buy, with Counterpoint Research reporting that in 2024, the iPhone 15 outsold the iPhone 15 Pro. In the year before, the iPhone 14 outsold both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Also: We've used every iPhone 16 model and here's our best buying advice for 2024 After testing the iPhone 16 Plus for the past two days (and with much more evaluation to be done in the coming weeks), I'm expecting a similar consumer trend with this year's iPhones -- but with an ever-wider gap. With this year's standard iPhone models, Apple is taking what I'd like to call the "Sibling" strategy. You know how the older sibling tends to get all the latest and greatest things first -- shirts, toys, shoes? After a year, or when the excitement for something wears off, it's passed down to the younger sibling, so what's old is new again. That's exactly what Apple has done with last year's iPhone 15 Pro model and this year's iPhone 16, and I don't mind that at all. Also: iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 16: Should you upgrade to Apple's latest model? The new Action button, for example, replaces the physical mute-switch toggle and can be mapped to a unique function, from turning on the flashlight to starting a voice memo to firing up the camera. Of course, you can also set the Action button to switch between alert and silent. Considering this is the iPhone's have-it-your-way era, you should really try to embrace the customization freedom here. My Action button is currently set to "turn on AirDrop for 10 minutes" as I'm camera-testing the phone and frequently uploading images and videos to my MacBook. That prompt will likely change by the end of the week, which is the beauty of the new hardware key. There's also a new Camera Control located on the bottom right side of the phones, which looks and functions like the one on the Pro versions. At the most basic level, pressing the Camera Control snaps a photo or starts a video recording. For some Apple magic, a lighter, more gentle press of the same key (Apple tells me not to call it a button) brings up a slider for your most recent camera setting, whether that's zoom range, exposure, or f-stop. Also: Apple says the iPhone 16 is a lot easier to repair than its predecessor. Here's how A double light press on Camera Control brings up a carousel of shooting modes and settings, each of which you can access with another light press. Lastly, swiping on the touch-capacitive surface will dial between the settings. That's to say, Camera Control has a learning curve, so much so that I wouldn't have been mad if Apple made the feature exclusive to the Pro models. Because it's not, it will be many users' first experience with adjusting camera settings at such a finite level, and that's very exciting. Going into my testing, my biggest concern was whether the placement (or ergonomics) of the Camera Control would spoil what was otherwise a genius feature. Since the key is situated closer to the middle of the side edge (more so if you're on the smaller iPhone 16), you're now capturing photos by pressing down with your index finger instead of your thumb. Retraining your muscle memory is required here; I often found myself habitually tapping the screen to focus and capture instead. Camera Control encourages you to position the iPhone in landscape orientation, which plays to the 16's newest ability to capture immersive spatial photos and videos for VR. It's another feature that's trickled down from last year's Pro model, but nothing to stress about using. Much like how you'll need an elusive 8K TV to watch 8K videos, you'll need a compatible VR headset to consume spatial content. I've watched several spatial videos on both the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3, and while they're much more immersive than any other digital content out there, the ability to capture them should be seen as a bonus and not a requisite as you consider the iPhone 16. Also: Every iPhone 16 model features a new camera button. Here's what it can do Something you're more likely to take advantage of: the new 12MP ultrawide camera. With an f/2.2 aperture (versus last year's f/2.4), the iPhone 16 can pull in more light (read: capture more details both during the day and night) and take macro shots, much like how the iPhone 15 Pro did with its ultrawide lens. Combine the utility of the ultrawide with the new 48MP Fusion camera (combines the main with a 2x digital zoom capability) and Photographic Styles that can now be modified before and after the shot, and you've got one of the most versatile iPhone camera systems ever. Whether it was reproducing the vibrant colors of my dinner in a dimly lit restaurant, extracting details from small succulents, or capturing the controlled chaos of my morning commute, I rarely felt like the iPhone 16 Plus was unable to get the shot. Also: How to clear the cache on your iPhone (and why you should) I say rarely because there was one evening when I wanted to take a photo of the moon. It appeared closer to the Earth than ever, was glowing in a warm orangish hue, and felt like the perfect photo-op with my family celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. But the iPhone 16's zoom capability, capped at 2x, was barely able to capture the essence of the moment. There was a noticeable amount of noise as I hesitantly dialed up the digital zoom, and I sorely missed the 5x optical camera on the Pro models. While I hoped to see at least a 90Hz refresh rate on the new iPhones, assuming that ProMotion (120Hz) was restricted to Pro devices only, Apple continues to ship the standard models with 60Hz panels. This isn't a deal-breaker by any means, and frankly, users coming from older non-Pro iPhone models won't know what they're missing. Rendering fewer frames also helps the iPhone 16's battery life, which has been sufficient so far. But in 2024, when even a $150 Android phone comes with smoother display tech, a 90Hz panel would've made me instantly switch from an iPhone 15. Also: How iOS 18 changes the way you charge your iPhone To Apple's credit, it did bump up the wireless charging speed (up to 25W via MagSafe) on iPhone 16 models, though wired charging rates remain at 20W. From my testing, the iPhone 16 Plus charged from 0% to 100% in roughly one hour and 47 minutes, which is noticeably slower than most flagship phones ($700+) on the market. There's one thing I haven't mentioned yet in this review, and that's Apple Intelligence, the suite of artificial intelligence tools scattered across iOS 18. That's because the bulk of the AI experience, which includes a revamped Siri, call recording, and text generation, won't be readily available until October, unless you download the iOS 18.1 public beta today. That's to say, you shouldn't buy the iPhone 16 for its AI capabilities -- not yet, at least. Until the software is official, I'll continue to evaluate the iPhone 16 for what it is and keep you posted on how it fares with battery life, video-capturing, day-to-day performance, and more.

I switched to the iPhone 16 from an iPhone 15, and the upgrade was bigger than expected

The features that I hoped Apple would improve this year -- such as the 60Hz refresh rate and slower-than-average 20W wired charging -- haven't changed. Being a tech enthusiast means I always default to the beefiest, most powerful, wallet-shredding devices that companies have to offer. So, every year, when the latest iPhones roll around, testing the standard models brings me back to mainstream reality. These are the iPhones that most people buy, with Counterpoint Research reporting that in 2024, the iPhone 15 outsold the iPhone 15 Pro. In the year before, the iPhone 14 outsold both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Also: We've used every iPhone 16 model and here's our best buying advice for 2024 After testing the iPhone 16 Plus for the past two days (and with much more evaluation to be done in the coming weeks), I'm expecting a similar consumer trend with this year's iPhones -- but with an ever-wider gap. With this year's standard iPhone models, Apple is taking what I'd like to call the "Sibling" strategy. You know how the older sibling tends to get all the latest and greatest things first -- shirts, toys, shoes? After a year, or when the excitement for something wears off, it's passed down to the younger sibling, so what's old is new again. That's exactly what Apple has done with last year's iPhone 15 Pro model and this year's iPhone 16, and I don't mind that at all. Also: iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 16: Should you upgrade to Apple's latest model? The new Action button, for example, replaces the physical mute-switch toggle and can be mapped to a unique function, from turning on the flashlight to starting a voice memo to firing up the camera. Of course, you can also set the Action button to switch between alert and silent. Considering this is the iPhone's have-it-your-way era, you should really try to embrace the customization freedom here. My Action button is currently set to "turn on AirDrop for 10 minutes" as I'm camera-testing the phone and frequently uploading images and videos to my MacBook. That prompt will likely change by the end of the week, which is the beauty of the new hardware key. There's also a new Camera Control located on the bottom right side of the phones, which looks and functions like the one on the Pro versions. At the most basic level, pressing the Camera Control snaps a photo or starts a video recording. For some Apple magic, a lighter, more gentle press of the same key (Apple tells me not to call it a button) brings up a slider for your most recent camera setting, whether that's zoom range, exposure, or f-stop. Also: Apple says the iPhone 16 is a lot easier to repair than its predecessor. Here's how A double light press on Camera Control brings up a carousel of shooting modes and settings, each of which you can access with another light press. Lastly, swiping on the touch-capacitive surface will dial between the settings. That's to say, Camera Control has a learning curve, so much so that I wouldn't have been mad if Apple made the feature exclusive to the Pro models. Because it's not, it will be many users' first experience with adjusting camera settings at such a finite level, and that's very exciting. Going into my testing, my biggest concern was whether the placement (or ergonomics) of the Camera Control would spoil what was otherwise a genius feature. Since the key is situated closer to the middle of the side edge (more so if you're on the smaller iPhone 16), you're now capturing photos by pressing down with your index finger instead of your thumb. Retraining your muscle memory is required here; I often found myself habitually tapping the screen to focus and capture instead. Camera Control encourages you to position the iPhone in landscape orientation, which plays to the 16's newest ability to capture immersive spatial photos and videos for VR. It's another feature that's trickled down from last year's Pro model, but nothing to stress about using. Much like how you'll need an elusive 8K TV to watch 8K videos, you'll need a compatible VR headset to consume spatial content. I've watched several spatial videos on both the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3, and while they're much more immersive than any other digital content out there, the ability to capture them should be seen as a bonus and not a requisite as you consider the iPhone 16. Also: Every iPhone 16 model features a new camera button. Here's what it can do Something you're more likely to take advantage of: the new 12MP ultrawide camera. With an f/2.2 aperture (versus last year's f/2.4), the iPhone 16 can pull in more light (read: capture more details both during the day and night) and take macro shots, much like how the iPhone 15 Pro did with its ultrawide lens. Combine the utility of the ultrawide with the new 48MP Fusion camera (combines the main with a 2x digital zoom capability) and Photographic Styles that can now be modified before and after the shot, and you've got one of the most versatile iPhone camera systems ever. Whether it was reproducing the vibrant colors of my dinner in a dimly lit restaurant, extracting details from small succulents, or capturing the controlled chaos of my morning commute, I rarely felt like the iPhone 16 Plus was unable to get the shot. Also: How to clear the cache on your iPhone (and why you should) I say rarely because there was one evening when I wanted to take a photo of the moon. It appeared closer to the Earth than ever, was glowing in a warm orangish hue, and felt like the perfect photo-op with my family celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. But the iPhone 16's zoom capability, capped at 2x, was barely able to capture the essence of the moment. There was a noticeable amount of noise as I hesitantly dialed up the digital zoom, and I sorely missed the 5x optical camera on the Pro models. While I hoped to see at least a 90Hz refresh rate on the new iPhones, assuming that ProMotion (120Hz) was restricted to Pro devices only, Apple continues to ship the standard models with 60Hz panels. This isn't a deal-breaker by any means, and frankly, users coming from older non-Pro iPhone models won't know what they're missing. Rendering fewer frames also helps the iPhone 16's battery life, which has been sufficient so far. But in 2024, when even a $150 Android phone comes with smoother display tech, a 90Hz panel would've made me instantly switch from an iPhone 15. Also: How iOS 18 changes the way you charge your iPhone To Apple's credit, it did bump up the wireless charging speed (up to 25W via MagSafe) on iPhone 16 models, though wired charging rates remain at 20W. From my testing, the iPhone 16 Plus charged from 0% to 100% in roughly one hour and 47 minutes, which is noticeably slower than most flagship phones ($700+) on the market. There's one thing I haven't mentioned yet in this review, and that's Apple Intelligence, the suite of artificial intelligence tools scattered across iOS 18. That's because the bulk of the AI experience, which includes a revamped Siri, call recording, and text generation, won't be readily available until October, unless you download the iOS 18.1 public beta today. That's to say, you shouldn't buy the iPhone 16 for its AI capabilities -- not yet, at least. Until the software is official, I'll continue to evaluate the iPhone 16 for what it is and keep you posted on how it fares with battery life, video-capturing, day-to-day performance, and more.

Apple iPhone 16 Review: Who Needs the Pro?

Much of the focus of the new iPhones seems centered around the lackluster rollout of Apple Intelligence. That's neglecting the best part of Apple's iPhone 16. The phone doesn't feel like a significant compromise over not going Pro. With its colors and improved camera system, last year's iPhone 15 was impressive. But this year's iPhone 16 adopts even more of the iPhone 16 Pro's premium offerings, making it feel like a slightly better deal. Like the Pro, the iPhone 16's primary camera is a fusion camera, there are Apple Intelligence features, and there is an Action Button along with the new Camera Control button that just debuted on the iPhone 16 Pro. That's not to say you should toss out your old iPhone and immediately update to this one. (You shouldn't do that anyway, that's wasteful.) After using it on the Pro, I'm still iffy about the Camera Control button, as there aren't enough third-party apps that use it to justify its existence. But if this is the year for an iPhone update and it's within your budget, the iPhone 16 offers a nice bit of futureproofing for everything Apple has coming down the pipeline. Shout out for this year's iPhone 16/16 Plus colorways. The Ultramarine, Teal, and Pink variants are all delightful in person in whatever lighting you see them in. Apple sent us the iPhone 16 in Ultramarine and the iPhone 16 Plus in Pink. There's also White and Black for traditionalists. What's interesting is how similar Apple's color offers are to the Google Pixel 9 lineup. It's almost like the backside colors are all on trend or something. Apple introduced two new buttons to the basic iPhone this year: an Action Button, carried over from the iPhone 15 Pro, and a Camera Control button, a brand new way to interact with camera apps for this generation of the iPhone. The Action Button is handy and has gained many fans in the past year. It's small enough that it's not an accidental hit when you're thumbing for the volume buttons. The Camera Control button is fine but finicky. I'm still getting used to interacting with it and sliding between controls to find the setting I want. It's also easier to press down on it like a shutter button if you're holding the phone with the other hand for stability. Either that or I have weak wrists. At the very least, the Camera Control button is discreet enough to skip over it if you don't care about it. It may have a renaissance after more third-party apps make use of it. In my iPhone 16 Pro review, I talked about how much I appreciated Apple's slow approach to marketing its version of artificial intelligence. I've felt lambasted by it on the Android side, forced into using Gemini before I was ready to accept that this is where it was headed. Apple is practicing the same strategy for the iPhone 16, lauding its abilities for Apple Intelligence while not pushing forth with every capability it promised. And yeah, it's because some of it isn't ready. But it seems like Apple caught on, and we've been grimacing at how AI currently exists on phones. Apple is wiser to wait to release features that feel fully baked, especially controversial ones. If you upgrade to the iPhone 16, you will be among the first to try Apple Intelligence features, including writing tools, summarized Mail and notifications, and a more contextual Siri you can talk to like a buddy. These abilities attempt to make Apple Intelligence seem as if it's unobtrusively improving the value of the typical things you already do with the iPhone. The upside of this being a phone built for Apple's version of AI is that it has the requisite hardware to manage it all. The A18 chip is custom-designed for the non-Pro iPhone to help facilitate a future with Apple Intelligence at the helm. It's a six-core CPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, just like on the A18 Pro chip on the iPhone 16 Pro. It's ripe for ray tracing, and Apple says it offers five times the frame rates than the iPhone 15. The Geekbench 6 numbers for Apple's new SoC are surprisingly on par with the iPhone 16 Pro's score. I say surprisingly because, over the past two years, Apple has essentially recycled the A-Bionic used in the Pro from the year prior in the current generation's base model. It didn't do that this time, and that's likely to prioritize rolling out Apple Intellifence. The payoff is an iPhone 16 that performs better than last year's iPhone 15 Pro, at least according to synthetic benchmarks. Battery life should be better on the iPhone 16/16 Plus than this year's iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple kept the displays on the base model iPhone 16s at a 60Hz refresh rate. Some users might find it absurd to pair such power with a refresh rate that doesn't necessarily correspond. But I bet that for most people buying the first-tier iPhone, the battery payoff will feel worth the exchange in frame rate. Indeed, the iPhone 16 has been hanging strong at 48% battery for about four hours with the screen turned off. I took it off the charger yesterday morning and have been performing various tasks, including benchmarking and mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. We'll see what the full battery rundown is like next week after we've performed the Gizmodo battery rundown test on all four of the iPhone 16/16 Pro review units. The iPhone 15's camera was fine, but it was rather basic compared to what its Android competition was attempting with its similarly-priced devices. This year, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus feature a 48-MP Fusion camera and a 12-MP Ultra Wide. They are stacked rather than diagonally set across from one another, so you can shoot spatial videos and photos to enjoy through a compatible headset. You don't need the Vision Pro to view the spatial videos, but it's recommended for the whole Apple experience. I did record some spatial photos and videos with the iPhone 16, but I cannot view them from my side of the country. (I have a Meta Quest 2 collecting dust under the TV cabinet. What can I say? It makes me dizzy.) I'll collaborate with my colleague, who has Gizmodo's Vision Pro review unit, on a special report coming soon. The iPhone 16/16 Plus is limited to 2x optical zoom, though it offers up to 10x digital zoom. It is limited in optical zoom compared to the Pro lineup since it doesn't have the glass required to look that far. It impressed me in other scenarios. For the past two years, I've felt a definite difference between the photos taken with the basic iPhone versus the Pro model. The iPhone 16's primary fusion camera can take in more light and detail, so whatever photo it produces looks like it was shot with the Pro. It's a Google-y strategy, where the only difference between the Pro and base models is a lack of far-reaching optical zoom. The iPhone 16 also doesn't have some of the Hollywood-production-quality capabilities lauded by the iPhone 16 Pro. But at least your pictures look like they were taken with the pricier iPhone. I want to caution you about snapping photos with the iPhone 16's depth mode flipped on. Like on a real camera, it will slow the shutter for the shot, which you don't want if there's a moving subject ahead. I took the iPhone 16 to see live music and noticed it performed best at snapping a photo if I stood still. The front-facing camera also did well in this low-light environment when snapping selfies, though it performs best with ambient white light. If you choose the iPhone 16 because of its updated camera capabilities, the good news is that you have access to the same Photographic Styles available on the Pro. They are a delight to use, though you'll probably find yourself editing photos after the fact rather than snapping pictures with the filter on. Photographic Styles take a moment to adjust to the hue you're looking for, and it's easier to deal with after you've snapped the photo. The good news is that the iPhone 16 sets a positive precedent for base model iPhone users going forward. You're no longer getting the scrappings of last year's Pro model in a refreshed, friendly-colored smartphone body. Instead, you're buying a pared-down version of the iPhone Pro model and a little futureproofing for what's coming next, which will be the case as Apple slowly unveils its AI story. However, there's no need to have FOMO for the iPhone 16, especially if you're still on an iPhone from the past few generations. You have the upside of waiting on the sidelines while Apple rolls out Apple Intelligence to whoever wants to latch on first. The nice thing about being in this walled-off ecosystem is that Apple will support your hardware for a while, even as it ventures toward something new. AI is not a reason to buy a phone, especially not yet. The iPhone 16 starts at $800, and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $900.

iPhone 16 Pro: Upgrading from iPhone 13 Pro or earlier? Here's what you'll get

The average iPhone upgrader has at least a 3 year-old phone. If you're coming from an iPhone 13 Pro or earlier, here's your list of upgrades for 2024. In my iPhone reviews, I try to keep in mind that most iPhone upgraders are coming from a phone that's at least three years old. With that in mind, I've put together a list of the most important upgrades you'll find in your new iPhone 16 Pro (or Max) if you're coming from the 2021 iPhone Pro or earlier. If you're coming from an iPhone 13 Pro or earlier then you are in for a lot of significant new capabilities when you switch to an iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max. Here is a list of some of the best features you can expect if you upgrade. I spent several hours with Apple's new flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max on September 9 in the Steve Jobs Theater and quickly formed some first impressions. I'm also now doing extension testing on both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max for more in-depth coverage on ZDNET. Also: iPhone 16 hands-on: So packed with features, I didn't envy the Pro models And while the first thing lots of buyers may notice is the year's new phone color -- it's Desert Titanium this year, which is actually just a shade of gold -- the thing that most of us barely pay attention to is the latest advances in the brain that powers the iPhone. It's always the case that it unlocks new capabilities, but this year, that feels truer than ever with the new A18 Pro. Or at least it powers my favorite new feature -- and a bunch of others that prove how ridiculously powerful this device is. And yes, I'll quit talking about chips and get to my three favorite features. The new Camera Control allows users to do more with the iPhone camera and do it quickly. This new key sits on the right side of the phone underneath the power button, but it is made of darker metal and sits more flush to the side of the phone. It's also touch-sensitive, which is a feat of engineering. One press opens the camera app. A second press takes a photo. Press and hold and it starts recording video. A light press and a swipe to one side or the other lets you zoom in and out. A double light press and a swipe to either side lets you select different settings from zoom to depth of field to the new photo styles to several other options. Also: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Should you upgrade? If it sounds a little complicated, it's not. You'll quickly get the hang of it. I tried it and it's is going to be super handy for people who take a ton of photos with the iPhone -- and let's be honest, there are a lot of us because the iPhone is the most used camera in the world. The Camera Control button gives the iPhone a feature no other phone in the world has right now. The Sony Xperia 1 V comes the closest with its dedicated shutter button, but it doesn't do nearly as much. People are going to love this feature. Both of the pro iPhones got bigger screens and thinner bezels this year, which makes them a little taller than last year's pro models. The Pro expands from 6.1 inches to 6.3 and the Max grows from 6.7 inches to 6.9. Both ZDNET reviews editor Kerry Wan and I noticed it immediately in the iPhone 16 demo area -- and we felt happy about it because we both tend to prefer the slightly taller and thinner form factors of most Android devices since it makes them a little easier to operate with one hand. Also: Apple just gave me a compelling reason to buy the smaller iPhone 16 Pro over the Max this year However, there was another new physical characteristic of the iPhone 16 Pro models that got me just as excited. The titanium sides have a new finish that feels way more grippy. In fact, it's so grippy that I'm tempted to do the unthinkable and try using it without a case. I'm also tempted to make the smaller 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro, rather than the Max, my daily driver -- especially since the smaller pro model now has the same camera system as the larger one. The other area where the new A18 Pro chip really shows its power is in the new video and audio recording options available in the iPhone 16 Pro. First, you can now record in 4K at 120 frames per second, which gives you the power to do the kind of super slow motion you only see in big cinematic films. Even just a couple of years ago, you would have needed an expensive pro-level camera and a desktop computer with a powerful video card to shoot and edit pro-level 4K120 video. Now you can do it on an iPhone -- and the footage Apple has shown so far looks virtually indistinguishable from pro equipment. Also: Every iPhone model that will be updated to Apple's iOS 18 (and which ones won't) Next, Apple also upgraded the audio in the iPhone 16 Pro with what it calls "four studio-quality mics" that are paired with software and AI to do some crazy things I haven't seen on a smartphone before. With the new Audio Mix software, you can now edit audio directly on the iPhone 16 Pro, which separates foreground and background sounds and lets you pick from several sound profiles, including a Studio profile that automatically dampens background sounds and a Cinematic profile that makes it sound like a movie edit. It can also now capture Spatial Audio surround sound during video recording (which you can also edit in Audio Mix). And the Voice Memos app is going to use these upgrades for an update later this year that will let you layer two different tracks. These audio features are a great example of where Apple is putting AI to use in practical, behind-the-scenes ways that are going to be a lot more approachable than typing in a chatbot. Apple called the new A18 Pro chip as powerful as high-end desktop PCs, which sounds like hyperbole, but the above features are convincing enough to make me think it may be at least as powerful as high-end desktops from a couple of years ago. We're running the iPhone 16 models through benchmarks and putting the phones through some real-world scenarios to measure and compare the performance. Also: Every iPhone 16 model compared: Which new iPhone should you buy? Apple also claims the new A18 Pro chip is much more power efficient and will result in the iPhone 16 Pro Max having the longest battery life of any iPhone yet. We'll also challenge that claim with our own battery tests. The camera system upgrades to a 48 megapixel sensor for the ultrawide camera, which should result in better macro photos and a number of other improvements. We'll be testing that as well in a new set of ZDNET smartphone camera tests. The AI features that Apple mentioned this summer at WWDC, including the newly upgraded Siri, won't arrive until the iOS 18.1 update -- and even then, they'll still be in beta and some of the features won't come until iOS 18.2 or later. But when the AI features do finally arrive, Apple's new flagship supercomputer in your pocket looks like it's going to have the oomph to run them without breaking a sweat.

iPhone 16 review: Who needs the Pro?

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us? iPhone 16 MSRP $799.00 Score Details "The iPhone 16 is a fantastic all-around smartphone. If you're in the market for a new iPhone, this is the one to get." Pros Fun, refreshing new design Stunning colors this year Camera Control is so, so good The Action button rules Excellent camera system Reliable battery life Cons 60Hz display, no always-on display Slow charging speeds Apple Intelligence not yet available Apple did something amazing with the iPhone 16. Out of the four models in the newest iPhone lineup, the base iPhone 16 is the cheapest and least technically capable. Therefore, it should be the least interesting. But that's not at all what has happened. Contents The iPhone 16's design is so, so goodA great display -- with a catchCamera Control is so much funA fun and capable camera systemGood battery life, slow chargingPerformance, iOS 18, and updatesA quick note on Apple IntelligenceiPhone 16 price and availabilityShould you buy the iPhone 16?Show 4 more items Instead, the iPhone 16 is a refreshing, satisfying, and surprisingly capable smartphone that I've had a blast with. It has its shortcomings, yes, but there's so much good here that they're (mostly) easy to overlook. If you're thinking about buying a new iPhone this year, here's why you should really consider the iPhone 16 over anything else. The iPhone 16's design is so, so good From the moment I first picked up the iPhone 16 at the Steve Jobs Theater, I was immediately taken by its new design. No, it's not a dramatic redesign, and it still looks like an iPhone, but there's enough new here that it feels fresh and exciting in a way the iPhone 16 Pro does not. It starts with this year's colors. My iPhone 16 review unit is in White, and while it's nothing jaw-dropping, it's a stark white that was annoyingly missing from the iPhone 15 lineup last year. It's a classic Apple color, as is the dark Black shade. Also unlike the iPhone 15, which focused on muted pastel colors, the other iPhone 16 colors are super saturated. This year's Pink hue is as Barbie pink as it gets, Teal is one of the loveliest teal colors I've ever seen on a phone, and the new Ultramarine color is a stunning mix of blue and purple that I'm 100% obsessed with -- so much so that I preordered an iPhone 16 in that color partly because of how good it looks. And it's not just the new colors that I love. I also really like the new camera design, which is much smaller than previous generations and very reminiscent of the iPhone X. The square cutout we've had since the iPhone 11 has long overstayed its welcome, and going back to a small pill shape is a nice touch. I also have to call out the Action button, which is now available on all iPhone 16 models after only being available on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max last year. It works exactly the same as it did on those phones, and having it on a non-Pro iPhone is fantastic. I have mine configured to turn on the flashlight, but you can also use it to open your Focus modes, use Shazam to identify a song, start a voice recording, and more. The iPhone 15 Pro Max was my go-to iPhone for the last 12 months, but switching to the iPhone 16 has been such a treat thanks to its light and small size. At just 170 grams, it's about the same weight as the Samsung Galaxy S24 and over 20 grams lighter than the Google Pixel 9. And the 6.1-inch display is so incredibly easy to use one-handed. The iPhone 16 doesn't reinvent the wheel for iPhone design, but if you ask me, it's the best non-Pro iPhone hardware ever. It's stylish, well-built, and has the same hardware features as its Pro sibling (the Action button and the Camera Control, which we'll get to later). Apple really killed it this year. A great display -- with a catch There's a lot to like about the iPhone 16's display. As mentioned above, the 6.1-inch size is extremely easy to manage, but still roomy enough for apps, games, videos, etc. The 2556 x 1179 OLED panel looks excellent, and the range of up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness and down to 1 nit minimum brightness makes the display comfortably visible in virtually any setting. The Dynamic Island is also here, and I still love it. Unfortunately, this otherwise excellent display is hampered by a 60Hz refresh rate. That means scrolling, swiping, and other animations on the iPhone 16 look visibly slower and choppier compared to the 120Hz refresh rate on the iPhone 16 Pro. This otherwise excellent display is hampered by a 60Hz refresh rate. For a few years now, 120Hz displays have been the norm for flagship Android phones and even many mid- to low-end phones. The fact that the iPhone 16 -- a $799 smartphone in 2024 -- still ships with a 60Hz screen is absurd. It doesn't ruin the phone, and I've gradually gotten used to it, but there's no reason for Apple not to give the iPhone 17 a 120Hz display next year or, at the very least, a 90Hz one. Similarly, it's worth noting that the iPhone 16 also doesn't support an always-on display. Like the 60Hz refresh rate, it's not a deal-breaker, but it really should be on a phone this expensive. Camera Control is so much fun OK, let's talk about Camera Control. This is the new button on the right side of the iPhone 16 below the power/Siri button. It's weird and requires a learning curve, but I adore it. No matter what you're doing on your iPhone, pressing the Camera Control opens the camera app. Once the camera is open, a single press of the Camera Control takes a photo. Alternatively, pressing and holding it records a video, and your recording stops when you stop holding the Camera Control. So far, simple enough. Here's where things get funky. While the Camera Control is a physical button, it also has a capacitive sensor on top of it. When you lightly press twice on the Camera Control while the camera is open -- but don't fully press the button -- you get a new UI for selecting various camera controls. There are six options in this menu: exposure, depth, zoom, cameras, styles, and tone. You slide your finger across the Camera Control to cycle between them, lightly press the button to select one, and then slide your finger again to adjust whatever control you choose. It is a strange experience at first, and it took me a few days to get truly comfortable with it. But once you get the hang of how Camera Control works, it's such a fun way to interact with the camera app. I wish Apple had placed the button just a little bit lower on the frame, but otherwise, I'm happy with it. Even if you solely use Camera Control to open the camera app, you can still free up the Action button to do something else. As someone who had it set to open the camera on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, being able to switch it to something else has been such a treat. Six paragraphs on a new button may seem excessive, but this really is such a fantastic addition to the iPhone. I think you're going to like it a lot. A fun and capable camera system OK -- it's camera time. Specs-wise, the iPhone 16 has a 48-megapixel primary camera that can crop in for an optical-quality 2x zoom. There's also a 12MP ultrawide camera, plus a 12MP selfie camera. It's very similar to the iPhone 15 camera setup, though there are a couple of important changes. For one, the ultrawide camera now has autofocus -- the main benefit being that you can now take macro photos. You can also capture Spatial photos that you can view on an Apple Vision Pro. There's a new anti-reflective lens coating over the primary camera, and the primary camera can now capture photos with zero shutter lag (something that's been on Pro iPhones before, but never on the base models). Overall, I've been incredibly happy with the iPhone 16's cameras. The primary camera is excellent, capturing detailed photos with really pleasing colors. It focuses quickly, handles moving subjects very well (see the picture of my friend's dog licking its nose), and does a great job in lowlight environments. The ultrawide camera is good (if not amazing), taking macro photos is a treat, and the selfie camera is as reliable as ever on the iPhone. All of that's good enough on its own, but the improvements to Photographic Styles are where things get exciting. First introduced with the iPhone 13, Photographic Styles have long been an interesting, if seemingly forgotten-about, iPhone feature. Unlike applying a filter in Instagram, Photographic Styles are applied in real time when you take a picture. So, what's new with Photographic Styles on the iPhone 16? Not only are there many more styles to choose from (15 versus the previous four), but you can also now customize the tone and color of each one using a super slick slider control. Each style really does change the entire look and feel of your image; you can see a couple of examples above and below this paragraph. What I'm most excited about is that you can now edit Photographic Styles after you've taken a photo. I've always found it a bit awkward to mess with them while I'm taking a picture, so the ability to apply one after the fact is huge. It means I've been using Photographic Styles more on the iPhone 16 than I ever did with the iPhone 15, iPhone 14, and iPhone 13 combined, and I've had so much fun with them. Good battery life, slow charging I've been happy with the iPhone 16's battery life. It's not the best endurance I've seen on a phone this year, but even with heavy use, the iPhone 16 still gets me through an entire day without requiring a midday recharge -- something I haven't been able to say of my iPhone 15 Pro Max for much of the past year. I've been averaging around six hours of screen time each day while often using Threads, Instagram, Snapchat, and Telegram, plus spending a lot of time in the NFL Fantasy app. If I start my day at 7 a.m., I can reach 10 or 11 p.m. with 10% to 15% battery remaining. Again, it's nothing min-dblowing, but it's been reliable. What I'm really curious to see is if this reliability holds up over the coming weeks and months, which was not the case for the iPhone 15 series. The iPhone 16 gets me through an entire day without requiring a midday recharge. What about charging? Using my trusty Anker 747, charging from 5% to over 60% takes 30 minutes. However, getting to 100% takes over an hour and a half. Charging from a low or dead battery to around 70% is pretty quick, but that final 30% takes a while. Also, if you prefer MagSafe charging, you'll be happy to know that charge speeds have increased from 15 watts to 25W. Performance, iOS 18, and updates The iPhone 16 has Apple's new A18 chip, which is a pleasant surprise coming from the A16 chip on the iPhone 15. Apple says the iPhone 16's CPU is up to 30% faster compared to the iPhone 15's, while the GPU is up to 40% faster. That's an impressive year-over-year jump, and while you may not notice it much in day-to-day use (the iPhone 15 was already very fast), the more capable chip is important for a few reasons. First, it makes the iPhone 16 powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence, whereas the iPhone 15 cannot. It's also what enables the changes to Photographic Styles mentioned above, and it's more power efficient -- allowing for the better battery life I just talked about. What you'll likely notice more than the new chip is the iOS 18 software that's present on the iPhone 16 out of the box. This latest iOS version has some big changes, and for the most part, they're solid. One of the most noticeable upgrades is the improved home screen customization. Press and hold on a blank part of your home screen, tap the Edit button in the upper-left corner, and tap Customize to find a slew of new customization controls. You can make your app icons larger/smaller and change their color -- including to the default Light appearance, a new Dark mode, Automatic, and Tinted. Tinted allows you to make all of your app icons and widgets a single customized color, and while I personally don't love how it looks, I can see some folks having a lot of fun with it. Similarly, you can finally place your app icons and widgets anywhere on the home screen. The other big visual change is the Control Center, which has a completely new look. I've come around to liking it quite a bit, and you can also now customize all of the toggles here to your heart's content. Speaking of customizing, you can now replace the flashlight and camera lock screen shortcuts with whatever you'd like. What else should you know about? The Messages app now supports RCS, allowing you to text Android phones and still get typing indicators, read receipts, and high-quality image sharing -- just like you do with iMessage conversations. The Photos app has received a big redesign, which has taken time to adjust to, though I appreciate how much more customizable it is now. That's ultimately the central theme of iOS 18 -- the arrival of features that were either long overdue, or make the platform significantly more customizable than before, or (in many cases) both. Yes, a lot of this should have been in iOS ages ago, but I'm happy it's all here now. As for software updates, expect the iPhone 16 to receive updates for the next several years. Apple promises at least five years of updates, though don't be surprised if the iPhone 16 is supported for six or seven years. A quick note on Apple Intelligence Across Apple's website and in many of its advertisements, you'll see the company make a big deal about Apple Intelligence as a prominent feature of the iPhone 16 -- including tools to fine-tune your writing, AI image generation, and a more powerful version of Siri. Apple's marketing even goes as far as to say the iPhone 16 is "The first iPhone built for Apple Intelligence." If Apple Intelligence is such a big part of the iPhone 16, why haven't I talked about it yet? Because it's not fully available. Apple Intelligence is technically available as part of the iOS 18.1 public beta, but it won't officially roll out to the iPhone 16 until sometime in October. Apple Intelligence | More personal Siri | iPhone 16 Pro The iOS 18.1 public beta was released the day before this review was published. As such, I'll need some extra time to test the features and I will update my review once I do. It's nice that folks open to testing public betas can use the features now, but it's still worth repeating that the final release of iOS 18.1/Apple Intelligence won't be ready until October. And even then, some Apple Intelligence features aren't coming until later this year or sometime next year. While I could care less about almost all of the Apple Intelligence features, it feels odd for Apple to make such a big deal about things that won't be available until October at the earliest -- and some later than that. It even hinges on misleading, given just how prominent Apple Intelligence is in the iPhone 16's marketing. The iPhone 16 is still a fantastic phone even without Apple Intelligence. Just make sure that if you buy the iPhone 16, you're buying it for the phone it is today, not what Apple says it might be in the future. iPhone 16 price and availability You can buy the iPhone 16 directly from Apple and most major retailers and carriers. It starts at $799 for 128GB of storage, with 256GB and 512GB options also available for $899 and $1099, respectively. While 128GB should be enough if you rely a lot on cloud storage and don't download too many movies or games, I'd recommend the 256GB option if you can afford it. Here's to hoping Apple increases the default storage amount to 256GB next year, as 128GB is starting to feel pretty tight in 2024. Should you buy the iPhone 16? So, let's answer the question above. Should you buy the iPhone 16? Yeah, you should. I've had a fantastic time using it over this review period, and out of all the new iPhones available this year, it's the one I ordered as my next personal smartphone. The base model iPhone has often felt like a notable downgrade from its Pro counterparts, but that's not the case this year. Whether it's the design, performance, camera, software, or extra hardware features like the Action button and Camera Control, you don't make any severe compromises when choosing the iPhone 16 this year instead of the iPhone 16 Pro. Should you buy the iPhone 16? Yeah, you should. So long as they can get used to the 60Hz screen and the lack of an always-on display (they will), I think most people will be hard-pressed to justify buying one of the more expensive iPhones over the iPhone 16. If you're in the market for a new iPhone this year, this is the one to get.

I tested the iPhone 16 Plus, and it's most impressive feature was not Apple Intelligence

The features that I hoped Apple would improve this year -- such as the 60Hz refresh rate and slower-than-average 20W wired charging -- haven't changed. Being a tech enthusiast means I always default to the beefiest, most powerful, wallet-shredding devices that companies have to offer. So, every year, when the latest iPhones roll around, testing the standard models brings me back to mainstream reality. These are the iPhones that most people buy, with Counterpoint Research reporting that in 2024, the iPhone 15 outsold the iPhone 15 Pro. In the year before, the iPhone 14 outsold both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Also: We've used every iPhone 16 model and here's our best buying advice for 2024 After testing the iPhone 16 Plus for the past two days (and with much more evaluation to be done in the coming weeks), I'm expecting a similar consumer trend with this year's iPhones -- but with an ever-wider gap. With this year's standard iPhone models, Apple is taking what I'd like to call the "Sibling" strategy. You know how the older sibling tends to get all the latest and greatest things first -- shirts, toys, shoes? After a year, or when the excitement for something wears off, it's passed down to the younger sibling, so what's old is new again. That's exactly what Apple has done with last year's iPhone 15 Pro model and this year's iPhone 16, and I don't mind that at all. Also: iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 16: Should you upgrade to Apple's latest model? The new Action button, for example, replaces the physical mute-switch toggle and can be mapped to a unique function, from turning on the flashlight to starting a voice memo to firing up the camera. Of course, you can also set the Action button to switch between alert and silent. Considering this is the iPhone's have-it-your-way era, you should really try to embrace the customization freedom here. My Action button is currently set to "turn on AirDrop for 10 minutes" as I'm camera-testing the phone and frequently uploading images and videos to my MacBook. That prompt will likely change by the end of the week, which is the beauty of the new hardware key. There's also a new Camera Control located on the bottom right side of the phones, which looks and functions like the one on the Pro versions. At the most basic level, pressing the Camera Control snaps a photo or starts a video recording. For some Apple magic, a lighter, more gentle press of the same key (Apple tells me not to call it a button) brings up a slider for your most recent camera setting, whether that's zoom range, exposure, or f-stop. Also: Apple says the iPhone 16 is a lot easier to repair than its predecessor. Here's how A double light press on Camera Control brings up a carousel of shooting modes and settings, each of which you can access with another light press. Lastly, swiping on the touch-capacitive surface will dial between the settings. That's to say, Camera Control has a learning curve, so much so that I wouldn't have been mad if Apple made the feature exclusive to the Pro models. Because it's not, it will be many users' first experience with adjusting camera settings at such a finite level, and that's very exciting. Going into my testing, my biggest concern was whether the placement (or ergonomics) of the Camera Control would spoil what was otherwise a genius feature. Since the key is situated closer to the middle of the side edge (more so if you're on the smaller iPhone 16), you're now capturing photos by pressing down with your index finger instead of your thumb. Retraining your muscle memory is required here; I often found myself habitually tapping the screen to focus and capture instead. Camera Control encourages you to position the iPhone in landscape orientation, which plays to the 16's newest ability to capture immersive spatial photos and videos for VR. It's another feature that's trickled down from last year's Pro model, but nothing to stress about using. Much like how you'll need an elusive 8K TV to watch 8K videos, you'll need a compatible VR headset to consume spatial content. I've watched several spatial videos on both the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3, and while they're much more immersive than any other digital content out there, the ability to capture them should be seen as a bonus and not a requisite as you consider the iPhone 16. Also: Every iPhone 16 model features a new camera button. Here's what it can do Something you're more likely to take advantage of: the new 12MP ultrawide camera. With an f/2.2 aperture (versus last year's f/2.4), the iPhone 16 can pull in more light (read: capture more details both during the day and night) and take macro shots, much like how the iPhone 15 Pro did with its ultrawide lens. Combine the utility of the ultrawide with the new 48MP Fusion camera (combines the main with a 2x digital zoom capability) and Photographic Styles that can now be modified before and after the shot, and you've got one of the most versatile iPhone camera systems ever. Whether it was reproducing the vibrant colors of my dinner in a dimly lit restaurant, extracting details from small succulents, or capturing the controlled chaos of my morning commute, I rarely felt like the iPhone 16 Plus was unable to get the shot. Also: How to clear the cache on your iPhone (and why you should) I say rarely because there was one evening when I wanted to take a photo of the moon. It appeared closer to the Earth than ever, was glowing in a warm orangish hue, and felt like the perfect photo-op with my family celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. But the iPhone 16's zoom capability, capped at 2x, was barely able to capture the essence of the moment. There was a noticeable amount of noise as I hesitantly dialed up the digital zoom, and I sorely missed the 5x optical camera on the Pro models. While I hoped to see at least a 90Hz refresh rate on the new iPhones, assuming that ProMotion (120Hz) was restricted to Pro devices only, Apple continues to ship the standard models with 60Hz panels. This isn't a deal-breaker by any means, and frankly, users coming from older non-Pro iPhone models won't know what they're missing. Rendering fewer frames also helps the iPhone 16's battery life, which has been sufficient so far. But in 2024, when even a $150 Android phone comes with smoother display tech, a 90Hz panel would've made me instantly switch from an iPhone 15. Also: How iOS 18 changes the way you charge your iPhone To Apple's credit, it did bump up the wireless charging speed (up to 25W via MagSafe) on iPhone 16 models, though wired charging rates remain at 20W. From my testing, the iPhone 16 Plus charged from 0% to 100% in roughly one hour and 47 minutes, which is noticeably slower than most flagship phones ($700+) on the market. There's one thing I haven't mentioned yet in this review, and that's Apple Intelligence, the suite of artificial intelligence tools scattered across iOS 18. That's because the bulk of the AI experience, which includes a revamped Siri, call recording, and text generation, won't be readily available until October, unless you download the iOS 18.1 public beta today. That's to say, you shouldn't buy the iPhone 16 for its AI capabilities -- not yet, at least. Until the software is official, I'll continue to evaluate the iPhone 16 for what it is and keep you posted on how it fares with battery life, video-capturing, day-to-day performance, and more.

Apple iPhone 16, Plus, Pro and Pro Max launch today: Where to find the best deals

CBS Essentials is created independently of the CBS News editorial staff. We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. The new lineup of Apple iPhone 16 smartphones is officially available from AT&T, Verizon, Best Buy and many more retailers. These new phones include the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The new phones are being hyped for the addition of Apple Intelligence, Apple's artificial intelligence functionality that's being integrated into the iOS 18 operating system this fall. There are physical upgrades to the devices as well, including a new Camera Control button on the side of the handset. If you're already sold on the new phone, tap the buttons below and order yours today. Otherwise, read on to learn more about this new generation of Apple smartphones, officially available starting Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Pro tip: In addition, Apple has released the Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatch, new Apple AirPods 4 earbuds, and updates to the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max headphones. You can now order these devices, too. All of Apple's iPhone 16 configurations have several things in common. They all run the iOS 18 operating system and will soon have Apple Intelligence integration. This means you'll see some dramatic improvements in Siri and many of each phone's other capabilities, especially when it comes to taking pictures, shooting video and editing your content. All of the new iPhone models also now support faster Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and run using Apple's latest A18 or A18 Pro processor. Display size: 6.1 inches | Display type: Super Retina XDR | Display resolution: 2,556 x 1,179 pixels (460 ppi) | Max. display brightness: 2,000 nits | Processor: Apple A18 | Storage options: 128GB, 256GB, 1TB | Housing material: Aluminum | Dimensions: 5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches | Weight: 6 ounces | Front camera: 12MP (TrueDepth) | Rear camera system: 48MP (Fusion), 12MP (ultra-wide) | Operating system: iOS 18 (or later) | Safety features: Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash detection, Roadside Assistance via satellite | Port: 1x USB Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP68 | Physical buttons: Camera Control button, volume up, volume down, Side button | Battery life: Up to 27 hours (with wireless fast charging support) | Casing color options: Ultramarine, teal, pink, white, black The iPhone 16 offers most of the new features and functions added to the higher-end iPhone models, but packs it all into a mobile device with a 6.1-inch touchscreen display. The phone itself is just 0.31 inches thick and weighs a mere six ounces. This phone has two rear-facing cameras (instead of the three found on the higher-end models), so if you're looking for high-end photography and videography capabilities, choose one of the iPhone 16 Pro models. The iPhone 16 is a well-rounded and nicely priced general-purpose iPhone. It comes in five beautiful casing colors, along with the ability to fully customize the appearance of the Lock and Home screens. Beyond the new features and functions offered by iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, the iPhone 16 provides easy access to the millions of optional apps available from the App Store, so you can add all sorts of advanced functionality to the phone. This new phone operates up to 30% faster than last year's model and offers a longer battery life, too. With its new quick charge capabilities, you can go from 0% to 50% charge in around 30 minutes. You'll find a wide range of deals on the iPhone 16 available now. AT&T and Verizon are offering the phone for free, with an eligible trade-in and when you activate the phone with a qualifying service plan. Pro tip: Don't let your new Apple smartphone go unprotected. We recommend you also purchase one of these best cases for the Apple iPhone 16, even if you've also signed up for the AppleCare+ extended warranty. Display size: 6.7 inches | Display type: Super Retina XDR | Display resolution: 2,796 x 1,290 pixels (460 ppi) | Max. display brightness: 2,000 nits | Processor: Apple A18 | Storage options: 128GB, 256GB, 1TB | Housing material: Aluminum | Dimensions: 6.33 x 3.06 x 0.31 inches | Weight: 7.03 ounces | Front camera: 12MP (TrueDepth) | Rear camera system: 48MP (Fusion), 12MP (ultra-wide) | Operating system: iOS 18 (or later) | Safety features: Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash detection, Roadside Assistance via satellite | Port: 1x USB Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP68 | Physical buttons: Camera Control button, volume up, volume down, Side button | Battery life: Up to 27 hours (with wireless fast charging support) | Casing color options: Ultramarine, teal, pink, white, black The iPhone 16 Plus is a souped-up version of the iPhone 16 with a slightly larger touchscreen display (6.7 inches versus 6.1 inches). Otherwise, these two phones offer the same core capabilities and camera setup. Compared to the iPhone 15 Plus, you get a larger and more responsive display, faster overall performance, and the new Apple Intelligence capabilities packed into a smartphone that's a mere 0.31 inches thick and that weighs in at 7.03 ounces. The iPhone 16 Plus is a mid-priced iPhone. If you're a moderate to heavy iPhone user and often use the phone to take pictures or record and share video content, our in-house smartphone experts recommend spending a bit more to get the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max. You'll wind up with a better camera system and enhanced overall performance -- especially when it comes to using the latest AI tools and features, like the ability to record audio and have it transcribed and summarized. Many deals are being offered in conjunction with the iPhone 16 Plus. AT&T is offering up to $830 off with an eligible trade-in and when you activate the phone with a qualifying service plan. You can also finance the phone for as little as $2.78 per month for 36 months with eligible trade-in. For even more processing power, a larger display and better overall performance, it's the Apple iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max you want in your hands. They're made with a titanium casing and provide some of the most advanced capabilities Apple has unleashed in any iPhone. Beyond the advanced AI functions being integrated into the new iPhones this fall, one notable feature of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max is its ability to shoot 4K resolution video at up to 120fps using Dolby Vision. You also get advanced capabilities when capturing audio in conjunction with your video content. These phones are great for everyday users, as well as for content creators, students and business people alike. Display size: 6.3 inches | Display type: Super Retina XDR | Display resolution: 2,622 x 1,206 pixels (460 ppi) | Max. display brightness: 2,000 nits | Processor: Apple A18 Pro | Storage options: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Housing material: Titanium | Dimensions: 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.03 ounces | Front camera: 12MP (TrueDepth) | Rear camera system: 48MP (Fusion), 48MP (ultra-wide), 12MP (telephoto) | Operating system: iOS 18 (or later) | Safety features: Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash detection, Roadside Assistance via satellite | Port: 1x USB Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP68 | Physical buttons: Camera Control button, volume up, volume down, Side button | Battery life: Up to 33 hours (with wireless fast charging support) | Casing color options: Desert titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, black titanium The iPhone 16 Pro uses Apple's new A18 Pro silicon series chip which offers a 16-core Neural Engine to accommodate the new artificial intelligence functions. This is in conjunction with a 6-core CPU and 6-core GPU, which work together to offer 15% to 20% faster performance compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. This new processor also doubles the phone's ray tracing capabilities compared to last year's model, so gaming has been taken up a notch with more fluid graphics and more realistic lighting, not to mention improved responsiveness. The iPhone 16 Pro offers a longer-lasting battery and faster wireless recharging, plus hundreds of new features and existing feature updates that have been incorporated into iOS 18 and that work particularly well with the A18 Pro processor. This includes both text messaging via satellite and roadside assistance via satellite that'll work in areas where there's no cellular service. Other new features include the ability for the phone to use eye tracking as yet another way to interact with certain apps. One compelling reason to choose either the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max is for the enhanced camera system, which includes three rear-facing cameras with up to 25x digital zoom and extreme macro photography capabilities, new photographic styles, enhanced sound when shooting video and the ability to capture 4K resolution video at up to 120 fps. Right now, when you order the phone from AT&T, you could wind up getting this phone for free with an eligible trade in and when you activate the phone with a qualifying service plan. At Verizon, you can finance the phone for as little as $10 per month for 36 months with an eligible trade in and when you activate the phone with an Unlimited Ultimate service plan. Display size: 6.9-inches | Display type: Super Retina XDR | Display resolution: 2,868 x 1,320 pixels (460 ppi) | Max. display brightness: 2,000 nits | Processor: Apple A18 Pro | Storage options: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Housing material: Titanium | Dimensions: 6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.99 ounces | Front camera: 12MP (TrueDepth) | Rear camera system: 48MP (Fusion), 48MP (ultra-wide), 12MP (telephoto) | Operating system: iOS 18 (or later) | Safety features: Emergency SOS via satellite, Crash detection, Roadside Assistance via satellite | Port: 1x USB Type-C | Waterproof rating: IP68 | Physical buttons: Camera Control button, volume up, volume down, Side button | Battery life: Up to 33 hours (with wireless fast charging support) | Casing color options: Desert titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, black titanium If you want the absolutely fastest and most powerful iPhone -- the one with the largest and most responsive touchscreen display and the longest battery life -- it's the iPhone 16 Pro Max you should choose. It runs using the A18 Pro processor and will easily handle all of the new Apple Intelligence features the are being released this fall. You also get the most robust rear camera setup ever incorporated into an iPhone, including a 48MP Fusion camera and 28MP ultra-wide camera. But it's not just the camera hardware that sets this phone apart. You now get a pro-level still image or video shooting capabilities at your fingertips via the Camera app, that are surprisingly easy to use thanks to the AI enhancements. This is the phone we recommend to power iPhone users and people who want to get the most out of what an iPhone has to offer -- especially when it comes to picture taking and videography, as well as utilizing the new AI features. If you order the phone from AT&T or Verizon, you can get up to $1,000 off with an eligible trade-in and when you activate the phone with a qualifying service plan. Financing through Verizon is available for as little as $5.55 per month for 36 months if you're a new customer, with an eligible trade-in and activation with an Unlimited Ultimate plan. If you're already an iPhone user and looking for the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer, you'll want to get your hands on one of the new iPhone 16 models. Which model will depend on the screen size you want. Plus, if you've been thinking about switching from an Android smartphone to an iPhone, now's the ideal time. If you're looking for a smartphone with a folding display -- like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 -- you'll need to stick with an Android mobile device, at least for now. Upgrading to an Apple iPhone 16 is a personal decision, based on your budget and the intensity of your desire to have the best iPhone model available (compared to an older model that runs the same version of the iOS 18 operating system and the same collection of preinstalled apps). As always, you can expect faster performance, a better display and a longer battery life from Apple's very latest iPhones. You can purchase one of the new iPhone 16 models outright, or take advantage of trade-in and financing deals currently available from AT&T, Verizon and Best Buy. These deals could save you money, or at least allow you to spread out payment of the new phone over an extended period. Our smartphone experts recommend that average users choose the middle option, so for the iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus, choose 256GB. For the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, we suggest either 256GB or 512GB. Power users will likely want more storage. Lighter users can likely get away with less storage, especially if you use iCloud for cloud storage of data, documents, files and photos. Now that the iPhone 16 smartphones have been released, last year's models -- the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max -- are currently being discounted. At AT&T, you can finance the iPhone 15 Pro Max for as little as $5.56 per month for 36 months (with eligible trade-in). There's also a deal that gets you $1,000 off this phone. The iPhone 15 Plus can be financed for as little as $6.39 per month for 36 months (with eligible trade-in), while you can get the iPhone 15 for as little as $3.62 per month for 36 months (with eligible trade-in). The iPhone 15 Pro is currently being offered for free with an eligible trade-in. Of course, restrictions apply on all of these deals. Read our in-depth review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which can now be upgraded with the latest version of iOS 18 for free. You can also find discounted "renewed" and "renewed premium" iPhone 15 models for sale on Amazon. While iOS 18 works in all iPhone models released in the past five years or so, to get the best performance from this latest version of the operating system, you'll want the faster and more powerful performance of an Apple iPhone 16 smartphone. iOS 18 offers enhancements to the operating system itself, as well as impressive improvements to virtually all of the apps that come preinstalled with the operating system. This includes new ways to customize your phone, fun new ways to stay connected with friends and family, and enhanced tools for capturing and sharing memories. And for the first time, you can experience Apple Intelligence (AI) on your phone starting this fall. Apple Intelligence can help you compose text from scratch, edit content you've already written, translate information between languages, help you create images from scratch based on text prompts, and so much more. It's Apple's answer to Google Gemini (now on Android phones), Galaxy AI (now on Samsung Galaxy phones), and CoPilot (now on the latest Windows laptops). Keep in mind, many of the new features Apple has promised are coming later this year or next year through iOS updates. Thus, features like Apple Intelligence are not yet being offered on any of the iPhones. You'll discover enhancements, redesigns and new features added to each of the apps that come preinstalled with iOS 18, plus improvements in overall performance, whether you're using this operating system on an older iPhone model or one of the new iPhone 16 models. All of the new iPhone 16 models are more durable than previous models, but they're not indestructible -- far from it. To protect your new phone investment, we recommend buying a case designed for the specific iPhone model you've purchased. Our phone experts have compiled a roundup of popular iPhone 16 cases, but here are a few of our top picks:

iPhone 16: First impressions | - Times of India

It's been about 24 hours since we got our hands on the iPhone 16, and we have some thoughts about it.It's that time of the year again, the time when the new iPhones come, and the portfolio for this year is the same the last not one but two years - the two regular iPhones and two Pros. The one we have is iPhone 16 (The Plus is just a stretched-out regular iPhone, so will count in too). It's been about 24 hours since we got our hands on the iPhone 16, and we have some early thoughts about it. To start with, there may not be much new to look at in the iPhone 16 - it's the same as the iPhone 15, except for the rear cameras -- they are now stacked vertically on a pill-shaped island and the flash sits on the side, flush with the rear. Apple says this arrangement is better suited to record spatial videos. The refresh brings in some new colours as well, and these shades are quite vivid and give that joyous feeling. Reports from Day 1 suggest that Ultramarine is turning out to be people's favourite, the Teal looks great as well, and even the Pink (the one we have) is a pretty looking shade. Coming to screen, it continues to be 6.1 inch (the one on the Plus measures at 6.7 inches), the Dynamic Island is there, and still runs at 60Hz. Though, it's brighter and even dimmer than before - per Apple it gets as bright as 2,000 nits and goes down to 1 nit. Just when many thought that Apple is on its way to ditch buttons on iPhones, Apple surprised us by putting a new button on this year's iPhones. The entire iPhone 16 lineup, whether they be Pro or not, have a new button down the volume button, called Camera Control. It's more than a button, though. Essentially, the Camera Control is a shutter button. You press it and the Camera app opens up, and when you press it again, it takes a picture. However, it's not as simple as that. You can juxtapose the Camera Control with the trackpad on MacBook. It is a capacitive touch button -- you can swipe over it and tap on it -- just like a MacBook's trackpad. Double-tapping on the button will present you with a few options, like exposure, zoom, depth and camera selection, styles and tones (more on this a little later). Swiping over it will zoom in/out, set the exposure, switch between the lenses and more. But, again, it's not as simple as it sounds. There's bit of a learning curve here. What you can get easily used to is the Action Button. Yes, it's now on the standard iPhone. Long live the mute switch! While the simplicity of the mute switch will be dearly missed, the Action Button seems to make up for it as a good clicky mute switch and it can also do a lot more -- there's also an option to run set a Shortcut. Even though the cameras have a new look, they remain pretty much the same -- a 48MP primary and a 12MP ultra-wide. However, the ultra-wide has a nice trick up its sleeve: it can finally shoot macros. So, in Apple's words, you get "four lenses in your pocket," as the main camera can capture cropped-in 2x shots - so .5x, 1x, 2x and macro. Apple promises that both cameras should work better than the before, and they do seem to be a little better. Photographic Styles has gotten a big update. They aren't just filters from what Apple is promising and for the little time we have tried the 16's camera, they are more than just filters. They let you adjust skin tones, brightness and contrast. Don't mistake it for Pro modes that you'd find on Androids, but it's the most control you've ever had on iPhone's camera. While there are no upgrades for the regular iPhones when it comes to video recording, they do get Audio Mix. This lets one adjust the way voices sound in videos, and users can choose from three options: In-frame, Studio, and Cinematic. Intrigued and excited to check it out. The iPhone 16 is "the first iPhone built for Apple Intelligence," or should we say the first vanilla iPhone, as last year's Pro models would be getting the AI features, but the vanilla 15s won't. Inside the new iPhone 16 is a new chip -- the A18, which Apple says is 30 percent faster than the two-year-old A16 that powered the vanilla iPhone 15, and it should also improve battery life. All this is fine, but the biggest difference this chip will make is when Apple Intelligence rolls out. Apple Intelligence is Apple's suite of AI features, having a few AI-powered tools, like the ones that'll help you write, create images, even clean them up, and a smarter Siri.The early version of Apple Intelligence is expected to arrive next month, i.e., October, but the Siri glow-up might not come before next year. It does come with iOS 18 out-of-the-box, so you can try all customisation shenanigans. Also, the new iPhones charge faster than ever. The wired charging speed is bumped up to 45W and the wireless charging is capped at 25W. So, the iPhone 16 has a refreshed design, vibrant colours, and two new two buttons -- Action Button and Camera Control -- all this will separate it out from the vanilla iPhones of last few years. Then, you get the new A18 chip that'll enable Apple Intelligence, and Apple is banking really heavily on this. But, is all this worth upgrading? Maybe and maybe not -- we've listed out all that we could find new in this short time with the iPhone 16. Now, it's up to you to brainstorm, but if you still can't decide, hold off until our full review comes out. Don't worry, we'll also solve the dilemma -- whether to Pro or not, since this year's regular iPhones are more close to Pro than ever.