Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus review: all caught up

Over the past fewer years, Apple’s modular iPhone looked a small neglected. The Pro models got caller chipsets, camera features, and a customizable Action Button, portion the modular models made bash with the leftovers.

But this year, things are different: the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus played catch-up, and the spread betwixt these phones and the Pro models isn’t arsenic wide arsenic it erstwhile was.

That matters a lot, particularly connected the much basal models. If you’ve been holding connected to an older iPhone for the past mates of generations wondering whether this is the twelvemonth to upgrade, past I deliberation there’s an casual reply this clip around: spell for it. It’s a bully twelvemonth for the basal iPhone, and it’s a bully twelvemonth to upgrade.

But this iPhone is inactive precise overmuch a enactment successful progress. For starters, Apple Intelligence is supposedly a large constituent of this phone’s software, and it’s conscionable not disposable astatine launch. It’s retired successful beta now, and immoderate features volition statesman to vessel adjacent period with iOS 18.1 — inactive marked arsenic “beta.” But it’s not connected the telephone I’m reviewing, which is moving 18.0, and therefore, it’s not portion of this review. 

I besides person mixed feelings astir the Camera Control, a caller fastener connected some the Pro and regular iPhone 16 models that allows you to motorboat the camera, instrumentality photos, and set immoderate settings. I admit that it isn’t a Pro-exclusive feature, and boy, bash I emotion a button. But successful practice, I find it hard to usage and person mostly been ignoring it.

But the happening is, the foundational worldly is good. This year’s chipset is successful the aforesaid household arsenic the 1 connected the Pro models, which means they’ll apt beryllium connected astir the aforesaid bundle update schedule. The camera itself is arsenic susceptible arsenic ever, and the telephone hardware itself looks large — Apple’s utilizing immoderate saturated colors again, convey God. And it inactive starts astatine $799, truthful thing added this twelvemonth conscionable feels similar a nice-to-have. Even if Apple Intelligence ne'er ships, you’d inactive person a bully iPhone successful your hands.

There’s 1 peculiarly conspicuous hardware diagnostic missing from this, a high-end telephone successful the twelvemonth 2024: a precocious refresh complaint screen. Only the Pro phones get smoother ProMotion displays that spell up to 120Hz, portion the 16 and 16 Plus are stuck successful 60Hz. By now, it’s a modular diagnostic connected modern smartphones from the midrange connected up, and the iPhone looks awfully dated without it.

On principle, it’s irritating that Apple doesn’t connection this connected the basal models, but successful reality, however overmuch that bothers you is wholly personal. I usage phones with 120Hz screens for astir of the remainder of the year, and it’s ever jarring for the archetypal fewer minutes erstwhile I power backmost to a 60Hz screen. But I get utilized to it beauteous quickly, and I lone announcement the much stuttered scrolling erstwhile I deliberation astir it. Some radical volition find this an inexcusable omission, and they’re astir apt right. Some radical volition beryllium perfectly blessed with a 60Hz screen, and they’re besides right. Everyone other exists determination betwixt the two.

The 16 and 16 Plus besides miss retired connected the always-on show offered connected the Pro models. I similar being capable to glimpse astatine my notifications and my wallpaper erstwhile the iPhone is idle, truthful I miss having the always-on show connected the 16. Still, I cognize a batch of radical who don’t similar it, truthful connected balance, it’s nary large nonaccomplishment here. 

Now, if anyone is connected the grounds arsenic a full-fledged fastener supporter, it’s me. I can’t get capable of ‘em. So, ideate my delight astatine having two caller buttons connected this telephone — the programmable Action Button from the 15 Pro and the caller Camera Control. I usage the Action Button to unfastened the app I usage to motion my kid retired of daycare. Usually, I person to fumble astir looking for the app portion there’s different genitor successful a unreserved waiting down me, truthful it soothes my anxious encephalon each clip I property that button. You tin programme it to bash each kinds of things if you’re consenting to larn the ways of Shortcuts. But for the remainder of us, it’s beauteous straightforward to representation it to unfastened a circumstantial app and permission it astatine that. 

I privation I had amended things to accidental astir the Camera Control. Believe me, I wanted to similar it. I’ve utilized it a bunch, and I program to support trying it, conscionable successful lawsuit I’m missing something. But truthful far, I’m not impressed. It’s an existent button, and afloat pressing it volition motorboat the camera app. Once you’re there, different afloat property volition instrumentality a photo. It’s besides a capacitive power with haptic feedback — lightly pressing it volition bring up vulnerability settings that you tin set by moving your digit on the control. 

Surprisingly, that’s the enactment I’m astir comfy with. It’s pressing the existent fastener and firing the shutter I’m struggling with. The mechanics feels excessively stiff to me, and nary substance however hard I effort to enactment the phone, I extremity up shaking the full instrumentality each clip I instrumentality a picture. And if I linger connected that airy property excessively long, I extremity up changing the vulnerability compensation oregon immoderate different mounting inadvertently. I person to instrumentality my absorption distant from the infinitesimal and deliberation astir pressing a damn button, and astatine that point, what are we adjacent doing here?

I bash similar utilizing it to motorboat the camera, but erstwhile I’ve done that, I’ve mostly gone backmost to utilizing the onscreen shutter. I’m besides utilizing the capacitive power for vulnerability compensation, but I can’t assistance feeling that I’m underutilizing 1 of this phone’s fancy caller features. If this fastener had one occupation alternatively of two, it would beryllium much intuitive. Still, I present person a dedicated fastener to motorboat the camera and a capacitive vulnerability comp dial for the camera, and I can’t kick astir that astatine all. I conscionable privation the dual functions of this fastener worked amended together.

And portion we’re successful the camera app, let’s speech astir Photographic Styles. Remember those? They’re similar filters for the iPhone camera, but they’re applied during capture. On the iPhone 16 series, you’ll person a full caller scope of customized settings to assistance you dial successful the photographic benignant you like. You tin spell into the weeds of however this works in our iPhone 16 Pro review, but astatine a precocious level, they fto you set colour formed — successful work of warmer oregon cooler tegument tones — arsenic good arsenic brightness and contrast. If you’re 1 of the galore radical who deliberation that iPhone photos look overprocessed lately, past this is the diagnostic for you.

I’ve landed connected a benignant that I like, but it wasn’t casual getting there. To acceptable a photographic benignant arsenic your caller default, you request to spell into the strategy settings paper and spell done a setup process wherever you audition 4 of your photos successful the caller style. If you conscionable prime a caller benignant successful the camera app itself, it’ll reset to modular erstwhile you leave. This is simply a antithetic behaviour than connected erstwhile iPhones, and it confused the hellhole retired of maine astatine first.

And here’s the atrocious news: you request to sprout successful HEIF to usage the caller styles. HEIF is simply a cursed record format that nary different institution loves arsenic overmuch arsenic Apple. Most of the time, your HEIF images volition beryllium converted to JPEG erstwhile sending them extracurricular of the Apple ecosystem, but inevitably, 1 time you’ll person the misfortune of trying to unfastened a .heic record connected a non-Apple instrumentality and beryllium met with thing but sadness. I usually debar shooting successful HEIF, but the caller photographic styles are truthful bully that I’m consenting to enactment up with the stray compatibility issue. 

This level of flexibility makes it benignant of hard to measure the camera itself. I’ve been shooting with a contrastier photographic style, which dials up shadows successful a mode I like. Along with the brighter highlights preserved by HDR code mapping, you get an representation with actual highlights and shadows — not a clump of grey mush scrunched into a modular dynamic scope space. The camera volition inactive spell a small aggravated with bluish skies successful definite circumstances, but you could play astir with the photographic benignant settings to dial that down. I similar my mentation of the camera app, which whitethorn beryllium antithetic from your version. 

Mostly, I’m grateful that the iPhone continues to present large photos successful representation mode, and I’m ever impressed by the video prime successful cinematic mode, too. The 2x harvest zoom is good successful decent lighting, and it’s a useful focal magnitude for representation shots. Having macro absorption connected the ultrawide lens is bully for the occasional close-up shot, too.

But the iPhone 16 uses a smaller main representation sensor than its Pro peers, and its low-light representation prime isn’t rather arsenic good. Image prime is good if your subjects aren’t moving, but don’t expect to get distant with a batch if you’re trying to sprout portraits oregon moving subjects successful dim light. And retired of curiosity, I compared the 5x integer zoom connected the iPhone 16 with the 5x telephoto lens connected the 15 Pro. Predictably, the 15 Pro blows it retired of the water. There’s inactive nary substitute for bully ‘ol optical zoom.

I person thing shocking to study astir the iPhone 16’s wide performance. The A18 chipset (and some further RAM — acknowledgment AI!) handles regular tasks easily. I tin occurrence disconnected representation mode photos astir erstwhile a second; each 1 has a small spot of built-in buffering time, but I ne'er had to hold longer than that for the buffer to clear. Even if you ne'er usage the AI features Apple is promising for this phone, getting the newer chipset is simply a triumph for the regular iPhones this twelvemonth and should support this telephone moving smoothly good into the adjacent 4 oregon 5 years.

Even connected the smaller model, the artillery keeps up each day. On a time of heavier usage that included streaming KEXP with Strava utilizing GPS successful the background, I inactive had astir 30 percent by bedtime. If you opt for the 16 Plus, with its larger battery, you tin agelong a azygous complaint good into a 2nd day. The existent question volition beryllium however it keeps up a twelvemonth oregon 2 down the line; Apple’s recent way record present isn’t great.

It’s a bully twelvemonth for the basal iPhones, and that hasn’t been the lawsuit implicit the past fewer generations. To beryllium sure, there’s thing groundbreaking here, and surely thing you should commercialized successful your iPhone 15 for. But if you’ve been connected the obstruction for a portion astir upgrading from an 11 oregon 12, past I deliberation this is the twelvemonth to spell for it. 

You’ll get a mates of caller buttons to play with, and who knows, possibly you’ll get on amended with the Camera Control than I did. And If Apple Intelligence arrives and proves to beryllium the time-saving, stress-easing acceptable of features Apple insists it volition be, past this telephone volition beryllium acceptable for it. But adjacent if they ne'er arrive, you’re inactive getting immoderate upgrades that substance successful the agelong run. It’s a catch-up twelvemonth for the regular iPhone, and that’s a bully twelvemonth to upgrade indeed. 

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge