iPhone 16 Pro Hands on: It’s Not Brown, It’s Desert Titanium

I spent the past twelvemonth recapping iPhone 16 rumors, and today, everything was yet revealed astatine Apple’s Glowtime Event. Most of the rumors we covered turned retired to beryllium true. The iPhone 16 did get a stacked camera strategy connected the back, positive the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action Button. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro person a Camera Control button, which lets you flip implicit the instrumentality and unreal it’s a point-and-shoot camera. And yep, the iPhone 16 Pro comes successful bronze. It’s not brownish similar initially reported, and we’re each thrilled astir it. Apple calls it “desert titanium,” and indeed, I could spot idiosyncratic successful Palm Springs wearing this shadiness of prima tan. 

I went hands-on with the iPhone 16 Pro successful this caller colour and the iPhone 16 successful its caller colors, specifically teal and pink. The astir important alteration to this generation’s lineup is the Camera Control fastener I mentioned earlier. Considering we’re already talking astir the iPhone 17 going buttonless, it’s a funny addition. The “taptic” fastener is simply a small confusing to usage astatine first.

iPhone 16 and the Camera Capture button

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It was hard getting my hands connected the godforsaken titanium iPhone 16 Pro. This was a fashionable colour connected the objection level astatine the Steve Jobs Theater astatine Apple Park, astir apt due to the fact that it conscionable looked expensive. Desert titanium looks similar golden from afar, and that’s due to the fact that of the goldish borderline astir the chassis. That existent backside of the telephone is much of the benignant of aureate beige you’d deterioration determination similar Death Valley oregon the Sahara desert. I didn’t deliberation the colour brownish could beryllium this game-changing, but determination you person it. Apple made history. There’s besides achromatic titanium, earthy titanium, and achromatic titanium if that’s not your style.

In each sincerity, Apple’s instrumentality connected the Pro is that it’s truthful nonrecreational astatine what it does that it’s ever dressed for the job, hence the muted backsides, which I’ve seen complained astir connected Threads and elsewhere arsenic radical compared them to the colorful array of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. However, the colour connected the backmost does not request to beryllium eye-catching erstwhile a institution sells a telephone that starts astatine $1,000 and claims Hollywood-caliber video signaling capabilities.

Speaking of which, the iPhone 16’s caller colorways are, successful fact, eye-catching. They are vibrant up adjacent and from afar. I’m besides digging the caller stacked camera array. It looks overmuch much enactment unneurotic than the erstwhile stovetop with conscionable 2 lenses. The Action Button and Camera Capture fastener are there, successful the aforesaid colour arsenic the remainder of the iPhone 16. This twelvemonth includes black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine (blue).

Apple is trying to hone successful connected the connection that its smartphones are the cameras to beat, hence the Camera Capture button. I got to demo it briefly, though it was Apple employees doing the tapping for me. The Camera Capture’s taptic fastener means it tin consciousness erstwhile you soft-press oregon afloat property it. It tin besides consciousness your digit descent from near to close to rhythm done paper options oregon zoom. It works precisely however you deliberation it might, and successful that divided second, it felt conscionable arsenic delicate arsenic the W/T did backmost successful the Handycam days.

Bigger is better

© Florence Ion / Gizmodo

Another inclination I noticed during the Glowtime lawsuit is that Apple’s instrumentality lineup is getting bigger adjacent arsenic folks yearn for smaller phones. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are 6.3 and 6.9 inches, respectively, each a fewer points larger than before. But since these are professional-level phones, they should beryllium bigger to springiness you much country to edit, pan, slide, and scroll done immoderate enactment oregon task is astatine hand. I inactive similar the smaller iPhone 16 Pro to the Pro Max. And this year, you don’t person to compromise connected optical zoom by choosing betwixt the Pro and the Pro Max. It’s 5x optical zoom betwixt some devices this clip around.

Apple Intelligence is coming

© Florence Ion / Gizmodo

I cognize you privation to spot much of Apple Intelligence successful action. I do, too, but we’re inactive waiting for it to rotation out. I saw much blase editing features betwixt the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro lineups. But I didn’t spot immoderate generative text, ChatGPT magic, oregon thing similar that. That’s connected the mode next month.

When we get the iPhone 16 reappraisal units in, we’ll beryllium specifically funny to spot if the thermal enactment Apple did wrong the telephone translates to the outside. A fewer radical astir maine successful the assemblage were muttering astir however their iPhone 15 Pros were excessively lukewarm to grip aft a while. I’ll besides beryllium funny astir the Spatial Video that the iPhone 16 tin instrumentality and whether there’s a mode to construe that contented extracurricular of the Vision Pro situation truthful that it’s not conscionable constricted to Apple’s merchandise lineup.

If you privation to beryllium among the archetypal to don a Camera Capture button, you tin pre-order the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro aboriginal this week. It officially launches connected Sept. 20.