Apple iPhone 16 hands-on review: More Pro than ever

Every year Apple is trying to convince people to buy its standard iPhones, and with this year’s tandem, the strategy is no different at all. Although, I will say that the reasons are far more compelling with this year’s iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus .

Both the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus come in brilliant looking new colors that put to shame any other release before it, while also gaining a new ultrawide camera, a new Camera control, A18 chip and some features that are actually found on the pricier ‘Pro’ models. I can’t say yet that the gap between the two series has gone away, but I will say that they shouldn’t be overlooked — especially if you're looking to save money without compromising on features.

In my iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus hands-on review, I’ll tell you all about their new changes and if they’re enough to sway you from paying more to go pro.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Specifications

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Price and release date

Hooray for no price increases to either model. I’m always afraid that this could be the year that Apple decides to give its standard iPhone models a price hike, but that’s not the case as both the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have the same $799 and $899 costs as before. We’ve been spared another year, so that’s excellent news given what they’re packing.

Pre-orders begin on September 13, with full availability a week after on September 20. Their starting prices come with 128GB of storage, but they’re also offered in 256GB and 512GB options as well. Sure, I would love it if their base storages were boosted to 256GB, but 128GB is pretty much what you find in other comparable phones.

There’s a total of 5 iPhone 16 colors you can choose from: black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine. While I did enjoy last year’s 5 colors, what’s different this year with the iPhone 16 is that the colors are deeper, more vibrant looking. Both the ultramarine and pink look extra vivid in person and shimmer in the light at just the right angle, plus they’re stylish enough to make you consider going case-less.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Design

Apart from the bolder looking colors, the iPhone 16’s design follows an evolutionary path in being lighter and more durable. I thought that last year’s iPhone 15 was exquisitely light, but the aerospace-grade aluminum body of the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus makes them feel even lighter than their predecessors — which also helps that their finishes are smooth, making them less prone to smudges.

Apple makes three new design changes: a vertical arrangement with their rear cameras, an Action button, and a capacitive Camera Control button. While they don’t dramatically change the overall design, they do add more to their overall utility — making them functionally similar to the Pro iPhones. For example, they now can record spatial photos and videos, which means you can view 3D content in an Apple Vision Pro or other compatible headset.

With their lighter designs and bolder colors, Apple has made them much more visually appealing. Although, the choice on which to choose ultimately boils down to whether you prefer the more compact iPhone 16 or need the larger screen of the iPhone 16 Plus.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Display

There’s no change to the screen sizes on the new iPhone 16. We’re still getting 6.1 and 6.7-inch screens with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus respectively. I’m not terribly bummed by that even though the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max got bigger screens, mainly because they keep them more manageable to hold one-handed.

Just as before, they’re OLED-based Super Retina XDR displays complete with the same pill-shaped cutout for the Dynamic Island. Apple claims a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, but it’s hard to tell if they could actually reach that brightness given the indoor setting of the event. Given how the Pixel 9 achieves a peak output of 2,390 nits in our testing, the iPhone 16 doesn’t stand a chance at coming close.

Despite this, the display looks sharp, vivid, and offers incredible viewing angles. I’m just annoyed that Apple continues to refuse to boost the display refresh rate. Come on Apple, 60Hz is just disappointing in this day and age — and the iPhone 16 deserves better after years of staying stuck at 60Hz.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Cameras

Just as before, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus feature upgraded dual rear cameras that consist of a 48MP main shooter and a refreshed 12MP ultrawide. That latter certainly gets more attention this time around because the series finally gains the ability to capture macro photographs, which is a feature that has been available to the Pro models.

Apple also talks a lot about the versatility of this new camera setup, since it can effectively deliver photos with optical quality without a dedicated zoom camera — all by leaning on the same pixel binning techniques I’ve seen previously with the iPhone 15 to get usable 2x zoom photos.

Until I get the phones in my hand to test out their cameras, it’s hard to tell if the photos I snapped at the event have any meaningful improvements. However, I will say that the biggest change to them is how you capture content going forward. Instead of simply leveraging the on-screen controls, the new Camera Control button changes up the experience by making it feel more like a standard point and shoot.

The Camera Control button is positioned on the right side of the phone and can recognize the amount of pressure applied to it — thus replicating the physical shutter button commonly found in today’s best mirrorless cameras. I will say that it takes a bit getting used to because of the extra functions you’ll have access to.

While pressing it down all the way allows you to take a photo, pressing and holding on the button initiates video recording. I do like how it can also discern swipes to change between some of the settings, like zoom controls, exposure adjustment, and more — all by slightly pressing the Camera Control button and swiping my finger left or right. Really, it takes a bit getting used to all of this, but it’s a step in the right direction in making it feel more like a camera.

However, I still wish Apple added more controls — like access to the shutter speed and ISO, which could help enthusiasts like myself to get more out of the camera.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Performance

Skipping the A17 Pro, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus get a better treatment with an A18 chip calling the shot. It’s based on a new 3nm manufacturing process and offers 30% faster CPU performance than the prior A16 Bionic.

Even with the larger gains over the previous chipset, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus delivers just the same responsiveness with everyday operations like opening up apps, taking burst photos, and accessing the many new Apple Intelligence features.

However, the bigger treat in my opinion comes with gaming on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus because it gains support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing — which was an iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max exclusive feature. I saw it running Honor of King with ease, especially how it keeps a steady frame rate while tackling all of the water reflections in the scene.

I’m confident that the benchmark scores will turn out outstanding because they’ve continually come out on top.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Battery

Apple says that the battery’s larger in the iPhone 16, but it’s not certain if the 16 Plus gets a bigger one as well. More of the focus centers around how they’ve been reengineered to better dissipate heat, which ultimately impacts their power efficiency. I suspect that the power efficiency of the A18 chip will play into how they last, especially for the iPhone 16 Plus because last year’s 15 Plus eked out longer results than its 15 Pro Max sibling.

Another boost is the upgrade to 25W MagSafe charging and Qi2 support, which means that they’ll charge faster than previous models with wireless charging. Although, it doesn’t seem like any improvement is made to its USB-C wired charging speed.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Software

I thought Apple Intelligence features would only be exclusive to the Pro models, but that’s not the case — and I think it gives the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus even more value. In fact, there are no exclusives at all when it comes to Apple Intelligence features, so it has access to the new Siri , Writing Tools , ChatGPT with OpenAI, and the Photo Clean Up feature.

I’m actually really surprised by this because I didn’t think Apple was going to open it up to all of the iPhones. This means that the experience is no different whether you pickup the $799 iPhone 16 versus the $1,199 iPhone 16 Pro Max. Even though I didn’t get to try it out, iOS 18 will roll out with Emergency SOS Live Video later on that will allow iPhone 16 owners to share a live feed or photos to emergency dispatchers.

This year’s iPhones couldn’t be any similar and the software is proof of that.

Apple iPhone 16 & 16 Plus hand-on review: Outlook

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Apple’s making it even harder than ever before for people to choose which iPhone to buy. That’s because the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus get a lot of the same features as the iPhone 16 Pros, while also sporting the same prices as before. You could argue that this makes the standard iPhone even better value, especially when you factor how they effectively have the same Apple Intelligence features and Camera Control button.

I can’t definitely say they’re better values than their Pro siblings. The Pro phones have larger displays, a 5x zoom telephoto lens and even more powerful A18 Pro chip. But the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus may be Pro enough for many shoppers.

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