iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: Which new iPhone should you buy?

If you're deciding between the iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro, you should know that the iPhone 16 has picked up a lot of formerly Pro-exclusive features, like the customizable Action button and Apple Intelligence , as well as new upgrades — including the Camera Control button and the powerful A18 chipset.

But the iPhone 16 Pro series obviously has a bunch of extra benefits for those willing to pay extra for them. The screens are now even bigger, and the 5x tetraprism lens is now available on iPhone 16 Pro. That will be coming alongside an upgraded camera system with larger quad-pixel sensors — not to mention a 48MP ultrawide lens. Plus, the adaptive ProMotion display, larger batteries and exclusive camera features.

But even once you’ve decided between standard and Pro models, you also need to decide which size to get. There isn’t a whole lot of difference between them all other than screen size, but those little factors could be the difference between you spending more or saving a few extra hundred bucks.

So when it comes to iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro, which one is the best iPhone for you?

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: Specs

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: What's the same?

The major similarity between all four iPhone models is the new Camera Control button, which lives on the bottom left-hand side of the phone, and the fact they all run Apple Intelligence . All of the new iPhone 16 devices will also offer Visual Intelligence , which allows you to look up real-time information on what the camera sees and act on it.

The Camera Control is a multi-purpose haptic button that also ties into Visual Intelligence if you want it to. The primary function of the button is to open the camera app quickly, and better control what happens without having to rely on the usual touchscreen controls.

But there’s more to it than that. A light tap on the Camera Control will launch a minimalistic, distraction free camera interface, with the option to slide over the button to control features like camera zoom. A second light tap opens up a small menu, which you can navigate through options like aperture, depth and camera styles.

The Action button may have debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro series but it’s made the jump to non-Pro phones this year. Meaning iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro owners alike will be able to customize the button to do one of a number of actions or shortcuts.

Other iPhone 16 features previously exclusive to Pro models also include the ability to capture spatial photos and video with the new camera layout, hardware accelerated ray-tracing from the new A18 chipset, and the ability to play AAA game titles on the go. Wi-Fi 7 connectivity is also available on all four models, though that’s completely new for 2024.

Visual Intelligence is an AI camera mode which links Apple Intelligence to the camera and lets you scan and analyze the world around you. Think of it as a kind of AI Vision, which we’ve seen from various AI chatbots, or Google Lens . Visual Intelligence is able to scan text, identify animals or objects, translate text, search Google or get ChatGPT to help you out and so much more. All using a mix of on-device and cloud-based computing.

Naturally every every other Apple Intelligence feature we’ve heard about so far, which will be available on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max , are available on all iPhone 16 models. That means all iPhone 16 owners will be able to enjoy features like Image Playground’s image generation, custom genmoji, AI-enhanced search in Apple Photos, the enhanced version of Siri , AI mail and notification summaries and more.

The same goes for all the new features coming to iOS 18 , including satellite messaging, customizable home screens, locked apps and Hidden Folder, iPhone Mirroring on Macs , RCS messaging and more.

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: What's different?

There are a significant number of iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro differences you need to know. Normally the standard and Pro iPhones some in the same size configurations — but that’s no longer the case. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus still have the same 6.1- and 6.7-inch displays as ever, but the Pro and Pro Max have grown to a respective 6.3 and 6.9 inches.

This also means the the iPhone 16 Pro Max is the largest iPhone Apple has ever made and that could be appealing for those of you that like large screen phones — or a complete turn off for those who don't.

Sadly, beyond this screen upgrade on Pro models, the rest of the display has stayed exactly the same on all four new iPhones. That means the standard models don’t have the ProMotion upgrade people have been pestering Apple for for years, and are stuck with a 60Hz display instead of a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate.

Likewise, the titanium shell is also an iPhone 16 Pro exclusive, complete with a new internal thermal management system aided by a new graphite-clad aluminum substructure. Considering the iPhone 15 Pro did have some issues with overheating , and the fact the A18 Pro is likely to be a very hard worker, the more heat Apple can dissipate the better.

The A18 Pro may have a similar name to the iPhone 16’s A18 chipset, but the Pro chip is an upgrade in itself. While Apple hasn’t said how much more powerful the chip is compared to the standard A18, it is supposed to be 15% faster and 20% more efficient than the A17 Pro with 2x faster ray tracing and video encoding to boot.

According to Apple, a lot of the focus is on Apple Intelligence and on-device AI, but the speed of the chip will be beneficial for other things — especially in the camera department. According to Apple it will help power the new 4K 120fps Dolby Vision video recording capabilities — and a zero-lag camera shutter. The A18 Pro’s AI prowess also enables a number of audio-based features, including Audio Mix that helps separate speech from background noise across a variety of apps — offering more studio quality and true-to-life audio.

The iPhone 16 Pro has an upgraded camera, including the debut of the tetraprism telephoto lens on the iPhone 16 Pro — complete with 5x optical magnification. While the tetraprism hasn’t changed on the iPhone 16 Pro Max, both Pro phones have had some major improvements on the other two rear camera lenses. The most obvious is the ultrawide now offers 48MP resolution, compared to 12MP on iPhone 16 Pro.

That lens, and the 48MP main camera lens, also have larger quad-pixel sensors. This new sensor also helps with shutter lag, while promising 2x faster performance and auto-focus. Larger sensors generally allow more light to be captured as well, offering better picture quality and low light performance.

Naturally, the Pro models are the only iPhones to offer USB 3 charging and data transfer speeds , while the iPhone 16 is limited to the same USB 2.0-speeds you’d get back when Lightning cables were still a thing. Both phones also promise to have larger batteries, with the Pro Max allegedly having the largest battery of any iPhone. While we don’t know how much bigger these batteries are, it does mean the Pro models should longer on a single charge as a result — but we won’t know for sure until we do our testing.

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: Bottom line

There are times when it pays off to go the cheaper route, and the iPhone 16 might be one of those times. While there is a very clear boundary between the standard and Pro models, the various upgrades offered this year mean that the iPhone 16 is closer to being a Pro model than ever before.

Of course, various things are still missing from the regular iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, like the tetraprism telephoto lens, adaptive ProMotion display, the higher performance A18 Pro chipset and the new 48MP ultrawide camera and audio upgrades. We won’t know exactly how much of a difference those things make until we’ve spent some more time with the iPhone 16. There’s no doubt that those are all great things, but the question is whether they’re worth an extra $200+ dollars to get hold of now.

Saving that money might be worthwhile, and it could be enough to get you a storage upgrade or some useful accessories — like a case, the AirPods 4 , or part of an Apple Watch Series 10 . It all depends on just how much you care about the iPhone 16 Pr's larger displays and extra camera and performance features.

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