The screen is slightly larger and still lovely.
It packs more power than most people will need in a smartphone and takes beautiful photos.
Apple Intelligence is an intriguing addition that’s quite useful in some situations but unrealized in others.
The iPhone 15 Pro is on the left. Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro is bigger.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
It’s a solid glimpse of what’s to come.
Like that larger phone, this iPhone 16 Pro is not a sea change from the iPhone 15 Pro.
This is not a bad thing.
Apple has settled on a core iPhone aesthetic, and seems uninterested in changing it.
Apple Intelligence generally feels a bit underwhelming, especially without native image generation, Genmojis and third-party LLM integration.
The cameras get a few nice upgrades, like a 48MP ultrawide and the ability to shoot in4Kat 120fps.
Apple still hasn’t implemented8Kvideo recording, but I don’t see that as a huge deal.
Oh, and price.
If you like your screens really big, then the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max is for you.
The camera differences are more pronounced.
There’s no 12MP 5x optical zoom on the iPhone 16, while both Pro phones have it.
The ultrawide camera is still just 12MP, while the Pro phones now have a 48MP sensor.
The iPhone 15 Pro is on the left. Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro is bigger.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
They’ll all also support Apple Intelligence as it rolls out.
That said, I can’t live without my telephoto, so I’ll always choose the Pro models.
The larger but otherwise identical iPhone 16 Pro Max costs $1,199 / 1,199 / AU$2,149.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I still prefer the black.
Granted, aesthetically there are none.
It’s another Titanium grade 5 phone with flat edges and gently curved corners.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
But the iPhone 16 Pro is unmistakably taller and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro.
It’s not a lot, but this pocket-sized phone takes a tiny step into phablet territory.
The bigger battery also adds a touch more weight.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
On the bottom edge are the Thunderbolt 4-capable USB-C power and data ports, speaker grilles, and microphones.
If your phone is asleep, a press will wake it and another press will initiate the camera.
A third press will fire the shutter.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Camera Control is, however, so much more than a camera shutter button.
It’s a stack of technology that includes pressure and touch sensors under a sapphire surface.
In addition to good looks, the phone is dust and water-resistant.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The Super Retina XDR’s resolution is not the highest in the industry.
Thanks to the larger chassis and skinnier bezel, this is a bigger screen.
It’s not higher-resolution but there are more pixels to work with.
A little water is no problem with the dust and water-resistant iPhone 16 Pro
I don’t mind the pill-shaped cutout.
Videos usually play with the Dynamic Island cordoned off in black space.
I played games where the cutout lives in the action, but it’s not distracting.
It hasHDR, True Tone, and always-on support.
Finally, the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio delivers inky blacks.
In my experience, everything on the screen looks clear, bright, colorful, and fluid.
The iPhone 15 Pro is on the left. Not the bezel is slightly thicker
Videos, websites, and games all look great.
Not every change will be entirely welcome.
Control Panel is getting a massive overhaul that turns this rather rudimentary one-page drop-down into a customizable play space.
System control icons can be moved, resized, and organized to your heart’s content.
iOS 18 brings a robust new Passwords app that surfaces previously hidden security and password features and utilities.
I think it’ll get a lot of use.
Math Notes is not Apple Intelligence, but it’s a canny use of machine learning, and one of my favorite new features
Apple Intelligence should, really, be the star of this show.
The Apple Intelligence available as a beta today is still a subset of what Apple promised in June atWWDC24.
It’s effective at adding, for instance, professionalism without altering the meaning of your text.
Watch the new Siri deform the whole screen.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I do like that Notes will instantly summaries an entire recording.
Siri gets a makeover, with a full-screen glow replacing the small pulsing Siri orb.
Siri is also better at maintaining context.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I never had to restate my location or repeat the “Siri” wake word.
I can still summon Siri by name, or by long-pressing the power button.
And when Siri responds, the display undulates it’s a neat visual effect.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Siri is also somewhat better at understanding poorly spoken prompts.
If you pause a lot, say “um”, or stumble, it can figure it out.
If you’re just babbling, though, it probably can’t.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
It also lacks deeper app insights.
These capabilities should show up eventually.
Siri can also maintain the context of a conversation.
It takes just a moment or two for Clean Up to analyze the photo and suggest edits.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
This has the same limitations as spoken Siri, though.
I asked “Where is my cheese?”
and Siri was stumped.
The removal is fast and quite clean(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
If you tap the eraser icon, Clean Up analyzes the photo and suggests objects for deletion.
I let it choose all the background people in a photo of me and Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik.
Sorry, fellow tourists.
This photo was more of a challenge(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I’ll reserve judgment on this feature for now.
All of that is to come.
Apple has certainly showed care in its handful of camera updates, but nothing here is a major leap.
The other camera is the 12MP TrueDepth, which is similarly unchanged.
The main 48MP camera shoots excellent, color-accurate photos.
Outside, the lens caught a pigeon in flight and left the motion blur behind.
No, this is just a way to incrementally, and dramatically, slow down high-resolution, high-frame-rate video.
I think I’m even more impressed with the new Audio Mix video editing tool.
There are a few options: Standard, In-Frame, Studio, and Cinematic.
Note how the faster sensor captures motion.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
In-Frame focuses the audio on what’s in the camera frame.
I also tried it with video playing on my iPad.
Again, the results were good, though imperfect.
The lighting is not great in Penn Station but the 48MP main camera froze this women in her tracks(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
There’s ambient noise and a fan inside, which makes recording without a mic almost impossible.
But not for Apple’s Audio mix.
I applied it to some voice-over videos I recorded, and the quality difference was remarkable.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Well done, Apple, I’ll be using this all the time.
Apple now has an enhanced set of image control features under Styles that can pre-process or post-process your images.
Options include Standard, Amber, Gold, Rose Gold, Neutral, and Cool Rose.
Worth noting the accuracy of the night sky color.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Moods, meanwhile, change the look of the entire image.
You access both controls through a new grid icon in the upper-right of the Camera app.
If you hold the phone in landscape mode it’s like a camera shutter button.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
One press and it opens the camera up.
If you press again, it takes a photo.
However, there’s some hidden magic in this control.
I included this moon shot because I was impressed with what the 5x zoom can capture. for the shot, I used Camera Control to adjust the exposure and fstops. I didn’t edit the photo, just cropped in(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Under the sapphire cover is a touch-sensitive surface that responds to pressure, delivering haptic response, and gestures.
Once there, I scroll through them with gestures.
I could, for instance, use the button to choose the camera and then swipe through my lenses.
Speed control is fun and easy to use.
I can also use it to adjust zoom, exposure, and f-stops for my bokeh effect.
Third-party apps are already tapping into it.
The iPhone 16 Pro is also capable of shooting spatial photos and videos.
I had the best experience with the Studio Mix
There’s even a new Spatial option in the Camera app.
I shot some spatial video, transferred it to a Vision Pro headset, and viewed it there.
Not many people have VR headsets, so this feature might be a limited utility, at leastfor now.
You can find your perfect mood or skin tone with these controls. There are presets but also that grid on the right to choose your own style mix.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Again, this may be down to more efficient heat dissipation.
There’s also Bluetooth 5.3 support and second-generation Ultrawideband.
Apple also upgraded its satellite services.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The satellite service is currently free for the first two years of iPhone ownership.
seems like battery life is as much as four hours better than it was with the iPhone 15 Pro.
That’s a significant jump.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Apple supplied me with is 30W charger and the new Qi-2 MagSafe charger.
In my tests, I charged from 0-to-46% in 30 minutes.
That’s pretty close to the promised 0-to-50% in 30 minutes.
The Camera Control is the recessed button below the power button
If and when your iPhone 16 Pro battery sees its last big recharge the replacement process may be simpler.
It sounds like a science experiment, but one I want to see.
Should you buy the Apple iPhone 16 Pro?
Camera Contol settings appear in the little on-screen carve out right below the button.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
it’s possible for you to get in on the ground floor now, though.
And the higher pixel-per-inch can be found on displays from Samsung and Google.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro review: Also consider
Apple’s latest flagship iPhone not exciting you?
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
here are a few alternatives from the Android frontier.
It’s an attractive handset with good-enough performance that might help you forget that you walked away from iOS.
Yes, it also has Samsung’s own brand of AI (Galaxy AI).
Macro looks quite good.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
If you might walk away from iOS, this is the smartphone for you.
I played games, watched and edited videos, took countless photos, and edited many of them.
I tried Apple Intelligence where possible and made an effort to use the phone in a variety of scenarios.
The detail is exceptional, though you can get similar resutls if you choose the highest images settings on your iPhone 15 Pro.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
I’ve been testing smartphones for over 20 years and have been writing about the iPhone since it launched.
Read more about how we test
First reviewed September 2024
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
These bee shots really shows off the macro quality and sensor speed.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The True Depth Camera portrait mode selfie game is better than ever.(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
5X zoom(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Ultrawide(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Ultrawide(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Main camera(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
2x zoom(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
5x zoom(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Ultrawide(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
