Apple’s new iPhone 16 lineup checks all of the boxes: these phones are faster with an updated A18 chip, they feature better cameras with improved photo tools, and they have better screens and battery life. They also remind me a lot of the recent Google Pixel 9 lineup, and many of the announced features repeat what we heard about Apple Intelligence back in June.
Don’t get me wrong: these are great smartphones, with all of the features you expect from a modern phone, and innovations that keep up with what Google and Samsung offer. There’s even a good chance that I’ll update my current iPhone 12 to a 16. But while these are very good phones, with flagship phone features, they don’t do very much to stand out from the pack. This a complaint that can be leveraged at many high-end smartphones; like the Google Pixel 9 which has a new form factor which gave it a very iPhone-like design.
Read more: Google Pixel 9 Smartphone Lineup Adds Plenty of New AI Features
But the iPhone 16 models all look like great updates, and they’re one of the few phones that will support upcoming Apple Intelligence features that Apple has shown off – only iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have the processing power to run Apple’s new onboard AI features.
The iPhone 16 lineup includes four models: the iPhone 16 (6.1”), iPhone 16 Plus (6.7”), iPhone 16 Pro (6.3”) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (6.9”). All of these phones run the new A18 processor with a 16-core Neural Engine that was built for Apple Intelligence from the ground up – though the Pro models have somewhat more powerful A18 Pro chips, the standard A18 has performance that’s good enough for most people.
The screen on all of these models reaches an impressive 2000 nits of brightness for great visibility even in the sun but goes all the way down to 1 nit for dark environments. Though the phone sizes differ, all of them have Super Retina XDR OLED screens, with a resolution of 460ppi, which should make for particularly crisp images. They also feature an updated Ceramic Shield to protect them, which is 50% tougher than the previous generation and – Apple claims – twice as durable than the glass on any other smartphone.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are both getting an Action button, which was only available on last year’s Pro models. This is a customizable button that replaces the current silent switch, and can be configured to access different features, from turning on the flashlight to opening your calendar. It’s a nice addition to the base models.
The feature I’m most excited about is the new Camera Control. All of us have struggled with awkwardly hitting the on-screen camera button to take selfies, or awkwardly scrolling through settings and then having to adjust our hand to take a photo. The camera control is a touch-sensitive button on the right-hand side of the phone that you can use to easily snap photos as well as quickly swipe through photo options, like zoom, exposure, or style. It’s perfectly positioned to hit with your right thumb if you’re holding the phone in portrait mode with your right hand, like you would when you’re taking a selfie, or positioned to hit with your index finger if you’re holding it in landscape mode. After years without such a button, it may take a bit of getting used, but it should make it faster and easier to snap pictures. Because we all use our phones for cameras so often, I suspect this will be the feature we’ll notice (and appreciate) most often.
The cameras on the base model iPhones include 48MP Fusion camera with 2x optical zoom and a new ultra-wide camera for capturing a wider field of view and great macro images. The cameras on the Pro and Pro Max are their biggest selling point, as they can capture high-end photos and videos – so these top tier phones may be your best choice if you use your phone for photography, especially video. The Pro phones also have a 48MP Fusion camera but with a faster quad-pixel sensor that lets them capture video in 4k at 120fps in Dolby Vision. It also includes a 48MP ultra-wide camera and a telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. Updated studio quality mics on Pro models let you capture clear audio, with noise reduction as well as an audio mix feature that uses machine learning to get the sound you want: for example, eliminating all background noise for a recorded-in-the-studio quality or maintaining ambient sound but bringing voices to the fore.
The phone’s AI features are great, but mostly things we’ve already heard of, including better natural language recognition for Siri, improved image search that lets you describe what (or who) you’re looking for in photos and videos, quick summaries of emails, and a general awareness of the context of your request. You could ask your phone to send a friend photos of this weekend’s barbecue or for photos of the kids learning to crochet with their aunt. The iPhone 16 understands requests like this and will handle them; there’s no need to remember specific commands or set up search filters to find what you want. One newly announced feature will let you look up information using your camera, so you can take a picture of a restaurant and your iPhone will bring up its menu or take a picture of a concert flier and your iPhone will add it to your calendar. It’s a great feature, but it also sounds a lot like the image search features added to the Google Pixel 9 this summer.
Read more: iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence: What You Need to Know
In the end, I think the iPhone 16 models are all excellent phones, even though a lot of their features are simply keeping up with current tech trends. The iPhone 16 or 16 Plus will probably suit most people well, and you should pick a phone depending on your preferred size. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max both have slightly larger screens, but these more expensive phones aren’t for everyone. Their high-quality cameras will capture professional quality photos and video, and professional microphones offer audio recording that you can’t usually find on a smartphone. If you’re serious about taking photos or video, the Pro models are an obvious choice (if they fit into your budget).
Preorders for iPhone 16 models start on September 13, and they ship on September 20:
- iPhone 16 starts at $799
- iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899
- iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999
- iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1199
[Image credit: Apple]
Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web, including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.
