iPhone 16 Pro review: what the new platform is capable of and whether the camera button is needed

The iPhone 16 Pro line, which debuted this fall, received a cool reception, as it was clear before the release that it would not contain anything radically new. Moreover, Apple has relied on artificial intelligence features that will not appear in the manufacturer’s main markets until the end of October, and in some countries, such as Ukraine, have not been announced at all. That is, it would be good if at least some of these AI capabilities were adapted for the Ukrainian language next year. All of this raises the question of the feasibility of the iPhone 16 Pro release and the success of Apple’s new smartphones in general.

However, the history of the iPhone shows that there is not always a direct correlation between the number of innovations in a new smartphone model and its popularity. While testing the iPhone 16 Pro, I tried to figure out whether the new model will be able to repeat or even surpass the success of its predecessors and whether it is worth upgrading to it.

iPhone 16 Pro specifications

Package contents

There are no improvements here, only a USB-C cable, a metal pin for the SIM card tray, and a small booklet with basic information are supplied in the box with the smartphone.

This year, the packaging has even gotten worse, if you care about such details, because Apple has removed the branded stickers with its logo from the box. On the one hand, it’s good that the company is continuing to work on reducing waste, but it’s a shame that such a long tradition has been interrupted. I remember finding these stickers in the box of my first MacBook Pro, which I bought back in 2011, and it was quite a nice bonus.

Design and materials

Probably the biggest change in the design of the iPhone 16 Pro is the screen diagonal. For the smaller model, like the one I tested, it now reaches 6.3 inches, instead of 6.1 inches, and for the Pro Max it has grown from 6.7 to 6.9 inches. Despite the smaller bezels around the display, this innovation has affected the size of the case, it has become slightly taller. However, if you don’t hold the previous generation of the smartphone next to it, the difference in screen diagonal is not very striking.

If Apple hadn’t emphasized the larger display of the iPhone 16 Pro, I don’t think many users would have paid attention to it. But a bigger screen with not too much increase in size is good. One of my favorite smartphones of all time is the Galaxy S10+ with a 6.4-inch display, and I still find this diagonal to be almost perfect. And since the screen of the iPhone 16 Pro has almost reached it, I think it’s a more balanced choice than the iPhone 16 Pro Max with its almost tablet-like 6.9 inches. But don’t underestimate the magnetism of large diagonals, so I’m sure that most buyers will choose the larger model, although the smaller one will definitely be more convenient for everyday use.

Returning to the design, the thinner bezels of the smartphone are also a rather important achievement of Apple’s engineers, but they are just as easy to ignore on the user’s part, given that buyers are in a hurry to put the new iPhone in a case. But purely aesthetically, I like this year’s design changes, they do not negate all the good innovations in the iPhone 15 Pro case, but rather try to develop them. However, those who think that there are too few changes in the design of the iPhone 16 Pro are right in their own way. The new model can be easily confused with the previous one. As a lyrical digression, I can only add that manufacturers have long since passed the peak of monoblock design, and everything we will ever see in this format will be a repeat of what has already happened to some extent.

Formally, the materials in the iPhone 16 Pro have not changed, but there are some improvements. The entire front panel of the smartphone is covered with Ceramic Shield, and Apple claims that it has become 50% stronger, but not in terms of scratch resistance, but in case of impacts during a fall. As you know, companies test such things in the laboratory, so users have to rely not only on the manufacturer’s claims but also on their luck. Or you need to take care of additional protection in advance.

The frame of the iPhone 16 Pro is also made of titanium alloy, a lighter material than steel, which last year reduced the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro to 187 grams. However, due to its slightly larger size and larger battery, the new product could not keep this figure, and its weight increased to 199 grams. Fortunately, this did not greatly affect the usability, thanks to the slightly rounded edges, the iPhone 16 Pro fits comfortably in the hand, the titanium frame feels more polished.

The back of the smartphone is made of matte glass, which turns into glossy glass on the camera unit. The latter hasn’t changed this year, although some expected it to get bigger. The fact is that starting with the iPhone 11 Pro, the camera block has been getting a little bigger every year, so there were some predictions that it would one day stretch across the entire back panel. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the growth of the camera unit has stopped for now.

The bezel and back of the iPhone 16 Pro can be made in one of four colors, and this time they are as neutral as possible. Buyers can choose from four colors: black, white, natural titanium, and desert titanium. The latter is a new color this year and resembles a slightly lighter gold color. The iPhone 16 Pro line is clearly lacking in brighter colors, and I hope that Apple will add at least one later, as it did with the green color in the iPhone 13 Pro.

With the exception of the new camera button, which I’ll talk about in more detail below, the smartphone’s key set hasn’t changed. On its left side, there is still a multifunctional Action Button with the ability to assign a flashlight, sleep mode, voice recorder, translator, accessibility features, and shortcuts to it. That is, you can launch almost anything with a long press. Right below the Action Button are the volume buttons, and on the right side is the power button.

On the bottom edge there is a fast USB-C port with support for charging, DisplayPort, and USB 3 data transfer up to 10 Gbps. Unfortunately, the included USB 3 cable does not support it. Next to this connector is one of the two speakers, the other is combined with the earpiece.

I don’t know what Apple’s engineers have done to it, but the iPhone 16 Pro sounds even louder, even with volume and bass notes. It’s hard to compare by ear, but this model is definitely one of the loudest on the market.

Despite the increase in the number of mechanical buttons on the iPhone 16 Pro, this did not affect the degree of protection against dust and water, it was certified according to the IP68 standard.

Display

The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display in the iPhone 16 Pro has an LTPO OLED matrix with a resolution of 2622×1206 pixels, with a refresh rate of 1 to 120 Hz, support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Typical screen brightness reaches 1000 nits, which is what the user can get by turning the brightness slider to maximum. But, in addition, there is a peak brightness of up to 2000 nits, which is automatically triggered in bright sunlight.

LTPO technology allows the smartphone display to consume less power in Always on Display mode, while still displaying the information you need, such as the date, time, notifications, Live Activities, and media player control.

In general, Apple traditionally offers a high-quality screen with excellent color reproduction, wide viewing angles, and the ability to read information outdoors without any problems, even in very bright light. However, apart from a slightly larger diagonal and a slightly higher resolution, the iPhone 16 Pro’s display has not received any updated features. It has the same brightness level and support for the same technologies as the iPhone 15 Pro.

The Dynamic Island notch is also unchanged, still housing the Face ID camera system and used in the iOS 18 UI for the notifications that pop up around it. It makes the notch seem like a part of the UI, and I still think it’s a great way to make a generally pretty archaic design element useful.

Platform, performance and software

Last year’s iPhone 15 Pro lineup was not lacking in power, but Apple decided not to stop there, and with the iPhone 16 Pro introduced the A18 Pro processor. This chip is manufactured on a 3-nm process and has the same architecture with 2 fast and 4 energy-efficient cores, but now they operate at a higher frequency of 4.05 GHz and 2.42 GHz, respectively. Also, 16 neural cores for machine learning computing and a 6-core graphics accelerator have been upgraded. The processor is also complemented by 8 GB of RAM and 128, 256, 512 GB, or 1 TB of storage.

Even compared to last year’s A17 Pro chip, the new A18 Pro demonstrates a significant performance boost, confidently outperforming the Apple M2 processor in the iPad Pro in single-threaded tasks and almost catching up with it in multi-threaded tasks. This is a very good result for such a compact device.

At the same time, not only the processor has become faster, but also the graphics; in the demanding 3DMark Solar Bay test, the iPhone 16 Pro outperforms its predecessor by more than 1000 points, demonstrating a higher FPS level throughout the entire load.

But that’s not all, the new design of the cooling system in the iPhone 16 Pro allows the smartphone to maintain higher performance for longer loads. In the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test, which loads graphics for 20 consecutive laps, the device shows stability at 89.2%! iPhone 15 Pro passed the same test with a score of 64.4%, significantly reducing frequencies on the second lap.

But not only in tests, but also in real use, the smartphone hardly heats up, and when it does, it becomes barely warm. If you decide to spend more time in some graphics-demanding game, you can expect the iPhone 16 Pro to maintain almost maximum performance for longer.

Other features of the smartphone platform include support for the latest wireless standards Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, UWB 2, and satellite communications, which, unfortunately, do not yet work in Ukraine. In addition, the iPhone 16 Pro can be equipped with GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, and NavIC modules for location.

There aren’t many changes in iOS 18 that don’t include Apple Intelligence, but users have more options to customize desktops, customize Control Center, a number of updates to the app interface, like the standard Photos, and various minor updates. More details about the new features of the system can be found in our review of the iOS 18 beta.

Cameras and the new button

Another major update in the iPhone 16 Pro is the camera set, which now consists of the following modules:

• 48 MP Fusion wide-angle, ƒ/1.78, 24 mm, 1/1.28″, second generation Sensor-shift, 2x zoom capability;
• 12 MP periscopic telephoto, ƒ/2.8, 120 mm, PDAF, 3D Sensor-shift optical stabilization system and 5x optical zoom;
• 48 MP ultra-wide-angle, ƒ/2.2, 13 mm focal length, PDAF, 120° angle of view and electronic stabilization.

In terms of camera performance, the smartphone has received two significant updates – a new ultra-wide-angle module and a tetraprism telephoto, which debuted last year in the larger Pro Max model and finally made its way to the smaller version. So the shooting possibilities are quite wide, from one place you can take shots from 0.5x to 25x, but with an approach above 10x, the detail will drop significantly.

Otherwise, the quality of photos from the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to be high, with good detail and wide dynamic range. However, Apple has been criticized over the past few years for adjusting the camera’s post-processing algorithms so that it over-exposes shadows. As a result, photos lose their depth and look flatter, but on a smartphone screen, such brighter photos may seem more attractive to users.

To try to satisfy everyone, Apple took an unprecedented step. The company, which has always been famous for giving users a minimum of choice, has added a lot of camera settings, including the ability to significantly influence the style of photos by selecting the color and tone of the pictures. Both during shooting and afterwards, when photos are processed in the gallery.

Photo styles are actually a great way to get the desired result from the iPhone 16 Pro’s cameras, but not all users will want to deal with them, even though you can set up the desired style once and save it in the camera settings.

Another innovation in the main 48MP Fusion camera of the smartphone is support for 4K 120 FPS video recording. The iPhone has long been one of the best mobile solutions for shooting video, and this option further expands the possibilities for content creators. After all, support for the Apple Log format hasn’t disappeared, so you can shoot a truly cinematic 4K video if you want. However, you should keep in mind that it will take up quite a bit of space in your smartphone’s memory, and it’s better to consider buying an external fast drive right away.

In addition, it is worth mentioning the new options for video, including the ability to separate voice from ambient noise.

This feature works really well, and you can activate it after the video has been shot.

So I finally got to one of the most important updates to the iPhone 16 Pro: a new button that appeared at the bottom of the right side of the smartphone and is responsible for launching the camera. It is mechanical and has a touch surface for using scrolling gestures. And to increase the durability of this key, its surface is covered with sapphire crystal.

By pressing the button, you can quickly launch the camera app, and in the settings you can choose any other photo app, such as Instagram or Halide.

The button is pressed with a noticeable effort, and I can’t really imagine how it can be pressed by accident. Moreover, in the same settings there is an option to launch the camera by double-clicking.

Despite the expectation that once the camera button is launched, it can be easily pressed to focus, it doesn’t work that way. A single light press takes you to the camera selection menu, a swipe across the button’s surface moves you between the different selection options, and another light press makes the selection. A light double-press returns to the previous menu. The button allows you to change exposure, aperture, zoom, cameras, styles, and tone with a single press. Pressing the button hard always activates the shutter.

I can’t call the new button unnecessary, since I’ve been using the iPhone 16 Pro, I’ve gotten used to quickly launching the camera with it. But taking photos with it is not always convenient, in particular because it needs to be pressed with effort and this can cause the shot to go out of focus. Apple may yet fix it with software updates, but in general, this looks like a solution to a problem that no one asked for. On the iPhone, it was already possible to quickly launch the camera by pressing a button on the locked screen, or simply by swiping. Controlling the camera on the touchscreen was intuitive and hardly a problem for anyone, as it works the same way on all touchscreen smartphones.

I hope that a separate camera button will make more sense with the launch of Apple Intelligence, at least the company has already announced its Google Lens analog, which will be accessed through this key. I also hope that in the next generation of iPhone, the button will be placed a little lower, but it is still high enough for convenient use in horizontal mode. Or, on the contrary, it will be raised higher and combined with the power button, because now it is inconvenient to reach it in a vertical position. In general, Apple has some work to do.

Battery life

The battery capacity of the iPhone 16 Pro has increased to 3582 mAh, which is significantly more than the 3274 mAh of the 15 Pro, and this has a positive impact on the autonomy of the smartphone. If the predecessor lasted an average of one day, the new product lasts for 1.5 days. On some days of not very active use, I even managed to get the iPhone 16 Pro to survive with almost 50% of its charge until 22:00 when charging it at 8 am.

The smartphone can be charged via the USB-C port, via the MagSafe magnetic connector up to 25W, and via wireless Qi 2 charging up to 15W. Just like the previous generation, the iPhone 16 Pro can charge from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W power supply.