Apple iPhone 16
It might not be that exciting for iPhone 15 owners, but for older iPhone owners, there’s a lot to love about the iPhone 16 experience – it’s just a shame the screen is still capped at 60Hz.
Pros
- New Action Button & Camera Controls
- Two-generation jump in processing power
- Relatively compact and portable
Cons
- Camera Control placement isn’t ideal
- Apple Intelligence isn’t the best – yet
- No telephoto lens
Key Features
- Apple IntelligenceThe iPhone 16 is one of few phones that support Apple Intelligence in regions where it’s available – but not all features are available right now.
- New buttonsThe iPhone 16 features the same Action Button that was exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro series last year, along with the new Camera Controls button that lets you access the camera and take photos without tapping the screen.
- Oodles of processing powerWith the jump from the A16 to the A18, the iPhone 16 packs plenty of power into its relatively small package.
Introduction
The AI-powered iPhone is finally here. Well, kind of.
Apple’s marketing campaign focuses solely on the addition of Apple Intelligence when it comes to the iPhone 16, but I’d argue that it’s not the reason to upgrade – not in its current iteration, anyway.
Instead, it’s other small but meaningful upgrades that make the iPhone 16 what it is; elements like the Action Button and Camera Controls offer something new, and the two-generation jump in processing power to the Apple A18 allows the regular iPhone to play the AAA games previously exclusive to the Pro-level iPhones.
It’s still not the perfect iPhone – I can’t believe that the premium phone’s screen is still capped at 60Hz in 2024, and I’d also like a dedicated telephoto lens on a phone of this price – but I think that, for the vast majority of older iPhone owners looking for an upgrade, there’s a lot to like about the iPhone 16.
Design
- Same overall look as iPhone 15
- New Action Button and Camera Control
- Camera Control placement could be better
The iPhone 16 is probably best described as new, but very familiar. While on the surface it looks almost identical to the iPhones that came before it, particularly the iPhone 15, there are some welcome upgrades here.
First up, we’ve got the Action Button first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro series last year. It was always suspected that the regular models would get the handy programmable button this year, but it’s nice to see that it’s not actually being gatekept by Apple for the more premium models.
I lamented the loss of the volume slider initially, but I’ve leant into the customisable nature of the Action Button with the iPhone 16. I’ve gone between a few different configurations – controlling my smart home apps, activating a ChatGPT voice conversation, accessing WhatsApp – and never get bored of hitting that button. It takes a bit of experimentation to work out exactly what you want it to do, but it’s well worth having.
The second new feature is one I’m pretty surprised about: the all-new Camera Control button, found on the bottom right of the side of the phone. Like the Action Button, I fully expected the Camera Control to be exclusive to the camera-focused Pro models, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong.
However, having used the Camera Control button, I’m not all that excited by it. Yes, it provides a handy way to access your Camera app, but the touch and swipe capabilities are fiddly, to say the least. In my experience, it takes more time to use the Camera Control to switch cameras or adjust zoom than it actually would just tapping on the screen.
The amount of pressure you need to actually depress the button is more than expected too – so much so that I often find my phone shaking slightly when I press the button.
I’d have much preferred a dual-press button for focus and capture without that excessive force needed for a press. That’s what you’ll get on practically every digital camera and even camera-focused phones like the Sony Xperia 1 VI, and there’s a good reason why: it just works.
I’ve also found that the Camera Control button doesn’t sit where my finger would rest when taking both landscape and portrait photos, leaving me the choice of awkwardly reaching for the button to capture or rethinking how I hold my iPhone. Neither are ideal options.
Elsewhere, it’s business as usual with the iPhone 16; it’s the lightest smartphone in the range at 170g, a single gram lighter than its predecessor, and it’s fairly compact at 7.8mm thick. It sports that instantly recognisable iPhone aesthetic, with flat edges and rounded corners, though with a rejigged vertically-aligned camera housing to improve spatial video capture.
It also comes in its signature range of bright colour options, including Pink, Teal and Ultramarine this year, complete with a nice matte finish that both provides a nice tactile feel in the hand and massively negates fingerprints and smudges compared to glossy counterparts.
Oh, and protection in the form of IP68 dust and water resistance and Apple’s Ceramic Shield glass protection technology also make a return for this year’s iPhone.
Screen
- Relatively compact 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display
- Bright, vivid and detailed screen
- Still only 60Hz
Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro series which benefits from smaller bezels and a slight boost to overall screen size, the iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display remains pretty much identical to that of its predecessor.
You’ll find the same 2000 nits peak brightness, support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision content and the same fairly pixel-dense screen at 461ppi. That might sound like a bit of a disappointment, but it isn’t really.
As with last year’s entry-level iPhone, the iPhone 16 continues to deliver an impressive screen experience. The OLED screen tech lends itself well to both movie watching and gaming with its vibrant shades of colour and inky blacks, and it’s more than bright enough to be used outdoors without hunting for shade.
The bezels, though unchanged, do look a little thicker when compared to the almost impossibly thin bezels of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, but I don’t think it’s a big issue for potential buyers. It’s not like they’re as thick as those you’d find on cheaper phones.
Instead, the one dealbreaker for me, as usual with my iPhone reviews, is the 60Hz refresh rate. It has been a sticking point for quite some time now; not only has the boosted 120Hz refresh rate been a staple of the Pro-level iPhones since 2021, but you can now get cheap Android phones like the Motorola Moto G04 that costs £89 while still offering a faster 90Hz refresh rate.
Many out there argue that there’s no difference, and looking at a static screen, I’d agree.
However, as soon as there’s some motion introduced, whether that’s scrolling through an app or simply the animation when opening and closing apps, it becomes instantly noticeable. There’s a slight stutter, not because of a lack of processing power, but because the phone can’t display animations at more than 60fps.
Most of my other tech boasts a 120Hz refresh rate (or higher, in the case of my gaming laptop) and it may well be that I’ve got enough frame of reference to notice the difference where others won’t, but I have a hard time believing that. The Pro-level iPhones, and practically every Android at any price in 2024, offer a smoother experience, and to me at least, it is visible in everyday use.
Camera
- 48MP Fusion Camera excels in most conditions
- 12MP ultrawide has a slightly larger aperture
- Amazing video capabilities
Like the iPhone 15 before it, the iPhone 16 has a dual camera setup comprised of a 48MP ‘Fusion’ camera and a 12MP ultrawide.
The Fusion branding is new to this year’s iPhone, referring to both the fact that it offers 4-in-1 pixel binning tech and the ability to crop in and offer a digital 2x telephoto, but these features aren’t new to the iPhone 16. It’s more of a marketing exercise, in my opinion.
It’s also worth noting that while the Pro and Pro Max models also feature a 48MP Fusion camera, there are small differences including the size of the sensor that lead to improved low-light performance. But, as long as you’re shooting in well-lit environments, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference.
Regardless of what I was shooting, whether that was a scenic vista in Hawaii or something as monotonous as my local Tube station, shots were packed with detail, boasted excellent clarity and offered fairly true-to-life colour reproduction. Some images do look a little saturated, but nowhere near what you’d find from competing options from the likes of Samsung.
There’s also a great natural bokeh delivered by the wide aperture when photographing subjects close-up, though you can also opt for the Portrait mode for a digital (and customisable) bokeh effect.
As noted, it’s the low light performance that really separates the iPhone 16 from its Pro siblings, and arguably falls behind what you’d get from the likes of the Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24. It does have massively reduced lens flare compared to the iPhone 15, one of our biggest complaints about its predecessor, thanks to a new anti-reflective coating, but it doesn’t quite suck in as much light as the competition.
There’s no telephoto here, but the 2x in-sensor zoom does a decent job of closing the gap between you and your subject without a noticeable downgrade in overall quality. It’s a nice middle ground, but if you want to get any closer, you’d be better off with the Pro model’s dedicated 5x zoom camera.
The 12MP ultrawide provides a nice way to get more artsy shots with colour and detail consistent with the main lens, and it’s suited to snaps of scenic vistas. There’s also a wider aperture, f/2.2 from f/2.4, that allows for more light to be captured, though it still falls far behind what you’ll capture from the main lens in true low-light conditions.
The front-facing 12MP selfie camera remains unchanged, but it’s still one of the better selfie cameras out there with impressive levels of detail, so much so that many people choose to record video via the front-facing camera for social media – and you can’t say that about many phones.
Speaking of, video capture once again caps out at 4K@60fps, or 4K@30fps if you want to record in Dolby Vision HDR, though it remains one of the best video capture experiences around. Apple just nails video capture in a way that Android manufacturers struggle to recreate, from the floaty feel of the OIS stabilisation to the smooth zoom. For creators, it really is ideal.
Performance
- Two-generation jump to Apple A18 chipset
- Similar performance to Apple A18 Pro in everyday use
- Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 support
Apple has (rightly) done away with the generation-wide chipset split with this year’s iPhone 16 range, after shipping the iPhone 15 with the year-old 4nm A16 Bionic while the iPhone 15 Pro models got the new 3nm A17 Pro. This time around, both the regular and Pro models get a 3nm A18 chipset, though the Pro models do get the A18 Pro with slightly boosted performance.
However, don’t let that ‘Pro’ badge fool you; the regular iPhone 16 is a capable little smartphone that doesn’t come that far behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max in benchmark testing. Take the CPU-focused Geekbench 6 for example; the top-end Pro iPhone scored 8167 in the multi-core test, while the iPhone 16 scored 8027.
However, boosted GPU scores from tests like Wildlife Extreme suggest that the Pro model does have a bit more graphical grunt for gaming and creative purposes.
On the whole, though, benchmark results seem to suggest that the two chipsets are on par with one another, and that’s good news for prospective iPhone 16 buyers. It essentially means that you don’t need the Pro-level iPhones to achieve solid everyday performance, and aside from the 60Hz refresh rate capping frame rate at 60fps, it holds its own when gaming too.
The phone takes quite some time to get even slightly hot to the touch, and I’ve yet to notice anything in terms of throttling when playing casual games like Stardew Valley – though I’d imagine Genshin Impact with all its high-end graphics enabled might give the A18 chipset more of a challenge.
It’s also comfortably better-scoring than the most capable smartphones on the Android market, with our highest-scoring Android smartphone of the year, the RedMagic 9s Pro, lagging behind in key CPU and GPU benchmark tests – though the new Snapdragon 8 Elite, the likely chipset of choice for late 2024 and early 2025 flagships, leave the A18 and 18 Pro in the dust.
Still, there’s a lot of processing bang for your buck here, especially compared to other smartphones in the £799/$799 range.
Elsewhere, you can look forward to support for tri-band Wi-Fi 7, a useful upgrade on the dual-band Wi-Fi 6 of last year for those with a Wi-Fi 7 network, along with the same Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, UWB and satellite connectivity as its predecessor – though an upgrade in iOS 18 means you can now use the latter to send messages as well as contact emergency services in a pinch.
Software & AI
- Limited Apple Intelligence smarts – for now
- Some AI features are more useful than others
- iOS 18’s customisable Home screen provides a refreshed feel
Apple’s one big reason to upgrade to the iPhone 16 is Apple Intelligence. It’s the key feature in all Apple marketing worldwide, even though Apple Intelligence only launched at the end of October, and only in the US (though UK users can access it by changing their iPhone’s region).
It’s such an integral part of the iPhone 16 promise that we actually delayed our reviews of the entire iPhone 16 collection until we’d spent time with the AI features – and I’ve got to admit, I’m not blown away right now.
The iOS 18.1 update only brings what I’d describe as minor AI features to the iPhone experience compared to its Android counterparts. That includes pretty standard AI features like writing tools to help you craft better texts and emails, the ability to remove subjects from photos and AI transcription/recording in phone calls, all features present on the likes of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and so on.
There are some more unique features, like Notification Summaries that tries to summarise groups of notifications in a couple of lines, but it’s very hit-and-miss. There’s nuance to human communication that Apple Intelligence seemingly doesn’t quite understand, and it means that messages can be misinterpreted.
In fact, I’ve actually disabled the feature, as I find I’d have to always read the grouped messages to verify that the AI hadn’t gotten it wrong. If I have to do that, then what’s the point of the feature?
Now there is a bit of a caveat here, in that the biggest and best Apple Intelligence features are yet to come. Elements like ChatGPT integration, Genmoji and Image Playgrounds are all set to come as part of the iOS 18.2 upgrade, with a much smarter Siri planned for a little further down the road, so the AI experience will likely get much better than it is today. But, for now, I wouldn’t describe it as a core reason to upgrade.
AI functions aside, Apple’s latest update, iOS 18, introduces some genuinely useful new features like an upgraded Torch functionality that lets you change the width of the light, RCS support for messaging Android users, a fully customisable Home screen experience and much more.
It’s a polished, fully-featured OS update that iPhone fans will appreciate, and it might even tempt a few long-time Android fans with its new-look Home screen.
There’s also Apple’s impressive long-term software support that’ll see it receive OS upgrades for quite some time – the six-year-old iPhone Xs got the iOS 18 update, to give you an idea of how well Apple handles its long-term support.
Battery Life
- All day battery life
- Same 30W charging as iPhone 15
- Faster 25W MagSafe charging
The iPhone 16 is both the smallest and least power-efficient of the iPhone 16 range – the Plus and Pro Max have larger batteries, while the Pro’s LPTO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate provides better power efficiency – and that’s pretty evident in everyday use.
Now, I’m not saying that the iPhone 16 has abysmal battery life – far from it – but it doesn’t quite compete with the longevity I’ve seen with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which truly does feel like it just keeps on going, only slightly sipping on its battery as it does so. Conversely, the iPhone 16 will last all day on a charge, but you’ll approach the end of the day with only a little bit left in the tank.
Take my average day for example; I get up at around 7:30am, use the phone for Maps, listen to music on my commute, reply to texts and indulge in a bit of gaming and social media when I get a spare second, before going to bed at around midnight. I’d usually get to the end of the day with around 15-20% left in the tank, compared to the 40%+ I’ve seen from the Pro Max.
However, in the wider context of smartphones, the iPhone 16 does pretty well; that battery life is about on a par with what I’ve experienced from the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24, similarly compact options. It’s just a limitation of the size of the battery that can be squeezed into a phone.
Charge speeds remain unchanged compared to the iPhone 15, again maxing out at around the 30W mark, although it took a slightly longer than average 1 hour and 41 minutes to regain a full charge using a UGreen 45W charger I had handy, so performance will very much depend on the specific charging brick you use.
The iPhone 16 can also charge at a boosted 25W when using MagSafe chargers, and standard Qi2 wireless charging also makes a return at 15W for regular wireless chargers, making for a trifecta of convenient charging options for the latest iPhone – even if they’re not the very fastest around.
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Should you buy it?
You want a new iPhone (and you don’t have an iPhone 15)
Bar some small complaints, the new iPhone 16 offers a solid all-round experience, including solid camera performance and all-day camera life.
You want the best iPhone experience
The iPhone 16 Pro Max offers not only a better, more capable camera setup and a more powerful chipset, but genuine two-day battery life.
Final Thoughts
It’s easy to look at the iPhone 16 at a glance and say that it’s the same as the iPhone 15, but there are meaningful changes on offer here, be it the introduction of the Action Button and Camera Capture controls or the two-generation jump in processing power with the A18 chipset.
Then there’s also support for Apple Intelligence, something not offered by the iPhone 15 despite being just a year old – though at this early stage, I’d argue that it’s not the reason to upgrade. That could well change with the introduction of more powerful AI features down the road, but I’ll hold reservations for now.
Still, if you’re coming from an older iPhone, say the iPhone 13 or 14, you’ll enjoy the top-tier display experience, solid battery life and a bevvy of charging options. You’ll also appreciate the higher-res 48MP main camera, offering much better performance than the 12MP alternative found on the iPhone 14, even if it’s not quite as capable as the camera setup on the Pro models.
It may not be suited to iPhone 15 owners wanting to upgrade, but it remains a tempting iPhone for the vast majority of users nonetheless.
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Used as a main phone for over a week
Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
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FAQs
Yes, but it’s only available in the US or if you set your iPhone’s region and language to US English. Support for other regions is planned alongside the release of other Apple Intelligence features further down the road.
You’ll get a USB-C-to-USB-C cable in the box, but no charging brick.
Yes, it’s both water- and dust-resistant with an IP68 rating.
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