Review of the Apple iPhone 16: Not a Massive Leap, But a Step Forward

The iPhone 16, Apple's most recent entry-level flagship, offers a novel perspective on the iPhone user experience. Although Apple has made every effort to highlight AI-powered capabilities that would improve routine operations, many of these advancements are planned for release in later versions. What, therefore, is the immediate appeal of the $800 price tag?

The new Camera Control button, a separate touch- and pressure-sensitive key for operating the camera system, is one noteworthy improvement. This new button promises to provide faster and more accurate control over the camera system, hence streamlining photography and filming experiences.

Beyond the button, the iPhone 16 has an enhanced ultra wide camera, longer battery life, and a more potent and energy-efficient chipset. These are the main improvements that customers may anticipate from Apple's most recent basic iPhone, albeit there are still some improvements.

Contents Table:

Specifications
Create and Present
Snapshot
Achievement
Applcations
Rechargeable batteries
Haptics and Audio Quality
Is it something you should purchase?

Specifications of the iPhone 16

bigger battery and new chip,

First, let's review the specifications of the iPhone 16:

Design and Display of the iPhone 16, Change is necessary for evolution. Even though Apple has been sticking to the same basic aesthetic for its flagship iPhones, the iPhone 16 brings a small improvement to the camera module. This modification is in line with Apple's plans for Spatial Video, which are demonstrated by the Vision Pro headset.

The wide and ultra-wide cameras of the iPhone 16 are positioned vertically, just like on the iPhone X, to record Spatial Video. This new configuration results in a more compact design by doing away with the necessity for a large camera island. But when the phone is flat, it might not be as stable.

Better still, there's the much-anticipated Camera Control button. This device's side-mounted pressure-sensitive button provides easy-to-use control over the camera system from both the Camera app and outside programs.

Speaking of buttons, the Action button, which made its debut with the Pro models of last year, is now included with the iPhone 16. It accomplishes the same thing by letting users customize fast access to functions and applications, the default of which is turning on and off silent mode.

The best technology in its class thus far, Apple's FaceID technology is still used for biometrics, or phone security.

The colors of the iPhone 16 are a hot topic of conversation both before and after the launch. The ones you can choose from this year are as follows:

The refresh rate of the display is still a source of dispute. It is not up to the standards set by rivals at 60Hz. The remaining display specifications have not altered either. Our OLED panel has a 20:9 aspect ratio, a resolution of 2556 x 1179 pixels, and the well-known Dynamic Island camera cutout.

Surprisingly, the display's highest brightness settings, which have a peak brightness of 2000 nits, also stay the same.

Regarding the resilience of the display, however, the iPhone 16 is equipped with a 2nd generation Ceramic Shield, which is 50% more durable than the first generation, according to the firm. As Apple is quite evasive about this, we are not too sure that this so-called "2nd-gen" is anything more than marketing speak. Ceramic shield was already among the best display glass available, but competition caught up recently.

Display Dimensions:

Not only did Apple maintain the antiquated 60Hz refresh rate on their $800 phone, but the display itself is the dimmest of the new generation of flagship phones that we have tested. Approximately 1000 nits is not up to the standards of today, which are being established by Samsung and Google.

Camera on iPhone 16

A new function and an improved ultra-wide. With the exception of supporting Macro Mode currently, the iPhone 16's ranking in our Camera Score ratings is nearly identical to that of its predecessor. Put otherwise, it excels in nearly every aspect except zoom quality because it has a specialized telephoto camera.

Specifications of the iPhone 16 camera:

Primary: AF, f/1.6 aperture, 26mm, 48MP
12MP, f/2.2, 12mm, autofocus, ultra-wide, and macro photography
AF, 12MP, f/1.9, self-portrait

Aside from the future AI features, the new Camera Control button is the strongest selling point, so that's definitely where we should start. It gives consumers instant access to the iPhone's cameras and, depending on how hard they press it, changes its functionality. Additionally, it is touch sensitive, enabling gestures with a simple finger swipe.

To launch, press once, then to take a picture, press again. Press and hold to begin filming, complete with haptic feedback that provides prompts. A gentler push shows a clear preview in which every setting vanishes. A second light click displays additional controls including aperture, photographic styles, and more. A light press also reveals a new overlay for easy access to zoom levels. Oh, and the button functions with third-party apps as well, such as Snapchat.

However, after using the new Camera Control button, we couldn't help but feel that it was a little unnecessary. Working with it can be extremely unpleasant depending on the size and form of your hands; this is true for both vertical and horizontal orientation.

The rapid access to the camera and its controls is the main benefit of this new feature, although we had to make an effort to use it. In summary, our assessment of the iPhone 16's Camera Control is that, while it may serve as a convenient camera shutter button in certain situations, it is not particularly practical in other situations.

The iPhone 16 will see a couple other camera-related updates in addition to the Camera Control. The most noteworthy improvement to the iPhone 16 camera is the introduction of macro photography and auto focus, which was previously exclusive to the Pro Models. When this feature—which Apple debuted with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max—finally makes its way to the basic model, it will be greatly anticipated by many customers who enjoy playing with it.

f/2.2 is the new aperture for the ultra-wide camera, which is larger than f/2.4 on the iPhone 15. Additionally, the pixel size has grown from 1.0µm to 2.0µm. These two improvements enable the camera to take better pictures by allowing it to collect more light.

Primary Camera

The primary camera's greater 24MP default resolution allows for plenty of detail capture during the day. The one change we saw from the previous year is that the post-processing seems to brighten the photos, bringing out more detail and lifting up shadows. Additionally, colors are quite accurate to how they would appear in real life.

Additionally, the primary camera functions admirably in low light and at night. The photos feel darker than they should be, thus we would have preferred to see some brightness added to the darker parts.

Magnification Level

When using the main camera to zoom in, you don't get the best detail because it's not an optical zoom. The good news is that, unlike in the previous generation, the algorithm does not cause letters and numerals to appear strange; colors remain consistent.

Extremely Broad Quality

Although the ultra-wide camera still produces pictures that are passable, the loss of crisp detail is still a problem. In certain cases, the camera also flattens the shadows, eliminating detail in the darker regions.

Selfies

The front camera's color fidelity is on par with that of the iPhone 16's rear cameras. However, images lack brightness and clarity, particularly when compared to selfie camera shots from the Pixel 9. It's about time Apple made iPhone selfies more detailed.

Performance & Benchmarks of the iPhone 16

A18 delivers higher power at a reduced energy expense. TSMC's new N3E 3nm process powers the new Apple A18 Bionic chip, which powers the basic iPhone 16. According to Apple, this new processor outperforms the A16 found in the iPhone 15 by 30% and 40% in terms of CPU and GPU speed. It is also claimed that the CPU and GPU are more power-efficient, which undoubtedly contributes to the increases in battery life that we observed throughout our testing.

Additionally, Apple has included a new aluminum thermal substructure that provides 30% better sustained performance. Throughout our system-stripping benchmark tests, the phone felt noticeably colder than its predecessor.

Better hardware accelerated ray tracing, which Apple claims offers five times greater frame rates while playing games that enable such visuals, is also made possible by the new silicon. Oh, and speaking about gaming, the iPhone 16 is compatible with AAA titles, much like the Pro models were.

In actuality, the model from the previous year was already excellent for mobile gaming, and our gaming experiences on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 of last year were just as seamless. It would have been more fluid, though, if the display refresh rate had been 120 Hz.

A new 16-core neural engine that is 2x faster at handling machine learning tasks is another element of the A18 Bionic that paves the way for the future Apple Intelligence functions, though those are not yet accessible.

Benchmarks for Performance:

Our benchmark tests demonstrate that the $800 A18 Bionic phone has a powerful chipset. When it comes to graphics performance, only the Galaxy S24 outperforms it, and not by much.

Once more, 128GB is the starting base storage capacity; 256GB and 512GB are the other two alternatives. Although Apple did not specify the RAM amount, there is reason to assume that it is 8GB this year, given that is the minimal amount needed to enable all of the new iPhone 16 AI features.

Software for iPhone 16

Pay attention, Check out our dedicated iOS 18 preview page for more details on the beta version of iOS 18, which is the operating system for the iPhone 16 Plus. In summary, iOS 18 offers consumers additional customization options, including the capacity to move programs to any desired location and change the color of app icons, among other things.

Naturally, Apple Intelligence is the main attraction here. It has attributes like:

Siri has significantly improved, becoming more capable of conducting natural conversations, responding to your questions, and following your instructions (no more "This is what I found on the internet"

AI with context awareness that accesses your emails, texts, images, and other data to provide you with personalized information.

The Photos app has a Clean Up option that lets you get rid of undesirable things.

An application that creates images

Tools for editing, writing, and changing content in emails and texts

Genmojis are generative emojis that share a same design with other emojis on iOS.

Improved Safari browser that can extract information from websites and eliminate unnecessary components

Using the iPhone's camera, users may search for information on businesses, events, pet breeds, and items using visual intelligence. This feature functions similarly to Google Lens, although it does not retain photographs. If Apple Intelligence is unable to assist, it additionally offers advice and support from ChatGPT.

However, there is a massive disclaimer that will likely tamp down any enthusiasm about Apple Intelligence. Apple announced before today's event that it will roll out these new AI-powered capabilities through updates until the first part of the following year. Actually, until the iOS 18.1 patch is released a few weeks after launch, users won't be able to access any of the new AI features.

Battery for iPhone 16

An expanded and updated battery. If battery life is important to you, the iPhone 16 isn't the greatest choice. It placed in the 40s of our Battery Score listing even though it had a larger battery than the one that came before it. However, with frequent use, it will work fine for the majority of users and last all day. That may not be the case, though, if you use the camera and view a lot of videos.

Results of the PhoneArena Battery Test:

The graphs above demonstrate that while the iPhone 16 is typically better than its predecessor, it is primarily on par with Google's and Samsung's primary competitors.

This year, the subject of charging is a little strange. According to Apple, the iPhone 16 can charge wirelessly up to 25W (from 15W) when using MagSafe wireless chargers. But there was some misunderstanding over the pace of its connected charging.

Results of the PhoneArena Charging Test:

Under normal conditions, the iPhone 16 charges at 20W rather than 45W. We were able to get it to increase to about 38W during our tests, but only when we were running really demanding tasks like benchmark testing or playing games. This is novel, and we believe Apple took this action to enable the phone to charge at the same rate even when it is being used.

iPhone 16's Haptics and Audio Quality

Apple debuted certain audio enhancements for the new Pro models this year, including "studio quality mics" and Audio Mix, although the iPhone 16 lacks both of those features. The audio quality is excellent and comparable to that of the models from the previous year! The sound has a pleasant umph to it and is rich. Everything about the haptics, including the new Capture Control button, is exactly the same.

Is it something you should purchase?

Since this year's regular iPhone isn't that much of an increase over previous models, switching to an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro would be a much better alternative. One of the primary selling features of the new iPhones, Apple Intelligence, will also be available on the iPhone 15 Pro in particular.

The iPhone 16's faster wireless charging and marginally longer battery life are two of its selling points. Yes, the A18 chip seems to be lot more competent than it is, but you generally won't use the extra horsepower unless you want to play AAA games.

The new Camera Control button is another option, although it hardly seems like a feature that the typical user would find indispensable. Though it's not that big of a deal unless you've really desired a Macro Mode without purchasing a Pro iPhone, the upgraded ultra wide camera is also not a bad improvement.

If you're not committed to remaining with iPhone, you might want to consider other possibilities as well. A significant portion of what Apple is promised with the iPhone 16 is already available on the Android side of the market, such as with the Pixel 9 or the Galaxy S24.