Review of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro: boringly amazing

Introduction to the iPhone 16 Pro

Apple is making some slight adjustments with the iPhone 16 Pro, but just... Not very much. The 16 Pro is now 6.3 inches larger and has incredibly thin edges all around. A few camera enhancements are included, including a better ultrawide snapper, a 5X zoom camera from the Pro Max, and an oddly shaped Camera Control button.

Most notably, it incorporates AI. or, more accurately, AI's potential. The new Apple Intelligence is optimised for a new chipset, but those features won't be available until later this year or even next year. Additionally, battery life has somewhat improved.

From an alternative perspective, however, the iPhone 16 Pro also bears a striking resemblance to the iPhone 15 Pro from the previous year, right down to the colour scheme. For most of you, those camera enhancements probably won't make much of a difference, unless you're a pixel peeper. And anyhow, who pays attention to these faster CPUs every year?

Regardless your perspective, however, the iPhone 16 Pro does not appear to represent a significant advancement. It's an additional evolution. It's still a fantastic phone, yes. A superb phone that is boringly amazing.

Notice: The camera score has changed! It provides an easy-to-understand breakdown of all the significant aspects of using a smartphone through objective score across twelve key areas. The final score, though, might appear a little lower than usual. Keep that in mind and don't forget to view the scores in relation to other phones rather than in isolation as the reason for that is due to the way our score is constructed with greater headway. The iPhone 16 Pro, for instance, received a score of 7.7, which may not seem like much, but it was 9.1% higher than the class average, outperforming the majority of the competitors. Click here to find out more about the PhoneArena Review Rating.

Contents Table:

Specifications
Create and Present
Snapshot
Achievement
Applications
Rechargeable batteries
In brief

Read additionally:

Design and Display of the iPhone 16 Pro

A new camera control unit and a somewhat bigger body

Larger size, identical design (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Uninterestingly fantastic

Greater size, comparable appearance (Photo via PhoneArena)

The flat sides and camera island in the upper left corner of the iPhone 16 Pro maintain the traditional iPhone design language of the previous few years.

The 6.3-inch screen is larger, but don't expect it to be a significant improvement over the 15 Pro—we hardly noticed the difference at all.

Nevertheless, we must state for the record that this is the first Pro model with a bigger screen since... the 12 Pro iPhone. Prior to that, Apple used a 5.8-inch display on the iPhone X to iPhone 11 Pro. That phone also launched the pattern of 6.1-inch screens for a few generations (12 Pro to 15 Pro).

But the 16 Pro's minor modification is a step in the right direction. People rely more on their phones, and a larger screen means a better user experience. As easy as that.

Does this imply that compared to previous Pro models, the iPhone 16 Pro is larger? Once more, barley. The 16 Pro is actually only little taller and equally as wide as the iPhone 14 Pro from two years ago. It's all made feasible by the screen's thinner margins. They have a really nice appearance, but to properly appreciate the effect, you must use your phone without a case.

The materials are the same as the previous year's titanium frame, but the front has an upgraded Ceramic Shield. Though we received some scratches after only a few days of use, Apple claims that the 16 Pro is 2X more durable against drops. This is similar to what happened with earlier iPhone models.

You still have an IP68 water and dust rating for the remainder, along with a USB-C connector that supports USB 3 speeds for charging.

The camera control button, which is new, is located beneath the power key. We feel differently about it. It's a handy little convenience that doubles as a shutter button to start the camera quickly. Not much more than that, though.

Additionally, you can slide and tap on it to adjust other settings or zoom in and out, making it function almost like a little trackpad. Although we were first rather interested in this, after utilising these features for some time, we have the impression that Apple over-engineered this. Using the phone's considerably larger screen to accurately zoom in and out appears easier than fumbling with this little Camera Control button. It is also far too easy to activate by default, so we advise disabling the "Show Adjustments" feature by navigating to Settings > Accessibility > Camera Control. By doing this, you can turn off the trackpad-like features and the annoying inadvertent zooming in that occurs when your finger accidently gets in the way.

The four new colours of the iPhone 16 Pro - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Uninterestingly fantastic

The four fresh hues of the iPhone 16 Pro

Apple won't provide Pro users any cheerful colour options, so we're left with the "professional" colours (if you want fun colours, get the normal iPhone 16):

Titanium desert (gold-toned)
Gray-toned natural titanium
Titanium White
Titanium Black

This year, the 16 Pro will also arrive in a thinner packaging composed completely of recycled materials. This is great, but it's not so great since the box still doesn't contain any accessories, meaning you have to buy the charger, screen protector, and case individually.

Much thinner screen margins (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Uninterestingly fantastic

Much thinner screen borders (Photo courtesy of PhoneArena)

What about that brand-new, 6.3-inch display? In addition to the size increase (6.3" vs. 6.1") and the thinner screen borders, there is one more improvement.

If you use your phone in bed at night, the minimum brightness can now be reduced to just 1 nit, which is much easier on the eyes. Although it may seem like a little function, we are happy that Apple has finally included it after years of pleading with us to do so. Indeed, Apple is catching up in this regard as Samsung Galaxy phones have had this feature for some time.

Sadly, the iPhone 16 Pro lacks the impressive anti-reflective coating seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which might be problematic when using it outside.

The Dynamic Island, which still has the recognisable Face ID system, has also not undergone any alterations.

Camera on iPhone 16 Pro

A new 5X longer zoom and ultrawide camera

Longer, 5X zoom replaces the 3X zoom in the 16 Pro (Image courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Boringly great

The longer 5X zoom camera on the 16 Pro replaces the 3X zoom (Image via PhoneArena)

The 16 Pro offers some observable upgrades to the camera system, but this year's show-stopper may possibly be a new software feature.

First off, the 16 Pro retains its three rear cameras, and secondly, it retains all of the awesome ProRAW and ProRES features that the standard 16 model lacks.

The primary camera on the 15 Pro is essentially the same 48MP one. Same 24mm lens, same 2X sensor crop feature, same fast presets for 28mm and 35mm crops. Additionally, the default photographs are 24MP (you can choose 12MP for even smaller file sizes or 48MP for higher detail at the cost of larger files).

The iPhone 16 Pro achieves almost the same results as the previous generation in terms of colour and detail on our PhoneArena Camera Score. While there are minor differences, they are not very noticeable. It performs better overall at longer zoom distances, when the 5X camera is helpful, but falls short at lower zoom ranges, where the previous 3X lens was helpful.

Samples of the iPhone 16 Pro Camera

You can see the recognisable "iPhone look" in the photos when you glance at them.

What is meant by that? You get a little bit more vivid colour and a little bit of oversharpening, which sets these pictures apart from what real camera shots seem like.

A novel ultra-wide camera

The zoom and ultra-wide cameras are new. The 48MP ultra-wide lens has a larger sensor. This makes it possible to do pixel binning, which is the process of merging four pixels into one to improve light sensitivity and, eventually, low-light photography.

It can undoubtedly capture more light, which is particularly apparent in nighttime photography. You can see how the 16 Pro has better resolved detail and less noise in the crop from an image above. However, that is only apparent at night; during the day, the amount of detail is the same.

The ultra-wide camera still saves photos as a 12MP file by default; a 48MP photo will have more quality, but it will be larger. The ultra-wide camera does not have a 24MP intermediate setting.

A brand-new 5X zoom lens

The Pro Max gives the telephoto camera an upgrade from its 3X zoom to a 5X zoom tetraprism lens. You miss out on a very helpful 72mm lens for portraiture, but you get additional reach in the process. Deal-breakers!

The image above shows a crop at 10X zoom, and at that magnification, the new Tetraprism camera's fidelity to detail is evident when compared to the identical shot taken with the 14 Pro Max, which only has a 3X zoom lens.

On the other hand, a new software feature from Apple is more significant than you may imagine. It's the photographic styles of the next generation.

Like filters on steroids, photographic styles are deeply ingrained in the system.

Novel Approaches to Photography

They are far more capable and valuable with this new generation. In the past, you were forced to choose a style and could not alter it once the picture was taken. You can do that now, which expands your options greatly.

The actual styles are separated into two categories: "Mood" styles, which are essentially mini recipes with preset saturation and shadow values, and "Undertones," which alter the tint of your photo to Amber, Gold, Rose Gold, Neutral, or Cool Rose.

Let us explain as these may seem a little overwhelming at first. A dot on an X, Y axis—a dotted square—is used to control the Styles. It is your goal to move down to create deeper shadows and move upward to brighten the shadows. You get less saturated colours when you move left and more saturated colours when you move right. Additionally, a "palette" slider at the bottom allows you to arrange the colour spectrum.

What makes these new photographic styles important, then? Shadows are one explanation. In recent years, iPhone images have adopted a default style that features brilliant shadows and a distinct... "flat" appearance. These pictures just don't have enough contrast. Even more into that realm is the iPhone 16 Pro's default style.

The tone control, however, is now your answer (going down on the Photographic Style square). It produces a lovely, contrasty image by lowering shadows. If that's all you wanted, you can shoot in RAW and never have to worry about post-processing; you can have a fantastic shot straight out of the camera. Nice!

Video Calibre

We have one new function for videos: 4K120 slow motion. Compared to the existing 1080p120, this is significantly crisper and much more fun to work with. Now that I think about it, not even a lot of professional cameras can achieve slow motion at resolutions higher than 1080p.

We adore the brand-new Audio Mix video editing tool as well. In addition to the default preset, you also get three more: In-frame, Studio, and Cinematic. These presets assist you reduce background noise and isolate your voice. The Studio model is especially excellent for... Essentially, studio recordings made indoors eliminate any echoes. With this capability, you can kind of start posting talking head videos without needing to buy a separate microphone and yet obtain passable (*not excellent) audio.

However, there was not much of a difference in quality for everything else. We were expecting that Apple's new "lens reflection coating" might help with the tiny light reflections in low-light iPhone videos, but sadly, it doesn't really make a difference at all.

Not to mention, a tonne of new AI features will alter the photo-editing experience. iOS 18.1 will introduce the "Clean up" tool in Photos, which functions similarly to Google's Magic Eraser but makes object removal easier. Although there are some lovely animations that Apple has included, this is still a pretty fascinating tool even if the results aren't always flawless.

Benchmarks & Performance for the iPhone 16 Pro

A new microprocessor that prioritises AI

The A18 Pro boasts efficiency in addition to power (Image courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Uninterestingly fantastic

The A18 Pro boasts efficiency in addition to power (Image via PhoneArena)

A new Apple A18 Pro chipset, developed on leading manufacturer TSMC's second-generation 3nm technology, is also being added to the 16 Pro.

This is fantastic news because the 15 Pro was designed using the first iteration of that technology, which meant it did not fully benefit from it. As a result, we anticipate some significant performance improvements this year.

In general, this chip offers improved efficiency and about 20% faster speeds.

Benchmarks for Performance:

The main narrative, though, centres on AI and how this phone is designed with it in mind. AI workloads will run more quickly on the 16 Pro thanks to an improved Neural Engine, but we anticipate it will have the same 8GB of RAM as the 15 Pro.

Regretfully, the storage situation remains unchanged, meaning that the 128GB on-board memory of the base iPhone 16 Pro model remains. We would have preferred it if Apple had increased the capacity to 256GB rather of charging customers an additional $100 for it.

Hey, at least the pricing are unchanged.

Software for iPhone 16 Pro

Review of the Apple iPhone 16 Pro: boringly amazing

Word on the street used to be that you could summon a Google Pixel phone in front of you by repeating the magic word AI three times, but it appears that this is now an iPhone.

With the iPhone 14 Pro series and previous models not supporting AI, the iPhone 16 Pro's new AI capabilities is its primary focus and will be crucial. Naturally, Apple wants owners of older models to upgrade, and AI is a major factor in this.

The first significant AI features for the iPhone 16 series are introduced with iOS 18, but a few weeks later (likely in October), with iOS 18.1.

But the AI elements that will actually matter won't be available for a while. For instance, the ChatGPT integration is expected to be available by year's end, while Siri may undergo a complete redesign the following year.

Battery for iPhone 16 Pro

Greater capacity and quicker charging

One significant advantage of the 16 Pro's larger size is that a larger battery can be installed.

To what extent? The 16 Pro's battery capacity is 3582 mAh, which is approximately 10% more than the 15 Pro's 3,274 mAh battery capacity.

Apple rates audio playback on the 16 Pro at 85 hours, up from 75 hours, and video playback at 27 hours, up from 23 hours on the 15 Pro model.

In contrast to some rumours, MagSafe wireless charging on the 16 Pro is faster than wired charging (Image courtesy of PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Boringly fantastic

In contrast to what others have said, MagSafe wireless charging on the 16 Pro is faster than wired charging (Image by PhoneArena).

We subjected the iPhone 16 Pro to our rigorous PhoneArena Battery Score testing process in order to independently confirm those figures.

These are the figures we obtained for battery life.

Results of the PhoneArena Battery and Charging Tests:

Because we scored a little bit higher overall, the iPhone 16 Pro is expected to have a battery life of six and a half hours, compared to the six hours that prior Pro models had. Though not as significant as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, this improvement is nonetheless noteworthy.

Additionally, charging is quicker, although only in a single sense.

While 20W rates are still the same, we were all anticipating for quicker wired charging.

However, MagSafe has increased from 15W to 25W, which is a considerably faster speed than previously. Additionally, the iPhone 15 Pro now offers a 50% battery charge in 30 minutes as opposed to the prior 37% top-up in 30 minutes.

In brief

Longer battery life, a 5X zoom camera, and the impending Apple Intelligence are the three main features of the iPhone 16 Pro (Image by PhoneArena) - Apple iPhone 16 Pro Review: Boringly fantastic

Three elements make up the iPhone 16 Pro: a 5X zoom camera, a longer battery life, and the future Apple Intelligence (Photo by PhoneArena).

The iPhone 16 Pro is a better phone than earlier models because to the minor changes made to the screen size and battery life. However, just a little. Although there have been slight improvements in camera quality, the Photographic Style function may have a greater impact on the final look of your photos than any new hardware.

We doubt you'd notice the speed bump in regular use; the speedier processor only seems to matter for the most taxing gaming applications and quick capturing of ProRAW files.

And given its trackpad-like features, the Camera Control button may be one of the more overhyped features available.

The most significant thing to remember is that the iPhone 16 Pro is still incomplete without all of the Apple Intelligence features that will be available in 2024 and possibly even 2025. Not to mention that the iPhone 15 Pro will gain such features as well.

So, should you make an upgrade? You probably don't need to upgrade if the iPhone 16 Pro feels a bit like a "S" year, but if you're just wanting for refinement, then sure.

And what does the iPhone Pro's future hold? You might as well wait until 2025 if you're hoping for a significant overhaul of the iPhone 17 Pro. Rumour has it that this will happen.