The iPhone 16 Pro is here, and it might be the new best pick for photographers
If you like taking photos, the iPhone 16 Pro is for you. The cameras are sharper than ever and there's a new button, plus AI and more
At the “It’s Glowtime” Apple event, the Cupertino tech giant unveiled the flagship iPhone 16 Pro. Thanks to a bunch of new camera features and the addition of the Capture Button (plus a bunch of other upgrades), this device might be the new best pick for photographers.
Following tradition, it comes in two sizes, but this time even bigger. The iPhone 16 Pro is now 6.3-inches, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is now a giant 6.9-inches. But, the devices themselves are an almost identical size. It’s all thanks to some rather swish display tech that’s let Apple shrink down the device’s bezels to almost non-existent. In fact, they’re the slimmest bezels on any Apple device – including the M4 iPad Pro.
iPhone 16 Pro’s front display is more durable than ever. It’s 50% tougher than first-gen Ceramic Shield, and 2x stronger than normal glass. It can blast up to 2000 nits of brightness, and get now get down to just 1 nit. Like before, you benefit from the Pro-exclusive 120Hz ProMotion and an Always On Display.
Last year’s customisable Action Button returns, but it’s joined by a new button in the form of the Camera Control Button. Rather than a button you actually press, this one you can tap, double tap, and slide around on to control your iPhone’s camera. Clicking the button launches the camera, and a hold launches video recording. But there’s also a new button in the form of the Camera Control. Rather than a button you actually press, this one you can tap, double tap, and slide around on to control your iPhone’s camera.
The Camera Control button allows an iPhone 16-exclusive feature called Visual Intelligence. With a quick snap, Apple Intelligence jumps in to analyse whatever’s in front of you, dishing out extra details or letting you interact with what you see. Spot an event poster? You can add it straight to your calendar, just like that. These images aren’t saved on your device, and it’s similar to Google Lens. And if you’re still stumped, you can even ask ChatGPT to help explain what you’re looking at.
You get a new 48MP Fusion Camera on this device and a 48MP ultrawide camera, which brings the total to two 48MP snappers now. The main camera can fuse 12MP shots for brighter shots, and offers a faster aperture than before. The telephoto lens is still 12MP, but this time both devices get the fancy tetraprism tech for 5x zoom. Photographic styles have been tweaked, and there are some new DSLR-adjacent camera features. You get a social-safe grid, for if you enjoy posting your snaps.
Video-wise, the iPhone 16 Pro can offer colour grading in real-time, and 4K 120fps slow-motion filming in Dolby Vision and ProRes. You can adjust any video’s fps in the Photos app, after shooting. The microphones have a lower noise floor for higher quality audio. You can use the camera to take Spatial Photos, Videos, and even Audio. A new Audio Mix feature lets you edit by sound, thanks to AI – it identifies each sound in a video, and lets you edit them. The Voice Memos app will let you layer tracks now, but that’s coming in an update later this year. It can even isolate vocal recording, as demonstrated by The Weeknd.
Apple says this device has the best battery life of any iPhone, but doesn’t say more. But, a new MagSafe charger gets even faster, and the handset supports Qi2 charging. As you’d expect, these devices are event faster, thanks to the new A18 Pro chipset from Apple. This processor has been majorly beefed up from last year, with a focus on the Neural Engines. It makes the iPhone 16 Pros perfect for the AI Apple Intelligence features coming in iOS 18. iPhone 16 has Wi-Fi 7 baked in, and the satellite connectivity is even better.
A18 Pro has a 16-core Neural Engine for all those Apple Intelligence features. You’ll get 15% faster AI performance than on the A17 Pro chipset in the iPhone 15 Pros. The 6-core GPU is 20% faster than iPhone 15 Pro and has 2x faster ray tracing when you’re gaming. As for the CPU, it’s 15% faster than the iPhone 15 Pro and uses 20% less power – it’s faster and uses less battery. Plus, the chipset has a new Display Engine for the screen and a new video encoder for better shooting.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 Pros open on Friday, and the devices will start shipping and arrive in stores next Friday (20 September). Just like last year, the regular iPhone 16 Pro retails for $999/£999, and the 16 Plus goes for $1199/£1199 – storage starts at 256GB. There are four new titanium colours to pick from: black, white, natural, and desert (the new browny gold option). There are new silicon MagSafe cases that work with the Camera Control button. For the eco-conscious, all packing is now 100% fibre based.
Connor Jewiss
