Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus Overview: Why Go Professional?

Lately, Apple began giving the iPhone Professional fashions a big chip improve to extend the efficiency hole between the telephones, however this yr they’re all on the identical place to begin: the A18 chipset. The iPhone 16 Professional units have the A18 Professional, which options bigger CPU cache sizes and an additional graphics core for barely higher total efficiency. That mentioned, in my benchmark assessments, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are simply behind the Professionals and nonetheless extra highly effective than some other telephone in the marketplace.

I performed AAA video games like Resident Evil and Murderer’s Creed Mirage, although I did run into a couple of extra stutters than on the Professional fashions (and simply as many crashes, although this might have been as a result of I used to be operating a developer beta of iOS 18.1). I need to observe that these video games are presently the cream of the crop in graphical constancy, so I am purposefully stress-testing. A lot of the titles you may play will run completely. The Professional fashions this yr have improved thermal efficiency, however Apple made some tweaks to enhance the warmth dissipation on the usual iPhones too, and I’ve not observed the telephones getting considerably sizzling.

Extra importantly, each iPhone 16 mannequin will probably be able to operating Apple Intelligence, the suite of synthetic intelligence options coming in an replace in October. I’m going over precisely what’s included in Apple Intelligence in my iOS 18 guide, and have broadly evaluated the present expertise in my iPhone 16 Pro review. There are some useful day-to-day options, like real-time transcriptions in Voice Notes or name recordings, however we’ll have to attend till Apple brings the total equipment.

Battery life is a excessive observe. I eked out higher battery life on the iPhone 16 Plus than on the Professional Max, hitting greater than seven hours of screen-on time with 36 p.c left within the tank at 1 am. The iPhone 16 is not any slouch, giving me six hours of screen-on time with round 20 p.c remaining. And that is with a mixture of doomscrolling on Instagram, picture-snapping, navigation, and music streaming. These units will get you thru a full day after which some. Talking of the battery, it is easier to replace on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus (not the Professional fashions), and iFixit gave it a 7/10 in overall repairability, which is a large enchancment over prior years.

It is a disgrace Apple didn’t deliver an up to date spec for the charging port. When Apple switched to USB-C final yr, it stored the identical knowledge switch speeds for the iPhone 15—480 megabits per second. The Professional, alternatively, has USB3 speeds of as much as 20 gigabits per second. It is a huge distinction (and an pointless one), however this solely issues if you end up transferring information out of your iPhone to a different gadget with a twine.

Good Cameras

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus maintain their very own within the digital camera division. I discovered no important variations even in low mild when capturing with the principle digital camera and the ultrawide. The Professional telephones edge them out right here and there, however the hole is small. Autofocus is new within the 12-MP ultrawide, so you’ll be able to take macro images. I am unable to cease taking close-up photographs of my pup’s nostril. Boop!