IPhone 16 Details

Sharing many of the same features as the Pro models, the iPhone 16 proves that, on its face value, it's one of the strongest contenders for the title of best phone, with stylish looks, great cameras, and Pro-like features.

iPhone 16 release date

iPhone 16 is available for pre-order starting Friday, September 13 and will be available for delivery starting Friday, September 20.

Specifications

Design

The iPhone 16 is slightly lighter than the iPhone 15, making it easier to use with one hand. Apple uses aerospace-grade aluminum in its design, which not only makes the phone lighter but also more durable.

Apple claims that the latest generation of Ceramic Shield glass is stronger and more resilient. The iPhone 16 is a much more stylish phone than the iPhone 16 Pro. Speaking of the camera, that’s one of the many new design changes on the iPhone 16. Instead of the diagonal arrangement of the past 3 years, the camera has been moved to a vertical arrangement to support spatial photography and video recording. Other new design changes include the Action button on the left side of the phone and the Camera Control button on the right. And finally, the USB-C port located at the bottom of the iPhone 16 is still stuck at the same slow USB 2.0 speeds as the iPhone 15 offers.

Screen

Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro, there are no changes to the screen size on the new iPhone 16, it's still a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with a resolution of 2,556 x 1,179 pixels. Additionally, the same cutout near the top for the Dynamic Island has not changed in size.

Visually, the display is a beautiful OLED panel. Apple has kept the refresh rate at 60Hz, which is a bit disappointing. Because of the 60Hz display, the iPhone 16 doesn't have the same smooth animations as other phones.

Camera Control

The Camera Control button is located on the right side of the iPhone 16 and is pressure-sensitive — thus mimicking the physical shutter button found on today's best mirrorless cameras. Camera Control can also distinguish swipe gestures to change between a number of settings, such as zoom control, exposure adjustment, etc. — all by lightly pressing the Camera Control button and swiping your finger left or right.

In terms of audio recording capabilities, the iPhone 16 has the same Audio Mixing feature that allows the videographer to adjust the audio after recording the video.

Camera performance

Like before, the iPhone 16 has a dual rear camera consisting of a 48MP main camera and a revamped 12MP ultra-wide camera. The rear camera is sure to get more attention this time around because the lineup finally gets the ability to take close-up photos, a capability that was previously limited to the Pro models.

Apple also talked a lot about the versatility of this new camera array, as it can effectively take optical-quality photos without a dedicated zoom camera — it all relies on the same pixel-binning techniques seen previously with the iPhone 15 to get useful 2x zoom shots. Despite the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera, the iPhone 16's 2x zoom still delivers good results.

In addition to the utility, the iPhone 16 finally has the ability to take proper macro photos thanks to the improved ultra-wide camera. In high-contrast scenes, the dynamic range of the iPhone 16 does an excellent job of balancing exposure across the entire scene. The iPhone 16 is a top-notch all-around camera phone that delivers outstanding results no matter the situation.

Video recording

Video recording maxes out at 4K 60fps on the iPhone 16, which is standard on almost every other phone at this price point. In low light, the iPhone 16 outperforms the Galaxy S24 Plus.

While 4K 120fps recording is only available on the iPhone 16 Pro, the iPhone 16 still has two options for slow-motion recording: 1080p at 120fps and 720p at 240fps.

Finally, Apple is introducing a new audio editing feature for videos called Audio Mix. Using the four microphones in the iPhone 16, you can now improve the sound even better after you’ve shot your video. Because the microphones pick up sound in different directions, Audio Mix allows for multiple manipulations to get the sound you want.

Efficiency

Apple equips the iPhone 16 with the latest A18 chipset. It is based on a new 3nm manufacturing process and offers 30% faster CPU performance than the previous A16 Bionic found in the iPhone 15.

All synthetic benchmark tests show significant improvements for the iPhone 16. In Geekbench 6, the iPhone 16 averaged single-core and multi-core scores of 3,301 and 8,033, respectively - a significant increase over the iPhone 15's scores of 2,518 and 6,179. What's even more remarkable is that these scores are even better than the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The performance improvements don't stop there, as graphics processing power has also been boosted. 3DMark's Wild Life Unlimited test averaged 98.23 fps, a 36% improvement over the iPhone 15.

Overall, the A18 chip is a gem that delivers better results than other comparable phones.

Battery life

According to Apple, the iPhone 16 has a larger battery. Although the exact capacity of the battery is not yet known, at least until the phone's teardown is made public. Certainly, the iPhone 16 has enough battery to meet daily usage needs.

The iPhone 16 lasted 13 hours and 19 minutes, a significant improvement over the iPhone 15's 11 hours and 5 minutes - a 20% increase in battery life. While not as big of an improvement as other new iPhones, the iPhone 16 shows that a small phone like this can still get you through your day without much worry.

The iPhone 16 reached about 29% capacity in 15 minutes of charging with Apple's 30W charger, and then reached 57% in 30 minutes. The iPhone 16, on the other hand, comes with 25W MagSafe charging and Qi2 support, so wireless charging will be faster. However, you'll need to replace your current MagSafe charger if you already have one to take advantage of the faster MagSafe charging.