iPhone 16 Pro gets bigger and better with improved cameras and Apple Intelligence

Posted:
in iPhone edited September 9

Apple has used its "Glowtime" special event to launch the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, this time with bigger screens, hugely faster performance, and the Camera Control button.

A sleek gold smartphone with three rear cameras and a black screen with glowing orange curved lines, set against a dark background.
The new larger iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max



Just as usual, Apple has brought out two tiers of Pro-grade iPhone for consumers. The iPhone 16 Pro is joined by a larger counterpart, the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

For the most part, the two models are practically the same, save for their sizes. The iPhone 16 Pro is a bit larger this year with a 6.3-inch screen, while the Pro Max has grown from 6.7 inches to 6.9 inches.

Two smartphones with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch screens, displaying 9:41 AM and Monday, September 9 on their screens against a black background.
The new screen sizes of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max



These larger screens are also equipped with even thinner bezels. A new machined chassis combined with a graphite-clad substructure to help thermally manage the iPhone.

The Super Retina XDR displays are OLED, with support for HDR, True Tone, ProMotion, and P3 color. With a 2-million-to-1 contrast ratio, the panels can output up to 2,000 nits of brightness when used outdoors.



The new 6.3-inch screen has a resolution of 2,622 by 1,206, while the 6.9-inch is 2,868 by 1,320. This equates to a pixel density of 460ppi apiece.

At the top is the punch hole camera, hidden by the Dynamic Island UI elements. It contains a 12MP TrueDepth Camera array, which is also used for Face ID.

Continuing the trend from the iPhone 15 Pro line, the Action Button makes a return as the switch replacement, but it's not alone.

Black smartphone with three rear cameras and Apple logo on the back, shown from both back and side views.
The Camera Control button's a new addition to the iPhone 16 Pro's side.



The Camera Control button is capacitive, which offers a new way to launch and control the camera. Aside from pressing to shoot, users can slide their finger to adjust the zoom level.

It also offers access to some visual Apple Intelligence features.

A18 Pro



Inside the iPhone 16 Pro models is the A18 Pro, an upgrade to the previous generation's A17 Pro chip. Made using a 3-nanometer process, the chip promises to be 15% faster with its six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, but using 20% less power.

The A18 Pro also uses a six-core GPU, this time being 20% faster than the A17 Pro, and with 2 times faster ray tracking. It's also equipped with 8GB of memory and a new 16-core Neural Engine, which has a 17% increase in memory bandwidth.

This change will certainly be beneficial to consumers, as this will be the second pro-tier iPhone to support Apple Intelligence. A larger Neural Engine will aid it with its onboard processing.

There's also a new image signal process and video decoder, which are twice as fast as their A17 Pro counterparts.

Rear Cameras and Video



Around the back is the usual trio of cameras in a square bump. The Main camera, renamed to a Fusion camera continues to have a 48MP sensor, which can shoot 24MP photos using pixel binning, and can offer a virtual 2x camera simply by cropping the sensor.

The Ultra Wide now has an upgraded sensor to the same resolution, which can further benefit macro photography.

Close-up of a modern smartphone's rear camera system, featuring three lenses and a flash on a sleek, dark-colored surface.
Both iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max benefit from the Tetraprism lens



The Telephoto camera is still using a 12MP sensor, but Apple did make a bit of an upgrade here. While the iPhone 15 Pro Max used the Tetraprism lens, both Pro models have it this time, resulting in a 5x telephoto optical zoom.

On the video side, the already-impressive video capabilities have been expanded, with the camera now capable of 4K 120fps video. This includes ProRes footage recorded to external hard drives.

That 120fps 4K footage can also have its playback speed adjusted after capture in the Photos app.

A major update is in audio processing, as it uses four mics with a new lower noise floor. There's also Spatial Audio capture for video recording.

There's audio mixing available, so you can isolate the subject's audio in video in a variety of ways. For example, mixing in music as background audio. An update to Voice Memos later in 2024 will add in two-track recording.

Connectivity



Connectivity for the iPhone 16 Pro is a continuation of the USB-C running at 10Gbps, the same as last year's pro models.

MagSafe continues to be offered on the back, so users can wirelessly charge using it, or Qi2 and Qi chargers. Now under MagSafe, it can charge at up to 25W.

Wi-Fi 7 support has been added this time around, along with Bluetooth 5.3. The second-generation Ultra Wideband makes a return as well, so you can continue to track down that AirTag attached to your lost keys.

Pricing and availability



Preorders for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max start on Friday, with initial shipments arriving on September 20.

Four smartphones in black, gray, white, and gold, each with a triple camera setup on the back and an Apple logo.
The four colors of iPhone 16 Pro



Four color options are available, with Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, and White Titanium joined by a new Desert Titanium option.

The iPhone 16 Pro will start from $999 with 128GB of storage, with the 256GB costing consumers $1,099, 512GB priced at $1,299 and the 1TB at $1,499.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at 256GB for $1,199, rising to $1,399 for 512GB and $1,599 for 1TB.



Read on AppleInsider

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,134member
    idea: next year, I'm hoping siri with AI can watch this live event and send me a 3 paragraph summary. will save me nearly 2 hours of being marketed. that's apple intelligence
    netlingkdupuis77nubusRob215pulseimagesgrandact73appleinsideruserJaphey
  • Reply 2 of 39
    Yawn what a boring new phone! I swear Apple is so behind the curve on innovation. They spent the whole event trying their hardest to speak about subtle changes that could have been said in 5 minutes instead of 2 hours.
    edited September 9 grandact73netlingkdupuis77Rob215DaPaleRiderpulseimageszigzaglensJaphey
  • Reply 3 of 39
    Easily the biggest snoozefest Apple event in the history of Apple.
    kdupuis77IG-apple_viennaDaPaleRiderpulseimagesmuthuk_vanalingamzigzaglensJaphey
  • Reply 4 of 39
    Why is Tim Cook YELLING AT US! Maybe he needs those new medical-grade ipod hearing aids!?! I understand he wants to convey excitement but it's was like Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer from yesteryear.

    edited September 9 centaurgrandact73appleinsiderusergatorguywatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 39
    This is probably the most boring update Apple has released. iPhone snooze fest 16.
    Rob215IG-apple_viennapulseimagesgrandact73zigzaglens
  • Reply 6 of 39
    Man half that presentation was a recap of what is coming in iOS18 (well not even all of it at release either as has become the usual practice the last few years..) At this point, I think I'm more into those new iPhone 16s than the Pro lineup almost lol.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    Funny, if you would have said years ago, that Apple would have a practically 7 in phone, people would have called you absolutely crazy and stupid. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 39
    First time I almost nodded off, man was that was boring!
    IG-apple_viennagrandact73
  • Reply 9 of 39
    This was definitely underwhelming.  The stock market seems to agree.  To me: really no new health features in Apple watch, plus no Ultra 3.  So is there a reason to go from an Ultra 2 to a 10?  The phone:  no 2TB option (at least that I saw), and not a ton of "gotta have" features.  I will probably trade the 16 Pro Max anyway to get the new battery and the better power efficiency (if true), but nothing huge.
    grandact73watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 39
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,978member
    Remember when everyone was saying this was going to be a Live event? Wasn’t. Another marketing film. 
    My takeaway?
    iPhone Pro is good, I’m not sure the ProMax is worth it for me.
    AppleWatch 10 is a nice upgrade. Likely will go for that.
    Apple Intelligence: Still want to turn most of that S*** off. 
  • Reply 11 of 39
    DAalseth said:
    Remember when everyone was saying this was going to be a Live event? Wasn’t. Another marketing film. 
    My takeaway?
    iPhone Pro is good, I’m not sure the ProMax is worth it for me.
    AppleWatch 10 is a nice upgrade. Likely will go for that.
    Apple Intelligence: Still want to turn most of that S*** off. 
    We have gone over this before. It's off by default, you have to opt in to use it. At this point you are just looking for something to complain about. 

    jas99tmayStrangeDaysronnwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 39
    eightzero said:
    idea: next year, I'm hoping siri with AI can watch this live event and send me a 3 paragraph summary. will save me nearly 2 hours of being marketed. that's apple intelligence
    Idea: This feature already exists. I already just do what I do is wait for to read this posted somewhere say on macrumors. This feature been out for years if not decades. You should check it out, and then we get to waste people next year they can hopefully avoid of boring about it next year.  

  • Reply 13 of 39
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 1,078member
    Yawn what a boring new phone! I swear Apple is so behind the curve on innovation. They spent the whole event trying their hardest to speak about subtle changes that could have been said in 5 minutes instead of 2 hours.
    Yawn. What a boring new post! The 1990s called and they want you back--that's about how long people have been claiming that Apple is "so behind the curve on innovation." Meanwhile, investors--you know, those people who don't post baseless drivel on tech websites but instead actually put their own money behind what they think about a company--have made Apple the most valuable company on Earth. But yeah, nothing to see here. 
    edited September 9 jas99ssfe11StrangeDaysronn12Strangersihatescreennameswatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 39
    I’m always amazed at the criticism around these events. I’m not sure what the critics actually want. A phone that wipes for you?

     Samsung is infamous for throwing out new features that are half-baked but make a splash only to have them disappear in a generation or two. Sometimes they get refined to be generally useful as well. That’s not Apple.

    The Dynamic Island, Action Button and now the Capture Button are all useful, if not earthshaking innovations. Crash Detection, Satellite SOS and now messaging are invaluable if you need them. Hardware Ray Tracing. Even USB C on the Pro Phones is far more capable than just charging and simple data transfer. 

    Phones are a mature technology. advances will mainly be iterative especially in hardware. The iPhone 16 is a significant upgrade on the iPhone 15 and the 16 Pro is a modest upgrade on the 15 Pro. Given that people keep their phones for two or three years or longer, that’s fine.
    chuckygetsluckyjas9980s_Apple_Guyfreeassociate2StrangeDaysronnbadmonk12Strangerswatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 39
    Great I can happily keep my phone and save money for another year. The health updates (on existing products, non iPhone) were the most exciting device features but actually look helpful though. Apple presented as if positioning themselves as a high end retirement brand for us disappearing middle class westerners, haha. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 39
    virtuavirtua Posts: 210member
    AI - artificial improvement.  The whole thing was like a parody.  
  • Reply 17 of 39
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,294member
    If you are dissatisfied, you can always switch to Android and use the Pixel 9 which has a processor that is five years behind Apple. The software and hardware integration, along with continued iteration is what Apple needed to do, boring like a new Porsche 911 Turbo S? Hmmm… I did observe however with all the audio software improvements across all devices, Spotify better get off their ass and start using the new Apple APIs for iOS 18 because they are now even further behind the pace after today.
    edited September 9 StrangeDaysronn12Strangerswatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 39
    I’ll wait for the iPhone 17, then hopefully all 3 cameras will have 48MP sensors. Disappointed they didn’t update the SE watch. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 39
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,978member
    DAalseth said:
    Remember when everyone was saying this was going to be a Live event? Wasn’t. Another marketing film. 
    My takeaway?
    iPhone Pro is good, I’m not sure the ProMax is worth it for me.
    AppleWatch 10 is a nice upgrade. Likely will go for that.
    Apple Intelligence: Still want to turn most of that S*** off. 
    We have gone over this before. It's off by default, you have to opt in to use it. At this point you are just looking for something to complain about. 

    There is no reason to assume that. I will believe it when I see it. 
    edited September 9
  • Reply 20 of 39
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,294member
    I’m always amazed at the criticism around these events. I’m not sure what the critics actually want. A phone that wipes for you?

     Samsung is infamous for throwing out new features that are half-baked but make a splash only to have them disappear in a generation or two. Sometimes they get refined to be generally useful as well. That’s not Apple.

    The Dynamic Island, Action Button and now the Capture Button are all useful, if not earthshaking innovations. Crash Detection, Satellite SOS and now messaging are invaluable if you need them. Hardware Ray Tracing. Even USB C on the Pro Phones is far more capable than just charging and simple data transfer. 

    Phones are a mature technology. advances will mainly be iterative especially in hardware. The iPhone 16 is a significant upgrade on the iPhone 15 and the 16 Pro is a modest upgrade on the 15 Pro. Given that people keep their phones for two or three years or longer, that’s fine.
    The hardware and the software moved forward, the users (customers) overall will be happy, the small crowd of hip tech elites will cry as usual. Iteration forward is all Apple needed to do.
    edited September 9 StrangeDaysronnwatto_cobra
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