Which model should you buy?

Unique launch date: September 20, 2024 | Storage capability: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Display measurement: 6.3 inches | Options: A18 Professional chip, All the time-on 120Hz ProMotion show, USB-C port (USB 3), Titanium body, Digital camera Management button, Motion button, 25W MagSafe charging | Cameras: 48MP vast, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 5x telephoto, 12MP entrance | Colour choices: Pure Titanium, Desert, White, Black | Dimensions: 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.03 ounces

Learn our full iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max review

The iPhone 16 Pro is the iPhone we’d advocate to most individuals. Sure, its beginning worth of $999 may be steep, however a smartphone is a long-term funding. If the query is “which iPhone is more than likely to maintain you cheerful for the following three to 5 years,” we expect the iPhone 16 Professional’s benefits over the usual iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are nonetheless significant sufficient to be price the additional $100-200 — even when the hole isn’t as vast because it’s been in years previous.

For one, the iPhone 16 Professional’s blasted titanium body feels higher-quality than the aluminum one on the bottom iPhone 16. It’s a bit heavier than the usual 16 and final 12 months’s iPhone 15 Professional, but it surely’s removed from an anchor, and its barely curved edges are pleasing to carry. It runs on the marginally quicker A18 Professional chip, which doesn’t make an enormous distinction with on a regular basis duties however is extra future-proof all the identical, notably when you’ve got any curiosity in gaming or content material creation. And whereas each iPhone 16 has a USB-C charging port, the Professional fashions assist quicker information switch speeds (offered you might have the correct cable).

Essentially the most outstanding improve is the show. Whereas the OLED panels on the iPhone 16 Professional and normal iPhone 16 are equally sharp and vibrant, the previous’s is extra spacious at 6.3 inches (as an alternative of 6.1 inches), regardless of the cellphone itself solely being 0.08 inches taller and 0.02 inches thicker. That is primarily because of the Professional’s thinner bezels, which grant you extra room for streaming movies and studying net pages in a tool that isn’t considerably extra cumbersome to carry.  

On prime of that, the Professional’s display has an adaptive refresh charge as much as 120Hz, which may make scrolling net pages, gaming and streaming video noticeably smoother. Some will inform you that the common particular person doesn’t want this, and it’s true that not the whole lot performs at 120Hz. However utilizing a smartphone is nothing if not interacting with a small display, and when you’ve seen a quicker refresh charge in motion, it’s tough to surrender.

It’s a irritating scenario: You will get a budget Android phone with a 120Hz show for round $300, but Apple continues to make use of “ProMotion” as a approach to upsell folks from gadgets that already price a whole bunch extra. However, our job is to inform you what’s greatest — and the Professional’s show is solely extra present. It’s additionally always-on, in contrast to the screens on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, so you may view your notifications at a look with out having to bodily contact the machine.

One other step up is the digital camera system. The iPhone 16 Professional has a trio of rear cameras: a 48-megapixel fundamental digital camera, a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 12MP telephoto digital camera. That final one is the biggie, because the common iPhone 16 lacks a devoted telephoto lens totally. Past that, the Professional’s fundamental digital camera has a bigger sensor, so it’s a bit higher in low-light environments, plus it helps portrait mode at evening. You may take sharper macro shots for close-ups, and there are different fanatic options like the power to shoot ProRAW or report 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient and ProRes video as much as 120 frames per second. If none of this jargon means something to you, know the common iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are nonetheless nice point-and-shoot cameras. These gadgets can now take macro pictures as properly; they’ve the identical upgraded Photographic Styles function that may assist contact up pictures chances are you’ll discover overprocessed; and so they share the brand new Camera Control button for shortly (if typically awkwardly) accessing the digital camera app, adjusting settings and snapping pics. All that mentioned, the 16 Professional is best, particularly if you happen to take your pictures with slightly extra intent.

The Professional ought to get higher battery life as properly, although it’s definitely not the longest-lasting smartphone we’ve examined. Apple charges it at as much as 27 hours of video playback, up from 22 hours with the usual iPhone 16, however each gadgets will possible want a top-up earlier than you go to mattress. The bottom mannequin’s battery is easier to replace, too, which is aggravating for Professional house owners given the upper worth. 

Apple could be very bluntly promoting every iPhone 16 on how properly they’ll work with its new , however you shouldn’t base any buying selections on these proper now. As of this writing, the methods embody a barely extra strong Siri, e-mail and notification summaries, and a function that may take away undesirable objects from pictures (very similar to Google’s ), . Extra options will arrive within the coming months. A few of these will be helpful at factors; different occasions… . Little about them will actually change the best way you utilize a smartphone immediately, and whether or not anybody wants assist writing a paragraph-long e-mail or studying a quick article is up for debate (to place it charitably). For now, it may be greatest to view Apple Intelligence as an intriguing first step towards a future that will or will not be realized down the highway.

Whereas we expect the iPhone 16 Professional is a good flagship, our subsequent choose ought to higher swimsuit those that don’t thoughts an even bigger machine and need a cellphone that may actually final all day.