Why you should choose iPhone 16 or 16 Plus over iPhone 16 Pro [Review]

I’d like to save you between $200 and $400. It’s easy: Don’t assume you must buy an iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max to get an excellent handset. The more-affordable iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are both brilliant.

Traditionally, customers choose the basic iPhone because they’re willing to forgo cutting-edge features to get a cheaper device. But the gap between iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus versus the Pro versions proves quite narrow. My time reviewing Apple’s latest iPhones shows that if you go with a “regular” iPhone this year, you will give up less than you think in exchange for significant savings.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus review

The iPhone 16 series is actually made up of two product lines: the basics and the Pros. Apple reserves the most advanced features for the Pro models, of course. And that practice continues with its latest handsets.

That said, the differences are less dramatic this year. Performance is nearly identical for the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Pro. The Action button and new Camera Control come in all four handsets. And you can expect great cameras and all-day battery life no matter which device you buy.

To be clear, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max offer nicer-looking displays and significantly better cameras. But my goal is to get you to consider not paying up to $400 more for additional features if you won’t actually care much about them once you start using the handset.

Table of contents: iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus review

• Design and display: Mostly unchanged
• Camera Control and Action button
• iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus cameras
• Nearly Pro-class performance
• Apple dips into artificial intelligence
• Wireless performance
• All-day battery
• Don’t forget USB-C
• iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus final thoughts
• Pricing

Design and display: Mostly unchanged

Apple doesn’t change the design of iPhones much these days because we customers don’t want change. The basic design of an iPhone works year after year, and Apple sticks with it.

That’s why iPhone 16 looks much like its predecessors … at first glance, anyway. It’s essentially a metal casing wrapped around a 6.1-inch display. iPhone 16 Plus brings a bigger 6.7-inch screen. Those are the same sizes as last year.

Getting the larger screen requires carrying the bigger device (duh), but it’s a tradeoff well worth it. The 6.7-inch display makes seeing email, websites, games, videos and everything else easier. And it comes with a bigger battery … but more on that in a bit.

Just be aware that the two basic iPhone 16 models still come with 60Hz displays rather than the 120Hz ProMotion panels of the Pro versions. Whether that matters is a topic open for debate. While I can see a difference between a 60Hz iPhone screen and my 120Hz iPad screen, it’s only obvious when I put them side-by-side. It does not affect my day-to-day use of the iPhone. I understand that the lower refresh rate of 60Hz bothers some people, but I can’t agree that everyone has to have a 120Hz display. Especially when getting it costs an extra $200 or more.

Note that ProMotion is required for an always-on display, so the two basic iPhone 16 versions don’t offer this feature.

Camera Control and Action button

Although the general designs and displays did not change for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, the 2024 phones bring a couple of notable improvements. Apple added the Camera Control and brought the Action button over from the iPhone 15 Pro series.

There’s no better example of the minimal gap between the basic and Pro models this year than the Camera Control. Apple typically would reserve this sort of addition to the design for its Pro models, but it comes in all four iPhone 16 versions.

What does the Camera Control do? Press this new button on the right edge of the handset once and the Camera application opens. Then you can press it again to take a picture. Press it and hold to start recording a video. Or press and hold and move your finger to zoom in or out. Double-press and hold to switch to other camera settings.

Camera Control takes some getting used to

If it’s not obvious, using the Camera Control takes some practice. And be careful: You can muck up your picture if you don’t pay attention. Move your finger too much and you’ll inadvertently zoom out or even start changing the Camera app’s Style or Tone settings.

Also, the Camera Control sits exactly where I hold my iPhone. Occasionally, I accidentally press it when I’m doing something else, causing the Camera app to open and get in my way. If this happens to you, you can change an option in Settings to require a double tap on the Camera Control to open the app. Alternatively, you can set the new capacitive button to do nothing. It’s possible I’ll eventually end up choosing that latter option. All in all, Camera Control can be a nice addition, but as a “point and shoot” type of guy, I have mixed feelings about it.

The Action button is trickle-down tech from iPhone 15 Pro

But there’s another important iPhone 16 design change. The Action Button that first appeared in the iPhone 15 Pro models makes its way to the entire iPhone 16 series, pushing the Ring/Silent switch into the dustbin of history. You can set the Action button to toggle between ring and silent modes, but that’s only the start.

If you prefer, you can use this customizable button to turn on the Flashlight or open the Magnifier. Perhaps you want it to open the Voice Memos app instead. I went semi-old-school and set it to toggle Do Not Disturb. For more options — and there are a lot of them — read the Cult of Mac guide on super-cool things you can do with the iPhone Action button.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus review: Cameras

Every year, cameras stand out as one of the ways Apple differentiates its premier models from the two more basic ones, and that carries through with the iPhone 16 lineup. But here’s an often-overlooked truth: Paying more gets you better hardware, but it doesn’t automatically get you better photos. If your method of taking pictures is “point the camera at the subject and press the button,” then paying $200 to $400 extra for a Pro model is probably a waste. While the cameras in the iPhone 16 Pro models give you more options, the more affordable models still take great pictures.

Take a look at this picture of my cat. It’s adorable, and everything I want in a casual photo. But if you look at it and think that investing in better equipment could somehow make that picture better, you might be a candidate for an iPhone 16 Pro.  I don’t see the need because all I want is a cute photo of my pet. And the iPhone 16 delivered.

2x optical zoom on iPhone 16 and 16 Plus

In case I haven’t said it often enough, the cameras in the iPhone 16 Pro variants offer real advantages. The one I think typical people most likely will use is the 5X optical zoom. The cameras in the two standard iPhone 16 models top out at 2X optical zoom. Digital zoom just makes the pixels in your image larger, while optical zoom actually gets you a nicer-looking picture. As demonstrated above, the iPhone 16 camera handles this well, within its limits. But not as well as a Pro.

Macro photos for the ultimate close-ups

An upgrade to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus camera adds macro support. That means you can take pictures of small objects very, very close-up. You might not take a lot of these, but it’s fun. Incidentally, the feature uses the Ultra Wide camera, helping to justify its existence in these budget models.

A fine example of the differences between the cameras in the Pro and non-Pro iPhone 16 variants is how well they handle taking pics of moving objects in dim lighting. The Pro and Pro Max do this better … but how often do you take pictures of moving objects in the dark? And is that capability worth at least $200?

I briefly mentioned Photographic Styles earlier. Apple is pushing this feature in the iPhone 16 series. When you take a pic, you can choose from Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm or Cool, and switch between these with the Camera Control. It’s like applying a filter before you take your picture rather than afterward.

Photographic Styles work on all models in the iPhone 16 lineup, and I bring up the feature because Apple thinks it’s a big deal. If you’re equally excited, that could be a sign that you should opt for an iPhone Pro instead.

Nearly Pro-class performance

Last year’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus used an A16 processor, but Apple jumped up two generations for its latest budget models to the A18. Some people argue that iPhone processor speed is irrelevant — they’re already more than fast enough at most tasks — but performance matters down the road. You expect the chip to easily handle iOS 18, but you need it to be up to iOS 23, too.

And the A18 should be up to the job, as it delivers a significant increase in performance over the A16. In my tests, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus score about 8,000 on the Geekbench 6 test, which is designed to judge the overall performance of a device. For comparison, the iPhone 15 scores around 6,350 on that same test, so the improvement is roughly 26%. The iPhone 16 even performs considerably better than an iPhone 15 Pro.

And this is another area where the difference between the basic iPhone 16 and the Pro is minimal. The A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro models scores about 8,320 on Geekbench 6, so they’re a mere 4% faster than the latest standard variants.

To get all technical, the A18 chip in the basic models uses a six-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores. It also includes a five-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. The A18 Pro adds a single GPU core but is otherwise apparently the same, which likely explains why the performance difference is minimal.

Finally, the iPhone 16 comes with more RAM than earlier models: 8GB versus 6GB. That equals the Pro versions and boosts the overall performance.

Apple dips into artificial intelligence

The main reason iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus got Apple’s latest and greatest processor and more RAM is so they could better handle Apple Intelligence. The company’s new AI features run mostly on-device and therefore prove demanding from a processor perspective.

You might know that if you buy one of the new iPhone 16 handsets before mid-October, they won’t come with Apple Intelligence features. Those will begin to arrive soon in a series of iOS upgrades. I’m testing the beta version of iOS 18.1 for this iPhone 16 review because I know one of the reasons many of you are considering the newest model is to start using these features.

Photos app’s new Clean Up feature

As you can see above, the new AI-powered Clean Up feature in the Photos app did a fine job of erasing a treat from a picture of Louis the dachshund. Other image editors like Google’s Magic Eraser have offered similar features for years (often called something similar). Still, it’s nice that it will be baked into Apple’s free Photos app.

Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in iOS 18.1 beta

I also appreciate Writing Tools. These Apple Intelligence tools can proofread content — recommending adding or removing commas, checking that you used the correct verb tense, etc. If you use Grammarly, this surely sounds familiar. But again, it’s nice that this feature will be free for iPhone users.

Apple Intelligence also can change the tone of a message. It can, for example, turn, “Give me my money or there’s gonna be trouble” into “Refrain from withholding payment, as it may result in adverse consequences.” That’s a deliberately ridiculous example, but it demos the potential.

Apple’s Voice Memos can generate text transcripts thanks to Apple Intelligence — very handy for meetings.

Note that some Apple Intelligence features aren’t even in beta testing yet. Genmoji, the Image Playground app and more won’t arrive until later in the year or 2025. But as for the AI features now beta, I’m impressed. They worked well, even on Apple’s new standard iPhone 16 models. And remember: These features run on the handset, so nothing gets uploaded to a server for processing.

Wireless performance

The pricier iPhone 16 Pro versions use a Qualcomm X75 modem, but the regular 16 and 16 Plus have, as best I can tell, the X70. Apple doesn’t reveal which wireless chips it puts in its phones, but the internet agrees with me that the iPhone 16 brings no improvement in 5G speeds over the iPhone 15 Plus. 5G performance is already good, though it mostly depends on your wireless carrier and how far you are from a cellular tower. There’s only so much Apple can do.

In the same vein, the whole iPhone 16 series supports Wi-Fi 7. This requires a new wireless router to take advantage of, but that should have been on your shopping list all year. Earlier versions used the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Version 6E expanded to the 6 GHz band, and Wi-Fi 7 makes better use of the new band.

All-day battery

The iPhone 16 series continues Apple’s tradition of lengthy battery life. Not surprising, as they all pack larger batteries than their predecessors. Plus, the A18 chip shines as Apple’s most efficient smartphone processor yet.

I chose iPhone 16 Plus because its larger screen makes room for a big battery. In my tests, about six hours with the screen on drains the battery roughly 50% in ordinary usage — email, web, videos, games, ebooks, etc. That means that, unless you are a crazy-heavy iPhone user, you can expect the battery on this iOS device to last more than a full day without needing a recharge. That’s how it worked out for me.

Apple increased the maximum recharge speed, though the company kept that info on the down-low. It only mentioned 20W charging, but my iPhone 16 Plus goes up to 28W when I use the USB-C port. With this setup, I confirmed Apple’s promise that half an hour plugged in gets a 50% charge.

Plus, a new MagSafe puck from Apple supports charging at 25W on the iPhone 16 models. In my test, actually went up to 29W. Apple’s original charging puck topped out at 18W, so I’m quite impressed with the new model.

But that whole business about 45W charging? It doesn’t apply to my iPhone 16 Plus.

Don’t forget USB-C

New buttons aren’t the only design changes. If you haven’t upgraded in a couple of years, the iPhone 16 will be your first Apple handset with USB-C. This is a very positive change, because Lightning long ago became the inferior option. If nothing else, it means you can juice up your iPhone with your MacBook charging cable. Plus, you can easily connect external drives, monitors and more to your phone.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus final thoughts

I hope I’ve been able to give you some guidance on whether you should choose an iPhone 16, an iPhone 16 Plus or to go with one of the more expensive Pro models. It really comes down to whether you need/want the high-end camera features of the more Pro variants, or demand a 120Hz display. If not, save yourself between $200 and $400 by getting one of the more affordable models.

And I’m impressed enough with the AI capabilities in the iPhone 16 that you might even consider upgrading from its immediate predecessor — something that’s almost never true. If you stick with your iPhone 15, you’ll never get Apple Intelligence. Just something to think about.

★★★★★

Pricing

Apple ignored inflation on most of its models, with no price increases over the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. That puts the U.S. base prices at:

• iPhone 16: $799
• iPhone 16 Plus: $899
• iPhone 16 Pro: $999
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: $1,199

I put the prices for the Pro models in to remind you about the whole “save up to $400” thing. And whichever you choose, the wait is over. You can order Apple’s 2024 handsets today.

Buy from: Apple

Apple did not provide Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.