Apple unveiled its latest smartphone lineup at its 2024 iPhone 16 launch event on Monday, with four new models set to launch soon: the iPhone 16, the larger iPhone 16 Plus, the high-end iPhone 16 Pro, and its sibling the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Last year, the most notable design change was the adoption of a USB-C charging port. This year, all four phones will have a new multifunction capacitive button on the side. The other big news is that under the hood, the A18 and A18 Pro chips are designed to handle all upcoming Apple Intelligence features, including the just-announced Visual Intelligence.
Our local team in Cupertino also had a chance to get their hands on the device, and after a thorough review, we’ll let you know exactly what we think of Apple’s latest smartphone and its features. But if you’re already keen to get your hands on the new iPhone 16 as soon as possible, pre-orders will open on Friday ahead of the September 20th ship date.
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After last year’s big update, I wasn’t expecting any major changes to the design of Apple’s standard smartphone, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The iPhone 16 comes with a more powerful A18 chip, which Apple says has performance comparable to that of a desktop computer. The chip helps power Apple Intelligence features like onboard private cloud computing, auto-generated emoji, Image Playground, and updated photo search, which will start rolling out next month. Apple also highlighted how the new chip is better for gaming on the iPhone.
Base model iPhones often carry over features that were previously only available on Pro models (such as the adoption of Dynamic Islands last year), and Apple is giving the iPhone 16 the Action button introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro, which replaces the mute switch and can handle a variety of functions, like taking a photo or starting a voice memo, depending on what you specify in the settings.
There’s also a new capacitive, pressure-sensitive button on the side called “Camera Control,” but this isn’t just for launching the camera, taking pictures, or adjusting settings; it’s also apparently a key part of Apple’s new Visual Intelligence features coming later this year.
The screen size is 6.1 inches on the standard iPhone 16 and 6.7 inches on the iPhone 16 Plus. The Super Retina XDR display is the same as last year’s model, but it’s covered in a new glass-ceramic screen that Apple claims is 50 percent tougher than before.
The cameras are oriented a little differently this time, stacked vertically (rather than diagonally) to support spatial video recording for integration with Vision Pro headsets, there’s a 48MP main lens and a 12MP telephoto lens, and the battery is bigger too.
The new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in black and white, along with new ultramarine, teal and pink colors. Pricing starts at $799 for the standard model and $899 for the Plus. The new devices will be available to preorder directly from Apple starting on Friday, with shipments starting on September 20.
$799 at Apple
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The iPhone 16 Pro appears to be geared towards creators, with more cinematic video and audio capabilities, and it also looks a bit different than its predecessor, thanks to its larger screen: 6.3 inches for the Pro and 6.9 inches for the Pro Max, both of which are 0.2 inches larger than last year, making them the largest displays ever on an iPhone.
The new Pro models will come with a new A18 Pro chip with a 16-core Neural Engine that will speed up Apple Intelligence processing — in fact, Apple is calling it the fastest chip in a smartphone.
The side also features a new button, the Camera Control, that’s the same as the standard iPhone 16. This button lets you focus with a light press, and take a photo like a standalone camera with a full press. This capacitive button also lets you swipe to change modes and handles Apple’s upcoming Visual Intelligence features.
Taking advantage of this new button are upgraded lenses. The iPhone 16 Pro has a new 48MP selfie camera on the front and three cameras on the back: a 48MP fusion camera, a 48MP ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera with up to 5x optical zoom. It can shoot video in 4K at 120fps and can shoot in slow motion. It also has four studio-quality microphones for spatial audio capture and overall “cinematic” audio. A new Voice Memos feature lets you record additional tracks to existing notes.
All iPhone 16 models also support Qi2 charging.
The new Pro models will come in four colors, including a new Desert Titanium color and last year’s three Titanium colors. Pricing will start at $999 for the iPhone 16 Pro and $1,199 for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Preorders will begin on Friday, with the phones in stores on September 20.
$999 at Apple
Apple also announced the AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10, both of which are available to preorder now and, like the new iPhones, will ship on September 20th.
Catch up on all the latest news from Apple’s iPhone 16 event!
