The 2024 iPhone lineup poses a number of the ordinary challenges in selecting the correct mannequin for your self. One of many extra apparent dilemmas, we reckon, is between the vanilla iPhone 16 and the small-size Professional model. Positive, the iPhone 16 Professional is a extra succesful package deal, however do you really want all of its Professional-ness and is not the plain 16 really better-suited for some people because of its extra pocket-friendly (in multiple means) attributes?
Let’s look into it.
Desk of Contents:
For starters, you may evaluate the whole specs sheets or immediately proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the textual content under.
Dimension comparability
The iPhone 16 takes a serious victory within the very first chapter of our comparability – it is virtually 30g lighter than its extra esteemed stablemate. Whereas they’re kind of the identical dimension (the Professional is 2mm taller and 0.5mm thicker – virtually negligible variations), the 2 telephones differ considerably of their weight and the plain 16 is tangibly lighter and extra comfy to make use of with one hand. After all, the 16 Professional feels dense – there is a type of a premium impression to its heft packed in a comparatively compact physique, however the web result’s a extra enjoyable in-hand expertise with the iPhone 16 than what you’d get out of the Professional.
The Professional mannequin’s body is made from a titanium alloy, whereas the common 16 makes use of aluminum. So the Professional simply could be higher geared up to face up to bumps and knocks. However, in response to the newest knowledge, each apparently use the identical third-gen Ceramic Protect on the entrance, so maybe scratch and shatter resistance needs to be on par.
One other factor that each needs to be equally good at is surviving a dunk in (contemporary) water – they’re each rated for as much as half-hour right down to 6m underwater.
Show comparability
The burden distinction will be at the least partially attributed to the iPhone 16’s barely smaller show – it goes hand in hand with the thicker bezels in what’s kind of the identical footprint. The 6.1″ vs. 6.3″ diagonal would not make a major affect on operation, however there’s one other nuance which may be extra necessary – refresh fee. Apple remains to be conserving the non-Professional fashions at 60Hz, and we really feel like that is unacceptable in 2024, a lot much less on the iPhone 16’s worth level. That mentioned, for those who’re one who would not see or care about excessive refresh fee, the 120Hz 16 Professional panel could also be wasted on you.
Exterior of dimension, refresh fee and bezels, the 2 shows are very a lot on par. They each stand at 460ppi pixel density, with the general variety of pixels decided by the diagonal, they usually each will max out at 900nits on the slider and twice that in auto brightness mode. You get HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient help on each, too.
Battery life
Apple has handled the complete 2024 lineup to a battery capability enhance, with the 16 Professional getting essentially the most important bump (by 9.4%) to three,582mAh. The common 16’s cell acquired nudged 6.3% to an basically equivalent 3,561mAh.
In our testing, we acquired significant enhancements in battery life on each telephones when evaluating with the respective fashions from the earlier era. That mentioned, the iPhone 16 had an edge over its Professional counterpart in all exams – not an enormous distinction, however it might probably add up.
Charging pace
Charging energy scores and speeds are a little bit of a grey space within the Apple world, with the official specs stating one thing to the tune of ‘as much as 50% cost in half-hour with 20W adapter’ on just about all current fashions. We examined with beefier chargers and acquired to the excessive 50s in half-hour on each telephones, with a full cost taking roughly 1:40h. The half-hour result’s half-decent, however the full cost time is fairly gradual. Both means, nothing to separate the 2 fashions right here.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Professional each help wi-fi charging, maxing out at 15W with generic Qi2 pads, or 25W with proprietary MagSafe pucks (plugged into 30W+ adapters).
Speaker take a look at
Each iPhones function hybrid stereo speaker setups with one driver on the underside, and one other one up prime that additionally doubles as an earpiece.
Unusually sufficient, the iPhone 16 was a bit louder in our testing and earned a ‘Very Good’ ranking for loudness, subsequent to a merely ‘Good’ iPhone 16 Professional. Each sound fairly good although, so going non-Professional will not be a downgrade.
Efficiency
The iPhone 16 options the Apple A18 chipset – a two-gen leap in computing tech in comparison with the iPhone 15 – it is a second-gen 3nm chip that’s each extra highly effective and extra environment friendly. The 16 Professional, alternatively, makes use of the A18 Professional – additionally a 3nm chip.
Each SoCs function six-core CPUs, whereas GPUs are completely different even on the floor – 5 cores on the A18, 6 on the A18 Professional. A extra in-depth look reveals they not solely differ in clock speeds, but in addition that their designs are fairly completely different, despite the fact that each are made by TSMC.
Each fashions have 8GB of RAM in all variations, whereas storage begins at 128GB and maxes out at 512GB on the vanilla mannequin or twice that on the Professional.
Benchmark efficiency
The Professional does have a bonus in benchmarks, but it surely’s not an enormous distinction in CPU efficiency – lower than 5% within the GeekBench multi-core take a look at and negligible within the single-core one. The GPU outcomes have a wider margin – to the tune of 14%, but it surely’s not just like the vanilla 16 might be conserving you ready.
Digicam comparability
The digicam is likely one of the main variations between the 2 fashions and a key deciding issue on this battle – the Professional has an additional digicam and a wider-ranging set of capabilities for each picture and video seize.
The plain mannequin will do alright at as much as 2x zoom, the place the Professional nonetheless typically has a minor edge, however from then on, it is the Professional’s devoted 5x zoom digicam that sees no opposition from the iPhone 16.
You’ll be able to simply see that discrepancy within the variety of cameras on the telephones’ backs, however there’s extra to it. The vanilla 16 would not have the Professional options, just like the JPEG-XL stills format, or 4K120 video seize functionality, or the ProRes choice.
That mentioned, each the 16 and 16 Professional have the quad-mic spatial audio seize functionality, so not every little thing is a Professional-exclusive.
Equally, each telephones do have the all-new Digicam Management, so the vanilla mannequin is not handicapped on this respect both – you can tweak settings and use it as a shortcut and shutter launch simply as effectively on each fashions.
Picture high quality
The photographs from the primary cameras would possibly as effectively have been taken on the identical telephone – they’re that related by way of dynamic vary, shade, element, and general look. When wanting up shut, the Professional is a bit grainier – a minor, if inconsequential, win for the 16.
iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, predominant digicam, 1x
iPhone 16 daylight picture samples, predominant digicam, 1x
At 2x, the outcomes are additionally very related and if that is the place your zoom pursuits finish, the iPhone 16 is nearly as good because the 16 Professional.
iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, predominant digicam, 2x
iPhone 16 daylight picture samples, predominant digicam, 2x
However the factor is, the iPhone 16 Professional has one other digicam. The 5x telephoto will get you numerous nearer to the motion, and does so at a properly top quality too. The iPhone 16 cannot compete at this degree.
iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, telephoto digicam, 5x
On the different finish of the zoom vary is the place the ultrawide cameras are and right here the 16 marks a generational step ahead because of the added AF functionality. The Professional has an improve of its personal, a 48MP Quad Bayer sensor changing the traditional one of many outdated mannequin (the setup that the 16 has been upgraded to), however sensor sizes are the identical between the 2 fashions.
Picture high quality is as soon as once more a toss-up regardless of the distinction in {hardware}. For those who stare lengthy and laborious sufficient, you could be satisfied that the Professional is that little bit sharper and likewise marginally grainier, but it surely’s actually not a bonus that’s an precise benefit.
iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, ultrawide digicam, 0.5x
iPhone 16 daylight picture samples, ultrawide digicam, 0.5x
The front-facing cameras are the identical on the 16 and 16 Professional (additionally the opposite 16s and the 15s too, and perhaps even the 14s). So you may rely on the identical selfies from each telephones, they usually’re some glorious selfies, too.
Selfie samples: iPhone 16 Professional • iPhone 16
After darkish, you’d count on some extra pronounced variations within the captured photographs, with the Professional mannequin’s bigger predominant digicam sensor doubtlessly with the ability to collect extra gentle. In follow, there’s but extra parity. Fundamental digicam photographs at 1x are basically the identical, they usually’re all glorious.
iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, predominant digicam, 1x
iPhone 16 low-light picture samples, predominant digicam, 1x
At 2x, the Professional might have the slightest of benefits in sharpness and element in some scenes, but it surely’s not constant or important sufficient to make an actual distinction – the vanilla mannequin is nice sufficient.
iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, predominant digicam, 2x
iPhone 16 low-light picture samples, predominant digicam, 2x
As soon as once more, we’re at 5x, which is the true differentiator – the iPhone 16 Professional’s telephoto does rather well at the hours of darkness, and the iPhone 16 higher not go there.
iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, telephoto digicam, 5x
iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, ultrawide digicam, 0.5x
iPhone 16 low-light picture samples, ultrawide digicam, 0.5x
Video high quality
The iPhone 16 is proscribed in its video modes, with no 4K120 choice (no 4K100 in PAL land both), and no Professional codecs. Video high quality within the mainstream 4K30 mode is considerably completely different between the 2, with the vanilla mannequin being noticeably softer at 0.5x and solely barely softer at 1x and 2x. As soon as once more, the Professional’s 5x zoom is a serious benefit.
iPhone 16 Professional daylight video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 5x
At evening, there’s basically no distinction in video high quality – a testomony to how good the vanilla mannequin will be. The 1x footage is superb, the 2x zoom and the ultrawide clips are alright. The Professional’s telephoto struggles at evening, however at the least it is there and you may in all probability discover a scene that is lit effectively sufficient to utilize it.
iPhone 16 daylight video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x
iPhone 16 Professional low-light video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 5x
iPhone 16 low-light video samples: 0.5x • 1x • 2x
Verdict
Quite a lot of the information above you may have gathered from the specs, with the remaining accessible within the respective evaluations for side-by-side comparisons. Nonetheless, we felt the necessity to have it multi functional simply accessible location right here – for fast dilemma resolutions.
With that in thoughts, the iPhone 16 Professional stays the extra completely succesful package deal of the pair. It gives a superior high-refresh-rate show in an much more upmarket titanium-clad physique. It is also acquired a extra versatile digicam system with a telephoto module and additional software program options. The Professional is, then, the higher choice for these seeking to get extra artistic with the digicam.
The iPhone 16, subsequent to the Professional, is a extra fundamental package deal, that does not go into such digicam depths (does nonetheless have the Digicam Management), and skimps on the excessive refresh fee. You will not be sacrificing show brightness, although, and the water resistance is identical at 6m/30min, plus the battery life is presumably considerably higher even. And on prime of that, the 16’s predominant benefits are its decrease weight, and the quantity on the checkout web page on Apple.com.
- The bigger display with 120Hz refresh fee and AoD.
- The additional zoom attain of the 5x telephoto digicam.
- The Professional choices for image taking and video recording.
- The titanium construct.
- The smoothness of the excessive refresh fee show.
Get the Apple iPhone 16 Professional for:
- The longer battery life.
- The tangibly decrease weight.
- The lower cost.
- The largely equivalent person expertise.
Get the Apple iPhone 16 for:
