The iPhone 16 Professional and 16 Professional Max are Apple’s new flagship smartphones, a minimum of till September 2025. On the surface, hardly something has modified: The design and show stay an identical to their predecessors, and there are additionally few to no adjustments by way of colours and titanium as a cloth.
Beneath the hood, nonetheless, issues are totally different: The iPhone 16 Professional gives some notable new options, notably on the subject of the processor. Sure, the iPhone has been outfitted with a brand new button as nicely. Is it price upgrading to the iPhone 16 Professional and for whom? Discover out in our evaluate.
Good
- Excessive-quality workmanship with extra sturdy materials
- Improved digital camera, particularly at night time
- Noticeably longer battery life
- Digicam Management button is absolutely enjoyable
- Highly effective A18 Professional chipset
Unhealthy
- No main adjustments in comparison with the iPhone 15 Professional
- No Glowtime with out Apple Intelligence
Apple iPhone 16 Professional: All offers
iPhone 16 Professional Design & Show: Strong Titanium, Elegant however Boring Colours
Should you had been to carry the iPhone 15 Professional and the iPhone 16 Professional underneath your nostril, you most likely would not be capable to inform the distinction at first look. It is a bit like an identical twins. You recognize they’re every totally different after spending a lot of time, though it may be very tough to inform at first.
Talking of “internal, invisible values”, Apple redesigned the chassis to optimize warmth dissipation. The aluminum construction on the within, along with a particular graphite coating, ensures as much as 20 % higher thermal efficiency, which is especially helpful for intensive duties similar to cellular gaming or extended use of the digital camera.
The machine can also be IP68-certified, which not solely ensures mud resistance, but in addition in a position to final for half-hour underwater at a depth of as much as 6 meters with out affected by any injury.
In any other case, Apple stays true to the profitable design of the iPhone Professional sequence of latest years. The design is angular with rounded corners, the body is fabricated from titanium, which isn’t solely very sturdy and scratch-resistant in comparison with different supplies, but in addition very gentle and appears rattling good. It is a disgrace that you just nearly all the time carry your iPhone in a protecting case.
Talking of protecting circumstances: In case you are the proud proprietor of an iPhone 15 Professional protecting case and are already wanting ahead to the truth that it would match as I used to be simply speaking about nearly an identical gadgets, I’m sorry to disappoint you. The size measuring 149.6 mm x 71.5 mm x 8.25 mm have elevated barely and can sadly forestall you from utilizing your outdated case.
The brand new mannequin just isn’t solely a tad bigger, however at 199 grams, additionally it is marginally heavier than earlier than. The bezels have shrunk, so the show space of the small Professional now measures 6.3-inch diagonally—whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max has a full 6.9-inch.
The show actually is a feast for the eyes. It has 460 ppi, excessive coloration constancy, and nice distinction. The 120 Hz refresh price ensures buttery clean scrolling. Because the brightness of the OLED show ranges from 1 nit to 2,000 nits, you may learn nicely each in shiny sunshine and underneath the comforter.
The again of the iPhone is fabricated from roughened glass and is coated with a cloth Apple calls “Ceramic Protect”. That is used each on the entrance of the show and on the again in an additional improved kind and makes the iPhone much more resistant than earlier than. Apple even claimed that is the “hardest glass of all smartphones” and is extraordinarily resistant to break from drops and scratches.
I do not actually wish to drop my iPhone on the ground or drag it throughout a sand-covered flooring. Nonetheless, even after a superb 4 weeks of use, the iPhone 16 Professional nonetheless seems like new.
What I discovered to be a pity is how a number of brighter colours would additionally look good on the Professional line. You possibly can at present select from Desert, Pure, White, and Black Titanium shades. Please—do not get me fallacious. The colours underline the minimalist but elegant look of the machine, however you would maybe be a bit bolder. In any other case, it is the identical as calling chinos “cheeky vogue”.
iPhone 16 Professional Efficiency
The guts of the iPhone 16 Professional is the brand new A18 Professional chip, which makes use of TSMC’s second-generation 3 nm course of. As traditional, this chip delivers extra highly effective CPU and GPU performances and is as soon as once more on the forefront of efficiency this 12 months.
The six-core CPU consists of two efficiency cores and 4 effectivity cores, and is touted to be as much as 15 % quicker than the A17 Professional. The effectivity cores are notably energy-efficient, so demanding duties may be carried out with out straining the battery an excessive amount of.
The brand new 16-core Neural Engine ensures that duties primarily based on machine studying and Apple Intelligence are executed even quicker. That is notably helpful for speech processing and picture modifying. In comparison with its predecessor, Apple has been in a position to enhance efficiency by as much as 15 %, which is especially noticeable in purposes similar to AI-supported photograph modifying.
For players, the six-core GPU with 2x quicker ray tracing offers an excellent smoother gaming expertise. Because of the optimized thermal structure, the machine stays pleasantly cool even throughout longer gaming periods. Total, the A18 Professional gives efficiency that may fulfill even probably the most demanding customers with out compromising battery life.
For the overwhelming majority of duties that a median person (like me) performs on daily basis, the iPhone 16 Professional is overpowered. That is very true as a result of Apple Intelligence just isn’t but obtainable.
Nonetheless, the producer has promised that Apple Intelligence will roll out to extra areas in 2025 in some unspecified time in the future. Within the worst-case situation, we can’t get the replace till we’re already holding the iPhone 17 in our palms.
Expressed in sober figures, the efficiency of the iPhone 16 Professional in comparison with its predecessor and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 as represented by the Galaxy S24 Extremely (evaluate) listed here are as follows:
| iPhone 16 Professional (Apple A18 Professional) |
iPhone 15 Professional (Apple A17 Professional) |
Galaxy S24 Extremely (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive Stress Check |
|
|
|
| 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay stress check |
|
|
|
| Geekbench |
|
|
|
In most benchmarks, Apple manages to tug forward of the competitors with its newest flagship chip. In fact, MediaTek has simply adopted go well with on this division and offered its high-end processor for 2025, which relies on the identical TSMC node as Apple’s A18 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit is going down subsequent week. Therefore, it stays an thrilling race within the chip enterprise.
For on a regular basis use particularly, nonetheless, this must be mentioned: Each the iPhone 16 Professional and its predecessor and direct opponents provide greater than sufficient efficiency for the overwhelming majority of duties and there’s hardly any efficiency distinction in actuality.
How Good Is the iPhone 16 Professional’s Digicam?
As with each successive iPhone technology not too long ago, the iPhone 16 Professional is on par with the Professional Max on the subject of the digital camera. This implies similar to the Professional Max, it now has 48 megapixels for the ultra-wide-angle lens, 48 megapixels for the principle digital camera, and 5x zoom with 12 megapixels. This makes the iPhone 16 Professional partly worse than the iPhone 15 Professional and partly higher, in fact.
Unsurprisingly, the iPhone 16 Professional delivers nice picture high quality that’s on par with the opposite present high smartphones from Google, Samsung, and Xiaomi.
In shiny daylight, photographs are razor-sharp, with stunning, largely correct, and nonetheless reasonable colours even when the development in the direction of “Instagram overcolor” has not utterly handed Apple by. With photographic types, you might have the choice to additional customise outcomes to your style and, for example, make the photographs seem a bit hotter or colder by default.
What’s noticeable in comparison with the iPhone 15 Professional is how the digital camera has improved considerably. The distinction is especially noticeable when photographing transferring objects in lower than good lighting circumstances.
As an illustration, a frolicking youngster in a room. With the iPhone 16 Professional, the possibility of capturing a pointy photograph is solely barely higher. However nonetheless, even in 2024, the mix of low gentle and motion stays a poisoned chalice for smartphone cameras.
Talking of low gentle circumstances: In the dead of night, it’s the routinely activated night time mode that delivers nice photographs. Nonetheless, you actually have to carry the handset utterly nonetheless right here: The publicity time is three seconds by default, and the outcomes, assuming you maintain your breath, are very spectacular. Even in poor lighting circumstances, Apple managed to seize first rate colours and good particulars within the photographs.
Now we come to the zoom and the generally poorer picture high quality than the iPhone 15 Professional. The distinction may be seen from the technical specs.
After Apple “extends” the telephoto digital camera within the iPhone 16 Professional from 3x to 5x, the iPhone 16 Professional nonetheless has to digitally zoom into the sensor of the principle digital camera earlier than switching to the 5x lens, and simply earlier than 5x, the place there’s lack of area. The iPhone 15 Professional, however, can already change to a devoted sensor at 3x.
Certainly, the distinction exhibits at instances. As you may see within the following photograph gallery, the iPhone 15 Professional has the sting in picture high quality between 3x and 5x. The distinction is most noticeable in low gentle circumstances. As an illustration, when you actually take many portraits on this focal size vary and picture high quality is necessary to you, then you definately may truly wish to think about the earlier iPhone technology. Choose for your self right here:
In fact, at magnification ranges above 5x, the iPhone 15 Professional runs out of steam in a direct comparability. What’s extra important to you right here? You possibly can learn extra concerning the variations in picture high quality between the 2 iPhone Professional generations in Stefan’s detailed article: iPhone 15 Professional vs. iPhone 16 Professional digital camera comparability.
Lastly, there’s the brand new button for Digicam Management. You need to use it to launch the digital camera app, take photographs and use swipe gestures to make numerous settings, together with publicity compensation or photographic types.
You actually must get used to the brand new management ingredient at first, however finally, I virtually use it to take photographs even when there’s an unintentional press right here and there. That is most likely the value you pay for the truth that the button is definitely reachable.
Longer Battery Life & Quicker Wi-fi Charging
Apple talked about the battery efficiency of its iPhones has improved considerably this 12 months. Because of the A18 Professional chip and optimized energy administration, the machine can simply final an entire day in a mixed-usage situation. It is a nice benefit, particularly when utilizing processor-intensive duties similar to gaming or video modifying.
MagSafe wi-fi charging has been elevated to 25 W, which fees the iPhone 16 Professional considerably quicker than its predecessors. Should you’re in a rush, you may cost the machine to 50 % inside half-hour utilizing the MagSafe charger.
It is a welcome enchancment for customers who are sometimes on the transfer. Sure, the competitors can do that a lot quicker. Nonetheless, Apple talked about in an interview that battery longevity was prioritized right here they usually had been taking a look at different metrics than simply quick charging.
Even when Apple doesn’t totally exploit the advantages of quick charging, the adjustments are noticeable. Relying in your utilization sample, you may go as much as two days and not using a cost.
iPhone 16 Professional Technical Specs
| 2024 Professional Mannequin | |
|---|---|
| Product | |
| Image | |
| Show |
|
| SoC | |
| Reminiscence | |
| OS | |
| Digicam |
|
| Selfie Digicam |
|
| Battery |
|
| Connectivity |
|
| IP Certification |
|
| Dimensions and weight |
|
Ought to You Purchase the iPhone 16 Professional?
“It is Glowtime”—that was Apple’s slogan for this 12 months’s iPhone occasion, which was additionally presupposed to be the beginning sign for the period of synthetic intelligence. It’s now clear that Apple will finally ship AI features to areas outdoors the US.
The shock that sure international locations in Europe weren’t included within the checklist of areas that might finally obtain Apple Intelligence was initially profound. Furthermore, I used to be extraordinarily skeptical as as to whether the iPhone 16 Professional may provide any added worth in comparison with final 12 months’s iPhone 15 Professional mannequin.
I used to be confirmed fallacious!
The worth of the iPhone has elevated as soon as once more in comparison with final 12 months. It feels nice, there are not any or hardly any fingerprints left behind on the titanium body. Because of Ceramic Protect, the iPhone 16 Professional can also be nicely protected towards any unintended drops or scratches.
The brand new Digicam Management button is rather more sensible than anticipated, and I used it to launch and function the digital camera. The facility of the A18 Professional chip additionally permits for some new video features, that are extremely sensible for individuals who shoot many movies in several environments.
The battery life has improved noticeably on this iteration. Should you really need most battery life, it is best to go for the iPhone 16 Professional Max. This mannequin beats all its opponents by way of battery life.
For my part, the iPhone 16 Professional is as soon as once more probably the greatest smartphones of the 12 months. Nonetheless, it’s at present lacking out on what might be an important operate: Apple Intelligence. Apple already talked about through the presentation that the iPhone 16 (Professional) was constructed for the brand new AI features. The truth that these options are lacking led to a half-star deduction within the score.
Anybody utilizing an older iPhone ought to think about an improve. House owners of an iPhone 15 Professional should weigh up whether or not the brand new options are well worth the value and whether or not the outdated digital camera is definitely higher for his or her wants.
The place to Purchase the iPhone 16 Professional
Should you’re trying to buy the iPhone 16 Professional, you might have a number of choices. It’s obtainable straight from Apple’s web site and retail shops, the place you may also reap the benefits of trade-in gives and financing plans.
Main carriers similar to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Cellular provide the iPhone 16 Professional with numerous contract choices and cost plans. Moreover, you will discover it at well-liked electronics retailers like Finest Purchase. Make sure to examine for promotions and reductions, particularly throughout vacation gross sales or provider offers.
The iPhone 16 Professional begins at $999 albeit with a measly 128 GB storage capability in 2024. From 256 GB upwards, issues begin to get enjoyable, and that is exactly the place the iPhone 16 Professional Max begins.
Comparability of iPhone 16 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional Max costs and colours
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | iPhone 16 Professional | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 TB | $1,599 | $1,499 |
| 512 GB | $1,399 | $1,299 |
| 256 GB | $1,199 | $1,099 |
| 128 GB | ❌ | $999 |
| Colours | Pure Titanium Black Titanium White Titanium Desert Titanium |
Pure Titanium Black Titanium White Titanium Desert Titanium |
