iPhone 16 Professional vs. iPhone 15 Professional

The 2024 technology of Professional iPhones brings largely minor adjustments – refinement and fine-tuning. That features an excellent wider vary of digital camera capabilities, a brand new button (presumably within the digital camera class, but in addition form of its personal factor), design tweaks, a tiny bit bigger show, a small battery capability improve. However the 16 Professional specifically can nearly declare to have launched a extra principal {hardware} improve – the 5x telephoto digital camera of the Maxes replaces the 3x unit of the 15 Professional.

So for those who had to decide on now, do you have to be getting the brand new 16 Professional, or perhaps save a buck and observe down the final inventory of the iPhone 15 Professional? Let’s learn the way they stack up.

Desk of Contents:

For starters, you possibly can examine the entire specs sheets or instantly proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.

Dimension comparability

Each sizes of Execs have gotten just a little bigger this 12 months, and the 16 Professional has grown by about 3mm in top and a millimeter in width. It is at all times been questionable calling the non-Max ‘compact’, and with this 12 months’s dimension improve, small as it might be, the telephone is not precisely setting the usual for pocketability. The almost 200-gram weight is not serving to both.

The purpose we’re making an attempt to make is that the lineup is deviating from the idea of compactness and if that is what you are after, maybe the 15 Professional stays a more sensible choice. Not that it is ‘small’, strictly talking, it is simply that the 16 Professional is even bigger and heavier. In fact, the entire thing about iPhones’ heft leaving a sense of premium density remains to be arguably true, however emotions are subjective and weight and dimensions are absolute.

The 2 telephones share kind of the identical construct, with titanium changing aluminum for the body final 12 months and the brand new 16 Professional adopting it too.

The brand new mannequin does characteristic a subsequent technology Ceramic Protect show glass, so it simply may be that additional bit extra sturdy in opposition to scratches and shattering.

Both method, you will be getting Apple’s overachieving tackle the IP68 score – as much as half-hour right down to as deep as 6m underwater (the usual requires 1.5m).

The 2 fashions share 3 of the 4 colorways and also you may be saddened to not be capable of get a Blue Titanium 16 Professional – you will need to look again to the 15 Professional for that, the brand new technology having substituted it with ‘Desert’ Titanium.

Show comparability

One of many extra apparent specs adjustments on the 16 Professional is the show dimension – 6.3 inches in diagonal vs. the 15 Professional’s 6.1 inches. It is a small 5-ish % improve in space (relying on if and the way you account for the rounded corners and the entrance digital camera tablet) so it is not a dramatic change, and it is in all probability a bit extra noticeable how the bezels have been slimmed down.

Apart from that, the show expertise stays largely unchanged. Brightness maxes out at round 1,800nits in auto, whereas the 900nits vs. 845nits (16 Professional vs. 15 Professional) we have measured in guide mode is just not a distinction you will discover. The Tremendous Retina 460ppi density is maintained, the 120Hz ProMotion feels good and clean, the HDR implementation can be among the many greatest ones.

Battery life

The iPhone 16 Professional is powered by a 3,582mAh battery – the just about 10% improve over the 15 Professional’s capability being the largest 12 months on 12 months improve among the many iPhone 16s. In our testing, it didn’t end in battery life enhancements throughout the board – video playback and gaming check outcomes had been primarily the identical. That mentioned, we did get notable will increase in net shopping and name occasions – maybe not sufficiently big to make a giant deal out of it, however a welcome growth nonetheless.

Charging pace

We’re not precisely followers of Apple’s strategy to charging and if speedy last-minute top-ups are your factor, maybe that is the mistaken model to be taking a look at. Each telephones are ‘specced’ to have the ability to get from flat to 50% in half-hour with a 20W charger, which is on the similar time obscure and never anyplace near spectacular.

That mentioned, the small Execs do are usually among the many faster-charging iPhones and we did get cheap outcomes from each for the primary half hour of being plugged in. It nonetheless takes too lengthy to get to 100%, however that is simply Apple’s methods.

The iPhone 16 Professional and 15 Professional each help wi-fi charging, maxing out at 15W with generic Qi2 pads. Should you’re utilizing a MagSafe charger, you can stand up to 25W on the 16 Professional (if the MagSafe thingie is plugged right into a 30W+ adapter) and solely 15W on the 15 Professional in order that’s one thing of a distinction.

Speaker check

The speaker setups of the 2 telephones are the identical – Apple’s typical hybrid stereo association has the earpiece doubling as a speaker, and the opposite speaker is on the backside of the telephone.

In our testing, each telephones earned the identical ‘Good’ mark for loudness they usually additionally sound similar – each are fairly nice.

Efficiency

The iPhone 16 Professional employs probably the most highly effective Apple chipset in a telephone to this present day – the A18 Professional. It has a six-core CPU, and a six-core GPU – the identical configuration, in precept, because the A17 Professional within the iPhone 15 Professional, although the clock speeds are larger on the brand new chip. Each telephones have 8GB of RAM in all variations, and storage tiers begin at 128GB and max out at 1TB.

Benchmark efficiency

In benchmarks, the 16 Professional does ship a significant enchancment in scores – 15-ish % larger CPU outcomes, 20% larger GPU numbers. So in essence, the 15 Professional might be simply fast sufficient for years to come back, however the 16 Professional is quicker now, and might be quick for just a little longer.

Digital camera comparability

As generational developments go on this comparability, maybe it is the digital camera part that sees probably the most adjustments. The 16 Professional will get a 5x zoom rather than the 3x unit of the earlier mannequin and the ultrawide substitutes the traditional 12MP sensor for a Quad Bayer-type 48MP (of the identical total dimension, although). Then there’s additionally the brand new Digital camera Management key for tweaking settings although its most important benefit, we reckon, is relieving the Motion key from digital camera shortcut responsibility and releasing it for different stuff.

Then there are some much less seen enhancements, however for those who’ve been ready for them, you will know and respect they’re there. These embody the 4K120 video recording mode (and 4K100 for those who abide by the PAL guidelines), the quad-mic spatial audio recording, and the JPEG XL possibility for nonetheless (for people who wish to be on the forefront of file codecs). Some people may additionally respect the added ‘Tone’ setting for tweaking the HDR conduct that the previous mannequin would not appear to get.

Picture high quality

The variations between photographs taken on the principle cameras are someplace between non-existent and minimal. After which for those who do occur to see some, they might simply as effectively come right down to shot-to-shot variation, moderately than true adjustments in processing. The 2x outcomes are equally unchanged.

iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, 1x

iPhone 15 Professional daylight picture samples, 1x

iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, 2x

iPhone 15 Professional daylight picture samples, 2x

Should you occur to love the 70-ish millimeter equal focal size, then the iPhone 15 Professional will serve you a large number higher because of having a digital camera that sits optically at that 3x mark – a moderately apparent commentary that is nonetheless price stating, we expect.

iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, 3x digital

iPhone 15 Professional daylight picture samples, 3x optical

Then again, on the 5x zoom degree, the place the 16 Professional ought to in all probability fare quite a bit higher, the distinction is not anyplace as pronounced. In truth, we would be completely proud of the 15 Professional’s 5x photographs, and would not essentially name the 16 Professional’s outcomes universally higher. The one minor drawback is the truth that you aren’t getting a 5x shortcut within the viewfinder – an analogous tap-to-change possibility just like the one on the principle digital camera for biking between 24-28-35mm can be good, however we in some way do not see that taking place.

iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, 5x optical

iPhone 15 Professional daylight picture samples, 5x digital

Shifting on to the ultrawide cameras, you would be forgiven to doubt there’s been a change in {hardware} – the pictures are kind of similar between the 2 telephones.

iPhone 16 Professional daylight picture samples, 0.5x

iPhone 15 Professional daylight picture samples, 0.5x

The selfie digital camera {hardware} hasn’t modified, however there do look like small variations in rendition between the 2 telephones.

Selfie samples: iPhone 16 Professional • iPhone 15 Professional

At nighttime, each iPhones take glorious photographs with their predominant cameras. Once more, there’s not quite a bit to separate the 2, although – the photographs can simply as effectively have been taken on the identical telephone. Identical factor at at 2x.

iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, 1x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light picture samples, 1x

iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, 2x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light picture samples, 2x

At 3x zoom at night time, the 15 Professional retains the benefit it had within the day and you would be getting sharper and higher detailed photographs from it. At 5x, the 16 Professional has a little bit of an edge, but it surely’s not a dramatic distinction.

iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, 3x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light picture samples, 3x

iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, 5x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light picture samples, 5x

Evaluating the ultrawides, there’s not a transparent winner both. Maybe the brand new one simply might need a minor benefit in dynamic vary right here or there, and its colour rendition is perhaps a contact extra correct, but it surely’s actually a toss-up between the 2.

iPhone 16 Professional low-light picture samples, 0.5x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light picture samples, 0.5x

Video high quality

Relating to video high quality, we’re noticing a minor change within the colour rendition of the sky, the brand new mannequin being just a little bit extra conservative – as in, a contact extra correct, maybe. The 15 Professional cannot fairly compete at 5x in video the best way it did in stills, so if zoomed in footage is your factor, that is the place the 2024 iPhone has a bonus. That mentioned, the 15 Professional stays robust at 3x. Selections.

Beneath, we’ve a couple of framegrabs from the movies taken by the 2 telephones at every focal size so it is simpler to check to at least one one other.

iPhone 16 Professional daylight video framegrabs: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

iPhone 15 Professional daylight video framegrabs: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

In low mild, the ultrawides look about the identical. On the principle cameras, we’re seeing a little bit of a sharpness benefit at 1x for the 15 Professional, whereas at 2x it is the 16 Professional that has a minor edge. Zooming in additional, it is the 16 Professional that has the higher hand.

iPhone 16 Professional low-light video framegrabs: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

iPhone 15 Professional low-light video framegrabs: 0.5x • 1x • 2x • 3x • 5x

Verdict

The iPhone 16 Professional takes the Professional expertise up a notch in 2024. Because it seems, it is not likely due to the 5x zoom digital camera, which solely has a significant benefit in video recording at 5x – in any other case the 3x on the 15 Professional does simply nearly as good of a job at 5x and, effectively, higher at 3x.

What the 16 Professional does carry is the Digital camera Management key – whether or not for truly altering digital camera settings, or simply as an additional shortcut button. Additionally a welcome growth is the addition of 4K120 recording, and another, much less distinguished expansions to the Professional feature-set.

On prime of that, the 16 Professional is considerably higher in a couple of elements of its battery life, and we additionally do just like the slimmed down bezels.

The 15 Professional, then again, stays a robust possibility for images, its 3x zoom unit truly making it a bit extra versatile, significantly for stills. With the elevated dimension of the 16 Professional, final 12 months’s mannequin will probalby be just a little extra interesting to those that do not wish to carry pointless weight of their pockets on a regular basis. There can even be some financial savings to be made for those who’d go for the 15 Professional.