Apple’s iPhone 16 vary is available in 4 fashions – the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Professional, and the iPhone 16 Professional Max. The fantastic thing about the iPhone 16 Plus is that it boasts the second largest Tremendous Retina show within the vary at 6.7”, but it surely prices lower than the iPhone 16 Professional (with its 6.3” show) and the iPhone 16 (6.1”). The iPhone 16 Professional Max continues to dominate in show measurement (6.9”), however that’s mirrored in its heftier value. So should you’re seeking to get a stability between price range and display screen measurement then the iPhone 16 Plus is nicely value contemplating.
Usually I’m an iPhone Professional Max consumer and have nearly paid off my mortgage for my 14 Professional Max. Apple the place type sufficient to lend me an iPhone 16 and a 16 Plus for this overview. In comparison with my 14 Professional Max the iPhone 16 felt tiny, which made me really feel a bit insufficient when testing its digital camera capabilities with an expert mannequin! Nonetheless the bigger iPhone 16 Plus felt extra like my Professional Max, so it took the lead in my iPhone 16 and 16 Plus mannequin take a look at shoot. Should you’re within the smaller iPhone 16, take a look at my overview to get some perception into the professionals and cons of taking pictures fashions with an iPhone have a gander at my opinion piece.
The brand new Digicam Management button lets you’ve got extra tactile management over typical digital camera settings corresponding to Publicity and Zoom. (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
Apple iPhone 16 Plus: Specs
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Processor
A18 chip, 6-core CPU with 2 efficiency and 4 effectivity cores, 16-core Neural Engine
Cameras
48MP Fusion 12MP Extremely Broad, (24MP and 48MP)
Show
6.7” Tremendous Retina Show, 2796×1290-pixel decision at 460 ppi, Broad color show (P3)
Storage
As much as 512GB
Battery
Constructed-in rechargeable lithium‑ion battery, as much as 27 hours video playback
Ports
USB-C
Dimensions
60.9 x 77.8 x 7.80 mm
Weight
199 g
Apple iPhone 16 Plus: Design & Dealing with
In my intro, I talked concerning the measurement of the iPhone 16 Plus’ show and the way it’s the second largest show within the iPhone 16 vary. Certainly the show appears to be like even bigger as a result of smaller bezel on the entrance of the machine, enabling the 6.7” display screen to unfold virtually to the sting of the iPhone. In fact, measurement isn’t every little thing and the iPhone 16 Plus lacks most of the photographic options that make the iPhone 6 Professional Max the king of the iPhone 16 vary. For starters, the iPhone 16 Plus solely has two cameras on the entrance, in comparison with the Professional and Professional Max’s three cameras. This implies the Plus can solely optically zoom in to 52mm utilizing its 2x digital camera (in contrast with the 16 Professional’s 5x 120 mm optical zoom). You may shoot as much as 48MP on the 16 plus however solely utilizing the 1x Fusion digital camera. Extremely Broad, Evening mode, and flash pictures will all the time be saved at 12 MP.
The largest limitation of the iPhone 16 Plus as a professional digital camera is its incapacity to shoot in ProRAW. It saves recordsdata as both JPEG or HEIF. HEIF recordsdata are very light-weight (compared to an info-packed ProRAW file) and I’d usually by no means think about taking pictures in that format, however that you must shoot in HEIF should you’re going to take pleasure in making use of the brand new vary of Photographic Kinds to your photographs. Extra on these later. If you wish to post-process RAW recordsdata in Lightroom or Photoshop Digicam RAW you then’ll must pay money for an iPhone Professional mannequin.
A aspect by aspect comparability of the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus. Come on! Larger is healthier! (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
There are a few different cool new design options to spotlight. The iPhone 16 Plus replaces the 15 Plus’s Ring/Silent button with the Motion Button that was launched with the 15 Professional fashions in 2023. The Motion button will be custom-made to set off the Torch, open the Digicam app, seize a Voice Memo, and naturally toggle between Silent/Ring (amongst different features). Extra excitingly there’s a brand new Digicam Management button diagonally reverse the Motion button that makes the iPhone 16 Professional behave extra like a conventional digital camera. I’ll speak about this essential new Digicam Management characteristic in nice element within the Efficiency part of this overview. Plus you’ll be able to see it in motion in my supporting video.
It’s very satisfying to swipe your finger alongside the brand new Digicam Management button to regulate the power of the bokeh throughout a shoot (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
One other huge addition to the iPhone 16 sequence is a brand new technology of Photographic Kinds. Older iPhones allow you to faucet the Photographic Kinds icon within the Digicam app and swipe to decide on between Normal, Wealthy Distinction, Vibrant, Heat, and Vibrant Heat. It’s also possible to customise every Fashion to alter its look by tapping on Heat and Tone after which adjusting a slider.
The iPhone 16 has 15 new Photographic Kinds which might be a lot simpler to fine-tune to create a wider vary of moods and appears. For instance, when taking pictures a mannequin wearing 1960’s gear I used the Quiet Photographic Fashion to get heat colours and light tones that complemented the retro subject material. Each Photographic Fashion is non-destructive, so you’ll be able to take away or fine-tune the look in iOS or macOS Images.
You may choose up an iPhone 16 Plus in 5 colours – Extremely Marine, Teal, Pink, White, and Black. When provided the selection I went for the Extremely Marine variant and was given an identical Apple case to maintain it protected. I usually go for Black, however I discovered Extremely Marine relatively eye-catching!
Apple iPhone 16 Plus: Efficiency
To check the iPhone 16 Plus I popped right down to my traditional take a look at shoot location – the Barbican Centre within the Metropolis of London. I met up with Bella the mannequin (@bellatrixortreat2) who had contacted me about doing a shoot after I used to be advisable to her by a modeling colleague who I’d shot beforehand – additionally utilizing an iPhone.
After taking pictures Bella I found she had almost 60,000 followers on Instagram, so I may need been a bit intimidated by getting her to pose for an iPhone relatively than a DSLR/mirrorless digital camera if I’d recognized her ‘celeb’ standing! As you’ll see from this overview’s stills and supporting video we had an ideal shoot. Bella was joyful sufficient with the outcomes to share some on her feed!
Throughout my shoot with Bella, the iPhone 16 Plus’s new Digicam Management button was a recreation changer. In addition to enabling me to fireplace up the Digicam app in a long-press after which snap a shot with a second long-press it did rather more. The button can also be touch-sensitive, so you’ll be able to long-press, short-press, and swipe it to summon digital camera features corresponding to Publicity, Depth, Zoom, Cameras, Kinds, and Tone. It’s also possible to swipe the Digicam Management button to manage the assorted properties of every setting, such because the aperture worth in Depth or the distinction of a shot in Tone.
When taking pictures portraits of Bella I loved swiping to the Depth setting after which sliding my finger on the Digicam Management button to shoot between a variety of f-stops, from f16 to f1.4. Initially, the background bokeh didn’t change as I adjusted the aperture worth utilizing the Digicam Management button. However once I switched to taking pictures in Portrait Mode I may see the bokeh altering like it might if adjusting the aperture worth on a DSLR.
iPhones can shoot a pure bokeh should you’re near the topic and in low gentle (forcing a large aperture), however the computer-generated bokeh produced by the Digicam app’s Portrait Mode was once a bit clunky, with sharp background particulars showing behind advanced areas corresponding to a mannequin’s hair when they need to have been blurred. Due to enhancements in software program the bokeh in stills is now fairly convincing, however when taking pictures video in Cinematic mode the blur across the fringe of the mannequin’s hair was nonetheless a bit inconsistent.
The Digicam Management button lets you swipe by the 15 Photographic Kinds and shortly change the colors and tones in a shot. Every fashion will be customised in relation to Tone, Saturation and Palette (which fades the general have an effect on of the present fashion) (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
It did take me some time to grasp the light-press motion that summons the Digicam Management button’s numerous settings, however this new {hardware} design characteristic did present a extra tactile and intuitive manner for me to work together with most of the Digicam app’s settings. My Digital Digicam World colleague Basil Kronfli discovered that the Digicam Management button on the iPhone 16 Professional Max was so flush with the cellphone physique that it was exhausting to find it “with a really feel”. It is a honest level, although I had much less of a difficulty with it. I shot with the iPhone 16 Plus in an Apple case and this made the Digicam Management button simpler to search out. The case is rubbery and the Digicam Management button on the case is clean. This distinction in texture made it simpler for me to find and work together with the Digicam Management button on the iPhone 16 Plus case.
The brand new Audio Combine instruments allow you to seize a lot better high quality audio utilizing the iPhone 16 Plus’s built-in mics (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
The Barbican Centre has many indoor places so I used to be capable of take a look at the iPhone 16 Plus in a variety of lighting set-ups. I’ve discovered that in low gentle older iPhone fashions may produce pixelated/noisy-looking outcomes. Photographs in the identical darkish places appeared a lot sharper, cleaner, and extra freed from artifacts on the iPhone 16 Plus, although I used to be utilizing a handheld LED to offer a ‘modeling’ gentle to assist intensify Bella’s facial options (and add a little bit of drama to the topic). As a aspect be aware, Bella introduced a good friend – Max – alongside to the shoot and he was invaluable at positioning the Smallrig RC 60B COB LED to get a variety of hanging outcomes as you’ll see from our photographs.
One space that the iPhone 16 Plus (and the iPhone 16) struggled in was taking pictures slow-motion photographs whereas I used to be recording the display screen. I have a tendency to make use of the Display screen Recording characteristic throughout a shoot in order that I can share the Digicam app’s settings in my journal tutorials and opinions. Nonetheless, when Display screen Recording was energetic the 240 fps HD Slo-Mo clips performed again relatively jerkily. After turning Display screen Recording off new slow-motion clips performed again tremendous clean. I respect that that is most likely solely a difficulty for me as most individuals gained’t be utilizing Display screen Recording when filming slow-motion clips, so it is not a significant niggle.
The Stark B&W Photographic Fashion lets you seize an aesthetic DSLR fashion monochromatic picture (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
The brand new 1x 48MP Fusion digital camera performs higher than older iPhones in low gentle places. This shot would look a bit noisy/pixelated if snapped on an older iPhone (Picture credit score: George Cairns / Digital Digicam World)
Apple iPhone 16 Plus: Verdict
Should you’ve owned an older iPhone Professional Max however can’t afford to improve to a 16 Professional Max, then the iPhone 16 Plus’s beneficiant 6.7” show will make you’re feeling at dwelling and also you’ll be much less shy utilizing it on a professional shoot (in comparison with utilizing a smaller and cheaper iPhone 16). Nonetheless, a Professional or Professional Max consumer will really feel like they’re taking a step again as a result of iPhone 16 Plus’s lack of a robust optical zoom and its incapacity to shoot in ProRAW.
Should you plan to populate your social media feed with fashionable photographs and don’t wish to spend time modifying then the iPhone 16 Plus’s Photographic Kinds shall be good. The 15 kinds present a variety of moods and appears and you may fine-tune them earlier than you shoot within the Digicam app or tweak them in Apple’s iOS or macOS Images app later. Should you’re a blogger you then’ll profit from utilizing the highly effective new Audio Combine instruments to seize better-quality sound straight from the iPhone, so that you don’t all the time must plug in an exterior wi-fi mic equipment.
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Options
Clips and stills look unbelievable on Tremendous Retina XDR show Rating
★★★★★
Design
New Digicam Management button permits tactile management of digital camera settings
★★★★☆
Efficiency
Fusion Digicam and A18 Chip captures fewer artefacts in low gentle
★★★★☆
Worth
Gives an even bigger display screen however at a a lot decrease value than the Professional Max
★★★★☆
✅ Purchase it…
It is advisable enhance audio manufacturing values
You wish to change a photograph’s look shortly and non-destructively
You want a extra tactile strategy to regulate digital camera settings
