Authentic launch date: September 20, 2024 | Storage capability: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Display dimension: 6.3 inches | Options: A18 Professional chip, At all times-on 120Hz ProMotion show, USB-C port (USB 3), Titanium body, Digital camera Management button, Motion button, 25W MagSafe charging | Cameras: 48MP extensive, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 5x telephoto, 12MP entrance | Coloration choices: Pure Titanium, Desert, White, Black | Dimensions: 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.03 ounces
Learn our full iPhone 16 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional Max evaluate
The iPhone 16 Professional is the iPhone we’d suggest to most individuals. Sure, its beginning worth of $999 is perhaps steep, however a smartphone is a long-term funding. If the query is “which iPhone is almost definitely to maintain you cheerful for the subsequent three to 5 years,” we predict the iPhone 16 Professional’s benefits over the usual iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are nonetheless significant sufficient to be value the additional $100-200 — even when the hole isn’t as extensive because it’s been in years previous.
For one, the iPhone 16 Professional’s blasted titanium body feels higher-quality than the aluminum one on the bottom iPhone 16. It’s a bit heavier than the usual 16 and final 12 months’s iPhone 15 Professional, but it surely’s removed from an anchor, and its barely curved edges are pleasing to carry. It runs on the marginally quicker A18 Professional chip, which doesn’t make an enormous distinction with on a regular basis duties however is extra future-proof all the identical, notably you probably have any curiosity in gaming or content material creation. And whereas each iPhone 16 has a USB-C charging port, the Professional fashions assist quicker information switch speeds (offered you’ve the proper cable).
Probably the most outstanding improve is the show. Whereas the OLED panels on the iPhone 16 Professional and customary iPhone 16 are equally sharp and vivid, the previous’s is extra spacious at 6.3 inches (as an alternative of 6.1 inches), regardless of the cellphone itself solely being 0.08 inches taller and 0.02 inches thicker. That is primarily as a result of Professional’s thinner bezels, which grant you extra room for streaming movies and studying internet pages in a tool that isn’t considerably extra cumbersome to carry.
On prime of that, the Professional’s display has an adaptive refresh charge as much as 120Hz, which may make scrolling internet pages, gaming and streaming video noticeably smoother. Some will inform you that the typical particular person doesn’t want this, and it’s true that not every part performs at 120Hz. However utilizing a smartphone is nothing if not interacting with a small display, and when you’ve seen a quicker refresh charge in motion, it’s tough to surrender.
It’s a irritating scenario: You will get a finances Android cellphone with a 120Hz show for round $300, but Apple continues to make use of “ProMotion” as a method to upsell folks from gadgets that already value lots of extra. However, our job is to inform you what’s finest — and the Professional’s show is solely extra present. It’s additionally always-on, not like the screens on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, so you’ll be able to view your notifications at a look with out having to bodily contact the machine.
One other step up is the digital camera system. The iPhone 16 Professional has a trio of rear cameras: a 48-megapixel fundamental digital camera, a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 12MP telephoto digital camera. That final one is the biggie, because the common iPhone 16 lacks a devoted telephoto lens fully. Past that, the Professional’s fundamental digital camera has a bigger sensor, so it’s a bit higher in low-light environments, plus it helps portrait mode at evening. You possibly can take sharper macro pictures for close-ups, and there are different fanatic options like the power to shoot ProRAW or file 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient and ProRes video as much as 120 frames per second. If none of this jargon means something to you, know the common iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are nonetheless nice point-and-shoot cameras. These gadgets can now take macro images as effectively; they’ve the identical upgraded Photographic Types characteristic that may assist contact up pictures you could discover overprocessed; and so they share the brand new Digital camera Management button for rapidly (if generally awkwardly) accessing the digital camera app, adjusting settings and snapping pics. All that stated, the 16 Professional is healthier, particularly if you happen to take your images with just a little extra intent.
The Professional ought to get higher battery life as effectively, although it’s actually not the longest-lasting smartphone we’ve examined. Apple charges it at as much as 27 hours of video playback, up from 22 hours with the usual iPhone 16, however each gadgets will probably want a top-up earlier than you go to mattress. The bottom mannequin’s battery is simpler to switch, too, which is aggravating for Professional house owners given the upper worth.
Apple could be very bluntly promoting every iPhone 16 on how effectively they’ll work with its new “Apple Intelligence” AI options, however you shouldn’t base any buying choices on these proper now. As of this writing, the tips embody a barely extra strong Siri, , e-mail and notification summaries, writing help and instruments, a Clear Up characteristic that may take away undesirable objects from images (very like Google’s Magic Eraser) and a “” customized emoji maker, amongst others. Extra updates will arrive over time.
A few of these AI options might be helpful at factors; different instances… not a lot. Little about them will actually change the way in which you employ a smartphone as we speak, and whether or not anybody wants assist writing a paragraph-long e-mail or studying a quick article is up for debate (to place it charitably). For now, it is perhaps finest to view Apple Intelligence as an intriguing first step towards a future which will or might not be realized down the street.
Whereas we predict the iPhone 16 Professional is a good flagship, our subsequent decide ought to higher go well with those that don’t thoughts an even bigger machine and need a cellphone that may actually final all day.