Apple iPhone 16 Review: A Good Update… For Some

Apple’s iPhone 16 improves on prior iPhone generations in some truly significant ways, though it’s not the smartphone that everyone should update to.

Score: 3/5

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In this review

Apple iPhone 16 Specifications
Apple iPhone 16 Design
Apple iPhone 16 Camera
Apple iPhone 16 Performance
Apple iPhone 16 Battery
Apple iPhone 16 Conclusion

It has taken me a while to get my iPhone 16 review completed. Partly that’s been down to some health issues that have delayed all of my reviews of late, but it’s also been because this is the first iPhone for a while where I’ve been left somewhat conflicted as to whether it’s a good value option, or a poor value one.

On the one hand, what Apple is offering here is near-Pro level quality in some respects, including some new features and a nearly-as-fast processor that’s arguably more power than most people need in a smartphone anyway. In that respect it’s excellent value, especially if you’re upgrading from an iPhone model at least 3 years old or more.

On the other hand, this is an Apple iPhone, and it’s not inexpensive, and relative to what you can get for the same kind of money there are some notable omissions in the feature set left aside to make the Pro models even more attractive. I can’t ignore that, which means it’s simultaneously not great value on that score.

What that leaves me with is an iPhone that might be great for some buyers, and awful for others. This certainly isn’t an iPhone for every smartphone buyer.

Also Read
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max Review: Maximum Power, Maximum Price

Design

For the most part, the iPhone 16 tells a very familiar design story, even if it is a partial remix of iPhones that have come before. It’s all built around a 6.1 inch OLED display with a 2556x1179 resolution, which is nicely sharp at this size, but with a slight sting in the tail.

You see, the Pro models of Apple’s iPhones feature “ProMotion” displays, which is Apple’s fancy marketing way of saying they support up to 120Hz refresh rates.

Despite coming in at pricing starting at $1,399, the regular model iPhone 16 (and the larger iPhone 16 Plus) only get 60Hz displays.

That’s disappointing, and it absolutely feels as though Apple’s just holding back 120Hz to make the Pro models feel more premium, especially when you consider that you can get a 120hz refresh rate on Android phones that cost less than a quarter of the iPhone 16’s asking price!

Adding googly eyes (optional) to any iPhone, including the iPhone 16, always makes them look startled.

A 6.1 inch phone is one that’s nice and easy to hold in the hand, though as always I’d advise you to buy a phone case if you’re going to buy an iPhone 16. Unlike the Pro models and their fancy titanium, you’re talking an aluminium frame with glass on both sides.

Yes, it’s Apple’s slightly fancier Ceramic Shield glass, but it’s still glass, and that means it can be somewhat slippery in the hand.

The iPhone 16 gets the Action Button that I did love so very much on last year’s iPhone 15 Pro; if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a contextual button on the right hand side of the phone that sits where the mute switch used to on older models.

By default it is just a mute button, but with very little effort you can turn into a really productive shortcut button for nearly anything that an iPhone can do.

I was rather hoping that Apple would filter the Action Button down from its Pro cage this year, and that’s precisely what it’s done.

The other big new design change here is the Camera Control button, also found on this year’s iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models. More on this in the camera section.

In terms of colours, the base level iPhones have long been where Apple’s happiest to have some actual fun – Pro model phones tend to go for more serious colours – and that’s definitely true, with your choice of Black, White, Pink, Teal or Ultramarine. Teal is the green colour while Ultramarine is a soft blue hue that particularly appeals to me, but then I (100% subjectively) just like blue phones generally.

In terms of durability, while I don’t test phones to the point of destruction, the iPhone 16 is rated at IP68, though as always it’s not a great idea to go scuba diving with your iPhone if you want it to survive.

Camera

Every year, if you want to look at the real difference between Apple’s Pro and standard iPhone models, the first place you should look is the cameras. Apple’s pitch for the Pro models is that they’re serious professional tools… but where does that leave the standard iPhone 16?

It leaves it with cameras that are actually pretty good for what they do, but limited in scope against what you can get at similar prices in the premium phone space. At the rear there’s a pair of vertically oriented camera lenses – a 48MP wide and 12MP ultra-wide, in that specific orientation in order to allow for video capture for Apple’s pricey Vision Pro headset.

I’m not 100% sure that too many buyers of a $5,999+ headset aren’t just buying Pro phones anyway, but I guess it might be nice to future-proof your shots for the time when you might buy one, maybe?

Regular daytime shots are good. For $1,399+, they absolutely should be!

Daytime outdoor shots are likewise handled well from the primary lens.

There are a few nice perks built into the iPhone 16 camera that do step it above your typical dual wide/ultra-wide smartphone camera, however.

The Audio Mix feature, which lets you filter your microphone audio after capturing video to give it a more directional, cinematic or studio feel is available for iPhone 16 users.

Low light shots are also solid, though the Pro Max phones do it a little better.

What you don’t get – and at pricing starting at $1,399 it’s a little hard to justify why not – is any level of true telephoto lens at all.

If you want that in the Apple world – and for the record, I do prefer photographic flexibility if all I’m going to have to choose from is a single smartphone – then you’ll have to pony up for the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Instead, what you get is a 2x crop and up to 10x digital zoom. This does work to a degree, though it’s not hard to see why Apple caps it at 10x maximum.

Oh look, some pigeons in the distance. If I approach them, they’ll scatter, and I’ll likely get covered in pigeon poop.

10x zoom keeps my shirt clean… but it’s not exactly a clean photo at 10x zoom.

Apple’s portrait modes are good, even though I’m not a pretty photographic subject.

The ultrawide lens gains an autofocus mode that makes macro-style shots a lot more achievable.

Get right into the pollen, like you were a... you know, one of those stripy little insect chaps...

A bee! That's the one. Not a macro shot, but I don't fancy getting stung.

The iPhone 16 gets Apple’s new Camera Control button on the lower right hand side of the phone. The idea here is a relatively simple one; a solid press on it at any time launches the default camera app, while a half press or slide allows you to choose between various camera functions, whether that’s digital zoom level, exposure, tones and so on.

The iPhone 16 casts serious doubt on the idea that cats are intelligent creatures.

The problem I have with the Camera Control is that it still feels like the wrong solution to a problem few people will have, especially at this level. The Camera Control button is a little easier to reach than on the Pro Max model, but it still sits at an odd position for my fingers when framing a shot where the smaller action button on the other side, which protrudes out and can be used as a shutter button actually works better.

Getting the half-press and double half-press on the Camera Control button just right in the moment of shooting feels fiddly more than slick, and I’ve also had it kick in as a half press when I meant a full press and vice versa, which is just plain frustrating.

The idea here isn’t a bad one, but it feels like it needs a little mechanical and software tweaking – and maybe a positioning rethink – before it feels like a must-have feature rather than a gimmick.

Performance

The iPhone 16 is built around Apple’s new A18 processor, though it’s not quite technically at the same level as the A18 Pro found in the iPhone 16 Pro/Max models.

It’s an interesting step in itself that the regular iPhone models sit at the same processor family level as the Pro models, because Apple has opted in prior years to keep the lower-cost iPhone models a generation behind their Pro counterparts. It’s apparently down to the desire to have Apple’s upcoming Apple Intelligence features available and able to run swiftly enough on all of its 2024 phones.

While you’re getting a slightly lower spec processor version here, the reality is that Apple’s own ARM-derived silicon has long held a big advantage over its generally-Qualcomm ARM equivalents on the Android side of the smartphone equation, while also having more than enough power for the everday applications that most smartphone users rely upon.

What surprised me here was how close in benchmark terms the A18 found in the iPhone 16 sits to the A18 Pro found in the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Here’s how the two compare using Geekbench 6’s CPU test, as well as to other flagships and older iPhone models:

The jump over the iPhone 15 Plus is significant, though not enough where I’d suggest upgrading after just a year, but any iPhone user coming from anything earlier than an iPhone 14 would definitely feel that CPU difference stepping up to the iPhone 16.

The gap between the A18 and A18 Pro found in the iPhone 16 Pro/Max isn’t that immense, however.

It’s not quite as direct a win for Apple in the GPU stakes, using 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme test:

However, as I noted in my iPhone 16 Pro Max review, the GPU difference there is further tilted in Apple’s favour simply because it’s doing more with GPU performance – especially in its push for AAA games on mobile platforms – than we’re currently seeing on the Android platform. When games like Resident Evil 4 or Death Stranding are running on Android phones as slickly, then the real battle will commence.

Apple’s big contention around its 2024 silicon has of course been around its upcoming “Apple Intelligence” features, due to arrive for Australian iPhone users in December 2024.

While it’s in beta right now, I’ve not tested with it, so I can’t fairly say whether it’s going to change your life, or – as I’ve found with much of the consumer-facing AI in 2024 – all be rather ho-hum. I have little doubt Apple will at least present it in a slick and shiny skin either way.

The iPhone 5 is 5G compatible, but like all of Apple’s iPhones to date here in Australia, we’re only getting a sub-6Ghz 5G radio on board, not full mmWave as well.

There are mmWave iPhone 16 models, but they’re limited to the US market only to date. Those models are also eSIM only where the Australian models still retain a Nano SIM card slot plus eSIM capability.

Battery

Apple’s smaller iPhones have historically not had the best track record when it comes to battery life.

While Apple doesn’t release specific battery figures for its phones, instead preferring to talk in terms of overall video or audio playback, third party investigations suggest that it’s packing in a 3,561mAh battery pack, up from the iPhone 15’s 3,349mAh battery.

I didn’t get to test out last year's vanilla iPhone 15 – just the 15 Plus model – so I was curious to see how Apple would balance the increased capacity it’s packed inside against the higher processing power of the A18 CPU.

The answer is moderately well, but I could wish for more.

In my straight line one hour YouTube battery rundown test, the iPhone 16 performs well, though I’ve seen better from Apple in the past.

Here I’ve got a lot more historical data to display too, but bear in mind that these tests were performed when each phone was brand new; if you’re still rocking an iPhone 12 its battery will have degraded since that time:

The iPhone 16 managed to get past the 90% battery remaining barrier, which is typically where I can say a phone will struggle to last a day, though its own real-world performance was actually a little lower than I expected.

I’ve recently started expanding this test out to three hours to give a more rounded picture of battery usage over time, and here, while I don’t have a lot of deep comparative flagship data to compare against, the iPhone 16 didn’t do much to cover itself in glory.

That drop in the third hour does point to an issue, and it’s one that’s hit me more than once while testing out the iPhone 16.

It can last a day, but not always, and that’s not quite what you’d really want from a phone that rather comfortably sits in the premium price space.

Keeping a charger of some sort handy would be a very smart idea. The Apple iPhone 16 supports USB-C charging at up to a technical 45W level, though some independent tests have suggested it never really gets close to that.

The iPhone 16  also supports Qi2 wireless charging, though here again I hit an issue in my testing.

Maybe it’s just the unit I have, maybe not, but while I’m well aware that wireless charging is somewhat inefficient, and some of that inefficiency comes through as heat, the iPhone 16 gets noticeably hot if you’re using a wireless charger to top it up, to an almost uncomfortable level.

That also has an impact on battery life; doing the same YouTube 1 hour battery test with a Qi2 charged “hot” iPhone 16 saw its battery life drop down to 90% compared to 94% if it was at a more stable temperature.

Apple iPhone 16: Alex’s Verdict

Should you buy the Apple iPhone 16?

Maybe… and I don’t like being that vague about a reviewed phone, but Apple’s left me little choice in this particular case.

If you’re coming from an older iPhone and want to save a little on the price of the Pro models, there are some real highlights to the iPhone 16 experience. The processing power is ample for nearly everyone, the style and colour are really nice and the inclusion of the Action Button is, I feel, the bigger “win” than getting the Camera Control button. For that kind of buyer, it’s an easy recommendation.

However, if you were thinking of switching from Android, or you wanted definite all-day battery life, or you wanted a proper telephoto lens, or figured that Apple could in fact include a 120Hz screen in a phone at this price point… then you very much shouldn’t. The iPhone 16 Pro/Max devices are a better bet in that regard if you’re in or switching to the iOS camp in that case.

Apple iPhone 16: Pricing and availability

The Apple iPhone 16 retails in Australia with pricing at $1399 (128GB), $1599 (256GB) and $1949 (512GB)

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