I spent a number of hours with Apple’s new flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Professional Max earlier this week within the Steve Jobs Theater and shortly fashioned some first impressions. As I do in my iPhone reviews, I at all times attempt to take into account that most iPhone upgraders are coming from a telephone that is at the least three years previous.
Additionally: iPhone 16 hands-on: So packed with features, I didn’t envy the Pro models
And whereas the very first thing numerous patrons might discover is the 12 months’s new telephone coloration — it is Desert Titanium this 12 months, which is definitely only a shade of gold — the factor that the majority of us barely take note of is the newest advances within the mind that powers the iPhone. It is at all times the case that it unlocks new capabilities, however this 12 months, that feels more true than ever with the brand new A18 Pro. Or at the least it powers my favourite new characteristic — and a bunch of others that show how ridiculously highly effective this system is.
And sure, I am going to stop speaking about chips and get to my three favourite options.
1. Digicam Management
The brand new Digicam Management permits customers to do extra with the iPhone digital camera and do it shortly. This new key sits on the best facet of the telephone beneath the ability button, however it’s manufactured from darker metallic and sits extra flush to the facet of the telephone.
It is also touch-sensitive, which is a feat of engineering. One press opens the digital camera app. A second press takes a photograph. Press and maintain and it begins recording video. A lightweight press and a swipe to 1 facet or the opposite helps you to zoom out and in. A double gentle press and a swipe to both facet lets you choose completely different settings from zoom to depth of subject to the brand new picture kinds to a number of different choices.
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If it sounds just a little sophisticated, it’s not. You may shortly get the dangle of it. I attempted it and it is goes to be tremendous helpful for individuals who take a ton of images with the iPhone — and let’s be trustworthy, there are quite a lot of us as a result of the iPhone is the most used camera in the world. The Digicam Management button offers the iPhone a characteristic no different telephone on the planet has proper now. The Sony Xperia 1 V comes the closest with its devoted shutter button, but it surely does not do almost as a lot.
Individuals are going to like this characteristic.
2. Dimension and end
Each of the professional iPhones obtained greater screens and thinner bezels this 12 months, which makes them just a little taller than final 12 months’s professional fashions. The Professional expands from 6.1 inches to six.3 and the Max grows from 6.7 inches to six.9. Each ZDNET opinions editor Kerry Wan and I seen it instantly within the iPhone 16 demo space — and we felt completely happy about it as a result of we each are likely to desire the marginally taller and thinner kind elements of most Android devices because it makes them just a little simpler to function with one hand.
Additionally: Apple just gave me a compelling reason to buy the smaller iPhone 16 Pro over the Max this year
Nonetheless, there was one other new bodily attribute of the iPhone 16 Professional fashions that obtained me simply as excited. The titanium sides have a brand new end that feels far more grippy. In reality, it is so grippy that I am tempted to do the unthinkable and check out utilizing it with out a case. I am additionally tempted to make the smaller 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Professional, somewhat than the Max, my each day driver — particularly for the reason that smaller professional mannequin now has the identical digital camera system because the bigger one.
3. Upgrades to video and audio recording
The opposite space the place the brand new A18 Professional chip actually reveals its energy is within the new video and audio recording choices out there within the iPhone 16 Professional. First, now you can document in 4K at 120 frames per second, which provides you the ability to do the form of tremendous gradual movement you solely see in huge cinematic movies. Even simply a few years in the past, you’d have wanted an costly pro-level digital camera and a desktop pc with a strong video card to shoot and edit pro-level 4K120 video. Now you are able to do it on an iPhone — and the footage Apple has proven to this point appears to be like just about indistinguishable from professional gear.
Additionally: Every iPhone model that will be updated to Apple’s iOS 18 (and which ones won’t)
Subsequent, Apple additionally upgraded the audio within the iPhone 16 Professional with what it calls “4 studio-quality mics” which are paired with software program and AI to do some loopy issues I have never seen on a smartphone earlier than. With the brand new Audio Mix software, now you can edit audio immediately on the iPhone 16 Professional, which separates foreground and background sounds and allows you to choose from a number of sound profiles, together with a Studio profile that mechanically dampens background sounds and a Cinematic profile that makes it sound like a film edit.
It might additionally now seize Spatial Audio encompass sound throughout video recording (which you too can edit in Audio Combine). And the Voice Memos app goes to make use of these upgrades for an replace later this 12 months that may allow you to layer two completely different tracks. These audio options are a terrific instance of the place Apple is placing AI to make use of in sensible, behind-the-scenes methods which are going to be much more approachable than typing in a chatbot.
Extra to return
Apple referred to as the brand new A18 Professional chip as highly effective as high-end desktop PCs, which appears like hyperbole, however the above options are convincing sufficient to make me suppose it might be at the least as highly effective as high-end desktops from a few years in the past. Once we get our testing gadgets, we’ll run benchmarks and put the telephones by way of some real-world eventualities to measure and examine the efficiency.
Additionally: Every iPhone 16 model compared: Which new iPhone should you buy?
Apple additionally claims the brand new A18 Professional chip is rather more energy environment friendly and can end result within the iPhone 16 Pro Max having the longest battery lifetime of any iPhone but. We’ll additionally problem that declare with our personal battery checks.
The digital camera system upgrades to a 48 megapixel sensor for the ultrawide digital camera, which ought to lead to higher macro images and numerous different enhancements. We’ll be testing that as properly in a brand new set of ZDNET smartphone digital camera checks.
The AI options that Apple talked about this summer season at WWDC, together with the newly upgraded Siri, won’t arrive until the iOS 18.1 update — and even then, they will nonetheless be in beta and a few of the options will not come till iOS 18.2 or later. However when the AI options do lastly arrive, Apple’s new flagship supercomputer in your pocket appears to be like like it should have the oomph to run them with out breaking a sweat.