iPhone 16 Plus and 16 Pro Max
Back in 2015 when Apple released their first ‘plus’ sized iPhone, your choice was simple: if you wanted a larger screen than the standard phone, you had to go for the iPhone 6 Plus. This was Apple’s first plunge into the larger smartphone market and it wasn’t actually that well thought out as the bezels on the phone were huge and they had simply stuck a larger screen in the existing form factor, which made the phone feel enormous, due to the borders and Touch ID.
Fast forward to 2024 and we now have 9 iPhones in the line up, trying to offer s omething to everyone. I do feel the iPhone has become over complicated in some ways, especially this year now that the gap between the ‘pro’ and ‘non-pro’ iPhones has narrowed substantially. Both models now have an ‘Action Button’ and ‘Camera Control’ which is definitely a button, after using it many times (although it is fairly clever). All the phones use some form of ‘Ceramic Shield’ which is meant to offer the best protection on the market, even though I still see a lot of cracked iPhone screens!
At the budget end we have the iPhone SE, which has been largely ignored for several years now, but an upgrade may be imminent. Next up is the iPhone 14, which is also starting to show its age, followed by the 15 and finally 16. I think it is good that Apple offer these older phones, for consumers who simply aren't bothered about the latest and greatest Tech, but the SE really needs a refresh as it does not represent good value for money anymore!
I have spent the past week testing out the 16 Pro Max, Pro and 16 Plus all of which are great phones in their own right. The line between these phones is closer than ever this year, as the standard 16 has actually been given a lot of same new features that the ‘pro’ phones have.
As mentioned above, camera control and the action button are now standard across the range, as is dynamic island (on the front camera where timers go etc and is actually useful). Both phones have similar processors, which is a departure from the previous years’ approach, leaving the ‘non-pro’ phones with last year’s processor, so they were always lagging behind, but not anymore. This year they both use the A18 chip, just not in the ‘pro’ version but also in the standard - 16 but you would be pushed to tell.
Both models are capable of running console grade games to an extent, such as Resident Evil Village. This does not look anywhere near as good as it does on a proper console or gaming PC, but its still an incredible feat being able to play it at all on a phone! If you are a regular gamer, I would recommend going for the Pro Max, with the larger screen and A18 Pro chip, which will give you a much more immersive experience. If you are pushed for budget, the Plus size 16 won’t leave you feeling too disappointed though. I had this phone for a week in the lovely ‘Ultramarine’ color and I was so tempted to swap just for this alone!
Let’s talk cameras and the button!
The camera improvements are limited this year, but some are significant and noticeable. First up is the camera control, which was the start of the Apple launch event. I was interested to try this out and after using it for a week, I did actually find it useful on some occasions, as it made the phone feel more like a camera than ever. It isn't any easier than using the screen that we all have got used to, but it is an interesting idea which can be developed (a half press to focus is supposed to be on the way soon, to make it feel more ‘dslr’ like). This isn't a reason to upgrade alone from the 15 series though, or a reason to choose the 16 over the other versions available.
As the more observant of you will have already spotted on the standard 16 models, the cameras are now vertically aligned. The reason for this is to cater for the five or so consumers who actually purchased ‘Vision Pro’ so it can shoot spatial video. I think Apple had no choice but to make this change, as they have invested some serious money and time into the ‘Vision Pro’ concept, so they need to promote it as much as possible. Other than that, the cameras aren’t that much different to the 15. Macro photograph has been improved on the 16, which from trying this is out, I can confirm is better. I also really enjoyed using the latest ‘Photographic Styles’ that Apple introduced exclusive to the 16 series. You can get more basic versions on the previous generations, but now you have so much more control over how the phone processes photos. One main criticism of the iPhone camera, is that sometimes photos can appear over processed and washed out, but now users can simply choose how they prefer their photos to look. I like the fact Apple has handed over control to the user, rather than deciding for us what our photos should look like. Also, you can shoot in high resolution 24 and 48 megapixel on both pro and non-pro phones.
Should you go Pro?
The standard 16 is so good, that unless you use your phone to make a living or are serious about photography/videography, there is little reason most people would not be happy with the standard phones. If you do want to go pro, you are no longer forced to choose the ‘Max’ variant if you want the best cameras, as the smaller pro now has the upgraded telephoto from last year. The 48 megapixel fusion camera, which is the same on all the 16 series phones, takes identical photos on all of the models from my testing, so if you have no use for the other two lenses, there is no reason to choose a pro model.
A new ultra wide lens has been introduced on the 16 Pro models, which now offers 48 megapixels instead of 12 on the 15 and below. The standard 16, only has 12, so you might think there would be a night and day difference, but from my testing I didn't notice this. If you choose to output ‘Raw’ on the pro, which you can’t do on the standard 16, you normally get a full resolution image on all the lenses, but this doesn't happen on the new ultra-wide and we still end up with a 12 megapixel image. I discovered that if you change the file format to ‘HEIF’ which is more compressed, then you do get a full 48 megapixel image, which probably does have more detail than the standard 16.
Looking at video, which both phones are excellent at, the big head line launch news, is that the ‘pro’ variants can record 4k 120 for those super clear slow motion shots. The majority of users will simply not be bothered about this, so if you just want to record good quality videos then get the standard 16, which will happily do up to 4k 60 without a hiccup. If you are a creative, then the 4k 120 can give you some great results and its also amazing that this can now be recorded on a phone, when many professional cameras can’t do this. The file sizes are enormous so its only useful for a few second clips to add cinematic look to your overall video.
So who should buy what?
For the average user, who uses their phone for social media, texting, emailing and photography without changing any settings, just get one of the standard 16 models. They have great cameras, screens (yes still 60hz but its not as noticeable as you might imagine) and get Apple Intelligence (which is launching this week). If you love playing around with the camera settings on your phone, or use it to create content etc, then it is worth looking at the pro models as the camera improvements are good. The max is a mammoth phone, so make sure you try it out as I went for the pro in the end, which now has a bigger screen and the same features as before. Don’t get the base storage on the pro models, which is 128 gb on the smaller pro as you will fill this quickly. The 256 gb is the sweet spot if you have cloud storage and you can even record to an external drive on the pro phones if you need to.
There are rumors that next year’s iPhone 17 is meant to be a radical design change, but for now there is something for everyone in the iPhone range (even though it is over complicated). The lower end models like the 14 and 15 can offer good value for money, but don't spec up the storage as you may as well get the 16.
