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Apple has just announced the jumbo-sized iPhone 16 Pro Max and the compact iPhone 16 Pro, it's top-of-the-line and ultra-premium new flagship phones.
As Cupertino is finally about to spearhead into the AI era, these shape up to be the perfect tools for the job. Although all new iPhone 16 models support Apple Intelligence, it will definitely be best experienced on the new iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro.
Unlike the regular iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which are mostly similar to last year's affordable iPhones, the new iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have plenty of changes on deck, making this one of the most important iPhone launches for Apple in recent years.
Price and Release Date
Prices are unchanged: $999 for the entry-level 128GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro and $1199 for the 256GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Pre-orders kick off this Friday, September 13, and the new iPhones are hitting the shelves on September 20.
iPhone 16 Pro Max: Up to $650 off with trade-in
Go Pro Max without breaking the bank this year! The iPhone 16 Pro Max is currently available at the official Apple Store for up to $650 off with eligible trade-ins.
The latest AI-enhanced iPhone 16 Pro is available for purchase at Amazon with Boost Mobile. The smartphone arrives for less than $1, provided that you pick a wireless service plan by Boost Mobile ($65/mo) and activate your device.
Get the iPhone 16 to experience Apple Intelligence and get things done effortlessly. The smartphone is available at Amazon with Boost Mobile for 100% off. You have to pick a Boost Mobile wireless plan ($65/mo). This bargain requires activation.
The iPhone 16 are beautifully-crafted phones, and it would be a good idea to grab a couple of cases to protect them in different occasions. The i-Blason cases here provide full 360 protection — they are dual-component, with a front shield and back shell, to defend the iPhone from every side. The integrated Camera Control button on the Armorbox offers full functionality and comfort. They have camera protection flaps that double as a kickstand. And they have a strong magnetic array inside to ensure that your iPhone 16 is still compatible with every MagSafe accessory you love.
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Design, display, and the Camera Control
Both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro continue the design language trend kickstarted by last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro. We get a sturdy titanium frame, with a matte glass back, the now standard Dynamic Island display cutout at the front, and the new Action Button, which was introduced last year with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
Colors-wise, Apple continues with the Titanium theme: the new phones come in Black Titanium, White Titanium, Natural Titanium, Desert Titanium.
Larger displays for a better gaming experience! | Image credit – Apple
Now, the big new thing with the new iPhones is that they get larger displays at the front. Screen size increases are a rarity with Apple's phones, so any such increase is always a landmark event.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max gets a larger 6.9-inch display, up from the 6.7 inches, while the smaller iPhone 16 Pro gets a 6.3-inch display, an improvement from the 6.1-inch display of before. We can thank the new super-thin bezels for that real estate increase.
At the same time, Apple has achieved this display increase without dramatically increasing the overall dimensions of either phone. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is just 3.1mm higher than the iPhone 15 Pro Max while being merely 0.88m wider, whereas the iPhone 16 Pro has gotten some 3mm taller than the iPhone 15 Pro and 0.85mm wider. Both new iPhones are 8.25mm thick and weigh a few grams more than before.
The Camera Control Button will be praised by photographers left and right. | Image credit – Apple
Another novelty is the Camera Control Button, which debuts on the iPhone 16 line. This one is positioned on the right side of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro's frame, just a few inches below the power button.
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In fact, you can do the following with the Camera Control button: opening the camera or another specified app, adjusting focus, taking a photo, recording a video, adjusting zoom, and exposure adjustment, and more.
Back to the displays, there are few changes aside from the rather important size bump. Both phones employ Liquid Retina XDR OLED displays with ProMotion technology, allowing for a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
At the bottom, both devices get USB Type-C ports, not that we expected any different. We also get the usual IP68 water- and dust-resistance.
The iPhone 16 Pro summarized. | Image credit – Apple
Camera Improvements
The main camera should deliver great photos and videos. | Image credit – Apple
The iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro have the same camera setups, with a 48MP wide camera running the show. Both phones score a new 48MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.4 aperture, a serious upgrade over the 12MP ultrawide used on all previous iPhones.
The ultra-wide camera gets a serious upgrade from last year's iPhone 15 line. | Image credit – Apple
On the telephoto front, both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro have the same 5X telephoto tetraprism cameras. This finally puts the kibosh on the shorter 3X telephoto that graced the previous iPhones, and helps the two new iPhones achieve a camera feature parity.
Probably the most intriguing new camera feature is the Camera Control button. This touch-sensitive button acts as a multi-functional shutter button, allowing you to quickly focus and take a photo or video, as well as zoom in and out by swiping the Camera Control button left or right. You can also access all controls with a press-and-hold: focal length, Photographic Styles, exposure, and more.
Two-stage focus will later come to Camera Control, allowing you to lock the exposure and focus and reframe your scene for a more creative photo.
New more advanced and customizable Photography Styles are also coming to the Pro models, giving us something akin to "real-time color grading", as Apple puts it.
4K@120fps is now coming to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, allowing you to create videos with cinematic slo-mo. You can change the playback speed in post, straight into the Photos app, giving you great flexibility.
Performance and Apple Intelligence
The A18 Pro chipset will be thoroughly tested, so stay tuned! | Image credit – Apple
Both the iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16 Pro are powered by the all-new Apple A18 Pro chipset. It’s Apple’s second-gen 3nm chip following last year’s A17 Pro, and is built on TSMC's second-gen 3nm manufacturing process.
The A18 Pro chip inherits the usual configuration with Apple's chips, scoring a hexacore CPU with dual performance and quad efficiency cores, as well as a hexacore GPU, and finally, an improved 16-core Neural Engine to allow for even faster on-device Apple Intelligence processing, as well as 17% more memory bandwidth for Apple Intelligence. In fact, the latter runs 50% faster on the A18 Pro than the A17 Pro.
The chip itself is 15% faster but 20% more efficient than the A17 Pro, but also moves past the raw numbers and enables other goodies, like faster USB 3 speeds, new video encoder with two times faster video processing, and so much more.
When it comes to Apple Intelligence, it will be available as soon as iOS 18.1 arrives, though some features will be delayed later, like the revamped and much more capable Siri assistant, which is coming sometime in early 2025.
Apple Intelligence is coming to the iPhone! | Image credit – Apple
Apple Intelligence brings a ton of new features, such as Writing Tools, notifications and email summary, a Clean Up tool for removing undesirable objects from your photos, intelligent image search in Photos, a digital image creation tool, generative emoji dubbed Genmoji, a visually redesigned Siri, and more. And then, there is Open AI's ChatGPT seamlessly integrated into Siri and Writing Tools for a supercharged AI experience.
A nifty selection of features, but probably not something that you can't live without.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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