Adding more utility, better cameras, and color may just be enough to cover the standard iPhone 16’s shortcomings.
I’ve been testing the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus for the past week, and they’ve quickly unseated last year’s iPhone 15 series as the handsets I recommend to most people. Considering it’s the iPhone 16 that we’re talking about, perhaps I shouldn’t be as surprised by the polish and familiarity.
However, once you factor in all the new features, including the Action button, Camera Control, and Apple Intelligence, the standard iPhones feel more capable than ever — so much so that I’m not feeling much Pro model FOMO. It helps that they look better than ever, with bold and tasteful colors that most people will be drawn to when they walk inside an Apple store. I guarantee it.
With this year’s standard iPhones, Apple is taking what I’d like to call the “Sibling” strategy. You know how the older sibling tends to get all the latest and greatest things first — shirts, toys, shoes? After a year, or when the excitement for something wears off, it’s passed down to the younger sibling, so what’s old is new again. That’s exactly what Apple has done with last year’s iPhone 15 Pro model and this year’s iPhone 16, and I don’t mind that at all.
The new Action button, for example, replaces the physical mute-switch toggle and can be mapped to a unique function, from turning on the flashlight to starting a voice memo to firing up the camera. Of course, you can also set the Action button to switch between alert and silent.
Considering this is the iPhone’s have-it-your-way era, you should really try to embrace the customization freedom here. My Action button is currently set to “turn on AirDrop for 10 minutes” as I’m camera-testing the phone and frequently uploading images and videos to my MacBook. That prompt will likely change by the end of the week, possibly to quick-launch the ESPN app so I can catch up on NFL scores and be let down by the Giants again. That’s all part of the beauty of the Action button. and Giants football.
The iPhone 16 Plus (7.03 ounces) weighs slightly less than the iPhone 15 Plus (7.1 ounces).
There’s also a new Camera Control located on the bottom right side of the phones, which looks and functions like the one on the Pro versions. At the most basic level, pressing the Camera Control snaps a photo or starts a video recording. For some Apple magic, a lighter, more gentle press of the same key (Apple tells me not to call it a button) brings up a slider for your most recent camera setting, whether that’s zoom range, exposure, or f-stop.
A double light press on Camera Control brings up a carousel of shooting modes and settings, each of which you can access with another light press. Lastly, swiping on the touch-capacitive surface will dial between the settings. That’s to say, Camera Control has a learning curve, so much so that I wouldn’t have been mad if Apple made the feature exclusive to the Pro models.
