The iPhone 16 Pro is a powerful and capable iPhone. But is it the one you should buy this year? I used it to find out.
The iPhone Pro is usually an easy recommendation. If you’re shopping for a new iPhone and have a bit more money to spend, splurging for the Pro is typically a no-brainer. But this year is different.
The regular iPhone 16 is the best non-Pro iPhone released in ages, and it’s so good that it makes justifying the iPhone 16 Pro more complicated than you may have thought. That’s not to say the iPhone 16 Pro is a bad phone (it’s very good!), but the group of people who should go for it over the regular model is smaller than in past years. Do you fall into that group? Let’s find out.iPhone 16 Pro specsGreat hardware, familiar design
The iPhone 16 Pro is an incredibly well-built smartphone. Like the iPhone 15 Pro, it has a titanium frame with a matte finish. It’s lovely and considerably improved from the old stainless steel frame Apple used on its older Pro smartphones. The flat sides are easy to grip, the rounded corners are comfortable in your hand, and the overall fit and finish are second to none. It’s essentially the same hardware experience from last year’s Pro, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Action button returns for another year and is just as convenient as ever. I wish Apple had allowed more customization, but being able to press and hold the button to turn on the flashlight, start a voice recording, or do whatever else you want remains a great addition. This year, it’s also joined by the weird and wonderful Camera Control.
Camera Control is a new button on the right side of the iPhone 16 Pro. On the surface, it’s very straightforward. Press the button to open the camera app, press it again to take a picture, and press and hold the button to record a video. However, lightly pressing and sliding your finger across the button allows you to select and adjust numerous camera controls — including your zoom, depth of field, aperture, and more.
The whole system takes some time to get used to, but once you’ve got the hang of it, it becomes a fantastic addition to the iPhone. It’s satisfying to use, frees up the Action button to do something else, and has quickly become my favorite way to launch the camera. I also love that you can lightly customize the Camera Control, such as changing it to open Instagram instead of the regular camera app. I wish it were placed slightly lower on the frame, but otherwise, it’s excellent.
Objectively, the iPhone 16 Pro’s hardware is as good as it gets. Subjectively, I desperately wish Apple had done something to freshen up this design. The iPhone 16 Pro looks identical to the iPhone 15 Pro, which already looked a lot like the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro. In a year when the regular iPhone 16 got a (admittedly subtle) camera redesign and phenomenal new colors, the iPhone 16 Pro’s aesthetics are a bit too familiar for my taste.An excellent (and bigger) screen
For the first time since the iPhone 12 Pro, Apple has made the display of its newest Pro iPhone bigger. Gone is the 6.1-inch screen we’ve had for the last few years, and in its place is a 6.3-inch one.
Because of this, the iPhone 16 Pro is slightly taller and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro, though not dramatically so, thanks to reduced bezels. It’s still easy to reach all four corners of the display single-handedly, and the slimmer bezels are pretty impressive.
Also impressive is the quality of this display. The OLED panel produces gorgeous colors, the 120Hz refresh rate is wonderfully smooth, and the always-on display (AOD) looks as good as ever. It’s frustrating that a 120Hz refresh rate and AOD remain limited to Apple’s Pro phones, but there’s no denying just how excellent they are. Combine all of this with 2,000 nits of peak outdoor brightness, and there’s virtually nothing to complain about with this screen.The camera is the real reason to go Pro
Apple has always reserved its best cameras for its Pro iPhones. But more than ever before, it feels like the upgraded cameras are the reason to get the iPhone 16 Pro over the iPhone 16 this year.
In terms of specs, you get a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 48MP ultrawide camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera.
