iPhone 16 series is here: Specs, price, colors, everything else!

The iPhone is one of the most influential smartphone lineups in the past two decades. Love it or hate it, the iPhone sets the standard against which top Android flagships are judged, even though the iPhone itself is not the bleeding edge of smartphone technology. Apple has announced the new iPhone 16 series comprising the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, all of which are more of the same. Even though all four phones feature mostly incremental upgrades over the iPhone 15 series, they add up to a polished experience that just works for a lot of people. Let’s jump right in and discuss everything we need to know about the iPhone 16 series!

Apple iPhone 16 series: Release date, price, and availability

Apple says the iPhone 16 starts at $799, but that is slightly misleading as that only pertains to the carrier variants. The unlocked version of the iPhone 16 starts at $829, and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $929. Apple offers a $30 discount for the carrier variants to bring down the price to $799 and $899, respectively.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999 for its 128GB variant, and the iPhone 16 Pro starts at $1,199 for its 256GB variant. Apple does not offer the Pro Max variant in a lower 128GB variant. Apple also does not provide a $30 discount on the carrier variants, so the pricing is advertised fairly for the Pro series.

The entire iPhone 16 series went on preorder on September 13, 2024. Open sales and deliveries began on September 20, 2024.

The iPhone 16 series can be found in all the usual global markets where Apple has a retail presence, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and the US. These are Apple’s first-wave countries, and later, the iPhone 16 series will be available in even more countries, like Macao, Vietnam, and more.

All iPhone 16 series devices sold in the US are eSIM-only. If you want an iPhone 16 with a physical SIM slot, you will have to purchase it from a different country, keeping in mind band compatibility.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro: Colors

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus come in five different colors: black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine. Apple has opted for more saturated and bold colors this time instead of the muted pastel shades we saw on the iPhone 15.

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max come in four colors: Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Desert Titanium. Apple has played it safe here. The white is lighter, the black is darker, and the Blue Titanium has been replaced by the Desert Titanium color that looks somewhere between bronze, brown, and pink.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro: Specs

The iPhone 16 represents the base iPhone flagship experience for consumers, while the iPhone 16 Pro lineup expands the experience to more skilled use cases. Apple doesn’t provide a standard spec sheet, preferring to focus on some features and their marketing names and entirely ignoring others.

Here’s a full spec sheet offering every detail you need to know about the iPhone 16 series:

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro: Features

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro feature several smaller upgrades throughout the phones. Apple is also banking very hard on Apple Intelligence features, but these aren’t available at launch on iOS 18, so it’s difficult to consider them as primary selling points for the new phones.

Before we move forward, here’s an important point for you to note: the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are nearly identical, except for their size, display size, and battery size. Similarly, the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are nearly identical, except for their size, display size, and battery size. There are no other fundamental differences between the two size tiers, though there are plenty of differences between the standard lineup (iPhone 16 and 16 Plus) vs the Pro lineup (iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max).

Camera

If you are looking for exciting new camera upgrades, there are barely any on the iPhone 16 series.

Starting with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the primary camera is a 48MP shooter with f/1.6 aperture and sensor-shift OIS. Apple uses pixel binning to output 12MP photos, but you can also get 24MP and 48MP outputs. Apple is also using the primary 48MP camera sensor’s middle area to output 2x zoom shots at 12MP.

Moving on, the ultrawide angle camera is a 12MP, f/2.2 shooter with autofocus which gives it macro photography powers. Thanks to the vertical camera alignment, the iPhone 16 can also shoot spatial photos and videos for use on the Apple Vision Pro. On the front of the phones, we get a 12MP, f/1.9 sensor with autofocus alongside the sensors needed for Face ID.

Apple is not playing favorites this year when it comes to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, as both phones have identical camera setups. The primary camera is a 48MP, f/1.78 sensor with second-generation sensor-shift OIS. Regular images are pixel-binned to 12MP, though you can choose to get 24MP and 48MP shots, too. You can also get 2x zoom shots at 12MP by cropping into 48MP shots.

Ultrawide camera duties are handled by a 48MP, f/2.2 sensor with autofocus and macro photography capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro catches up to the Pro Max as now both the phones have the same 12MP tetraprism (aka periscope zoom) camera for 5x optical zoom. As a plus, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max can now shoot 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120fps. On the front, you get a humbler 12MP, f/1.9 sensor with autofocus alongside the sensors needed for Face ID.

While the camera hardware is not seeing any major upgrades, one of the biggest talking points on the iPhone 16 series is the new Camera Control button, which is a dedicated button for controlling the camera. This is a capacitive button with a haptic engine underneath to provide vibration feedback to simulate presses, overlaid on top of a high-precision force sensor to enable light press gestures.

A light press of the Camera Control button starts the camera app. A press within the app will take a photo, and you can press and hold to capture a video.

You can swipe on the button to zoom, and double-pressing opens up additional controls like lens selection, exposure, and photo styles. In a later software update, Apple has promised to add a two-stage shutter function that will allow you to lock focus and exposure with a half-press and click the photo with a full press. Developers will also be able to support some of these features in third-party apps.

Performance

Apple has given the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus a decent upgrade with the jump to the Apple A18 chip, which is faster than the A16 Bionic chip on the iPhone 15. This new 3nm SoC is said to bring up to 30% faster performance and up to 35% lower power consumption compared to the previous comparable iPhone.

The A18 features a six-core CPU, a five-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine to take care of the phone’s Apple Intelligence needs.

On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max come with the Apple A18 Pro chip, an upgrade from the A17 Pro chip on the iPhone 15 Pro. With this new 3nm SoC, Apple claims up to 15% faster CPU processing, up to 20% faster GPU, up to three times better ray tracing performance, and up to 20% less power consumption. The A18 Pro features a six-core CPU, a six-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine for Apple Intelligence and other AI processing needs.

Apple does not disclose the RAM capacity on iPhones. But we know from regulatory filings and other sources that all four phones in the iPhone 16 series come with 8GB of RAM. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are offered in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage variants, while the iPhone 16 Pro gets an additional 1TB variant. The iPhone 16 Pro Max skips the 128GB variant and sticks with the higher 1TB variant.

Design, build quality, size, and display

The design of the iPhone 16 series has remained largely the same for years. The iPhone 16 features a redesigned rear camera array, with the lenses placed vertically instead of diagonally, as seen on the iPhone 15. The iPhone 16 features the new Camera Control button and inherits the Action button from the Pro lineup. For their build, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus use aluminum.

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are also nearly the same size as their predecessors for their size. Even the display is the same at 6.1-inch for the iPhone 16 and 6.7-inch for the Plus, and the only difference here is that the iPhone 16 can now go down as low as 1 nits in brightness, while Apple did not disclose that value for the iPhone 15. The new phones sport a Super Retina XDR OLED display with excellent colors and viewing angles, and the signature Dynamic Island. However, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus still come with a 60Hz refresh rate, and they also miss out on an Always-On display.

The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are also the same in terms of design as their predecessors. They feature an aluminum inner subframe melded to a Titanium outer midframe.

However, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are noticeably larger and heavier, as the display diagonal has slightly increased. The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max have a display diagonal of 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch as compared to the 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

The new phones can also go down as low as 1 nits for their minimum brightness, and they also have thinner bezels on the front. These phones also sport a Super Retina XDR OLED display with excellent colors and viewing angles, and the signature Dynamic Island. Thankfully, they also come with a 120Hz refresh rate and an Always-On display. Of course, the iPhone 16 Pro also gets the new Camera Control and it retains the Action button.

Battery life and charging speed

Apple also does not disclose the battery capacity details on iPhones. However, regulatory listings showcase that the iPhone 16 lineup starts at 3,561mAh for the 16, 4,674mAh for the 16 Plus, 3,582mAh for the 16 Pro, and 4,685mAh for the 16 Pro Max. These are improvements over last year’s figures, and you can see how they compare in the table below:

Apple releases official battery life numbers, so we can compare the video playback numbers of the iPhone 16 series against the iPhone 15 series. This is how they stack up:

As you can see, there are significant improvements across the board, but more specifically on the Pro models. This is likely partly because of the physically larger battery in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max compared to their predecessors. Other changes like the improved efficiency of the processor and the better thermal dissipation also help with battery life.

Apple also does not disclose wired charging numbers for the iPhone. However, certification data suggests that all four phones in the iPhone 16 series support up to 45W fast charging. That is a big jump from their respective predecessors, as the iPhone 15 charged at a maximum of 20W while the iPhone 15 Pro Max went up to ~29W. Note that certification data is for the maximum possible charging speed, and Apple could place restrictions at the software level for better thermal and battery management. It’s also not clear what fast charging protocol the iPhone 16 series supports.

Apple does provide details on wireless charging. The iPhone 16 series supports Qi wireless charging up to 7.5W, Qi2 wireless charging up to 15W, and MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W.

Note that the iPhone 16 box does not include a charger. Apple has not provided a charger in the box for some years now, and the iPhone 16 series follows the trend. You will have to buy a compatible fast charger separately.

Software and updates

The iPhone 16 series launches with the latest iOS 18, which brings many new features. However, some of the biggest changes to iOS 18 come from Apple Intelligence features, which will gradually roll out through iOS 18.1, iOS 18.2, and beyond. These phones are built for Apple Intelligence, yet they do not launch with those features.

Apple Intelligence is Apple’s AI suite of features. It uses Apple-built generative models on top of Apple silicon to perform various AI tasks. These tasks include creating images, taking actions across apps, and drawing from personal context to simplify everyday tasks.

For example, Apple Intelligence has a new feature called Writing Tools that lets users rewrite, proofread, and summarize text systemwide. Apple Intelligence also summarizes notifications and surfaces time-sensitive messages with Priority Messages in Mail.

Even Siri has become more natural, flexible, and deeply integrated into the iOS system, but sadly, it doesn’t come out of the box.

Apple also makes no promises about the number of updates the iPhone 16 will receive, nor does it comment on their frequency or timeliness. However, the company has an excellent record of delivering updates to its lineup of supported iPhones for many years, so you can bank on the iPhone 16 getting updated and supported for a long time, with updates reaching very quickly even as the phone ages.

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