iPhone 16 Pro: is it worth it after all?

The new iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are here. After the debacle around Apple Intelligence, Apple turned things around at the last second and prevented the iPhone 16 from becoming the most useless iPhone of all time for us. These are my first impressions.

Apple Intelligence is missing in the EU

The new AI features that Apple presented at WWDC a few weeks ago are not coming to the EU for now, because Apple refuses to agree to the EU’s DMA. That was foreseeably the selling point, because on the hardware side not much changes. That applies to the rest of the world too, but only for us in the EU is a new iPhone without this AI as useless as a fork in soup. Honestly, I’m a little bit jealous.

For the AI features there is the A18 in the iPhone 16 and the A18 Pro in the Pro models, both more powerful and optimized for it. A kind of Circle to Search for the iPhone was also presented, just without the circle: you point the camera at something, and it searches for everything that can be seen. If I’m only looking for something specific, I imagine that being difficult. I find Circle to Search more useful there, because you circle first. In the Notes app you can now make karaoke recordings. We don’t get that for now.

The Camera Control button

Regardless of Apple Intelligence, all the new iPhones, including ours, have the Camera Control button: an additional button with an integrated touch surface on the right side. With all the extra buttons, the frame is slowly getting full. But for me, this button is the reason a new iPhone might be worth it again for some people, even coming from an iPhone 14 or 13.

For me it’s a bit like the introduction of MagSafe: at first you wonder what you’re supposed to do with it. Once you’ve used it, the benefit quickly becomes clear. Smartphones are increasingly becoming high-end cameras, and I shoot an insane amount of footage with them for my channel. The Camera Control button is a huge simplification: you hold the phone relaxed and, at least in landscape, can adjust settings without changing your grip or tapping around on the display. That’s exactly where the phone otherwise slips out of your hand, or you lose focus. I think that, like MagSafe, you won’t want to do without it afterward. For me it’s the most useful thing Apple has come up with in years.

MagSafe accessories from ESR

Ad: On the subject of MagSafe, I show accessories from ESR with CryoBoost technology in the video. The magnetic MagSafe charger has a fan built in. The iPhone is cooled while charging and therefore charges faster, just as fast as with the original Apple accessories, only much cheaper. An Apple Watch and AirPods fit too. There’s also a version for the car: the magnet is extra strong, the iPhone stays in place even with vibrations and is cooled as well. The links are in the video description.

Camera and colors

As every time, the iPhone 16 brings a somewhat improved camera. I’m naming it the way I mention it in the video:

• 48 megapixel Fusion camera (what exactly that means remains to be seen)
• 48 megapixel ultrawide camera
• 5x telephoto camera
• Videos in 4K at 120 FPS: That’s exciting for slow motion in 4K. You can slow down recorded 4K videos afterward without stutter, because enough frames per second were recorded.

The most important reason I would reach for an iPhone this year is the new color Desert Titanium, that bronze-titanium-gold mix. It wouldn’t be the first time I bought a smartphone because of its color. On the regular iPhone 16, the colors also look extremely good, especially the blue.

iPhone 16 or 16 Pro? The 60 Hz display

The iPhone 16 also has the Action Button and the new Camera Control button, but the A18 instead of the A18 Pro. That makes you wonder why you wouldn’t just go for the cheaper iPhone 16. Then I remember again: even in 2024 it still has a 60 Hz display. Every €150 smartphone now has 120 Hz for smooth scrolling. On the newest iPhone I have to keep torturing my eyes with 60 Hz. I think Apple simply needs a downgrade aspect, and they haven’t come up with anything better in 6 years.

Verdict

Overall, the iPhone 16 Pro with the Camera Control button is a small but successful upgrade over the iPhone 15 Pro. With it, Apple brings a tiny bit of innovation to its devices for the first time in years. That gives me hope that Apple will develop into an innovative company again. A detailed review of the iPhone 16 Pro is supposed to follow.