Every nightfall Apple releases four novel iPhones , but until last year I only had eye for the Pro . Not the standard , not the mini or the Plus ( depending on the year ) , and not the Pro Max . Just the Pro — a wonderful combination of high - conclusion features and a compact body .
But in 2023 that change , mainly because my confrere already had memory access to Pro and Pro Max review samples and it just made more good sense editorially for me to ask for the Plus . I made this decision with spoiled grace and low expected value , thinking the phone would be the worst of both humanity : too chunky to luxate in a pocket comfortably while lacking in specs and features . But I was sunnily storm by how much I enjoyed using the 15 Plus , and volunteered to try the 16 Plus this year — particularly as my colleague reckoned thiswas the best option .
But what is it like upgrading from an iPhone 15 Plus to a 16 Plus ? Here ’s what I learned from the process .
The pink iPhone 16 Plus (right) is a lot pinker.
The 16 Plus looks nicer. It just does
That sounds rummy , right ? Considering that Apple has largely kept the same design this class . But I far prefer my new phone ’s looks because of a few minor artistic tweaks .
The people of colour , for one affair , are much more vivacious . I plumped for pink both prison term , but where the 2023 pink was a washed - out rose blush that bet almost white in picture , the 2024 garden pink is unbelievable . I discuss my persuasion on theimportance of a good pinkin a freestanding clause .
David Price / Foundry
The pink iPhone 16 Plus (right) is a lot pinker.
I also opt the camera module on the rear , which thanks to the vertical configuration is less noticeable , and the fact that the Action button means the case has no cutout on the lefthand edge . It ’s just a cleaner , more comforting feel .
The Action button is better, but not by much
Here ’s one of the downside of using the 15 Plus last year : I ’m out of speck when it comes to the Action button , one of 2023 ’s flagship Pro features . I ’m using it for the first time now . excuse if the following hot take has gone insensate .
Here ’s my view . Having an action at law push instead of a mute switch is clearly better , because it looks nicer ( see above ) , is prosperous to use , does n’t get constipate with dust , is presumably less prostrate to failure , and can be programmed to do occasion other than silent / unmute if you ’d prefer . But the last one is the main welfare even though I do n’t really see why you ’d want to apply any of the other essence purpose .
Apple iPhone 16 Plus
own easy access to a mute control is utilitarian , and while using the 16 Plus I ’ve never been willing to sacrifice that for a unlike control condition . I necessitate the torch less often , and it ’s already easy accessible via the Lock Screen ; the latter spot also apply threefold to the tv camera , which is accessible via the Lock Screen or the fresh Camera Control . Shazam is a right niche function I can conceive of myself using , what , a dyad of time a twelvemonth ? For Magnifier , that figure probably jump to five or six times . And let ’s look it , most the great unwashed are n’t diving into Shortcuts to create their own actions .
The only substitute use I can see for the Action button is Translate . If I go on holiday somewhere where I do n’t speak the linguistic communication , I will switch the button to that role and use my iPhone as a handy sci - fi interpreter . But for the eternal sleep of the year , it ’s staying as a glorified deaf-mute substitution .
The camera is much better for close-ups, but that’s about it
The camera is a of the essence factor of a smartphone ’s armory , so I ’ve been intensively try out out the 16 Plus ’s photographic chop … and to be honest , 90 percent of the time , it ’s not noticeably different . The main television camera has been rebranded as “ Fusion ” which , you cognise , soundsgood , the Ultra broad aperture has improved from f/2.4 to f/2.2 , and Photographic Styles have been update . But none of that resulted , at least in my subjective experience , in estimable photos .
Except for the new macro instruction picture taking feature . Close - ups are much better and it ’s not even close ( no pun intended ) .
If you spend a passel of your sentence taking picture of tiny paint model to post on the internet , this could be a huge benefit to upgrading .
I really don’t like Camera Control. Not now, and probably not ever
So the tv camera itself is n’t all that different , but the way you access it is . There ’s a unexampled button called Camera Control on the righthand sharpness and this have you launch the Camera app with one click , and take a exposure with a 2d click .
My trouble with this is twofold . First , as mentioned previously , it is n’t specially needed : the Camera app is already easy to open by swiping decent from the Lock Screen . secondly , the button is placed in an awkward part of the chassis where my ring digit presses it unintentionally when I clean up the phone in my left handwriting , and where my right forefinger finger ca n’t easy reach it when holding it two - handed in landscape preference . It ’s just a bit too far along the edge to be well-to-do . ( This may be an issue sole to the Plus model with its longer bound . I have n’t try out the standard iPhone 16 . )
That ’s before we get to the advanced controls . If you do a “ light press ” on the Camera Control , it let you line up the exposure , profundity of field core , zoom , style , and so on . Doing two abstemious jam lets you switch between these . But these actions are so counterintuitive , so fiddly to get correct , that I have no interest in using them … which means I ’m unlikely to ever get better . The good news isyou can sour it off .
Wind noise reduction doesn’t seem to do much
All four of the 16 - series earpiece have a new feature film Apple calls wind interference decrease , “ which uses powerful machine learning algorithms to reduce unwanted dissonance for well audio caliber . ” I recorded myself talking into my phone like an moron on a visionary , showery day with both the 15 Plus and the 16 Plus , but when I observe back the video I did n’t mark any dispute : in both cases , the wind instrument was barely noticeable but the noise from put across cars very much was .
You don’t notice the extra processing power. Like, at all
Take a look at the specs sheet and you ’ll notice that ( at least in theory ) we ’re jumping forward two contemporaries of processors this year : from the A16 Bionic on the 15 Plus to the A18 on the 16 Plus . Apple is cagey about the accurate specs of its proprietary chips , but my speed benchmarking back up the idea that this is a major step forth . The 16 Plus was about 25 percent faster than the 15 Plus across the Geekbench 5 and Geekbench 6 processor tests , and an astonishing 45 percent faster in the GB5 Compute test .
While that ’s an impressive improvement on theme , however , the real - world impression is scarcely detectable . There simply are n’t any iPhone chore decent now that need that much theoretical speed , and you are likely to discover , as I do , that the 16 Plus does not sense any quicker in practice .
It does give you an extra class or two of future - proofing , however . Apps will rise more demanding to take vantage of the greater processing force appearing on the market . And of class , there ’s Apple Intelligence . verbalise of …
The iPhone 16 ’s pinkish color look good all the room around .
Connor Jewiss / Foundry
And we’re still waiting for Apple Intelligence
It feels singular to be come to this last because Apple Intelligence is the tentpole characteristic , the upgrade around which Apple built the entire iPhone 16 launch . But it ’s not here yet , and probably wo n’t be forseveral more weeks . It ’s hard to sleep together what to make of this .
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
Most obviously , you could barely have a bun in the oven customers to be as swell to advance if the main feature film does n’t come until almost two months after launch . But more insidiously , you ’re asking hoi polloi to purchase their iPhone on the military capability of a feature article that nobody outside Apple Park has tested , and which may not ( perhaps we should say “ almost certainly wo n’t ” ) straight off live up to the hype . Apple has had to build its own AI platform largely from scratch and we can not expect it to function as well as ChatGPT and other established competition from day one . AI needs clip and training data , and Apple has n’t had much of either ; it could take days for Apple Intelligence to hit its stride .
Apple ’s hardcore lover are sometimes accused – not entirely without reason – of buy the latest iPhone on launching daytime whether or not it ’s a worthwhile upgrade . But at least , in the past tense , those fans had a scratchy idea of what to expect . This metre Apple is getting them to crack open up their pocketbook before anyone has sighted the main feature , and this seems risky for everyone .
Conclusion: Worth an upgrade?
If you ’ve got an iPhone 15 Plus , I would n’t recommend that you upgrade to the iPhone 16 Plus . It does n’t feel any faster , the photographic camera is only better in one specific use case , and I do n’t rate Camera Control at all . The colours are nicer , but that does n’t justify spending this much money .
If you must upgrade , at least hold off until Apple Intelligence launch at the end of October . Then we can see if the main consequence is worth the Mary Leontyne Price of admission .
It needs to be, like, an inch further to the right.
The iPhone 16’s pink color looks good all the way around.
