Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event was held today, and Apple debuted its new flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max smartphones. The new “Pro” handsets feature the A18 Pro chip, larger displays, and a new Camera Control button.
The iPhone 16 Pro now sports a larger 6.3-inch display, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts a 6.9-inch display, making them the largest iPhone screens ever. Apple has shaved a bit off of the borders around the display, making them the thinnest borders of any Apple device.
Both devices are powered by Apple’s new A18 Pro chip, made using TSMC’s 3nm technology. The processor boasts a 16-core Neural Engine with 17% more memory bandwidth. The new chip performs Apple Intelligence tasks up to 15% faster compared to the previous generation A17 Pro chip. The A18 Pro chip’s, 6-core CPU features two performance cores and four efficiency cores, for 15% faster performance and 20% efficiency improvements. The A18 Pro’s 6-core GPU is up to 20% faster than the A17 Pro, and offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing to provide more realistic lighting in games. The new chip also offers faster USB-C speeds along with twice the data processing for video encoding.
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max titanium frame features a new “blasted” finish and is available in a refreshed selection of color options, including: Natural Titanium, a new Desert Titanium, a darker Black Titanium, and brighter White Titanium.
The iPhone 16 Pro gains a new “Fusion” 48-megapixel camera, equipped with a second-generation quad-pixel sensor. The new camera module boasts zero shutter lag when taking 48-megapixel ProRAW and HEIF photos. The ultra-wide camera gains a 48-megapixel quad-pixel sensor with autofocus, and both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have the 5x tetraprism telephoto camera that was a Pro Max-only feature in the previous-generation.
The 48-megapixel Fusion camera also offers support for capturing 4K120 fps video in full HDR, which can be used in slo-mo or regular video mode, with playback options including 120, 60, 30, or 24 fps. Intelligent audio treatment for wind noise reduction is also a new feature. The camera’s ability to capture spatial audio allows for immersive recordings when paired with AirPods or Apple Vision Pro.
Photographic Styles has been revamped, allowing users to customize their photos by locally adjusting color, highlights, and shadows in real time. Skin undertones have been improved, allowing users to personalize how they appear in photos. Styles can be further personalized with an easy-to-use new control pad and intensity slider for simultaneous adjustments across tone and color. These adjustments can be rendered during live preview, applied after a photo is taken, or reversed later.
The iPhone 16 Pro’s Camera Control is a dedicated, flush sapphire crystal button with haptic feedback dedicated to camera app functions. A quick click of the Camera Control launches the camera app. Another click takes a photo, while clicking and holding the Camera Control records video. Touch gestures allow the button to distinguish between a click and a lighter press. A light press reveals a new clean preview to help users focus on framing the shot, while a new overlay allows for quick access to camera functions like zoom and switching between lenses. Press lightly twice to see other controls and slide to the preferred control. Later this year , Camera Control will receive an update to lock focus and exposure with a half-press.
The iPhone 16 Pro has improved microphones, and it now supports Spatial Audio capture during video recording, for a more immersive experience when using AirPods or Apple Vision Pro. A new Audio Mix feature uses machine learning to identify and separate background audio and speech. Updates are also on the way to the Voice Memos feature, allowing you to layer a track on top of existing recordings.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery life is improved with up to 33 hours between charges. The battery is made with 100% recycled cobalt and, for the first time ever, over 95% recycled lithium. Thanks to new mechanical architecture and advanced power management, the iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts 20% better sustained performance due to improved heat dissipation.
