- Apple iPhone 16 series has officially launched with two non-Pro and two Pro models.
- iPhone 16 and 16 Plus takes on A18 SoC, NVMe storage, iOS 18, and Apple Intelligence.
- Albeit most of the specs remain unchanged, iPhone 16/ 16 Plus brings A18 SoC, a Camera Control button, and an upgraded rear camera setup design starting at $799.
Newest iPhones are here. I am talking about the latest Apple iPhone 16 series that made a strong headline at the Glowtime event on Monday. As the event wrapped, we are here with our take on what the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus bring to the table. We have covered the iPhone 16 Pro series as well which you can check out soon.
For now, let’s have a look at the non-Pro iPhone 16 series equipped with the latest Apple A18 SoC, a new Camera button, and of course, the much-anticipated Apple Intelligence (AI) in the mix.
| Pros | Cons |
| Camera Control Capacitive Button | Potentially Same Battery Capacity |
| New Color Options | Subtle Power Up from Apple A16 SoC |
| iPhone X-like Vertically Aligned Rear Camera | No ProMotion Support |
| Apple Intelligence (AI) Features | No LTPO Display |
Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus: The Power Train Under the Hood
You must have read (or should really read it first) about the A18 Pro SoC that powers iPhone 16 Pro models. It does beats all its predecessors to dust. However, it doesn’t mean the vanilla A18 SoC is any less powerful.
A18 SoC powers both iPhone 16 and 16 Plus and yes, it has received a tonne of upgrades compared to its predecessors. It shares the same NPU as A18 Pro delivering better AI performance. It is probably one of the marketed USPs on iPhones right now delivering 30% faster than the A16 chipset on the iPhone 15/ 15 Plus. Apple jumped a series to give iPhone 16 series a A18 SoC skipping A17 SoC altogether.
When it comes to the GPU, the chipset uses a 5-core setup capable of delivering 40% better performance than the A16 Bionic sibling while consuming 35% less power. Although technically it makes more sense to buy the iPhone 16 Pro series if you want to test the surge in power, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus still offer an incremental performance making it one of the contenders should you wish to upgrade to a new iPhone without burning a huge hole in your pockets.
Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus: Design
Both iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use the same display as iPhone 15/ 15 Plus. It means there’s no literal change by look, appearance, and other metrics. It does, however, have a changed design that’ll help you distinguish between latest offerings from their predecessors.
For instance, the camera island on the back panel has seen quite a departure from the diagonal setup to a rather iPhone X-like vertical dual-camera setup. If you believe me, this design looks way better than the diagonal cameras on the iPhone 15. I don’t think so it is only my opinion but rather a popular one prompting Apple to finally change the design at the least.
There’s an action button on the left above the volume rockers giving you a series of features. Plus, a new ‘Camera Control’ button sits under the power button that literally lets you do wonders. It is capacitive by nature and clad with a sapphire glass with an excellent vibration motor under the hood giving it a much better haptic feedback.
Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus: Cameras
Talking about the camera, there isn’t much change in this department, not that the predecessors were any bad. We see a dual rear camera assembly arranged vertically (this part has changed though). It uses a 48MP primary snapper with f/1.6 aperture, 1.0-micron pixels size, a sensor-shift OIS, capable of using Apple’s A18 SoC’ ISP to enhance its arsenal of photography chops. It can go up to 2x optical zoom at 12MP or you can go as high as 48MP for a full-blown photographs.
A new 12MP ultra-wide camera sits on the back as well that we last saw with the Pros last year. It is capable of autofocus, and macro mode, and draws 2.6x more light than ever thanks to a brighter f/2.2 lens. Finally, we have a 12MP selfie shooter with f/1.9 aperture, a SL 3D companion for biometrics and beyond.
iPhone 16 Series Camera Control
I know, I know, you all have been waiting to read about this. It is perhaps the most interesting feature on the non-Pro iPhone 16 series for sure. Dubbed as ‘Camera Control’, this is a capacitive sapphire-layered button located at the bottom of the right frame. It looks and feels like a fingerprint scanner and works as a trackpad on Mac. It might be too sensitive at first but once you get a hang of it, it unlocks better control over the camera and you’ll love it.
Camera Control ensures you can hone you photography chops to the next level. You can do a lot on the Camera Control such as launch the camera (of course), take an instant shot, navigate through strings of camera features, and fine-tune it further.
It isn’t an actual physical button but rather the haptic feedback makes you feel like it is actually a two-state button. You can have superior zoom control on the Camera Control. At present, the Camera Control works across all apps that use the camera app which includes but is not limited to Snapchat, WhatsApp, and way beyond.
Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus: Display
Most of the big changes were limited to the Pro series leaving the standard models wanting for more. Both iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus sport a 6.1” and 6.7” Super Retina XDR OLED panel that we have seen with iPhone 15 and Plus.
The display lights up at a peak of 2,000 nits and dims down to as low as 1 nits in the dark. Apparently, most of the things you got or heard about the iPhone 15 are true for the iPhone 16 as well. Sadly, we couldn’t see ProMotion on board this time as well as the feature made it to Pro duo as usual.
The Ceramic Shield on top of the display to prevent damage due to drops. In fact, Apple says it 2x tougher when compared to any other smartphone.
Apple iPhone 16 & iPhone 16 Plus: Battery Life
Call it customary or something Apple does every year, the Cupertino giant refrained from revealing battery capacity on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus as well. It did mention a 2 hours more (total of 22 hours) battery life on the vanilla iPhone 16 while iPhone 16 Plus gets four hours more on the battery life.
It is pretty safe to assume that the iPhone 16 (non-Pro) series hasn’t received any hike in battery capacity and rather, Apple has smartly engineered a way to squeeze in those few extra hours probably using optimizations and AI to its perusal.
Apple iPhone 16 & iPhone 16 Plus: Colors, Pricing and Availability
iPhone 16 and 16 Plus takes on a slightly darker hues than the predecessors. You can choose between Black, Pink, Teal, White, and Ultramarine as pictured above.
Surprisingly, Apple iPhone 16 pegs a price tag of $799 – same as last year’s iPhone 15, for the base 128GB variant. Ideally, it should be INR 67,058/- in India, however, iPhones are usually expensive in the country. Thus, iPhone 16 commences at INR 79,900/- which is a lot but it is what it is.
The iPhone 16 Plus takes on a higher price tag of $899 for the base 128GB variant. Again, this is the same as iPhone 15 Plus launched last year. It goes without saying, the pricings for 256GB and 512GB variants should be around $999 and $1,199 respectively. In India, the base model commences at INR 89,990/-. Apple launched the iPhone 16 series across 58 countries as a part of the first wave. The second wave lists 21 countries with the shipping starting as early as September 27.
You can choose from three storage variants – 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. As usual, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will be sold via Apple Store, Flipkart, Amazon, and a string of offline retailers. The pre-orders commence on Friday, September 13, with the available starting Friday, September 20.
