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iPhone 16 vs. 16 Pro After 1 Month: Is It Worth the Upgrade?

It is now less than a month until we hear Apple reveal its new iPhone 16 series, promising bigger screens, better battery life, new colors, a new button, faster charging, better connectivity, and Apple intelligence.

Is it going to be worth getting excited about? Well, we’re going to get new iPhone 16s and 16 Pros, and most likely a refreshed Apple Series 10 watch and possibly new AirPods as well. But I want to focus on the new iPhones and what I know so far. First, in terms of timing, I’m expecting Apple’s event to be on Tuesday, September 10th, with a reveal on the 10th and then most likely a launch on the 20th, about 10 days later. So you’ll probably be able to get your hands on a new iPhone 16 by the end of September.

In terms of the iPhone models, we’re likely to see a pretty similar setup to what we have right now with:

iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
and the big daddy, iPhone 16 Pro Max

The 15 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch screen, but if the rumors are to be believed, we will see a slight bump in screen size for both the Pro and the Pro Max. So the Pro will go from 6.1 to 6.3 inches, and the Pro Max from 6.7 to 6.9 inches, making the 16 Pro Max the biggest iPhone ever.

Now, that will probably be through thinner bezels, which is going to be quite impressive given how thin these already are. But of course, we did have this new titanium frame introduced with the 15 series, which made the Pros quite a bit lighter. Do I want a bigger Pro Max? I don’t know. However, the regular iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will remain the same sizes. So it’s not going to be a significant change in design. The most obvious change will be a couple of new colors, but also the diagonal camera layout will now be vertical.

Design

Sticking with the design, one of the changes we had with the 15 Pro series was the switch from the mute toggle to this action button—a customizable action button, which I currently have set to take a picture. I’m actually kind of excited about this because you’ll be able to half-press or lightly press to refocus, very similar to what you have on a proper camera, with a firmer press taking the photo or starting the recording.

You’ll also be able to zoom in and out by swiping along the button. So for the 16 series, we’re going to see the action button come down to the regular 16 phones and also a new shutter button on both, which is all very nice. But if I could ask for one thing, Apple, just let me pause my video recording and switch between the rear and front cameras while recording. I can do this on my Samsung phone, and I can do it on a lot of Android phones.

Display

Now, in terms of the screen, I expect the iPhone 16 with its OLED panels to be 20% brighter, up to 1200 nits. So, potentially a brighter screen and also, as I mentioned earlier, thinner bezels, hopefully, to accommodate that slightly bigger screen. But we’re still expecting the regular iPhone 16 to have a 60Hz screen.

The 2025 model of a phone will probably start around 800 pounds—60Hz. I know the argument is that the average person doesn’t care, but the average person doesn’t know what they’re missing until they have it. And the fact that you have to pay like 300 pounds more to get a 120Hz ProMotion display on the Pro phones—honestly, how inexcusable is it that it’s still a 60Hz display on the iPhone? You can tell I’m getting frustrated. Hopefully, I’ll be proved wrong. Fingers crossed.

So, so far, we’re talking about new colors, a new capture button for the camera, the action button coming to the regular 16s, and slightly bigger screens for the Pro and Pro Max with thinner bezels.

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Processors

As for the new processors inside, we are going to get the A18. Now, the big focus this year is obviously on neural engine performance, the MPU, because we’ve got Apple intelligence. Well, I’ll say we’ve got Apple intelligence—America has Apple intelligence. It’s going to be a pretty slow rollout.

They’ve already delayed it a little bit to iOS 18.1, so it’s going to be after the launch that Apple Intelligence will come with a software update. But for now, and for however long—who knows—it is going to be US, US English only. We actually can’t get it here in the UK or anywhere else in the world just yet.

So we’re going to see a big push with the performance of the AI, but for a lot of people, it’s not going to make much difference, at least straight away. Going back a bit, what we don’t know is whether the 16 will have the A18, and the Pro will have the A18 Pro, or if the regular 16 will stick with the A17 Pro from last year while the Pro models get the A18 Pro.

Alternatively, they might all use an A18 chip, but the regular phone could have a slightly lower-bin model with a couple of cores disabled. There’s some talk that they’ll slightly change up the naming scheme of the processors, but crucially, as usual, the Pro models will be a little bit faster.

I think we can expect a small but meaningful boost to single-core, multi-core, and graphics performance, but a much heftier boost to the neural engine MPU.

There’s also a rumored bump in RAM from 6 to 8 gigabytes, which again is very much AI-focused because it turns out running AI locally on your device uses quite a bit of RAM. What I’m more excited about, though, is the rumor of a new graphene-based design to help cool the phone because one of my biggest issues with the iPhone, as great and powerful as it is, is that it gets too hot.

When gaming, I experience throttling, performance goes down, and it gets really hot in the back. Even when using the camera, it can overheat sometimes, and frequently when I’ve got the brightness maxed out while using it outside on a sunny day, it’ll say, “Your iPhone’s too hot, needs to cool down,” even during wireless charging.

There’s an overheating issue with the current phones, so hopefully, this new graphene design—which we have seen in some Android phones—’ll help keep the 16 Pros cooler. That actually would be a legitimate, worthy upgrade.

And paired with reports of a slightly bigger battery and hopefully a more efficient processor—especially if more tasks can be offloaded from the CPU and GPU onto the MPU—we may end up with a decent improvement to battery life with the 16 Pro.

Battery

The Pro Max will have a 5 or 6% larger battery. And there’s more—finally, finally, we’re getting slightly faster charging. I can’t even remember the last time Apple put some effort into charging. Samsung or Google have been better in that regard, to be fair. But now we’re looking at 40-watt wired charging, up from 25, and also 20-watt wireless MagSafe charging, up from the current 15 watts.

Now, there will be questions about whether you’ll need to buy a new charger. If we know Apple, the answer is probably yes. They don’t bundle it in the box, so I’m sure you’ll have the luxury of spending £50 or so on a new fancy 40-watt wired charger. But you know what? Yes, I will take a faster-charging iPhone.

Wi-fi

Now in terms of connectivity, we’re expecting to finally see Wi-Fi 7 on the new Pro and Pro Max. We’re going to see the new X75 modem, the Snapdragon, up from the current X70.

So hopefully better network connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, as I say, on the Pro models.

Camera

We got a new iPhone! What changes we see in the iPhone 16 Pro cameras are that the 16 Pro and Pro Max will feature an upgraded 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, capturing much more light for improved photos and videos, especially in low light. For the first time, we’ll also be able to capture 48-megapixel ProRAW photos. Additionally, both Pro models will come with a 5x telephoto lens. Currently, with the iPhone 15 Pro, you get a 3x telephoto lens, while the 15 Pro Max offers a 5x lens.

However, to tempt you to part with even more of your hard-earned money and opt for the bigger 16 Pro Max, there are reports that the 5x telephoto lens will feature a new design with a super telephoto periscope for much greater zoom reach, up to a 300mm equivalent.

This is an older rumor, though, so I’m unsure whether we’ll get this. What is more likely is that the main lens, the primary camera, will receive an improved 8-part hybrid lens design and, crucially, a larger sensor size, which will be great to see. Some Android phones now offer 1-inch sensors, so a bigger sensor on the iPhone means it can capture more light, resulting in clearer images, especially in low light. That would be great.

Like many people, I’ve already downloaded iOS 18, the beta version. It’s available in a developer beta and also as a public beta. It’ll go live when the new phones are released in September. With iOS 18.1, we get Apple Intelligence. You can see this new Apple Intelligence and Siri menu, but then you can also see—hopefully if it focuses—this message: “This is not available in your country.”

There are also hardware restrictions because, right now, only the 15 Pros with their A17 Pro chip support Apple Intelligence. So one of the big marketing messages we’ll see from Apple is to upgrade to a 16 series, whether it’s the base models or the Pro because they will all support Apple Intelligence—assuming you’re in America. We don’t know when it will launch globally, but you’ll be able to create custom Genmojis, generate images, summarize text, and proofread.

So, whereas with the iPhone 15 series, the big reason to upgrade was the USB-C port—at least it was for me—because it’s so handy not having to deal with Lightning connectors anymore, for the 16 series, I think the main reason will be support for Apple Intelligence. And hopefully, in a couple of months, it will be available globally.

Colors

And finally, the biggest reason to upgrade, of course, is the colors. Some are suggesting bolder shades for the 16 and 16 Plus, including blue, black, pink, green, and white.

From photos leaked of a supposed 16 Pro Max dummy unit, there’s a gray color that could be the new rumored polished titanium, rather than the natural titanium we currently have, along with a white or silvery white color and a black that looks darker than the space black we last saw on the iPhone 14 Pro. And that is pretty much what we know so far.

My final verdict

The iPhone 16 series will feature upgrades including a larger screen, enhanced camera specifications, faster charging, and improved connectivity. Notable additions are the Action Button on all models and Apple Intelligence, complemented by improved battery life and performance. However, the base models retain a 60Hz display, which may disappoint some users. This series is a compelling option for those seeking innovations in Apple’s ecosystem, especially with the global rollout of Apple Intelligence support.

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Alvi Hosain

I am a tech enthusiast with over 1.5 years of experience in phone reviews and gadgets. Passionate about making technology easier for everyone, I focus on creating smartphone reviews and detailed tech guides. Whether exploring the latest devices or providing tips on how to get the most out of your gadgets, I love helping others navigate the world of technology. Known among my friends for solving phone-related problems, I enjoy discussing technology and staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends.