Apple iPhone 16 Professional evaluation
Between the iPhone 16 Professional and iPhone 16 Professional Max, the latter looks as if an even bigger deal due to its ginormous 6.9-inch display screen. However I’m telling you the iPhone 16 Professional shouldn’t be neglected.
I’ve been utilizing each of those new iPhone Execs aspect by aspect, and I feel the common iPhone 16 Professional is a greater worth. For $999, you get an even bigger show than final 12 months (6.3 vs 6.1 inches), the extra highly effective 5x zoom that was once a Professional Max unique and a powerful battery life increase, based mostly on our testing.
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In any other case, the iPhone 16 Professional has all the identical goodies because the Professional Max, together with the highly effective A18 Professional chip, upgraded 48MP extremely vast digital camera and spectacular video options like 4K 120 fps gradual mo movies and Audio Combine for zapping background noise. Apple Intelligence options like Writing Instruments and the brand new Siri are promising based mostly on early testing of the iOS 18.1 developer beta, however that will not formally arrive till October.
As you’ll see in my iPhone 16 Professional evaluation, that is ounce-for-ounce one of many greatest telephones you should purchase and the greatest iPhone for energy customers on a finances — even when there’s not a really “wow” function but for Apple Intelligence but. And in the event you’re on the fence, try our iPhone 16 Professional vs iPhone 16 Professional Max comparability.
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iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Specs
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | iPhone 16 Professional | iPhone 16 Professional Max |
| Worth | $999/£999/AU$1,799 | $1,199/£1,199/AU$2,149 |
| Show | 6.3 inches (2622 x 1206) | 6.9 inches (2868 x 1320) |
| Chip | A18 Professional | A18 Professional |
| Rear cameras | 48MP major (f/1.78), 48MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 12MP telephoto (5x, f/2.8) | 48MP major (f/1.78), 48MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 12MP telephoto (5x, f/2.8) |
| Entrance digital camera | 12MP (f/1.9) | 12MP (f/1.9) |
| Video | 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient as much as 120fps | 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient as much as 120fps |
| Battery | As much as 22 hours streaming video | As much as 29 hours streaming video |
| Colours | Black, White, Desert and Pure Titanium | Black, White, Desert and Pure Titanium |
| Dimension | 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches | 6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches |
| Weight | 7 ounces | 8 ounces |
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Worth and launch date
The iPhone 16 Professional goes on sale September 20 and begins at $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 for 128GB of storage. It’s price noting that the iPhone 16 Professional Max options 256GB of capability in its base mannequin.
| Storage | US worth | UK worth | AU worth |
| 128GB | $999 | £999 | AU$1,799 |
| 256GB | $1,099 | £1,099 | AU$1,999 |
| 512GB | $1,299 | £1,299 | AU$2,349 |
| 1TB | $1,499 | £1,499 | AU$2,699 |
The excellent news is you can get 256GB of storage for $100 lower than the iPhone 16 Professional Max, and also you get the identical max storage choice of 1TB for these keen to essentially splurge.
To get the very best iPhone 16 Professional worth, try our roundup of the greatest iPhone 16 Professional offers. With Black Friday nearing and early cellphone gross sales occurring now, there are a handful of the way it can save you much more witht the iPhone 16 Professional, like Amazon’s provide for a penny while you activate it with Increase Cell’s limitless plan.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Design
The iPhone 16 Professional remains to be a compact cellphone, however there’s a trade-off with getting a bigger show. It’s now extra of a mid-size cellphone now versus a small cellphone, as the dimensions and weight have grown.
This handset measures 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches and weighs 7.03 ounces, in comparison with 5.77 x 2.78 x 0.32 inches and 6.6 ounces for the iPhone 15 Professional, so the brand new iPhone is taller and wider and simply as skinny, however there’s extra heft to it.
The excellent news is that the iPhone 16 Professional remains to be straightforward to make use of with one hand, as Apple made the bezels thinner. The design needs to be extra sturdy, too, as Apple claims that the Ceramic Protect show is 50% more durable. Plus, the band remains to be manufactured from titanium, which is extra sturdy than aluminum.
The iPhone 16 Professional colours aren’t very flashy in comparison with the common iPhone 16. There’s White Titanium, Black Titanium, Pure Titanium and the brand new Desert Titanium, which is sort of a mushy rose gold. I favor the Desert hue as a result of it appears to be like “new.”
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Show
Don’t count on a lot new from the iPhone 16 show. The one actual information past the dimensions enhance to six.3 inches for this OLED display screen is that it may get dimmer. The minimal is now simply 1 nit (down from 2 nits on the iPhone 15 Professional). I put the 2 telephones aspect by aspect in a darkish room, and I seen the distinction instantly.
What’s the profit? You should utilize your cellphone in mattress with out disturbing your associate, and in the event you’re utilizing StandBy mode, the iPhone 16 Professional received’t be as brilliant while you’re utilizing it in a single day as an alarm clock.
In any other case, you get the identical 120Hz refresh price on this ProMotion show, and the identical max brightness. Apple claims a peak brightness of two,000 nits outside and 1,600 nits for HDR content material.
We simulate outside situations with a flashlight, and the iPhone 16 Professional reached 1,553 nits. That’s greater than the Galaxy S24 Extremely however approach behind the Google Pixel 9 Professional.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Digital camera Management
Apple has added a brand new button to the iPhone 16 Professional, but it surely’s not technically a button. The Digital camera Management is a recessed capacitive swap that gives haptic suggestions. Press as soon as to launch proper into the digital camera and press once more to snap a photograph. It’s easy and works nicely in panorama and portrait mode.
I discovered it straightforward to launch straight into the digital camera, and I like you can press and maintain the Digital camera Management to file a video, although in the event you take your finger off the button the video stops. I want you might customise that.
The Digital camera Management has a whole lot of methods, together with the power to zoom out and in by sliding your finger left and proper on the button. And a mushy double press launches a mini menu you may scroll by way of to tweak issues like publicity, depth and select Photographic Types.
There’s a studying curve to Digital camera Management, however I’m glad that it’s an choice. Plus, this frees up the Motion Button on the left aspect of the iPhone 16 Professional for programming different shortcuts.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Cameras
The iPhone 16 Professional has a number of key upgrades that I appreciated throughout my testing: there’s a sharper 48MP extremely vast digital camera, a quicker 48MP major Fusion Digital camera with “zero shutter lag” and the 5x tetraprism zoom borrowed from the Professional Max collection.
As well as, Photographic Types are built-in straight into the Digital camera and Photographs app, so you may change Pores and skin Undertones and the Temper impact of your photograph on the fly. Plus, you may tweak it after the very fact.
To check the iPhone 16 Professional’s quicker efficiency I had my son take a photograph of me taking pictures a soar shot aspect by aspect with the iPhone 15 Professional, and the result’s a brighter and extra detailed picture.
How does the iPhone 16 Professional evaluate to the greatest digital camera telephones? I shot various footage utilizing the iPhone 16 Professional alongside the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely and the Google Pixel 9 Professional XL to search out out.
I put the ultrawide digital camera to the take a look at on the iPhone 16 Professional with this shot of a seaside, and Apple comes out on prime. The colours are extra pure by way of the iPhone versus the Galaxy S24 Extremely, and Samsung’s pic appears to be like distorted on the proper aspect by the flowers.
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The iPhone 16 Professional takes a crisp vivid photograph of this Halloween signal with a wealthy orange within the foreground. However I give the Pixel 9 Professional XL credit score for capturing extra particulars within the shadows of the opposite decorations. Samsung does, too, however the S24 Extremely blows out different components of the shot.
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On this photograph of peppers, the iPhone 16 Professional’s picture is much less saturated however I like how the ivory peppers have extra depth. The S24 Extremely’s shot is a bit overexposed, though it’s extra inviting at first look.
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So how good are the macro pictures? I took this photograph of a pink zinnia flower, purposely specializing in the petals on the left aspect of the body. The Samsung shot is extra on the purple aspect and fewer sharp within the petals.
I’m torn in regards to the look of this portrait shot from the iPhone 16 Professional. I look brighter by way of the iPhone but in addition a bit washed out. There’s a inexperienced tinge to the picture from the S24 Extremely, whereas the Pixel 9 Professional XL has essentially the most nicely balanced shot.
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In low gentle I feel the iPhone 16 Professional wins on this shot of a constructing. The foreground and the constructing itself are nicely uncovered, although I want the lettering on the highest of the constructing seemed sharper.
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I attempted one thing a bit trickier with this comparability of a string of lights exterior a restaurant. The iPhone 16 Professional is my favourite right here due to the extent of element while you zoom in, although the Pixel 9 Professional XL does a greater job with the definition within the bricks. Samsung’s pic is sweet however a bit fuzzier.
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To check the iPhone 16 Professional’s 12MP selfie digital camera I put it up towards the Pixel 9 Professional XL and I barely favor Google’s shot. My black shirt appears to be like crisper and the inexperienced bushes behind me look brighter.
For the reason that iPhone 16 Professional shares the identical precise cameras because the pricier iPhone 16 Professional Max, it holds up nicely towards different flagship telephones just like the Galaxy S24 Extremely, OnePlus 12, and Pixel 9 Professional XL. Actually, we have pitted the iPhone 16 Professional Max towards them in varied 200 images shootouts to get an concept of the way it stacks up. Listed below are simply a few of them:
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Video
The video on the iPhone 16 Professional will get a lift as now you can file at 4K and 120fps (up from 60fps). So video is not going to solely look smoother on the 120Hz show, you may modify the playback velocity on the fly to get dramatic-looking slo-mo movies.
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I attempted this out by recording a ping pong match in Bryant Park, and it’s outstanding how sharp the footage remained as I dropped the playback velocity all the way in which down to twenty%. You possibly can have a whole lot of enjoyable with this function.
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So what in regards to the video high quality? I filmed a fountain on a sunny day with the iPhone 16 Professional, Galaxy S24 Extremely and Pixel 9 Professional XL, and the outcomes had been combined. When zoomed out I most popular the pure colours of the iPhone on the flowers on the left aspect of the body and the bushes within the background, and the water seemed tremendous sharp. Nevertheless, each the Samsung and Google telephones delivered higher element within the stone and extra distinction once I zoomed in at 5x. It took a second for the iPhone to focus.
In low gentle the iPhone 16 Professional captured footage that seemed a bit dimmer than the Galaxy S24 Extremely of a fountain as I panned round as much as a big clock. However as soon as I zoomed in, the S24 Extremely’s footage turned darkish and misplaced element; the iPhone 16 Professional’s clip was extra constant at 5x zoom.
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iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Apple Intelligence
“Hey, Siri. Are you good but?” Apple Intelligence isn’t formally coming to the iPhone 16 collection till October, however I used to be in a position to check out among the options forward of its official launch as a part of the iOS 18.1 developer preview.
Writing Instruments will be pretty useful. I used it to summarize a protracted be aware within the Apple Notes app and it got here up with a helpful abstract. I additionally had enjoyable with Writing Instruments making an attempt to rewrite an e mail I purposely wrote in a impolite tone, selecting the skilled choice. And the end result was certainly nearer to what I might often ship.
I additionally used Apple Intelligence to lookup the best way to do varied issues on the iPhone and bought again step-by-step directions for the best way to display screen file in your iPhone. So that you’ll undoubtedly spend much less time wanting up how-tos on-line.
On the Photographs entrance, my favourite Apple Intelligence function is Reminiscence Film. You can provide the Photographs app a immediate like “Seaside reminiscences by way of the years with an upbeat soundtrack” and also you’ll see the AI go to work sifting by way of all of your images and movies. And the top end result was fairly satisfying, fittingly ending with a sundown pic.
Whereas it is overdue, I admire that the iPhone 16 Professional has a Clear Up button, which is mainly Google’s Magic Eraser on iOS. Apple’s model of the function is sensible sufficient to establish objects or topics you may wish to take away and it really works rapidly. However the function struggled in some instances to fully erase what I didn’t need within the body.
Siri is certainly the largest improve with Apple Intelligence. It’s much more conversational and forgiving of errors as you communicate. For instance, I used to be in a position to appropriate a timer from 10 minutes to five minutes on the fly and Siri bought it proper.
The brand new Siri in Apple Intelligence can also be higher with follow-up questions. For instance, I may ask in regards to the climate as we speak after which say “How about the remainder of the week” and I bought an prolonged forecast. Siri was additionally good sufficient to reply “Who do the Yankees play subsequent?” and “What are the percentages?” in succession, although it couldn’t inform me who the beginning pitcher was. I bought Safari hyperlinks as an alternative.
One other plus is you can speak to Siri simply by typing. You faucet the underside of the iPhone 16 Professional to enter your question, which is useful when you may’t speak.
Siri is certainly getting higher, but it surely doesn’t have that “wow” issue that you will expertise with Gemini Reside voice or GPT-40 voice, the place it feels such as you’re having an actual dialog with a chatbot.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Efficiency
The iPhone 16 Professional packs Apple’s new A18 Professional chip constructed on second-generation 3-namoeter tech, in addition to 8GB of RAM. Based mostly on our testing, it’s certainly the quickest chip round, however not on each take a look at.
Once I performed Resident Evil Village, I used to be scared (in a great way) as I made my approach down a snowy path and stumbled upon some useless birds. The graphics are console-grade. I additionally bought to play the Infinity Nikki recreation, which was in beta, and the lighting and water results had been very spectacular.
On Geekbench, which measures general efficiency, the iPhone 16 Professional is 50% quicker than the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip on single core and 15% greater on multi-core efficiency. The Pixel 9 Professional collection is nicely behind.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Single core | Multi-core |
| iPhone 16 Professional | 3400 | 8341 |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 3386 | 8306 |
| Galaxy S24 Extremely | 2300 | 7249 |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional | 1948 | 4794 |
| Google PIxel 9 Professional XL | 1929 | 4747 |
| iPhone 15 Professional | 2890 | 7194 |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 2783 | 6945 |
To check video modifying efficiency we use Adobe Premiere Rush and time how lengthy it takes to transcode a 4K clip to 1080p. The brand new iPhone 16 Professional wanted simply 21 seconds, which is twice as quick because the S24 Extremely.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Adobe Premiere Rush |
| iPhone 16 Professional | 21 seconds |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 21 seconds |
| Galaxy S24 Extremely | 42 seconds |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional | N/A |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional XL | N/A |
| iPhone 15 Professional | 25.5 seconds |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 24.49 seconds |
On the graphics entrance, the iPhone 16 Professional incorporates a 6-core GPU, in comparison with 5 cores for the common iPhone 16 fashions. Apple says you need to get 20% quicker efficiency than the iPhone 15 Professional.
On the 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay graphics take a look at, which has assist for ray tracing, the iPhone 16 Professional was 22% quicker than the iPhone 15 Professional. Nevertheless, that’s nonetheless 18% behind the Galaxy S24 Extremely, which additionally delivered greater body charges on the take a look at.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | 3DMark Photo voltaic Bay | 3DMark Metal Nomad Mild |
| iPhone 16 Professional | 7519 / 28.6 fps | 1563 / 11.6 fps |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 7396 / 28.10 fps | 1582 / 11.7 fps |
| Galaxy S24 Extremely | 8872 / 33.74 fps | 1713 / 12.69 fps |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional | N/A | 1044 / 7.74 fps |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional XL | N/A | 1044 / 7.74 fps |
| iPhone 15 Professional | 6145 / 23.37 fps | N/A |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 6027 / 22.93 fps | N/A |
The iPhone 16 Professional Max incorporates a new inner design with a graphite-clad aluminum substructure that’s speculated to lead to 20% higher sustained efficiency. To check this declare we ran the 3DMark Wilfe Life Stress Check for 20 minutes.
The iPhone 16 Professional turned in a stability rating of 66%. It hit the next general loop rating than iPhone 16 Professional max however had an even bigger drop-off. The Galaxy S24 Extremely’s rating was worse at 60.4%. Apparently, the iPhone 16 Professional Max turned in a stronger stability rating of 84%, which is best than the 75% from the iPhone 15 Professional Max.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Battery life and charging
The iPhone 16 Professional will get an enormous battery life increase, because of a bigger battery and different efficiencies. On the Tom’s Information battery life take a look at, which includes steady net browsing at 150 nits of display screen brightness, the brand new iPhone 16 Professional lasted 14 hours and seven minutes, which is an enormous soar from the ten:53 from the iPhone 15 Professional, and sufficient to simply crack our checklist of the greatest cellphone battery life.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Hours: Minutes |
| iPhone 16 Professional | 14:07 |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 18:06 |
| Galaxy S24 Extremely | 16:45 |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional | 13:37 |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional XL | 14:06 |
| iPhone 15 Professional | 10:53 |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 14:02 |
The Google Pixel 9 Professional lasted 13:37, so it was a bit behind. The bigger Galaxy S24 Extremely endured for 16:45.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | quarter-hour | half-hour |
| iPhone 16 Professional | 29% | 56% |
| iPhone 16 Professional Max | 29% | 55% |
| Galaxy S24 Extremely | 39% | 71% |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional | 21% | 49% |
| Google Pixel 9 Professional XL | 35% | 63% |
| iPhone 15 Professional | 28% | 57% |
| iPhone 15 Professional Max | 20% | 41% |
The unhealthy information is that the iPhone 16 Professional has the identical 20W charging speeds as earlier than, so it wasn’t a shock to see it get to 56% capability in half-hour. The Google Pixel 9 Professional’s 45W charger was worse at 49% however the S24 Extremely reached 71% in the identical time.
Regardless of experiences that the iPhone 16 Professional helps 45W charging, we didn’t see a distinction in our testing. The excellent news is that MagSafe wi-fi charging sees a soar from 15W to 25W, in the event you’re utilizing a 30W adapter.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: iOS 18
Apple intelligence isn’t the one main improve in iOS 18. As you’ll see in our iOS 18 evaluation, it makes the iPhone much more customizable. You possibly can prepare icons nonetheless you want on the house display screen, and also you now get three screens of shortcuts in Management Heart you can tweak the way you see match.
With the Photographs app, iOS 18 makes it simpler to search out pictures in your library by matter and you too can change the appear and feel of the app to your liking. Different iOS 18 upgrades embody a devoted Passwords app for safety, a number of Messages enhancements (like scheduling messages and RCS assist) and the power to share cash with Faucet to Money.
iPhone 16 Professional evaluation: Verdict
Total, the iPhone 16 Professional is arguably the very best flagship cellphone beneath $1,000. You get the identical wonderful cameras because the iPhone 16 Professional Max for $200 much less and I feel the display screen is large enough at 6.3 inches whereas being straightforward to make use of with one hand.
I additionally just like the improved battery life, useful Digital camera Management and compelling Audio Combine function for movies. The Apple Intelligence capabilities — comparable to Writing Instruments, the brand new Siri and Cleanup — present promise, however among the extra thrilling options like ChatGPT integration, Picture Playground and the Google Lens-like Visible Intelligence are coming later.
By way of the competitors, I feel the Galaxy S24 Plus and Google Pixel 9 Professional have extra compelling AI options proper now. However I favor the digital camera system from the iPhone in lots of instances and the additional efficiency from its A18 Professional chip.
Do you have to improve to the iPhone 16 Professional? When you’ve got an iPhone 13 Professional or older cellphone I’d say sure, and when you’ve got an iPhone 14 Professional, I’d say wait to see how nicely Apple Intelligence works as soon as it absolutely rolls out before you purchase.
