iPhone 16: Everything you need to know

After months of waiting, Apple has finally revealed the iPhone 16 collection in its entirety.

Like recent iterations of iPhone, the iPhone 16 collection is split into four models – iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max – though there aren’t as many differences between the models as you might expect.

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, for example, have the latest A18 chipset, the Action button and even the new Camera Controls button, alongside boosted battery life and support for Apple Intelligence, making them pretty tempting alternatives to the top-end models.

If you’re curious about the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, you’re in luck! Here’s everything you need to know about the regular models of iPhone 16. If you’re interested in the Pro models, we cover those separately, and we cover how the iPhone 16 compares to the iPhone 16 Pro in more depth separately too.

iPhone 16: At a glance

• 6.1 and 6.3-inch versions of iPhone 16
• Apple A18 chipset
• Supports Apple Intelligence
• New vertical camera layout
• Features Camera Control and Action Button
• Bigger batteries for improved battery life

iPhone 16: Release date and pricing

Apple lifted the lid on the hotly anticipated iPhone 16 collection today, 9 September 2024, with pre-orders for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus opening immediately after the presentation, with devices set to ship from 20 September 2024.

The good news is that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus cost the same as their predecessors, starting at £799/$799 and £799/$899 respectively, with no price hike in the UK or US.

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iPhone 16: Design and screen

In terms of the general look of the iPhone 16, not much has changed – on the surface, anyway.

While the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus sport the same 6.1- and 6.7-inch displays respectively, this year’s flagship range offers a handful of hardware changes. 

The most immediately noticeable should be the inclusion of the Action button, a feature that was previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro collection, allowing you to access a range of features and shortcuts from the press of a button.

There’s also the totally new Camera Control button; it’s essentially another button on the side of the iPhone 16 that provides granular control over the camera experience. As well as being able to take photos and videos using the new button, you can swipe to zoom in and out, change photo and video modes and more, all without having to actually touch the screen itself.

While on the subject of cameras, the more eagle-eyed among you might notice the new vertical camera layout on the regular models of iPhone 16. This harks back to the design of the iPhone X, though Apple claims that the main driver of the design change is to improve spatial video and spatial photo capture for a more immersive playback experience when watching content on the (super expensive, super niche) Apple Vision Pro. 

Elsewhere, it’s pretty much business as usual for the iPhone 16: it sports a USB-C port for charging, offers MagSafe functionality and is made from an aluminium shell. It is available in some fun colours this time though, including Black, White, Pink, Teal and Ultramarine. 

iPhone 16: Cameras

The iPhone 16 sports the same combination of 48MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras as last year’s iPhone 15, though Apple claims that the primary sensor is a new 48MP “Fusion” camera. 

The Fusion nature of the camera essentially refers to its ability to offer optical-quality 1x and 2x shots from the same sensor, though it’s worth noting that 2x images will be captured at 12MP and not the full 48MP resolution. Still, it essentially allows you to get closer to your subject and frame your shots more easily without actually having to move.

It’s also a faster lens than before, and when combined with the A18 chipset, Apple claims that it should allow for instant photo capture without any kind of shutter lag. 

There isn’t much in the way of a boost to selfie camera performance, however, with the same 12MP sensor that Apple has been using for quite some time, and like previous entries, it caps out at 4K@60fps. 

iPhone 16: Performance and software

For the past few years, Apple has split its chipset offering across its iPhone collection, with regular models getting year-old chipsets while the Pro models get the latest and greatest in processing tech. 

However, that has changed with the release of the iPhone 16, with Apple once again shipping the same A18 chipset across the entire range. There is a Pro version for the Pro models, offering a slight boost to CPU and GPU performance, but it’s not as big a difference as the A16 Bionic and A17 Pro of last year’s collection. 

Importantly, Apple claims that the CPU is 30% faster than that of the A16 Bionic, while the 5-core GPU offers a 40% boost to performance – so much so that the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus will be able to run AAA desktop games like Resident Evil Village that were previously exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro collection. 

The phones ship with iOS 18, complete with Apple Intelligence, boasting a massively improved Siri, new AI features like Genmoji and more – though only if you set your language to US English. 

Apple claims that UK English and other dialects of English will come later this year, while support for Spanish and other languages is said to arrive sometime next year. It’s also worth noting that not all Apple Intelligence features will be available at launch, instead rolling out slowly over the coming months.  

Apple has also claimed that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus both offer improved battery life, though the company didn’t go into any real detail about what users could expect, and as ever, it’ll charge via USB-C.