ZDNET’s key takeaways
- At $899, the
iPhone 16 Plus
undercuts the Pro Max by $300 while still giving you the bulk of the big-screen iPhone experience. - The configurable Action button and Camera Control offer users more iOS shortcuts than ever. Expect the learning curve, let your imagination run wild, and enjoy the ride.
- The features that I hoped Apple would improve this year — such as the 60Hz refresh rate and slower-than-average 20W wired charging — haven’t changed.
Being a tech enthusiast means I always default to the beefiest, most powerful, wallet-shredding devices that companies have to offer. So, every year, when the latest iPhones roll around, testing the standard models brings me back to mainstream reality.
These are the iPhones that most people buy, with Counterpoint Research reporting that in 2024, the iPhone 15 outsold the iPhone 15 Pro. In the year before, the iPhone 14 outsold both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Also: We’ve used every iPhone 16 model and here’s our best buying advice for 2024
After testing the iPhone 16 Plus for the past two days (and with much more evaluation to be done in the coming weeks), I’m expecting a similar consumer trend with this year’s iPhones — but with an ever-wider gap.
With this year’s standard iPhone models, Apple is taking what I’d like to call the “Sibling” strategy. You know how the older sibling tends to get all the latest and greatest things first — shirts, toys, shoes? After a year, or when the excitement for something wears off, it’s passed down to the younger sibling, so what’s old is new again. That’s exactly what Apple has done with last year’s iPhone 15 Pro model and this year’s iPhone 16, and I don’t mind that at all.
Also: iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 16: Should you upgrade to Apple’s latest model?
The new Action button, for example, replaces the physical mute-switch toggle and can be mapped to a unique function, from turning on the flashlight to starting a voice memo to firing up the camera. Of course, you can also set the Action button to switch between alert and silent.
Considering this is the iPhone’s have-it-your-way era, you should really try to embrace the customization freedom here. My Action button is currently set to “turn on AirDrop for 10 minutes” as I’m camera-testing the phone and frequently uploading images and videos to my MacBook. That prompt will likely change by the end of the week, which is the beauty of the new hardware key.
Calling this iPhone 16 color “Pink” does not do it justice. Instead, I’d call it “Atomic, Razzleberry, Flamingo, Bubblegum Blast.”
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
There’s also a new Camera Control located on the bottom right side of the phones, which looks and functions like the one on the Pro versions. At the most basic level, pressing the Camera Control snaps a photo or starts a video recording. For some Apple magic, a lighter, more gentle press of the same key (Apple tells me not to call it a button) brings up a slider for your most recent camera setting, whether that’s zoom range, exposure, or f-stop.
Also: Apple says the iPhone 16 is a lot easier to repair than its predecessor. Here’s how
A double light press on Camera Control brings up a carousel of shooting modes and settings, each of which you can access with another light press. Lastly, swiping on the touch-capacitive surface will dial between the settings. That’s to say, Camera Control has a learning curve, so much so that I wouldn’t have been mad if Apple made the feature exclusive to the Pro models. Because it’s not, it will be many users’ first experience with adjusting camera settings at such a finite level, and that’s very exciting.
Camera Control works whether you’re holding the phone in vertical or horizontal orientation. For lefties, you can also flip the phone so that the cameras are on the right side and press the key with your thumb.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET