September 2024 once again saw the launch of a new series of iPhone – the iPhone 16. That meant only one thing, it was time for an upgrade. This time, from the iPhone 15 Pro to the new iPhone 16 Pro. Perhaps not as monumental of an upgrade, but an upgrade, nonetheless.
So, was that an upgrade worth making; or would hindsight suggest waiting another year for the iPhone 17 Pro would have been a better choice? To answer this question, we first must talk about what the key and notable upgrades made to the iPhone 16 Pro were.
The Capture Button
Arguably the most significant change in the device is the new Capture Button incorporated across the whole of the new iPhone 16 Series. With a hard press, you can open the camera app, then with a light press you can swipe along the button to zoom in and out. The new camera button also allows you to take a photo in the more ‘traditional’ way when holding your phone sideways.
So, is it useful? For someone who’s photography use and ability are extremely limited, it’s certainly, at the very least, a neat feature for the occasional photo. It’s not exactly groundbreaking, as it doesn’t really add the ability to do something you couldn’t already do, aside from maybe open the camera app slightly faster.
Much like the addition of the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Series, it’s something that can be used that can be slightly more convenient, but it hasn’t been groundbreaking in the way that I use the device on a day-to-day basis.
Screen Size & Display
Since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020, all iPhone Pro models have featured a 6.1” screen size. Apple deviated from that this year with the iPhone 16 Pro featuring a 6.3” screen, without having to massively increase the size of the device overall. As a regular video watcher on my device, this is a useful upgrade and bridges the gap in screen size between the old 6.1” and 6.7” screens of the Pro and Pro Max models.
While the increase in screen size is a nice upgrade, the quality of the display ultimately remains the same. Both the iPhone 15 Pro & 16 Pro offer 120Hz ProMotion Refresh Rate and 2000 nit max brightness, meaning the display quality is identical.
Performance
As usual with the yearly iPhone upgrade, the iPhone 16 Pro features an improved and enhanced chipset compared to its predecessor. This year the iPhone 16 Pro features the A19 chipset, which brings faster GPU & CPU performance compared to the iPhone 15 Pro.
In general terms, that just means anything you do using your phone runs quicker and smoother. For general day to day use, the operation of the iPhone 16 Pro does, to me at least, feel like a smoother and more optimised experience. Although without having sat down and done a direct, side-by-side comparison, it’s difficult to say whether that is just a placebo effect, but I’d like to think that it’s not since it does feel smoother overall.
Overall Impressions
The iPhone 16 Pro is a great device – but is it really a sizeable upgrade on the iPhone 15 Pro? Probably not. The slightly larger screen and enhanced performance is nice, not the most game changing. The new Camera button is an interesting concept but hasn’t exactly revolutionised the way I use the camera app and take photos. It’s a little bit more convenient, but not much more than that.
With that said, if you were upgrading from an older iPhone, it’s likely that the enhancement in processing power and speed would be more noticeable to you, and perhaps more worthwhile.
