Which mannequin must you purchase?

Unique launch date: September 20, 2024 | Storage capability: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Display screen measurement: 6.3 inches | Options: A18 Professional chip, All the time-on 120Hz ProMotion show, USB-C port (USB 3), Titanium body, Digicam Management button, Motion button, 25W MagSafe charging, Apple Intelligence | Cameras: 48MP huge, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 5x telephoto, 12MP entrance | Coloration choices: Pure Titanium, Desert, White, Black | Dimensions: 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.03 ounces

Learn our full iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max review

The iPhone 16 Pro is the iPhone we’d advocate to most individuals. Sure, its beginning value of $999 is perhaps steep, however a smartphone is a long-term funding. If the query is “which iPhone is almost certainly to maintain you cheerful for the subsequent three to 5 years,” we predict the iPhone 16 Professional’s benefits over the usual iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are nonetheless significant sufficient to be price the additional $100-200 — even when the hole isn’t as huge because it’s been in years previous.

For one, the iPhone 16 Professional’s blasted titanium body feels higher-quality than the aluminum one on the bottom iPhone 16. It’s a bit heavier than the usual 16 and the older iPhone 15 Professional, but it surely’s removed from an anchor, and its barely curved edges are pleasing to carry. It runs on the marginally quicker A18 Professional chip, which doesn’t make an enormous distinction with on a regular basis duties however is extra future-proof all the identical, notably when you have any curiosity in gaming or content material creation. And whereas each iPhone 16 has a USB-C charging port, the Professional fashions assist quicker knowledge switch speeds (supplied you have got the suitable cable).

Essentially the most outstanding improve is the show. Whereas the OLED screens on the iPhone 16 Professional and customary iPhone 16 are equally sharp and vivid, the previous’s is extra spacious at 6.3 inches (as an alternative of 6.1 inches), regardless of the cellphone itself solely being 0.08 inches taller and 0.02 inches thicker. That is primarily because of the Professional’s thinner bezels, which grant you extra room for streaming movies and studying net pages in a tool that isn’t considerably extra cumbersome to carry.  

On high of that, the Professional’s display screen has an adaptive refresh price as much as 120Hz, which might make scrolling net pages, gaming and streaming video noticeably smoother. Some will let you know that the typical particular person doesn’t want this, and it’s true that not every little thing performs at 120Hz. However utilizing a smartphone is nothing if not interacting with a small display screen, and when you’ve seen a quicker refresh price in motion, it’s tough to surrender.

It’s a irritating scenario: You may get a budget Android phone with a 120Hz show for round $300, but Apple continues to make use of “ProMotion” as a method to upsell individuals from gadgets that already price tons of extra. Nonetheless, our job is to let you know what’s finest — and the Professional’s display screen is just extra trendy. It’s additionally an always-on show, in contrast to the panels on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, so you’ll be able to view your notifications at a look with out having to bodily contact the gadget.

One other step up is the digicam system. The iPhone 16 Professional has a trio of rear cameras: a 48-megapixel fundamental digicam, a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 12MP telephoto digicam. That final one is the biggie, because the common iPhone 16 lacks a devoted telephoto lens solely. Past that, the Professional’s fundamental digicam has a bigger sensor, so it’s a bit higher in low-light environments, plus it helps portrait mode at night time. You’ll be able to take sharper macro shots for close-ups, and there are different fanatic options like the flexibility to shoot ProRAW or document 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient and ProRes video as much as 120 frames per second. 

If none of this jargon means something to you, know the common iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are nonetheless nice point-and-shoot cameras. These gadgets can now take macro images as properly, plus they’ve the identical upgraded Photographic Styles function that may assist contact up pictures it’s possible you’ll discover overprocessed. In addition they share the Camera Control button for rapidly (if typically awkwardly) accessing the digicam app, adjusting settings and snapping pics. All that stated, the 16 Professional is best, particularly should you take your images with a bit of extra intent.

The Professional will get barely higher battery life as properly, although it’s not the longest-lasting smartphone we’ve examined. Apple charges it at as much as 27 hours of video playback, up from 22 hours with the usual iPhone 16, however each gadgets will probably want a top-up earlier than you go to mattress. The bottom mannequin’s battery is easier to replace, too, which is aggravating for Professional house owners given the upper value. 

Apple may be very bluntly promoting every iPhone 16 on how properly they’ll work with its new “Apple Intelligence” AI features, however you shouldn’t base any buying selections on that performance proper now. As of this writing, the tips embrace a touch extra sturdy Siri, ChatGPT integration, electronic mail and notification summaries, writing assistance and image generation instruments, a Clean Up function that may take away undesirable objects from images (very similar to Google’s Magic Eraser) and a “Genmoji” customized emoji maker, amongst others. Extra updates will arrive over time. 

A few of these AI options might be helpful at factors; different instances… not so much. Little about them will really change the best way you utilize a smartphone in the present day, and whether or not anybody actually wants them to write down a paragraph-long electronic mail or learn a quick article is up for debate (to place it charitably). For now, it is perhaps finest to view Apple Intelligence as an intriguing first step towards a future that will or is probably not realized down the street.

Unique launch date: September 20, 2024 | Storage capability: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Display screen measurement: 6.9 inches | Options: A18 Professional chip, All the time-on 120Hz ProMotion show, USB-C port (USB 3), Titanium body, Digicam Management, Motion button, 25W MagSafe charging, Apple Intelligence | Cameras: 48MP huge, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP 5x telephoto, 12MP entrance | Coloration choices: Pure Titanium, Desert, White, Black | Dimensions: 6.42 x 3.06 x 0.32 inches | Weight: 7.99 ounces

Would you like a bigger gadget than the iPhone 16 Professional? Are you prepared to commerce pocketability for longer battery life? Are you cool with spending at the very least $1,199 on a smartphone? In case your reply to these questions is “sure,” skip the 16 Professional and get the iPhone 16 Pro Max as an alternative.

It has all the identical advantages of our high decide, however with a roomier 6.9-inch show and the longest-lasting battery of any iPhone. It will possibly final nearer to 2 days per cost, whereas the smaller Professional is extra prone to faucet out round sooner or later. It additionally begins with 256GB of storage, which doubles that of the Professional and helps justify the elevated price at the very least considerably.

The draw back is that it’s a tank. The iPhone 15 Professional Max wasn’t precisely tiny, and this newest mannequin is barely taller and wider, so that you’ll most likely want two palms to function it comfortably in case your mitts aren’t on the bigger aspect. Finally, we’re assuming that most individuals would like the extra hand- and pocket-friendly measurement of the common 6.3-inch Professional, even when it means sacrificing a half-day or extra of battery life. That’s a better name to make now that there’s no distinction between the 2 telephones’ digicam setups. However should you simply need the most important beast of an iPhone, the 16 Professional Max is it.

Unique launch date: February 28, 2025 | Storage capability: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Display screen measurement: 6.1 inches | Options: A18 chip (4-core GPU), 60Hz show, USB-C port (USB 2), Aluminum body, Motion button, 7.5W Qi wi-fi charging, Apple Intelligence | Cameras: 48MP rear, 12MP entrance | Coloration choices: White, Black | Dimensions: 5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches | Weight: 5.88 ounces

Learn our full iPhone 16e review

Right here’s the fact: There’s no such factor as a real price range iPhone in 2025. The $429 iPhone SE was the closest factor Apple needed to a value-oriented mannequin coming into the yr, but it surely was formally discontinued in February, and its severely outdated design made it tough to advocate lengthy earlier than that. The new iPhone 16e is the SE’s ostensible alternative, but it surely prices $599, properly above what anybody might name “inexpensive” when there are such a lot of genuinely respectable Android telephones that promote for tons of of {dollars} much less.

So once we advocate the iPhone 16e on this spot, consider it much less like a price range decide and extra like “the most cost effective competent iPhone you’ll be able to reliably purchase.” It’s straightforward to see the way it might be higher, but it surely nonetheless will get you most of what makes the iPhone expertise worthwhile. It appears and feels rather more substantial than the previous iPhone SE, with a bigger and extra vivid 6.1-inch OLED show, cleaner traces and flat aluminum edges. Its A18 chip is sort of the identical because the one in the usual iPhone 16, simply with one fewer GPU core; both means, it’s highly effective sufficient to run Apple Intelligence and most video games high-quality. Its battery life is unbelievable, with a good greater video playback ranking (26 hours) than the bottom iPhone 16. It has a USB-C port, Face ID and the programmable Action button. Most significantly, it’s the least costly route into iMessage, Apple Pay, FaceTime, AirPlay and all the opposite iOS perks locked in Apple’s walled backyard, for higher or worse.

Nonetheless, the usual iPhone 16 does convey significant upgrades for $200 extra. The primary one is a greater digicam setup, because it has a second, 12MP ultrawide lens and a bigger fundamental sensor with higher picture stabilization. The 16e’s single-camera system continues to be completely high-quality for many conditions, however night time pictures look softer, portraits are a bit blurrier and there’s no macro mode. Annoyingly, the iPhone 16e additionally lacks MagSafe, locking it out of a bunch of useful accessories, and it’s restricted to sluggish 7.5W wi-fi charging. There’s no ultra-wideband chip to extra precisely locate AirTags, and the usual iPhone 16’s show can get brighter. (Each are caught at 60Hz, although.) That display screen additionally has the Dynamic Island, which makes it simpler to verify timers, Uber ETAs, sports activities scores and the like at a look. The 16e, by comparability, has the static “notch” from older iPhones. The usual 16 can be out there in additional colours, whereas the 16e solely is available in a extra fundamental black or white.

In some ways, the iPhone 16e feels prefer it was designed backwards to make the common iPhone 16 appear like a greater worth. Nonetheless, should you can afford an iPhone 16 or 16 Plus however can’t spend one other $200 or $300 for a 16 Professional or 16 Professional Max, you need to nonetheless get one of many base fashions over the 16e.

Actually, discount hunters ought to look to the refurbished market for reductions on older iPhones first. If you will discover an iPhone 15 from a good vendor for $100+ lower than the 16e, that’d be perfect, because it presents most of the 16’s core upgrades and something older received’t have a USB-C port. If you happen to see an iPhone 15 Pro across the similar value, it’s no contest — that one is best than the 16e just about throughout the board. However even a refurbished 15 is unlikely to be all that low-cost, and each older iPhone will inevitably lose replace assist sooner. Nonetheless, which may not matter a lot should you simply need an Apple cellphone for fundamental iOS issues and might discover an appropriate price-to-storage ratio. Benefiting from trade-in offers or, to a lesser extent, month-to-month installment plans that decrease upfront prices appears particularly prudent as of late as properly. 

Because it stands now, the shortage of a aggressive price range mannequin within the iPhone lineup is disappointing, and it seems that won’t change anytime quickly. Apple might be Apple. However should you simply wish to stroll into an Apple retailer and purchase an iPhone that works, the 16e is okay sufficient, even when it isn’t a slam-dunk worth.