The iPhone 16s are official, presented by Apple during its keynote on Monday. They arrive in fours, with small minor modifications and a big new feature that risks being absent for a long time.
Every year brings its vintage iPhone and its share of promises (and hopes) that are not always fulfilled. Like last year and many others before, the iPhone 16 will provoke very diverse reactions. After Apple’s back-to-school keynote on Monday, we were able to spend a little time with the newcomers who don’t seem so new after all.
More similarities than before
At first glance, there is little to separate the iPhone 16 generation from the iPhone 15. We find the same design with straight edges and well-rounded corners, a large Oled screen with the Dynamic Island pill interface on the front. From the front, it is even more difficult to distinguish the iPhone 16/16 Plus from the iPhone 16 Pro/16 Pro Max.
Because now, everyone has the Action button on the left side, the one that allows one click to access various functions chosen or configured using Shortcut, as well as the new Camera Control button on the right that allows faster access to the camera (see below).
Yet, upon closer inspection, both 2024 ranges have their share of changes. First of all, the iPhone 16 sees its two sensors on the back return to vertical one above the other for the first time since the iPhone 12. We thought this would be for an aesthetic whim. Apple justifies this by technical needs to take spatial photos and videos (especially for its Vision Pro headset).
A colorful iPhone 16, a larger iPhone 16 Pro
But it’s the colors of the iPhone 16 that really set them apart. Finally, Apple is returning to colors that give the whole thing some pep and they’re pretty well chosen, with a very premium finish and a bold tone that’s a change from last year’s washed-out colors (green, blue, and pink, accompanied by a more classic black and white).
The Pro models make a change in softness. They now have larger screens (6.3 and 6.9 inches). Although the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max gain a few millimeters in length and width – the thickness does not change at 8.25 mm -, it is not striking and we have the feeling of having in hand a model equivalent to last year’s, slightly less light.
On the other hand, this is more noticeable in the decidedly thinner screen borders than on the iPhone 15 Pro. With the new layout of the icons on the device’s home screen, it is more noticeable that we have gained reading space. Everything still fits in the hand and the titanium chassis (now made of recycled materials and more scratch-resistant) is still pleasant. It feels like a real premium smartphone in the hand, but in less bright colors than its counterpart. Alongside classy, but somewhat dull, shades, the Sand shade with golden tendencies saves the day a little.
Camera Control, the new feature that catches your attention
Apart from Apple Intelligence – Apple’s AI which will not be available in France for the moment, the main new feature is the famous Camera Control button. A sort of trigger in the form of a tactile and haptic zone, positioned on the side edge which should help to take photos more quickly, with access to many functions and additional submenus. They appear in a sort of side tab, easier to access when you are in landscape mode.
The iPhone 16 is also designed for landscape photography. The grip comes naturally, as if you were trying a classic camera. For fans of vertical photography, on both models, the button is perfectly positioned under the right thumb (sorry for left-handers), but not necessarily easy to use on the more massive iPhone 16 Plus and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
First thing to know: it’s not easy to master right away. If you just take the device out of your pocket, press once to open the device, a second time to quickly take a photo (or longer for a video), it will be quite simple.
If you want to access zoom, menus for brightness, depth, sensor aperture, etc., mastering the “double click lightly, press down, but not too hard” requires some repetition before you get the hang of it.
Once you have mastered the tool, you can access a useful menu, a sort of Pro or manual mode for photo enthusiasts, which the iPhone lacked compared to the Google Pixel, the Samsung Galaxy and many other manufacturers. Snapchat is the first partner to take advantage of it with submenus offered when you use the button that quickly access the modes and functions of the famous ephemeral photo service.
It remains to be seen whether this will allow you to take photos more quickly so as not to “miss the moment”, as Apple promises, or whether the function will be lost in favor of more traditional uses of unlocking the device to access the camera. It’s promising and in any case interesting for refining the settings of your photos.
Ideal for playing
Another interesting change is the rapprochement of the chips of the iPhone 16 (A18) and iPhone 16 Pro (A18 Pro) which allow to run demanding games in the same way. We were able to see it with Infinity Nikkia new game supported by Tencent and extremely resource-intensive as it is graphically refined. On the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, it ran in the same way, fluidly, where last year’s iPhone 15s were deprived of the latest releases (Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Resident Evil VII ou 4 Remake…) due to the chip not being powerful enough.
The other promise made by Apple that will need to be verified is on autonomy. The new chip and better management of energy consumption should allow all smartphones to be more enduring.
While waiting for Apple Intelligence to make its appearance, the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro must fight with their initial weapons to seduce. We are almost back to the same situation as with 5G, a selling point, but little deployed at the time.
It is in fact a bet on the future of AI smartphones that Apple is making, knowing that it will be deprived of part of its main markets at launch with a product reduced by part of its potential.
For the iPhone 16, there is no doubt that the colors will be a key asset, correlated with the rapprochement of functions, almost similar power, and possibilities with the iPhone 16 Pro.
But starting at 969 euros for the iPhone 16 versus 1229 euros for the iPhone 16 Pro, it might make you think. They are on pre-order starting Friday, September 13 and on sale a week later.
