Between the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, it’s not necessarily easy to know which one to choose. If you don’t know how to decide, Tech&Co lists the differences between the models to help you.
Apple unveiled its new iPhones on Monday during its keynote. Like last year, there are actually two ranges and four models on offer, available in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.
But how do you know which one is really right for you? Tech&Co plays spot the difference games to help you make your choice.
Screen size
While the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro came in similar sizes last year, this year Apple has differentiated all of its iPhone 16s and now offers four sizes:
- The iPhone 16 features a 6.1-inch display
- The iPhone 16 Plus has a 6.7-inch display
- The iPhone 16 Pro sees its screen increase to 6.3 inches
- The iPhone 16 Pro Max is the largest screen ever at 6.9 inches
All iPhone 16s feature an OLED screen with a black notch, now in an elliptical shape, all covered with a reinforced ceramic shield coating to better protect against shocks and scratches. They all offer an ultra-bright screen (up to 2000 nits of maximum brightness outdoors). The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are satisfied with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The Pro range is equipped with a Promotion screen (120 Hz adaptive).
Design: a more refined Pro version
The iPhone 16 and 16 Pro look like Siamese twins, and so do their predecessors. To see the differences, you have to look more closely. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have a colored aluminum chassis and a tinted glass back. The contours match. On the back, there are also two vertical photo sensors in a glass bubble in a matching color.
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max once again rely on a reinforced titanium chassis. They are in fact lighter than the old stainless steel iPhone Pros, but slightly lighter than the iPhone 16 (170 g/199 g versus 199 g/227 g). On the back, the three photo sensors are still encased in a glass texture, the coating is made of textured matte glass, surrounded by a matching chassis.
The screen borders are thinner on the iPhone 16 Pro and allow the screen to see larger, the smartphone extends slightly compared to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro (3 mm / 4 mm more in length and 1 in width, for the same thickness of 8.25 mm).
Note that all models have the “Action” button to activate functions with one click (photo, torch, shortcuts, etc.) and the new camera control button which offers a shortcut to photo functions in manual or Pro mode.
All IP68 certified to withstand depths of up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes, although they are by no means waterproof.
Colors: a more “pop” iPhone 16
For fans of pop colors, the iPhone 16/16 Plus will be perfect. They are available in black, white, pink, teal (green), ultramarine (blue).
The iPhone 16 Pro/16 Pro Max traditionally opt for more sober and premium colors. The titanium sand shade makes its appearance alongside a natural titanium, black titanium and white titanium.
Photo: Best Zoom for the Pro
This is one of the points of difference between the two ranges. The iPhone 16/16 Plus are equipped with two sensors (48-megapixel Fusion main sensor with 2x digital telephoto lens and 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle) while the iPhone 16 Pro adds a third, allowing for a 5x optical zoom (compared to 2x for the iPhone 16. The ultra-wide-angle camera of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max benefits from a definition of 48 megapixels.
To summarize: the Pro range allows you to take close-up or portrait shots with a much greater magnification, and offers more detailed ultra-wide angle shots.
Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro benefit from new “photographic style” tools, allowing you to apply specific filters to your photos.
In video, the iPhone 16 Pro also stands out from the iPhone 16: it supports 4K/120 frames per second video in Dolby Vision, where the iPhone 16 stops at 4K/60. For slow motion mode, the iPhone 16 allows it up to 1080p/120 or 240 frames per second, while the iPhone 16 Pro supports up to 4K/120 frames per second with the main sensor (1080p/240 fps with the other sensors).
Power: two almost identical models
Compared to the previous generation, all iPhone 16s are based on the same processor. It will be the A18 on the iPhone 16 when the iPhone 16 Pro will benefit from the A18 Pro chip, but with more cores on the second for more power and an architecture close to Mac chips. Apple promises that this will allow you to play with very good quality, raytracing and fluidity. All without heating, the internal architecture having been revised to better dissipate heat in the event of heavy use.
Uneven connectivity
All iPhone 16s are now compatible with Wifi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3. While they all support USB-C, the port capacity is not the same. Like last year, the iPhone Pros will benefit from significantly faster speeds thanks to USB 3 support (10 Gb/s compared to 480 Mb/s in USB 2 for the iPhone 16s). Note that Apple provides USB 2-compatible cables in all boxes only.
Storage: up to 1TB for the Pro
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are offered with 128, 256 or 512GB of storage.
The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are offered in 128 (for the Pro), 256, 512 GB or 1 TB.
Apple Intelligence: For Nobody (For Now)
The new Apple Intelligence features announced in June at the WWDC conference (transcription, summary, photo editing, advanced Siri, organized notifications, automatic replies, advanced photo search in the Photos app, etc.) will be deployed on all iPhone 16s. When it will be available in Europe. And for that, we will have to wait a little longer, at least until 2025. For the moment, the iPhone 16s are therefore a bet on the future, that of AI Phones that Apple hopes to take by storm. We will have to wait a little longer.
Price: 260 euros more for the Pro version
The iPhone 16 is the only one to remain under 1000 euros. It starts at 969 euros in 128 GB and is also offered with 256 GB and 512 GB of storage.
The iPhone 16 Plus starts at 1,119 euros in 128 GB and is also offered with 256 GB and 512 GB of storage.
The iPhone 16 Pro is available from 1,229 euros for 128 GB of storage. It will also be possible to choose from 256 GB to 1 TB of storage (1,859 euros).
The iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at 1,479 euros for 256 GB of storage and is also offered in 512 GB and 1 TB of storage (1,979 euros).
Identical prices to those of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro at their launch. Note that the iPhone 14/14 Plus and iPhone 15/15 Plus remain in Apple’s catalog like the iPhone SE (2022). They start at 749 euros, 869 euros and 529 euros respectively.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Pro will be available for pre-order starting September 13 at 2 p.m. and available in stores on September 20.
