Apple iPhone 16 and 16 Plus Review: Little Improvements Add Up
It's not about one big feature, but how new elements like the Camera Control button and last year's Dynamic Island come together.
The iPhone 16 may not have one big knockout feature. But Apple's new iPhones find small and clever ways to bring a bit more speed and efficiency to our everyday lives, as I found during about a week of hands-on testing.
Between the new Camera Control key for quickly snapping photos and adjusting shooting modes, the Action button for programming shortcuts, and the upcoming notification summary feature in Apple Intelligence, everyday tasks feel a little faster and less tedious on the iPhone 16 -- and not just from a processing power standpoint.
That's been a theme throughout the smartphone industry this year, as tech giants have raced to incorporate more AI into their devices in the name of simplifying how we use our phones (and capitalizing on the biggest new tech trend, of course).
James Martin/CNET
For Apple, the entire picture isn't clear just yet. While Apple is touting its new iPhone 16 family as being the first devices built for Apple Intelligence (although last year's iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will support it too), the company's suite of AI features won't start rolling out officially until next month. It's impossible to know whether Apple Intelligence will be impactful enough to justify upgrading, but previewing the new features has at least given me a sense of Apple's direction.
For now, the Camera Control button and Action button are the most significant changes on this year's standard iPhone. I don't think either one is worth upgrading your phone for if you weren't already planning to. But between these new buttons, iOS 18 and the Dynamic Island, it feels like Apple is slowly transforming the iPhone's interface into something more customizable and efficient. Those upgrading from an iPhone that's at least two to three years old will notice improvements to the camera and battery too.
Watch this: iPhone 16 Review: All About the Buttons
10:04
Now that I've spent a few days alternating between the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus as my everyday phone, here are my top takeaways.
Say hello to the iPhone 16's new buttons
The iPhone 16's new Camera Control button.
James Martin/CNET
Trending
iPhone 16 Pro Camera Takes on Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Let the Fun BeginiPhone 16 vs. iPhone 15: Key Differences ExplainediPhone 16 vs. iPhone 16 Pro: Is Going Pro Worth It?
Smartphones have served as our go-to cameras for the past decade. And now, in its 16th generation, Apple has given the iPhone its own dedicated button for snapping photos and recording videos. It's tempting to just call the Camera Control key another button, but truthfully it's more complex than that.
Camera Control is like a button and a touchpad in one. Pressing it launches the camera, and pressing again snaps a photo, while holding it will record a video. But here's where the interesting part comes in: a lighter press will pull up a carousel of settings and shooting modes that you can swipe through by sliding your finger across the button. This mini-menu includes options for controlling the exposure, depth, zoom, switching between different camera lenses, and changing the tone or applying photographic styles. Once you tap into a particular setting, you can adjust it by sliding your finger along the Camera Control area.
It may seem minor, but it feels like Apple has built a new miniature interface just for the camera, and it's a lot of fun to play around with. Between the Camera Control button and the Dynamic Island, it's nice to see Apple updating the iPhone's interface for two of the things we do the most on our phones: taking photos and switching between apps.
But the challenge behind Camera Control is that it requires you to build a new habit. I have to admit, I still find myself instinctively reaching for the camera button on my lock screen instead of the Camera Control button when taking a photo. Launching the camera already takes almost no time, so you could argue that it's a problem that didn't need solving. As much as I love the idea of the Camera Control button, I also worry that it could end up being ignored much like the MacBook Pro's touch bar.
The idea of using a button as a shortcut for launching the camera also isn't new; you could already do this with the Action button on last year's iPhone 15 Pro. Samsung's Galaxy phones also let you launch the camera by double pressing the side button, and certain Sony Xperia phones already include a dedicated shutter button.
That's why I think the real benefit behind Camera Control isn't the ability to launch the camera but the way you can easily swipe through different options and modes. It's easier to adjust settings while keeping your shot consistent since your finger isn't obscuring the screen, and you don't have to move your other hand to toggle between shooting modes.
The iPhone 16's Camera Control button lets you switch between settings and modes without touching the screen.
Numi Prasarn/CNET
Still, the most fascinating part of Camera Control isn't arriving until later this year, and that's Visual Intelligence. When this feature launches, you'll be able to point the iPhone 16's camera at an object or location in your environment to learn more about it, like a restaurant to learn its hours, for example. The Visual Intelligence interface also has dedicated on-screen buttons for accessing Google and ChatGPT in case you want to add images to prompts for those services.
Again, you could argue this isn't a problem that needs solving. But it feels like the first step toward Apple building a more AI-centric interface, and that feels exciting -- although I'm reserving judgment until I've had the chance to try it.
Camera Control isn't the only new button arriving on the base iPhone model. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus also inherit the Action button from last year's Plus models, giving you a customizable shortcut key. You can program this button to launch the flashlight, record a voice memo, run a Shortcut or recognize a song among many other options.
The Action button isn't a reason to run out and upgrade your iPhone, but I do appreciate the level of personalization it brings, especially when combined with Apple's Shortcuts app. As I've written in the past, I've programmed mine to place my last order from the Dunkin' location near my job using Shortcuts, which comes in handy when I'm commuting to the office and want to grab a quick coffee.
The iPhone 16 comes with the Action button, like last year's iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
James Martin/CNET
However, I would have liked to see more from the Action button this time around. Apple made some useful updates to the Action button with iOS 18, such as the ability to access device controls using the button. You can also customize the button further with the Shortcuts app by changing the button's function depending on certain factors, like the time of day.
But I'd still like to be able to program more than one action simultaneously using different gestures (i.e. single press for one action, double press for another), especially considering WatchOS 11 makes it possible to switch between actions on the Apple Watch Ultra by pressing and holding the Action button.
The iPhone 16 pops in new colors, but is missing a key Pro feature
From left to right: The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
James Martin/CNET
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus look a lot like last year's iPhones, but with a couple of minor changes. For one, the cameras are now stacked vertically instead of being situated diagonally, which enables them to capture spatial photos and videos for viewing in Apple's Vision Pro headset.
They also come in a colorful range of bright colors, unlike the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, which are available in more muted hues. If you're going for the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus, you'll have the option of pink, teal, ultramarine (blue), white or black. I've been using the pink iPhone 16 Plus and ultramarine iPhone 16, and I've avoided putting a case on them for as long as possible because I've wanted to show off their vibrant shades. Like the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, these phones also have a color-infused glass back that gives them a frosted look.
The iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch screen, while the iPhone 16 Plus has a 6.7-inch display, matching the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. While Apple has closed the gap between its Pro and standard models in recent years, especially by bringing the Dynamic Island and the Action button to its lower-priced iPhones, there's one upgrade I'm still waiting for: the always-on display.
It's the one "Pro" feature I truly miss on a daily basis when switching from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16. Like the Action button, the ability to see the time and other information at a glance without having to touch my phone should be standard across new iPhones. After all, it's been widely available on Android phones for years.
Photographic Styles is my favorite iPhone 16 camera upgrade
The iPhone 16's camera gets one key upgrade.
James Martin/CNET
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus get the camera upgrades you'd expect from a next generation phone, such as support for macro mode, an improved ultrawide camera with better low light photography and what Apple claims is a 2x optical quality zoom thanks to the phone's 48-megapixel Fusion camera.
But that's not what impressed me the most about the iPhone 16's camera. Instead, it's the new version of Apple's Photographic Styles that stood out to me. Photographic Styles, which are different visual effects that can be applied to photos, have been around since the iPhone 13. But the company updated it to better identify skin undertones, colors, highlights and shadows, and the difference is huge. You can cycle through different Photographic Styles when previewing a photo before pressing the shutter (which is a breeze with the Camera Control button), or you can apply an effect after the fact.
It makes the old version of Photographic Styles feel limiting and basic by comparison. For someone like me who doesn't have a background in photography or video editing, it helped me create dramatic, striking images with little more than just the press of a button. I particularly liked the more dramatic looks, such as the vibrant option and the stark black and white choice.
Take a look at some of my favorite Photographic Styles photos taken with the iPhone 16 below.
In this example, Photographic Styles makes the shadows more dramatic.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
The stark black and white option in Photographic Styles is one of my favorites.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
I really like how the iPhone 16's Photographic Styles effect makes the colors in this image pop.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
The iPhone 16's upgraded Photographic Styles can add some pretty impressive effects to photos.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Otherwise, I was also impressed by the improvements in the ultrawide camera, which is much better at capturing photos in dim scenarios. Take a look at the image below taken with the ultrawide camera at an outdoor dinner party at night. The iPhone 16's photo is dramatically brighter than the iPhone 15's. However, I thought the Google Pixel 9 took a slightly better image that was a touch brighter and kept the subjects in focus even though they were moving.
Apple iPhone 16 (ultrawide)
The iPhone 16's ultrawide camera takes much better photos in low light.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Apple iPhone 15 (ultrawide)
This photo is decent, but the iPhone 16's is far brighter.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Google Pixel 9 (ultrawide)
The Pixel 9 took an impressive photo even though it was dark outside.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
You can also now take macro photos on the iPhone 16, resulting in more detailed photos when capturing close-up images. Take a look at these photos of a rose shot on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 to see the difference.
iPhone 16 (macro)
The iPhone 16 can shoot macro photos, and this picture of a rose is a great example of that new mode at work.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
iPhone 15
The iPhone 15 doesn't have macro mode, so this photo looks blurry.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
I couldn't see much of a difference in zoom quality between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16, although the Pixel 9's zoomed-in shot seemed much clearer. Even though the iPhone 16's max digital zoom is closer than the Pixel 9's (10x versus 8x), Google preserved more detail with less noise.
iPhone 16 (10x zoom)
This photo of a bakery sign was taken at the iPhone 16's maximum zoom.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Google Pixel 9 (8x zoom)
The Pixel 9 has a clearer zoom than the iPhone 16.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
But when it comes to photos of people, the iPhone 16 wins against the Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S24. The iPhone 16 did the best job at capturing accurate skin tones and detail, while images from the Galaxy S24 and Pixel 9 looked softer and had a blue hue to them.
Apple iPhone 16
The iPhone 16's photo looks the most true to life of the bunch.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Samsung Galaxy S24
The Galaxy S24 did a decent job, but skin tones in the iPhone's photo seem more accurate.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Google Pixel 9
The Pixel 9's photo, like Samsung's, isn't as sharp as the iPhone 16's.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
Overall, the iPhone 16 shines for the way it takes photos of people, whether you're shooting in the standard camera mode or applying a Photographic Style, even if the Pixel 9 is sometimes better in low light or zoomed-in circumstances.
Those who rely on their iPhones for recording media will appreciate the iPhone 16's new Audio Mix feature, which lets you edit a video after the fact to isolate a person's voice, provide a studio recording effect or give voices a more cinematic feel. I applied the in-frame voice isolation option to a video I recorded in the bustling Ferry Building in San Francisco, where there was a ton of echo and background noise from other patrons. To my surprise, Audio Mix did a fantastic job of elevating my voice despite all the noise, which you can listen to in the video review embedded in this story.
iPhone 16 battery life, performance and Apple Intelligence
The iPhone 16 can run Apple Intelligence.
James Martin/CNET
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus run on Apple's A18 processor, which performed smoothly and swiftly whether I was playing games, launching apps or scrolling through settings menus and photos. But the real draw behind the A18 is its ability to power Apple Intelligence. I've only been able to try these features in preview as part of Apple's iOS 18.1 developer beta, and not all features are part of the beta yet.
With that in mind, it's impossible to evaluate how much Apple Intelligence brings to the iPhone experience or whether it's a reason to upgrade your phone. But there's already one feature that stands out to me: text message and notification summaries. Apple Intelligence can provide summaries of text messages and multiple notifications from the same app in a row, which feels like a practical application of AI.
These summaries aren't perfect; sometimes it feels like they're missing context. For example, in one message thread with a couple of friends asking about where to get dinner, the summary phrased the restaurant suggestions a little oddly by saying: "Open to Thai Diner; Katz's will be had later."
From reading that summary, I could tell that my friends were deciding between Thai Diner and Katz's Delicatessen, but the "Katz's will be had later" part threw me off. Once I opened the message, I realized my friend, who is only in town for a few days, said he was planning to go to Katz's Delicatessen another time.
But remember, it's just a preview in beta. There were also plenty of other times where I was able to get everything I needed to know from these summaries without having to open Slack or the Messages app.
Siri is also getting a big upgrade as part of Apple Intelligence. In addition to a more modern look with a glowing border, Apple's virtual helper is better at understanding commands even when you stumble over your words, similar to Google's Gemini Live. It can also provide tech advice if there's a specific feature or setting you're trying to accomplish on your phone.
During my tests so far, Siri did a good job at understanding my questions even when I stuttered or stumbled, but it wasn't always consistent. To trip up Siri, I tried asking about the main character from the FX drama comedy series The Bear, which I accidentally called The Chef before correcting myself midsentence.
On the first try, Siri knew what I meant and provided information about Jeremy Allen White, the actor who plays the main character Carmy Berzatto. But the next time I tried a similar request, Siri answered with information about Paul "Bear" Bryant, the University of Alabama football coach who died in 1983, played by Gary Busey in a film of the same name.
Siri's not wrong; that biopic does exist, and it is called The Bear, so the mix-up is understandable. But even when I threw the word "show" in my request, it still turned up results about this movie.
There's a lot more in Apple Intelligence, from the ability to create Memories in the Photos app with a prompt, email summaries and writing tools for rewriting, summarizing or proofreading text. I'll have more thoughts on Apple Intelligence once I've had more time with it and when more features become available in the full version.
Apple's iPhone 16, 16 Plus Show Off Bolder Colors and Buttons
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have larger batteries than their predecessors, and based on my experience, they're more than enough to get you through a regular day of use. On a normal day that involved commuting to the office and doing basic tasks like checking email, sending Slack messages and taking some photos, I had 62% of my iPhone 16 Plus' battery left after about 14 hours of use.
But on a very busy day during which I went sightseeing around San Francisco, had the screen brightness cranked up high, and took a lot of photos and some videos, the iPhone 16 Plus was down to 43% after about 10 hours of use. It's worth noting that the iPhone 16 Plus was running on iOS 18 and didn't have access to Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 16, which was running the iOS 18.1 developer beta with Apple Intelligence at the time of testing, also showed promising battery life. After about 16 hours of use on a day that involved using Google Maps while commuting, streaming music and checking email and notifications, the battery was down to 50% by the time I went to bed.
I'll have more impressions on the iPhone 16's battery after I've had time to run CNET's battery tests.
Apple also improved the wireless charging speeds for the iPhone 16, but only when charging with a MagSafe charger paired with a 30-watt power adapter. The difference is noticeable but minimal, with the iPhone 16 gaining an additional 6% of its battery compared to the iPhone 15 over the course of 30 minutes.
It's a shame that Apple didn't make any improvements to wired charging considering its claims of replenishing 50% of the battery in 30 minutes (for the non-Plus model) with a 20-watt adapter hasn't changed in years.
The iPhone 16 is all about the small things
The iPhone 16
James Martin/CNET
The days of upgrading your phone every year for the one big new feature are far behind us, and the iPhone 16 is proof. And that's not a bad thing. Instead, the iPhone 16 is about how all the small things come together to result in a phone that feels faster, more intuitive and more customizable than years past.
I wouldn't recommend buying the iPhone 16 just for the Camera Control button or the better ultrawide camera. But when you think about how the Camera Control key, the Action button and the Dynamic Island come together, along with the camera and battery improvements Apple has made over the last several years, you have a compelling upgrade for someone coming from an older phone.
But the next few months will be as important as ever, considering Apple Intelligence hasn't started rolling out officially yet. While some of the early features show promise, we still have yet to see how big of a leap forward the iPhone 16 truly is.
How we test phones
Every phone tested by CNET's reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone's features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it's bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor's performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.
All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.
We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET's initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.
