iPhone 16

Source

The Verge

Key Takeaways

• At $800, shipping a 60Hz display in 2024 is inexcusable; motion blur is glaring next to high-refresh competition.
• The Action Button triggers only a single shortcut, leaving most users leaving it set to silent mode toggle anyway.
• Lacks an optical zoom camera, producing noisy crops beyond 2x while nighttime lens reflections persist.
• Zero progress in charging speed; wired replenishment stays capped in the low 20W range, taking ages to fill.

✅ Pros

• Vibrant color palette and premium rear glass finish
• A18 chip delivers snappy daily performance
• Fusion main camera captures crisp daytime detail

❌ Cons

• Unacceptable 60Hz screen at premium pricing
• Underwhelming single-function Action Button
• No optical telephoto and lingering lens flare
• Glacial 20W wired charging speeds

📝 Verdict

"iPhone 16 has pretty colors, but a 60Hz screen at $800 is brazen arrogance. Skip it if you value smooth displays."

Source

• Video: Apple iPhone 16 full review
• Channel: GSMArena Official | Type: Full review (with lab tests, 2024) | Based on: YouTube transcript (fetched with youtube-transcript-api)

Key points

• Adds an autofocus ultrawide (capable of macro), the Action button and Camera Control, with the cameras now arranged vertically; size and weight are the same as the previous generation, still IP68.
• The 6.1-inch OLED is still 60Hz with no Always-On, so scrolling isn't as smooth as on higher-end iPhones and most Android phones; but it's 460 ppi, supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and is bright enough outdoors.
• The A18 jumps two generations, with big gains in CPU and graphics benchmarks, and much less throttling than the previous generation in long stress tests.
• The 3,561mAh battery combined with better efficiency achieves an Active Use score of 15 hours 42 minutes; wired charging peaks at about 30W, reaching 59% in 1 hour and fully charged in about 1 hour 42 minutes.
• The main camera is clean and sharp both day and night; the ultrawide does macro well, with some grain at night; 4K video has excellent detail and dynamic range. They find Camera Control unintuitive and fiddly, not really solving a problem.

✅ Pros

• Big improvement in battery life
• Flagship-level A18 performance with stable thermals
• Excellent main camera and video quality
• The ultrawide gains autofocus and macro
• A useful Action button

❌ Cons

• Still 60Hz, no Always-On
• Camera Control is unintuitive
• Average charging speed
• Grainy ultrawide night shots

📝 Verdict

A refined compact flagship: the iPhone 16 is more mature in performance, battery life and cameras, and worth considering if you want a small flagship, but the 60Hz screen remains a regret.

Source

• Video: iPhone 16 After 1 Week: Forget The Pro!
• Channel: Kyle Erickson | Type: One-week review (2024) | Based on: YouTube transcript (fetched with youtube-transcript-api)

Key points

• He thinks the iPhone 16 is no longer just a cut-down version of last year's Pro: the A18 chip skips a generation and outperforms the 15 Pro, and it adds Pro features such as the Action button, macro photography, and spatial photos and videos.
• The new colors are more vivid and attractive than last year's; the pill-shaped camera island now has a vertical layout so the phone can capture spatial content. The Action button is very useful, but it's too close to the volume buttons, so he often presses the wrong one.
• The main camera outputs 24MP fused images, and 2× is a crop rather than digital zoom; the ultrawide moves to ƒ/2.2 with autofocus and macro support, performing better in low light than the iPhone 15; a new lens coating reduces glare.
• Battery easily lasts a day; MagSafe goes up to 25W, reaching 50% in about 20–30 minutes and fully charged in about an hour; it supports Wi-Fi 7, and he had no issues in a week of use.
• He's still getting used to Camera Control; the 60Hz screen is acceptable for most people, but he thinks it's outdated and the thing most in need of an upgrade. Apple Intelligence was still in beta at the time, so he couldn't comment.

✅ Pros

• Strong A18 performance with lower temperatures
• Pro features such as the Action button, macro and spatial video trickle down
• More than a day of battery life, 25W MagSafe
• Attractive new colors

❌ Cons

• The 60Hz screen already feels outdated
• The Action button is too close to the volume buttons and easy to mispress
• Camera Control takes getting used to
• Apple Intelligence not yet available at launch

📝 Verdict

The best choice for most people: the iPhone 16 picks up many Pro features, and apart from the 60Hz screen it has almost no obvious weaknesses.

Source

• Video: iPhone 16/16 Pro Review: Times Have Changed!
• Channel: Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) | Type: Full review (at the 2024 launch, a joint iPhone 16 / 16 Pro review after about two weeks of use) | Based on: YouTube transcript (fetched with youtube-transcript-api)

Key points

• He considers the iPhone 16 a "very small upgrade" over the 15; Apple Intelligence, the headline of the marketing, was entirely absent at launch, making it the most "unfinished" iPhone launch he's seen.
• Camera Control plus the new Photographic Styles (with adjustable tone, and D-pad adjustments that are remembered) make him enjoy shooting with the iPhone more; but the half-press is too sensitive and the swipe has inertia that makes it easy to overshoot — after three weeks he still takes accidental shots, and he thinks 99% of people will just use it as a shutter button.
• The standard model has never been this good: Camera Control and the Action button, the same memory as the Pro, the same brightness and 1-nit minimum as the Pro, and more fun colors.
• He personally can't accept an $800 phone still being 60Hz in 2024, but admits many people don't care about ProMotion at all.
• Buying advice: iPhone 13 or older owners can buy the iPhone 16, while newer models won't feel much of an upgrade; buy it for "what it is now", not for AI features that may come in the future.

✅ Pros

• Camera Control and Photographic Styles give more shooting control
• Action button and Pro-level screen brightness
• Better-looking color options
• Stable and reliable overall

❌ Cons

• Apple Intelligence not yet available at launch
• Camera Control is sensitive and easy to trigger accidentally
• Still a 60Hz screen
• A very small upgrade over recent models

📝 Verdict

Buy it for what it is now: the iPhone 16 is a solid but very incremental upgrade, suited to owners of the iPhone 13 or earlier; don't buy it for AI features that haven't arrived yet.