Foreign journalists shared their impressions of the latest iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Traditionally, the new products were called the best iPhones that Apple had ever created. However, there were some downsides.
iPhone 16 reviews are out. There is almost no difference with the 16 Pro
Let’s find out what they say about smartphones.
1. Edge
Switch control via new confusing button
As always, The Verge experts were among the first to respond. They immediately noted that in their review they are confident in what already exists, and not in what Apple promises in the future.
There are two big changes to the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro cameras: a new control button and a new set of controls for image processing. The button itself is a hybrid: you can press it all the way down to take a photo, or press it lightly to get a haptic click and change the zoom or exposure. Double squeeze Lets you cycle through settings.
By default, one of the keys activates the camera when the phone is unlocked, and the other takes a photo. It’s pretty funny to turn the phone on its side and shoot with the button, like a regular camera. The problem with the left one is that you accidentally press this button and launch the camera (you can fix this by assigning a double click to the camera button).
The switch controls are still in their infancy. Apple says a software update later this year will emulate the traditional two-step shutter button, where a half-press causes a surprise and a full press takes a photo. There’s no exact timeline yet, though.
Unlike the camera in the iPhone 15 Pro, this one has its pros and cons:
• The iPhone 16 Pro camera is even more aggressive in combating shadows and glare
• Shadows in photos from the iPhone 16 Pro are significantly increased compared to the previous iPhone 16, although the iPhone 16 Pro offers much more pleasing sharpness, smoothness, and better low-light performance.
• It’s harder to switch to Night mode on the iPhone 16 Pro than on the iPhone 16.
• iPhone 16 Pro lets you better adjust colors as you shoot without using preset photo styles
Most importantly, there’s a new control called tone that lets you direct shadows back into your photos. And in some cases, you can make your shot look more realistic right as you’re capturing it.
However, it is easier to disable this feature:
I prefer to read photos with less aggressive effects than the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro by default. It’s like removing the haze. You may judge this feature differently for yourself, but I like shadows and highlights, and adding tone control allows me to place them on the phone’s cell without going through a RAW editor and processing the photos myself.
My tone control improves iPhone photos so much that I can argue that this one camera adjustment makes the upgrade to the iPhone 16 or 16 Pro worth it.
— The Verge columnist
If you set your camera to shoot standard JPG, you won’t get Photo Styles or the new Control Tone.
iPhone displays now have a minimum brightness of 1 nit, which is useful in the morning or at night to avoid waking up someone speaking nearby.
These displays are now bigger, too: The Pro is 6.3 inches, while the Pro Max is 6.9 inches, the largest ever on an iPhone. The regular Pro doesn’t feel much bigger, since the bezels are smaller and the phones haven’t gotten any thicker. But the 16 Pro Max feels significantly larger than the 15 Pro Max. This phone is on the edge of usability: it’s almost a tablet.
It’s hard to say anything about autonomy yet. It’s definitely not worse than in the previous generation, but additional tests are required.
Either way, it’s hard to find a reason to upgrade from iPhone 15 Pro to iPhone 16 Pro.
2. Engadget
The differences from the iPhone 15 Pro were not enough
Engadget also had mixed feelings about the new products and talked about the advantages and traditions of the Pros.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max display sizes have increased from 6.1 inches and 6.7 inches to 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively. Both devices have also grown slightly, by just under 1 mm in size and about 3 mm in height.
And yet, despite this minimal change, you won’t be able to keep your old cases if you upgrade from the iPhone 15 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro. Not only will the cases not fit perfectly, but you’ll also need something with a notch or sapphire crystal and a layer of wires to use the new switch control.
The camera control button is new. You can swipe it to adjust exposure, zoom levels, and tone, and the half-press still works as a way to select options. In theory, it’s a good way to make adjustments for the summer.
Pixel 9 Pro XL, 5x zoom
iPhone 16 Pro, 5x zoom
In fact, there were a few issues, and they were largely due to placement. The button is a little further from the base of the phone than I’d like, so my fingers had to reach a little harder to press it, regardless of whether I was in landscape or portrait mode. This wasn’t usually an issue when I had my hands free and could steady the iPhone with my other hand and adjust my grip.
But if you try to take a quick photo with just one hand, the button placement may seem counterintuitive. Of course, everyone’s finger length is different, so it’s possible that other people will logically think this is the right place for the button. But swiping will definitely be a problem no matter how you hold your smartphone.
Not only was it difficult to swipe through the various settings when holding the device with one hand, but the key itself was reactive to accidental taps and swipes. Sometimes the phone would slip through my hand and change the exposure or zoom level while taking the entire photo.
Important note: You can go into the Accessibility settings to either adjust the swipe sensitivity or turn it off entirely if it really bothers you. Honestly, if you plan on making adjustments using the camera controls, you’ll want to have time, patience, and two free hands.
However, if you need to snap a quick photo, the new button can actually be useful. The reviewer notes that he took more photos using this button than ever before.
Quick access to the camera is the best thing that can be said about the new button. It is guaranteed to be useful not only for those snapshots, but also for the upcoming visual intelligence feature, which can quickly get information about the subject in the frame.
The new camera takes photos about 2 times faster than the iPhone 15 Pro. And this is very noticeable, especially when shooting RAW photos.
The new lineup’s AudioMix feature is especially useful for bloggers and podcasters. The call is very close to a studio-quality sound, and can be subtly narrated at your discretion. However, so far, so little time has passed, and Engadget is unable to assess the changes in sound.
The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are powered by the Apple A18 Pro chip, built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology. In general, there’s not much to say here — everything is, as always, very fast and smooth. Here are the results in Geekbench and all that:
On most days, the iPhone 16 was booted at 9 a.m., with low battery alerts appearing around 9 p.m. The difference is more noticeable in the case of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which lasted almost 2 days versus 1.5 days in the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Who should get the iPhone 16 Pro? Definitely not the owners of the iPhone 15 Pro – there are no changes here. Given the autonomy of the patient sample, the iPhone 16 Pro Max, although the new size will not suit everyone.
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
