iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Should You Upgrade?

Line iPhone 16 Apple’s newest additions are finally here, and it’s definitely exciting. Not only are the base models getting features that were exclusive to last year’s Pro models, but Apple has now added a new camera control feature to the entire lineup while simultaneously creating Pro models. iPhone 16 Pro be more, well, professionals than ever before.

But what if you already have one? iPhone 15 Pro? Is it worth upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro? Let’s break it all down and see.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: specifications

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: design

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro are very similar in terms of design, but Apple has added some new hardware additions this year. Both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro feature titanium and the flat edges that Apple has used since the iPhone 12 line. Even the triple-lens camera design is the same. The action and volume buttons are still there, too.

However, this year, the iPhone 16 Pro adds a new hardware element. It’s called Camera Control and is located on the bottom right corner of the titanium frame. It’s a physical button that sits flush with the frame and can be fully pressed. It also has a built-in touch sensor that allows for gestures for additional control.

Aside from the camera controls, the overall appearance of both devices is very similar. The iPhone 15 Pro came in four colors: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium. The iPhone 16 Pro has the same colors, except that Desert Titanium replaces the blue option.

There are some subtle differences with the reworked colors, though: White and Natural Titanium are brighter, while Black Titanium looks darker on the iPhone 16 Pro. Otherwise, these are two very similar-looking and feeling smartphones.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Screen

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro feature the same Super Retina XDR display, which is an OLED panel. They also feature always-on display and ProMotion technology with a 120Hz refresh rate. Both phones have a typical brightness of 1,000 nits, 1,600 nits for HDR content, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits for outdoor use.

However, Apple has made some minor changes to the iPhone 16 Pro this year. While the iPhone 15 Pro had a 6.1-inch screen, the iPhone 16 Pro has a 6.3-inch screen, so it’s slightly larger due to the smaller bezels. The iPhone 16 Pro can also be set to a minimum brightness of 1 nit in low-light conditions, making viewing more comfortable in a dark room or at night.

Apple also uses the latest generation Ceramic Shield for the iPhone 16 Pro, while the iPhone 15 Pro uses the previous generation. However, Apple claims that both versions are “stronger than any smartphone glass,” so you should expect good drop resistance on both. However, based on personal experience, small scratches can be a different matter.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Cameras

Apple has made some nice improvements to the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera system, making it better than its predecessor in many ways.

The iPhone 15 Pro has a 48-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens that only offers 3x optical zoom. Due to size limitations, Apple couldn’t put its new 5x optical zoom telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro, only on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The TrueDepth front camera has a resolution of 12 MP.

With the iPhone 16 Pro, you get a new 48MP Fusion camera (the new term for “wide” or “main”), a 48MP Ultra Wide camera, and a 12MP Telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. That’s right, thanks to the slightly larger physical size of the iPhone 16 Pro, it now has 5x optical zoom, which it didn’t have last year. However, the TrueDepth front camera is still only 12MP.

The iPhone 16 Pro also has several new photo and video features that you won’t find on the iPhone 15 Pro, including 48MP macro photography, 4K Dolby Vision video recording, an improved studio-quality four-mic array, noise reduction, audio blending, and more.

While the iPhone 15 Pro still has a good camera system, the iPhone 16 Pro is definitely a step up. And if you tend to shoot more professional video, the iPhone 16 Pro is a no-brainer. We’ll be testing both camera systems soon to see how they perform in the real world, but we’re expecting some results. The iPhone 16 Pro has seen some nice improvements, especially in the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Software and Performance

The iPhone 15 Pro comes with iOS 17 out of the box and can be updated to iOS 18You can expect about five more years of support from Apple, as the company doesn’t give specific numbers like its competitors.

iPhone 15 Pro (and its big brother) meet minimum feature requirements Apple Intelligence in iOS 18, as it has an A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM. In everyday use, the iPhone 15 Pro performed quite well: apps and games opened quickly, switching between apps was fast and smooth, and everything worked almost seamlessly.

But the iPhone 16 Pro should take things to another level. It features a new A18 Pro chip, which Apple claims delivers a 20% increase in memory bandwidth, a 2x increase in hardware ray tracing, and a 20% improvement in sustained performance. It should also be more power efficient than its predecessor.

The iPhone 16 Pro was built from the ground up to take full advantage of Apple Intelligence. And with camera controls, you can get Visual Intelligence that the iPhone 15 Pro doesn’t have. Visual Intelligence is like Google Lens, but it uses Apple Intelligence and Siri. The iPhone 15 Pro isn’t too bad, but we’ll be interested to see if the iPhone 16 Pro feels noticeably faster in everyday use. Stay tuned.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Battery Life and Charging

According to Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro has a 3,274 mAh battery, which is equivalent to about 23 hours of streaming video playback. In my personal use of the iPhone 15 Pro last year, the battery life was good at first, but today it requires a midday charge to last the entire day.

Apple hasn’t provided details on the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery size, though it appears to be slightly larger than last year’s. Apple claims the iPhone 16 Pro delivers around 27 hours of streaming video playback, which would make sense if it managed to squeeze in a bit more battery due to its larger size. And with the A18 Pro chip, we should also see better power efficiency. We’ll be testing the iPhone 16 Pro once we get our hands on one to see how well its battery actually holds a charge, and whether it’s noticeably better than the iPhone 15 Pro.

When it comes to charging, Apple hasn’t made any improvements to the iPhone 16 Pro when it comes to wired charging speeds, as they remain the same as before (50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter). But when it comes to wireless charging, you can now get up to 25W of MagSafe wireless charging, up from 15W previously.

iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: verdict

If you already have an iPhone 15 Pro, it might be hard to recommend upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro. After all, the iPhone 15 Pro supports Apple Intelligence features with iOS 18 and is still a very good phone a year after its release.

However, if you want access to the new camera controls that unlock visual intelligence, as well as the improved 48MP ultra-wide lens and 5x optical zoom capabilities, it might be worth upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro Plus. You can take advantage of a trade-in offer that gets you up to $1,000 off the iPhone 16 Pro, which might be worth pulling the trigger for. It’s not an absolutely necessary upgrade, but if you find a good deal and think you’ll get a lot of use out of the camera controls and new camera sensors, it’s worth considering.

We’ll be seeing a new iPhone 16 Pro soon, so stay tuned.