Apple iPhone 16 Plus Preview: Is the Plus model still needed?

Apple have been reluctant to make big design changes ever since the iPhone 12 series, and the first substantial such change is coming with the iPhone 16 devices, and the non-Pro models, to be precise.

The square-ish camera bump is now gone, and in its place we find a vertical arrangement of the dual camera system, reminiscent of the iPhone X design, but of course with much larger lenses. Other than that, the overall design and feel remain the same, and the formula remains unchanged as well. The iPhone 16 Plus is a glass sandwich made of aluminum frame and tempered glass sheets.

However, there’s another small nuance that we shouldn’t miss. There’s a new button on the block, and it will take cameraman duties. The Capture Button is a capacitive, pressure sensitive button that acts as a dual action shutter button, and you can also use swipe gestures to control different settings inside your camera app, such as zoom or exposure.

The size and weight remain almost the same as what we had last year, it’s a big and hefty phone at 200+ grams, but it’s expected, and it goes with the big 6.7-inch display.

Speaking of which, the display of the iPhone 16 Plus is one of the biggest disappointments in the whole lineup. The screen is a 60Hz panel. That’s right, even phones such as the Galaxy A55 midranger, or the Pixel 8a, which costs $499, have higher refresh rates. We can’t fathom why, but it seems that Apple thinks it can get away with 60Hz for one final time (let’s hope it’s THE final time).

Further down the display specs sheet we find a very similar panel to the last generation, an OLED panel with 1284 x 2800 pixels resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio with the familiar Dynamic Island camera cutout in the front.

If you wonder how bright this thing can get or how’s the color accuracy, hold your horses just a little while longer, as we’re doing the display tests as we type this and will include some hard numbers here soon.

In terms of biometrics, there are no surprises. Apple still uses its FaceID tech, and why shouldn’t it? In terms of facial recognition, this is the best on the commercial smartphone market.

Finally, let’s talk colors. The iPhone 16 Plus comes in Black, Blue, White, Green, and Pink.