Apple iPhone 16 Preview: A Step Forward, But Not a Giant Leap

Well, Apple is said to have added a brand new button to its iPhone lineup this year, dubbed the Capture Button. You can probably already guess what it does yourself: a button dedicated to controlling the camera system of the phone.

Besides the new button, users will also be getting a more powerful and power-efficient chip, longer battery life (supposedly), and maybe faster charging speeds. There are also a few other tweaks, but that’s the rough summary of what you can expect from Apple’s standard iPhone this year.

This is still a preliminary review, and we’ll update it with the relevant benchmarks, camera score, battery tests, and final verdict once we conclude our review procedure.

iPhone 16 Design and Display

Evolution requires change

Apple has mostly stuck to the same design for its flagship iPhones for the past three years or so. The typical iPhone shape is rectangular, with flat sides, front and back. Last year Apple altered the design a little to make the phone’s edges less sharp and more ergonomic.

The new placement of the two cameras at the back of the iPhone 16 means there is no longer need for a large square-shaped camera island, so the new module will take up less space. Of course, this will most likely result in more wobble when the phone is placed bare on a flat surface.

But a less noticeable but arguably more important new design feature is the highly anticipated Capture Button. It will be on the same side where the power button sits, but towards the lower end of the frame.

As the name suggests, the button’s main function will be controlling the camera, and reports say that you will not only be able to affect the Camera app, but any other third-party app that uses the cameras. What’s more, the Capture Button is said to be a pressure-sensitive button that lets you take photos and use swipe gestures to control camera settings.

The size and weight remain almost the same as what we had last year, with a little over 170g and a 6.1-inch display. Disappointingly, the display’s refresh rate will likely also remain the same at 60Hz. Needless to say, this type of refresh rate is absurd at this point, and the sluggish feel of a standard iPhone display can feel… wrong.

iPhone 16 Camera

A new feature and a slightly better ultra-wide

iPhone 16 expected camera specs:

Besides the Capture Button we mentioned earlier, there are a few more camera-related changes coming to the iPhone 16 that the spec sheet does not reveal.

Another, but probably not as significant upgrade is a new aperture for the ultra-wide camera, which is said to be f/2.2 vs the f/2.4 aperture on the iPhone 15. This means the opening through which light enters will be wider, which should help the camera work better in low-light conditions, but it might also be a requirement for Macro Control.

iPhone 16 Performance & Benchmarks

A18 will bring more power at a lower energy cost

The latest rumors say that the standard iPhone 16 will rock the new Apple A18 Bionic chip, which is said to be built on TSMC’s new 3nm process called N3E. This new N3E process should be result in much greater efficiency, which in turn would lower the battery drain and reduce heat.

The new A18 chip is also rumored to come with increased performance, or at least that’s what some leaked early GeekBench 6 benchmark results pointed at in March this year.

The truth is that, even if they are true, benchmark results are not the best indicator of how well a device will perform. The best way is always through real-world usage, so we will let you know how the iPhone 16 handles during our time with it once it comes out. Don’t worry though, if you are interested in some raw numbers we will also give you results from our dedicated performance tests.

• A much improved Siri that can carry out natural conversations and is generally much more capable in answering your queries and listening to your commands (no more “Here’s what I found on the web”
• Contextually aware AI that gives you personalized information via access to your photos, messages, emails, etc.
• A Clean Up tool in the Photos app that allows you to remove unwanted objects
• An image generating app
• Tools to help you correct, write, and alter text in emails and messages
• Genmojis (generative emojis that have the same design as other iOS emojis)
• Enhanced Safari browser that can summarize web pages and remove unwanted elements

iPhone 16 Battery

A larger and redesigned battery

Apple is also said to have redesigned the battery’s design, encasing it in metal to improve heat dissipation. With the more efficient chip, this change should help the iPhone 16 avoid any performance throttling issues.

The topic of charging is unclear at the moment. The Pro models are said to come with 40W of wired and 20W of wireless charging, but it is hard to say whether the iPhone 16 will get this upgrade. If we don’t see any changes, the standard iPhone will come with 20W wired and 15W wireless charging.

iPhone 16 Audio Quality and Haptics

We expect the iPhone 16 to have the same reliable haptic feedback and dual stereo speakers as previous models. That said, we will update this section with some impressions once we get to hear the iPhone 16‘s speakers for ourselves.

Should you buy it?

The only reason to buy an iPhone 16 would be its better battery life and potentially faster charging. There’s also the new Capture Button, but that hardly sounds like a must-have feature.

Of course, you might find other reasons to purchase the iPhone 16, and you will probably be happy with what you get. It will still be a well-rounded phone that has everything an average consumer might need to connect, take photos, and play some mobile games.