It’s that time of the year again, where one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple Inc, reveals the line-up of their flagship products, the iPhone. It’s the 16 and it’s the got the tech world buzzing, as expected.
Line-up
The iPhone 16 line-up is exactly the same as it has been for the last couple of years, featuring a base 16, Plus model, a Pro and a Pro Max model.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are available in white, black, pink, teal, and ultramarine (blue) while the 16 Pro and Pro Max follow a more conserved white titanium, black titanium, natural titanium, and desert titanium colours.
Design
It’s hard to tell the phones apart from the front as they are pretty much exactly the same as last years edition. However, there have been slightly new changes at other angles. There’s a brand-new camera “button” (a touch sensitive bar which feels like a button due to haptic feedback through vibrations) and the action button is also there, just like in the 15. The camera alignment has been restored to the same vertical design as it was on iPhone 12 (although the bump has been shortened for obvious distinction).
When compared to iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, both iPhone 16 and 16 Plus have gotten Apple’s new, powerful A18 chips. The new models are also, minutely lighter (a couple of grams shy). Apple also mentioned that they have more battery capacity but we still have no official number for that one. Another good news for Apple fans is that instead of just 6 GB RAM in the base models, they will be treated with 8 GB RAM this time. However, disappointingly, iPhone 16 features a meagre 60Hz display.
The Pro models is where you see some visible differences from last years. They are noticeably heavier and features bigger screens than their predecessors. The 16 Pro has 6.3 inches display, upscaled from 6.1 inches and the Pro Max has a massive 6.9 inches display, upped from 6.7 inches of last years model. The Pro models feature the new A18 Pro chip with an unchanged RAM of 8 GB for both models. They also feature a 120Hz display and a bigger battery (no officials numbers for these ones as well).
Apple Intelligence
The most anticipated feature that will come preloaded in the new devices this year is ‘Apple Intelligence’. Of course, it’s the most Apple thing ever, renaming AI.
Anyway, Apple Intelligence comprises of a plethora of new features built-in. It has Siri on steroids and allows you to create your ‘Genmojis’ (customized emojis using prompts). It also has ChatGPT integrated to solve queries and Apple Private Cloud Computing. Apple Intelligence also boasts writing and reading tools that can help you draft perfect writing messages, emails and even summarize notifications for easy reading. Honestly, there is so much to unfold here. Perhaps in another article.
Worth the Upgrade?
Well, this is opinionated. So, I will chuck in mine. It depends. If you’re a proud owner of the last year models, then it’s a clear NO. The devices are pretty much the same, unless you are attracted by that new camera button and a slightly better battery and RAM. If you own some older models, like 14, 13 or even 12, then yes, it can be a refreshing experience to upgrade.
This is exactly how I see it. Normal consumers like you and me do not upgrade phones every single year. Therefore, despite all the memes of Apple presenting the exact same device every year with minor tweaks, they get their audience. Why put so much effort in leaps when you know your consumers? This strategy isn’t just followed by Apple alone, but other companies as well, such as Samsung, Google, and OnePlus. Now all that’s left is to see how the iPhones fair against its competitors. YouTube will be full of such content in the coming days.