I went hands-on with iPhone 16 Pro – my 3 favorite features of Apple’s pocket supercomputer

I spent a number of hours with Apple’s new flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Professional Max earlier this week within the Steve Jobs Theater and rapidly fashioned some first impressions. As I do in my iPhone reviews, I all the time attempt to take into account that most iPhone upgraders are coming from a telephone that is at the very least three years outdated.

Additionally: iPhone 16 hands-on: So packed with features, I didn’t envy the Pro models

And whereas the very first thing plenty of patrons could discover is the 12 months’s new telephone shade — it is Desert Titanium this 12 months, which is definitely only a shade of gold — the factor that almost all of us barely take note of is the most recent advances within the mind that powers the iPhone. It is all the time the case that it unlocks new capabilities, however this 12 months, that feels more true than ever with the brand new A18 Pro. Or at the very least it powers my favourite new function — and a bunch of others that show how ridiculously highly effective this gadget is.

And sure, I will stop speaking about chips and get to my three favourite options.

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1. Digital camera Management 

The brand new Digital camera Management permits customers to do extra with the iPhone digicam and do it rapidly. This new key sits on the fitting aspect of the telephone beneath the ability button, however it’s fabricated from darker metallic and sits extra flush to the aspect of the telephone. 

It is also touch-sensitive, which is a feat of engineering. One press opens the digicam app. A second press takes a photograph. Press and maintain and it begins recording video. A lightweight press and a swipe to 1 aspect or the opposite enables you to zoom out and in. A double gentle press and a swipe to both aspect lets you choose totally different settings from zoom to depth of area to the brand new picture kinds to a number of different choices.

Additionally: iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro: Should you upgrade?

If it sounds a little bit difficult, it’s not. You will rapidly get the hold of it. I attempted it and it is goes to be tremendous useful for individuals who take a ton of images with the iPhone — and let’s be sincere, there are a number of us as a result of the iPhone is the most used camera in the world. The Digital camera Management button offers the iPhone a function no different telephone on the planet has proper now. The Sony Xperia 1 V comes the closest with its devoted shutter button, but it surely does not do practically as a lot.

Individuals are going to like this function.

2. Dimension and end

Each of the professional iPhones received larger screens and thinner bezels this 12 months, which makes them a little bit taller than final 12 months’s professional fashions. The Professional expands from 6.1 inches to six.3 and the Max grows from 6.7 inches to six.9. Each ZDNET evaluations editor Kerry Wan and I seen it instantly within the iPhone 16 demo space — and we felt completely happy about it as a result of we each are likely to want the marginally taller and thinner kind elements of most Android devices because it makes them a little bit simpler to function with one hand.

Additionally: Apple just gave me a compelling reason to buy the smaller iPhone 16 Pro over the Max this year

Nevertheless, there was one other new bodily attribute of the iPhone 16 Professional fashions that received me simply as excited. The titanium sides have a brand new end that feels far more grippy. In actual fact, it is so grippy that I am tempted to do the unthinkable and take a look at utilizing it and not using a case. I am additionally tempted to make the smaller 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Professional, relatively than the Max, my each day driver — particularly for the reason that smaller professional mannequin now has the identical digicam system because the bigger one.

3. Upgrades to video and audio recording

The opposite space the place the brand new A18 Professional chip actually reveals its energy is within the new video and audio recording choices accessible within the iPhone 16 Professional. First, now you can file in 4K at 120 frames per second, which provides you the ability to do the sort of tremendous sluggish movement you solely see in large cinematic movies. Even simply a few years in the past, you’d have wanted an costly pro-level digicam and a desktop pc with a strong video card to shoot and edit pro-level 4K120 video. Now you are able to do it on an iPhone — and the footage Apple has proven to this point appears nearly indistinguishable from professional tools. 

Additionally: Every iPhone model that will be updated to Apple’s iOS 18 (and which ones won’t)

Subsequent, Apple additionally upgraded the audio within the iPhone 16 Professional with what it calls “4 studio-quality mics” which can be paired with software program and AI to do some loopy issues I have never seen on a smartphone earlier than. With the brand new Audio Mix software, now you can edit audio straight on the iPhone 16 Professional, which separates foreground and background sounds and allows you to choose from a number of sound profiles, together with a Studio profile that robotically dampens background sounds and a Cinematic profile that makes it sound like a film edit. 

It could possibly additionally now seize Spatial Audio encompass sound throughout video recording (which you too can edit in Audio Combine). And the Voice Memos app goes to make use of these upgrades for an replace later this 12 months that can allow you to layer two totally different tracks. These audio options are a fantastic instance of the place Apple is placing AI to make use of in sensible, behind-the-scenes methods which can be going to be much more approachable than typing in a chatbot. 

Extra to return

Apple referred to as the brand new A18 Professional chip as highly effective as high-end desktop PCs, which feels like hyperbole, however the above options are convincing sufficient to make me suppose it might be at the very least as highly effective as high-end desktops from a few years in the past. Once we get our testing units, we’ll run benchmarks and put the telephones by way of some real-world situations to measure and examine the efficiency.

Additionally: Every iPhone 16 model compared: Which new iPhone should you buy?

Apple additionally claims the brand new A18 Professional chip is far more energy environment friendly and can outcome within the iPhone 16 Pro Max having the longest battery lifetime of any iPhone but. We’ll additionally problem that declare with our personal battery exams.

The digicam system upgrades to a 48 megapixel sensor for the ultrawide digicam, which ought to lead to higher macro images and a lot of different enhancements. We’ll be testing that as nicely in a brand new set of ZDNET smartphone digicam exams. 

The AI options that Apple talked about this summer season at WWDC, together with the newly upgraded Siri, won’t arrive until the iOS 18.1 update — and even then, they will nonetheless be in beta and a few of the options will not come till iOS 18.2 or later. However when the AI options do lastly arrive, Apple’s new flagship supercomputer in your pocket appears like it should have the oomph to run them with out breaking a sweat.