Best iPhone 16 Pro deals: How to preorder iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max — best offers from O2, EE, Sky Mobile

iphone 16 pro and iphone 16 pro max in desert titanium with a colourful GB News background
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Aaron Brown

By Aaron Brown


Published: 14/09/2024

- 15:40

Updated: 14/09/2024

- 16:19

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If you preorder an iPhone 16 Pro or 16 Pro Max today, you'll be one of the first to take delivery when the release date rolls around on September 20

Apple unveiled its latest flagship smartphones — iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — during a packed broadcast from its spaceship-like headquarters in Cupertino, California on September 9 alongside the more affordable iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, redesigned Apple Watch Series 10, and all-new AirPods 4.

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available to buy in-store across the UK on September 20, with the preorders available from 1pm BST on September 13. If you're looking to place an order for the more affordable iPhone 16 or 16 Plus, we've rounded up the best iPhone 16 deals for you too.

Demand appears to be incrediblyhigh for these new iPhone models, so you might not be able to pick up your brand-new iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max in-store on launch day (September 20) as collection and shipping dates have started to slip.

Apple has increased its trade-in offers ahead of the launch, offering up to £645 off the new iPhone models when you trade-in an eligible handset. We've got more details on exactly which iPhone models you'll need to send to them to unlock that discount below.

This will allow you to lock-in your choice of iPhone 16 Pro model, colourway, and storage configuration.

iphone 16 pro and iphone 16 pro max shown in all four titanium colours

Whether you want the iPhone 16 Pro or the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max, you'll have the choice of the same four colours — Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Desert Titanium

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The iPhone 16 Pro starts at £999, whilst the larger Pro Max model begins at £1,199. Both of these handsets are available in the following four titanium finishes:

  • Black Titanium
  • Natural Titanium
  • White Titanium
  • Desert Titanium

The iPhone 16 Pro is available in four storage configurations, with UK prices of:

  • 128GB | £999
  • 256GB | £1,099
  • 512GB | £1,299
  • 1TB | £1,499

iPhone 16 Pro Max ships with a minimum of 256GB onboard storage — ditching 128GB as an option due to the higher starting price. The full list of storage options and prices for the iPhone 16 Pro Max are:

  • 256GB | £1,199
  • 512GB | £1,399
  • 1TB | £1,599

For the first time, iPhone 16 Pro lineup introduces larger display sizes, with the iPhone 16 Pro sporting a 6.3-inch screen and the Pro Max boasting a 6.9-inch display – the largest ever on an iPhone. Both of these OLED displays have a typical brightness of 1,200 nits, which ensure everything remains visible even in direct sunlight.

iphone 16 showing off the writing tools built into apple intelligenceApple Intelligence will offer writing tips, suggest replies to emails and other correspondence, and summarise lengthy notes and webpages in the blink of an eye... with the majority processed on-device APPLE PRESS OFFICE

Powered by the supercharged new A18 Pro chip, these Pro-grade iPhones are built to harness Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI capabilities designed to enhance user experience whilst prioritising privacy. Apple Intelligence introduces Writing Tools to proofread your writing or adjust the tone of your emails, documents, and text messages.

It can also quickly summarise text, generate never-before-seen new emoji based on a written prompt, and remove unwanted people from the background of your photographs. Unfortunately, Apple Intelligence UK release date is scheduled a few months after the iPhone 16 Pro launch, so you won't be able to test all of these new AI tricks out-of-the-box.

Every new iPhone announced at the September launch event comes equipped with a new button, dubbed Camera Control that offers a shortcut to the camera. Pressing the button — found beneath the Power button on the right-hand side — launches the camera, while pressing again takes a photo.

Apple says Camera Control will make it easier than ever to use Visual Inteligence, another new AI addition that'll provide details on anything shown in the viewfinder, like identifying dog breed or showing opening times for restaurants.

animated gif showing the camera control button on the side of the iphone 16 pro in action moving between different modes

Using the capacitive surface on the top of the Camera Control button, it's possible to switch between camera modes and adjust the level of zoom of depth of focus without lifting a finger

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iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max sport improved camera systems, including a new 48MP Fusion camera that's capable of recording 4K video at 120 fps in Dolby Vision — a first for any smartphone.

These aren't the only new additions to the newly-announced iPhone 16 Pro lineup. We've included everything coming to these all-new smartphones later in this article, so scroll down for a complete breakdown.

Best iPhone 16 Pro deals

If you want to buy your new iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max outright to pair with an existing SIM — or any SIM-only deal, then buying direct from the Apple Store isn't the only option ahead of the UK release date of Friday September 20. Some of the biggest online retailers in the UK and mobile networks have launched preorder offers for those who want to jump into the (digital) queue.

Currys, John Lewis, Very, and Argos have listed the new iPhone 16 Pro lineup on their online stores following preorder beginning on September 13. Amazon also already lists the models, but some storage configurations and colour options are selling-out — so you won't be able to guarantee delivery when the release date rolls around on September 20.

Discounts on the iPhone are pretty rare, but before these handsets have even launched — you're not going to see any sizeable price drops. Instead, you're likely going to be paying RRP for these all-new devices, so we'd recommend shopping with a retailer that you trust to ship the new iPhone to you on release date, or with a decent returns policy.

We've rounded up links to preorder as soon as possible, so you can get started with your new iPhone as close as possible to release date —

screenshot of the checkout page on apple store with delivery estimate in UK for iPhone 16 pro max

Delivery estimates in the UK have already slipped past the September 20 release date as Apple struggles to keep-up with demand for the new iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models

GBN | APPLE STORE

Sky Mobile

If you want to preorder the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max on a pay monthly deal, then Sky Mobile is offering 50% off 5G data plans for the first year, unlimited streaming of TV shows, movies, and live Sky Sports from Sky Go, and no upfront cost.
iPhone 16 Pro will be available from £33 per month, whilst the top-tier iPhone 16 Pro Max is priced from £39 per month. All pay monthly plans with these Pro-grade handsets come with no upfront fee.
The cheapest data plan from Sky Mobile costs £5 a month for 5GB of 5G data, with unlimited calls and texts.

That might not seem like a lot, but one of the best perks of picking Sky Mobile over its rivals is that any mobile data used within Sky-owned apps will never count towards your monthly allowance. Yes, you'll can stream endlessly from Sky Go, Sky Sports, and other Sky apps over 5G with no risk of burning through your monthly data allowance.

That means you can spend hours binge-watching series like House of the Dragon, Chernobyl, The White Lotus, Succession, and Euphoria on Sky Go and you won't use a single megabyte of 5G data. Likewise, you can stream live Premier League matches from Sky Sports HD on Sky Go without spending a penny extra on your monthly bills.

If you're a Sky TV viewer, this is a sizeable perk — and you'd need to spend a lot of money on a sizeable 5G data plan with other networks to enjoy the same experience.

If you need more, Sky Mobile is offering 100GB of 5G for £14 for the first year of your new contract.

Sky Mobile offers the ability to roll-on any leftover data to a Sky Piggybank for future use. Customers can use this 5G data in the future — if you're having Wi-Fi trouble at home, or staying somewhere without broadband, for example — or share it with up to seven SIMs on your account. You can even exchange unused 5G data for rewards.

EE

iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max are all available on EE's new enhanced 5G Standalone service. It promises increased speeds, improved reliability, and even better battery life for the smartphones connected to it.

EE's Essential Plan for iPhone is the most affordable option with the network, starting from £44.26 per month, rising to £50.32 monthly for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. All these plans come with unlimited 5G data, unlimited text messages, and unlimited calls to UK landlines and mobiles.

There's a £30 upfront fee that's consistent across all of the new models.

If you want some additional perks, the EE Full Works Plan for iPhone package costs £60.26 per month for iPhone 16 Pro and £66.32 per month for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Again, all of these plans land with a £30 upfront fee that you'll need to pay at checkout today.

The Full Works Plan includes Apple One bundle, which combines Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+ with 50GB storage. Not only that, but EE will include unlimited data and roaming, unlimited mobile data for any paired Apple Watch, and Network Boost for enhanced performance in busy areas. EE's Network Boost feature ensures enhanced performance in busy areas, working across 4G and non-standalone 5G networks to allocate more capacity and maintain excellent performance.

These prices are valid for the first 24 months, after which they increase by £20 per month. EE is offering substantial savings for customers who trade in an eligible older iPhone, with potential discounts of up to £480. The Full Works Plan includes several attractive perks, such as the .

It's worth noting that if you're already an EE Broadband customer — or want to sign-up to its full-fibre plans, your phone bills will be discounted by £20 every single month.

O2

iPhone 16 Pro costs £55.25 per month with a £30 upfront fee, increasing to £61.30 monthly for the iPhone 16 Pro Max with the same £30 upfront payment. Both models come with a 25GB data allowance on a 36-month contract.

O2 is also offering customers an extra £100 when they trade in their old device, but this offer ends on October 9, 2024.

It's also worth noting that O2 remains one of the few UK mobile networks that doesn't charge EU roaming fees, so you'll be able to take your 5G data abroad with you. All of these plans also entitle you to its O2 Priority rewards.

O2 offers two additional plan options beyond the Classic Plan. The Plus Plan, available for £3.99 extra per month, includes O2 Switch Up, O2 Travel Inclusive Zone, which adds an extra 27 destinations outside Europe, as well as a three-year warranty.

Both upgraded plans provide enhanced flexibility and additional O2 Extras compared to the standard Classic Plan.

O2 offers additional perks for Virgin Media broadband customers through its Volt benefits. These include a broadband speed boost to the next available tier at no extra cost. Customers also receive the UK's market-leading WiFi guarantee, promising minimum download speeds of 30Mbps in every room or £100 credit back.

Volt perks extend to mobile plans, doubling data allowances on eligible O2 plans within the household. For instance, a 10GB plan would be boosted to 20GB at no additional charge. Perhaps most notably, Volt customers gain access to inclusive data roaming in 75 destinations worldwide, including America and Australia, in addition to the standard 49 European destinations.

Mobiles.co.uk

Comparison site Mobiles.co.uk has deals from Vodafone and Currys-owned iD Mobile, which runs on the masts from Three UK.

iPhone 16 Pro starts from £39.99 per month. For that, you'll enjoy 100GB of 5G data from iD Mobile, unlimited calls and unlimited text messages. You'll also qualify for three months free of your choice of Apple TV+, Apple Music, or Apple Arcade. The only catch? There's a £169 upfront cost with this contract.

iPhone 16 Pro starts from £49.99 per month. For that, you'll enjoy 100GB of 5G data from iD Mobile, unlimited calls and unlimited text messages. You'll also qualify for three months free of your choice of Apple TV+, Apple Music, or Apple Arcade. Like the monthly plan above, you'll need to cough-up £199 upfront cost with this contract.

iphone 16 pro seen from the side with the words PRO illuminated behind it

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro will be available to preorder in the UK from 1pm BST on September 13, with general availability due on September 20

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Best discounts on iPhone 16 Pro

Helping to soften the blow, Apple offers trade-in deals for existing iPhone owners looking to upgrade. It's offering between £30 and £645 in credit towards the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max when you trade-in your existing iPhone, although the exact amount will depend on the model and condition.

Best of all, Apple lets you keep ahold of the device you're looking to trade-in until after you’ve received your new iPhone. It will mail a trade-in kit and instructions on how to back up and transfer your apps and personal data, as well as how to securely wipe your data and prep the old handset to send it back.

Your chosen payment method will be credited with the amount after Apple has received and evaluated your trade-in iPhone. Here's a list of the current trade-in values on-offer from Apple:

  • iPhone 15 Pro Max | Up to £645
  • iPhone 15 Pro | Up to £555
  • iPhone 15 Plus | Up to £420
  • iPhone 15 | Up to £415
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max | Up to £575
  • iPhone 14 Pro | Up to £470
  • iPhone 14 Plus | Up to £335
  • iPhone 14 | Up to £330
  • iPhone SE (3rd generation) | Up to £115
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max | Up to £390
  • iPhone 13 Pro | Up to £330
  • iPhone 13 | Up to £260
  • iPhone 13 mini | Up to £220
  • iPhone 12 Pro Max | Up to £275
  • iPhone 12 Pro | Up to £215
  • iPhone 12 | Up to £180
  • iPhone 12 mini | Up to £135
  • iPhone SE (2nd generation) | Up to £65
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max | Up to £170
  • iPhone 11 Pro | Up to £145
  • iPhone 11 | Up to £115
  • iPhone XS Max | Up to £110
  • iPhone XS | Up to £80
  • iPhone XR | Up to £100
  • iPhone X | Up to £60
  • iPhone 8 Plus | Up to £55
  • iPhone 8 | Up to £40
  • iPhone 7 Plus | Up to £45
animated gif showing the desert titanium iphone 16 pro spinningiPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max enjoy a super-sized new OLED screen, longer battery life, and faster chipset to enable new Apple Intelligence functionality ...when it's ready to launch later this year APPLE PRESS OFFICE

What's new in iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max?

Apple's all-new iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max arrive with significant upgrades over their predecessors. Easily the most noticeable change is the larger OLED displays, which Apple calls Super Retina XDR, with the standard 16 Pro increasing from 6.1- to 6.3-inches while the palm-stretching 16 Pro Max expands from 6.7- to 6.9-inches.

These screens are also brighter than before, with typical brightness of 1,200 nits that increases to 2,000 nits of peak brightness when viewing HDR content. Those new screens are protected with the latest-generation Ceramic Shield toughened glass. According to Apple, this is 2x tougher than glass on any other smartphone.

Powering the new Pro-level iPhone models is the new A18 Pro chip, built with second-generation 3-nanometre design that enables speedier performance, all-new Apple Intelligence features, and better efficiency for improved battery life. Apple says that iPhone 16 Pro Max offers "the best battery life on iPhone ever", with up to 33 hours of video playback compared to 29 hours with last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max.

When it's time to recharge, both iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max support faster 25W wireless charging with a new MagSafe Charger that uses the industry-wide Qi2 standard. It's available from Apple in one-metre and two-metre lengths, priced at £39 and £49, respectively.

Apple Intelligence, which will roll-out to iPhone owners in December in UK — although it's worth noting that millions of existing smartphone owners are set to miss out, introduces a range of new AI capabilities. Writing Tools works across any app on iOS and will adjust the tone of you writing, making it more friendly, concise, or professional. It can also summarise lengthy email chains, documents, and paragraphs of text into bullet-points, check your grammar, and flag sentence structure issues.

Elsewhere, Apple Intelligence will add a new app called Image Playground, which generates never-before-seen images in three styles (Animation, Illustration, and Sketch) based on a written prompt. Genmoji will let you for create custom emoji to use across the likes of iMessage, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

iphone 16 pro with red wallpaper pictured in someones hand

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will ship running iOS 18 — the latest iteration of the mobile operating system from Apple, which lets you customise the layout of apps on-screen, change the colour and tint of all icons, and introduces a new Passwords manager app

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AI voice assistant Siri will be treated to a welcome upgrade with all of these new Apple Intelligence smarts. As well as a new design — summoning Siri will now cause the borders of your iPhone to swirl with a glowing light — the talkative AI will now remember context between requests so you won't need to repeat yourself, and will be able to follow your line of through even if you stumble over your words or correct yourself mid-sentence.

You'll also be able to type requests to Siri — handy if you don't fancy barking an order for your iPhone, or you're somewhere the AI won't be able to hear you. The chatty assistant has also gained extensive product knowledge to answer support questions about iPhone features and other Apple devices.

Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max offer significant camera improvements. The upgraded 48MP Fusion camera can shoot 4K Ultra HD video footage in 120 frames-per-second in Dolby Vision — a first for any smartphone. As well as an upgraded 48MP Ultra Wide camera that promises to offer better images in tough low-light conditions, Apple has also introduced second-generation Photographic Styles to customise the look of your pictures to perfectly suit your tastes.

The Californian company says that its new Photographic Styles have a deeper understanding of skin undertones, so unlike a traditional filter, which uses a one-size-fits-all approach by adding a colour to an entire scene, adjustments are applied to specific colors of a selected style.

You'll be able to preview the effects of a specific Photographic Style in the viewfinder — with changes rendered in real-time by the powerful A18 Pro chipset, applied after a photo is taken, and reversed at later date.

rainbow glowing animation surrounding the border of the iphone 16 pro shows the new version of siri is listening to request

Using the new-and-improved Siri, you'll be able to ask the AI assistant to pull up a specific shot from your Photos library and then apply an edit to the image in Darkroom — a new glowing animation that surrounds the border of the iPhone tells you the handsfree assistant is listening to your request

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Apple has fitted its new iPhone models with a new Camera Control button that offers fast access to the camera from the Lock Screen, so you'll miss never a moment. Pressing the button — found beneath the Power button on the right-hand side — launches the camera, while pressing again takes a photo. Apple says Camera Control will make it easier than ever to use Visual Inteligence, another new AI addition that'll provide details on anything shown in the viewfinder, like identifying dog breed or showing opening times for restaurants.

Camera Control has a capacitive sensor to enable touch gestures on the button, sliding your fingertip on the surface of the button lets you adjust some common control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a your photo or video without lifting a finger.

Apple says it's already working with developers will be able to bring Camera Control to their apps, with Snapchat already integrating the feature into a forthcoming update to its messaging service.

Both Pro-grade iPhone 16 phones now feature a 5x Telephoto camera, previously exclusive to the Pro Max.

And four studio-quality microphones placed strategically across the body of the handset are designed to preserve true-to-life recorded sounds, whilst video can be captured in Spatial Audio for immersive listening, Apple says. New editing modes in the Photos app let you choose between Cinematic Sound, In-Frame, and Studio, which decrease background sound or focus on the voices seen in-frame to varying amounts.

"Powered by the faster, more efficient A18 Pro chip and built for Apple Intelligence, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are the most advanced iPhone models we’ve ever made," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, following the launch event at Apple Park.

"Customers who are looking for the best possible iPhone will be able to take advantage of this huge step forward, whether they’re applying edits to a photo without lifting a finger, rewriting meeting notes for a more professional tone, or using the advanced camera system to capture their next masterpiece in 4K120 fps in Dolby Vision — all while enjoying extraordinary battery life."

Is the iPhone 16 Pro bigger than the iPhone 15 Pro?

Yes, Apple has expanded the screen size of the iPhone 16 Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. Shrinking the borders around the screen, iPhone 16 Pro squeezes-in a 6.3-inch touchscreen, compared to the iPhone 15 Pro's 6.1-inch screen. The overall dimensions of the iPhone 16 Pro have also increased slightly to accommodate the change.

iPhone 16 Pro Max also sports a larger 6.9-inch screen, compared to the 6.7-inch display found on its predecessor.

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