Apple has taken the wraps off the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — its latest all-singing, all-dancing smartphones. Announced alongside theiPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, Apple Watch Series 10, and redesigned AirPods at the latest Apple Event, these new Pro-level iPhone models land with bigger OLED screens, an improved triple-camera set-up, longer battery life, new colours, and a swathe of AI capabilities.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max uses titanium for the frame of the handset, which is lighter and tougher than the stainless steel used on earlier Pro-grade iPhone models. However, Apple has refreshed the colourways available with Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Desert Titanium.
Apple is using Grade 5 titanium on its newest iPhone models with a microblasted finish that promises to improve durability. There's new colours too: Black Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and Desert Titanium
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While the exterior might look unchanged, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max boast larger 6.3- and 6.9-inch touchscreens respectively — a step up from the 6.1- and 6.7-inch used last year. It means the iPhone 16 Pro Max is now the largest iPhone that Apple has ever shipped. It also provides a clear differentiation between the more affordable iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which keep the 6.1- and 6.7-inch screen sizes from last year.
Powered by an all-new A18 Pro chip, these flagship smartphones will support Apple Intelligence, a suite of new AI capabilities designed to streamline everyday tasks. The tools can also be used to find specific emails, flight details and other personal information instantly, as well as summarise lengthy email chains into bullet-points, intelligently prioritise time-sensitive notifications, and enable users to generate their own emoji.
The new Camera Control button has a capacitive sensor, so sliding your finger along the surface lets you quickly adjust some common control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a photo or video without lifting a finger
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Rounding out the new additions, both iPhone 16 Pro handsets include a new Camera Control button for quick access to the camera and Visual Intelligence features, which enables users to carry out image-based searches on places or objects by capturing an photo of them.
iPhone 16 Pro starts from £999 in the UK, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max will set you back £1,199 — those are the same prices as the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, which have both been discontinued. Preorders for the new iPhone models begins 13 September 13, while the first handsets shipping to customers on September 20.
Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak said: "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.
"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."
iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max sport the thinnest borders around the display of any Apple device ever shipped from its design lab, increasing the screen size to 6.3- and 6.9-inches without substantially growing the overall footprint
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The iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max maintain the same durable titanium frame introduced with the Pro-level iPhone models last year, which the company says makes them strong and lightweight. New for this year, Apple is using a new generation of toughened Ceramic Shield glass to protect the larger OLED displays, which it claims is 2x stronger than glass on any other smartphone on-sale today.
Undoubtedly, there's an army of YouTube creators poised to lob these new smartphones at the floor to test that claim within minutes of their launch next week to really put that claim to the test. So stay tuned for that.
Apple says its improved heat dissipation, which enables the speedy new A18 Pro chipset to sustain top-level performance for longer — critical when performing taxing tasks like 4K video edits, playing console-quality games such as Resident Evil VII and Death Stranding, which are both available in the App Store.
To increase the screen size on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max without dramatically expanding the overall footprint, these new handsets sport the thinnest borders surrounding the display of any Apple product yet. Both screens are still classified as Super Retina XDR displays by Apple and offer 120Hz ProMotion for smoother scrolling and system animations, as well as Always-On technology, so you'll always be able to check the time and date with a glance even when the iPhone is locked.
iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max keep the same triple-camera layout as last year, but Apple has fitted a new 48MP Ultra Wide sensor capable of capturing more light for improved photos in dimly-lit conditions
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Apple says it reengineered the internals of its iPhone 16 Pro lineup, so it could squeeze larger batteries into the frame. Coupled with the new power management features baked into iOS 18 and the efficiency of the new 3-nanometre A18 Pro chipset, the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max earn a significant leap in battery life.
In fact, Apple says its new iPhone 16 Pro Max offers "the best battery life on iPhone ever".
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max was rated for a maximum of 29-hours video playback between recharges, under the same conditions, Apple says the iPhone 16 Pro Max endured a staggering 33 hours video playback.
When it's time to recharge, both models in the iPhone 16 Pro lineup now support an improved MagSafe Charger, enabling faster wireless charging up to 25W. This Qi2-certified charger is available in 1-metre and 2-metre lengths, priced at £39 and £49 respectively.
Aside from the boost to battery life, the A18 Pro enables access to Apple Intelligence.
Announced during its WWDC event earlier this summer, Apple Intelligence is the iPhone manufacturer's answer to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) features that have captured the public's imagination since the arrival of ChatGPT in late 2022. Apple Intelligence can instantaneously summarise notes into bullet-points, proofread your emails and messages, and create custom emoji based on your written prompts.
It's also behind a significant upgrade to voice assistant Siri, which can now understand natural language, so if you stumble and correct yourself mid-request, it will still understand what you're asking about.
Upgraded new Siri voice assistant also arrives with a colourful new animation spinning around the border of the handset, letting you know when it's ready to take action for you
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iPhone owners will now be able to type to Siri and switch between text and voice seamlessly — handy if you don't fancy barking out a request to your iPhone in public, or when it's too noisy for the handset to properly hear you.
Genmoji will generate never-before-seen emoji characters based on your written prompts, which can be used in messaging services like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Meanwhile, Apple Intelligence will also let you remove unwanted people from the background of your photographs with a tap.
Apple says it's built these AI features with privacy in mind, with as many processes as possible taking place on-device with the powerful A18 Pro chipset. When more processing grunt is needed, Apple will rely on dedicated servers — powered by its custom-designed chipsets — to do some of the hard work, which it calls Private Cloud Compute.
Apple Intelligence won't be available at launch, with some of the features coming in beta next month for those in the United States. Apple has confirmed the UK release date for Apple Intelligence will be December, with non-English language speakers will need to wait until next year to test-out these generative AI tricks.
Apple Intelligence arrives with a slew of new capabilities, including the ability to rewrite your emails, documents, and text messages to adjust the tone or simply proofread for grammatical errors
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Apple has fitted its iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with a new button that sits beneath the Power button known as Camera Control. Pressing the button provides a quick shortcut to the camera, with a second press taking a photo. Holding Camera Control starts recording a video.
But this isn't just an easy new way to snap a picture — Apple has added a capacitive sensor to enable touch interactions. Sliding your finger along the button lets you quickly adjust some common control options — such as zoom, exposure, or depth of field — to compose a your photo or video without lifting a finger.
Leveraging the Haptic Engine inside the iPhone, the Camera Control will provide a click that's designed to mirror traditional analogue cameras.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are equipped with a 48MP main camera that enables filming in 4K resolution at 120 frames-per-second in Dolby Vision — a first for any smartphone. Apple has upgraded the 48MP Ultra Wide camera for higher-resolution ProRAW and HEIF images. Both Pro models now include a 5x Telephoto camera, something that was previously reserved for the larger Pro Max variant.
Apple has also introduced four new studio-quality mics and Audio Mix, allowing users to adjust sound after capturing video. Wind noise reduction further enhances audio quality, the Californian company says.
Finally, Apple has emphasised its commitment to environmental sustainability, with each iPhone now built using 25% of recycled materials. The battery is made with 100% recycled cobalt and — in a first for iPhone — over 95% recycled lithium as part of Apple's aim to become carbon-neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade.
iPhone 16 Pro starts from £999, while the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max starts from £1,199. These prices remain unchanged from last year, with the previous Pro-level iPhones now discontinued
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The iPhone 16 Pro starts at £999, whilst the Pro Max begins at £1,199. Both models will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. Pre-orders open on September 13 at 1pm BST, with those who preorder set to receive their new devices in the post, or collect in-store from September 20, 2024.
Alongside the new Pro smartphones, Apple will also introduce new accessories, including a Clear Case for £49 and a Silicone Case with MagSafe for £49, available in various colours such as denim, fuchsia, lake green, plum, stone grey, and ultramarine. Both of these cases have been designed to enable the touch-controls of the Camera Control button.
