Apple "Glowtime" event live blog is still tracking all the announcements as they're made
Apple just showed off the iPhone 16 officially for the first time, and Apple claims it's an exciting new era, thanks to a refreshed design, a new Camera Control key and optimized performance for AI features. But no doubt the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will take things further once they're announced.
Built out of aluminum, and in five different colors, the 6.1-inch iPhone 16 and 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus now have the Action button seen on the iPhone 15 Pro, allowing more versatile functionality than the mute slider previous iPhones have had. There's also a new Camera Control key, which can be used to help with photography or open up the Visual Intelligence feature for speedy searches.
We've summarized all the features that Apple has announced so far for its new basic iPhones below. We'll keep updating it as we learn more.
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus highlights
- Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 series open on September 13, with regular sales starting from September 20.
- The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus cost $799 and $899 respectively for the standard 128GB versions.
- New back design, with 50% tougher Ceramic Shield display
- Five color options are on offer — Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, Black and White
- Vertically-aligned cameras allow Spatial Photo and Video recording for use with VR headsets
- The displays can offer a brightness between 1 - 2000 nits, and is available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch sizes, like iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
- The new Camera Control button lets you adjust camera settings without touching the screen
- Jumping from A16 to A18, the new chip inside the iPhone 16 has more CPU and GPU cores, a faster Neural Engine for better AI processing and more memory — all while being more efficient.
- The A18 chip is hardware ray-tracing acceleration compatible (great news for gamers), and can play the AAA games like Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and Honor of Kings World that you'd previously need a Pro model to play properly.
- Visual Intelligence, accessed with the Camera Control button, lets you quickly look up info about something in front of you via your cameras. But it won't be available at launch
- Your cameras include a 48MP main camera (with in-sensor 2x zoom), and an updated 12MP ultrawide camera with autofocus and macro mode for the first time, thanks to improved light intake.
- The iPhone 16 has a larger battery. We're not sure about the iPhone 16 Plus yet though, Apple didn't mention that model.
- MagSafe wireless charging has been made faster with the new 25W charging pucks. The iPhone 16 series is also compatible with the generic Qi2 standard for compatibility with more accessories.
iPhone 16: Top new features
Lots of the iPhone 16's new toys are Apple Intelligence features — announced at WWDC earlier this year. This includes smarter searching in Photos, a more intelligent Siri, Writing Tools for improving your texts and emails, and generative tools like Image Playground, Genmoji and Clean Up.
These are on offer in the iOS 18.1 developer beta right now, but will be on offer in public beta from December.
Visual Intelligence is a unique AI ability for the iPhone 16 series only. This lets you search with your iPhone's camera with a tap of the Camera Control button to quickly learn more about a restaurant's opening hours, or what kind of dog just walked by. It isn't going to be available at launch though.
Speaking of the Camera Control, this is a brand-new capacitive button that sits below the Power button, flush with the surface of the side rail. Pressing it opens the camera, and also takes a photo or quick video with another press or press-and-hold. Meanwhile, a light tap of the button gives you a UI-free preview of your shot, with a swipe side-to-side adjusting your zoom level. Your other controls are all available here too, with a double-tap opening the menu you can then scroll through with further swipes and taps.
Apple's upgraded the cameras on the iPhone 16, offering a 48MP main camera with 2x in-sensor zoom (what Apple calls a "Fusion Camera") that's capable of 4K 60fps video, plus a refreshed 12MP ultrawide camera that adds macro mode for the first time. The wider aperture and larger pixels of the updated sensor allow up to 2.6x more light intake, making for brighter shots.
Video and phone calls benefit from a boosted wind noise minimization with some clever software trickery. A common problem but one that Apple's continuing to fight back against.
Apple jumped a generation with the iPhone 16's chipset, going from A16 in the iPhone 15 to A18. This new chip is built with an efficient 3-nanometre process, and offers more CPU, GPU and NPU cores while being more efficient. It's got hardware ray-tracing acceleration too for superb gaming experiences. And that new chip's supported by a refreshed thermal substructure to help keep the silicon cool.
Making its first appearance on basic iPhone models, the Action Button replaces the mute switch on the top left of the iPhone 16's side rail. This can still be used to put your iPhone into loud or silent profiles, but it can also be rebound to do all sorts of other things, like activate your flashlight, quickly open an app, or more if you're willing to wade into the Apple Shortcuts app to set up a highly customized set of options.
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