The iPhone 16 Pro is a pocket-sized creator’s dream. On the outside, the iPhone design hasn’t changed much over the last few years but on the inside it’s changed dramatically.
The new A18 Pro chip is built for Apple Intelligence.
The Pro line-up introduces larger display sizes, Camera Control, innovative pro camera features, and apparently a huge leap in battery life.
“the things that have changed are important.”
As I explained to Tim Gilbert on Sky News Weekend Edition, “the things that have changed are important.”
The camera control button isn’t new by any means but the execution is – no doubt.
Think of it as a tiny trackpad that not only acts as a camera launcher, it can also access traditional photographic settings by swiping or ‘half pressing’ like you would on a ‘real’ camera.
And by ‘real’ camera I mean the ability to do things like a two-stage shutter to automatically lock focus and exposure on a subject with a light press, letting users reframe the shot without losing focus. This feature will come after launch, a few months later.
Developers will be able to bring Camera Control to third-party apps such as Kino, which will offer users the ability to adjust white balance and set focus points, including at various levels of depth in their scene. Later this year, Camera Control will unlock visual intelligence to help users learn about objects and places faster than ever before.
Now to the updated cameras.
This year there is no difference between the Pro and Pro Max Models when it comes to the camera array. The 5x optical zoom is now available in the smaller Pro version. This means the main reason to get the Max is screen size – a whopping 6.9-inches and better battery life. The smaller Pro display is 6.3-inches. The main lens is attached to a new 48MP Fusion camera with a faster quad-pixel sensor that enables 4K120 fps video recording in Dolby Vision.
There’s also a new 48MP Ultra Wide camera for higher-resolution photography, including macro. The quad-pixel sensor can read data 2x faster, enabling zero shutter lag for 48MP ProRAW or HEIF photos. The new 48MP Ultra Wide camera also features a quad-pixel sensor with autofocus.
iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max now take spatial photos in addition to videos for lifelike replay on Apple Vision Pro.
When it comes to shooting 4K video at 120fps, you don’t have to be locked into slow-mo. You can adjust the playback speed after capture in the Photos app, including a quarter-speed playback, a new half-speed option for a dreamy effect, and a fifth-speed option that corresponds to 24 fps.
When coupled with the new image signal processor (ISP) of A18 Pro, users can do frame-by-frame ‘cinema-quality’ colour grading for 4K/120 fps in Dolby Vision.
Best of all .. users can also capture 4K/120 fps ProRes and Log directly to an external storage device. Nice!
Audio gets a boost with both Pro models receiving four new ‘studio-quality’ mics that can record spatial audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system.
The iPhone 16 Pro line-up also introduces creative new ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix — allowing users to adjust their sound after capture to focus on the voice of the person on camera. There is also wind noise reduction thanks to machine learning (ML) algorithms that reduce unwanted noise.
When it comes to the base models, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, you also get great camera functionality. The Camera Control Button is featured across all models. This a great effort by Apple to make it widely available. The realignment of the cameras also makes spatial videos possible on the entry level models.
“for the first time in a long time I’m happy to recommend a new iPhone that isn’t just the big one”
Overall, these are great camera updates across the range. And for the first time in a long time I’m happy to recommend a new iPhone that isn’t just the ‘big one’.
Review videos and examples coming soon.
Pricing and Availability
- iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in black titanium, natural titanium, white titanium, and desert titanium, in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 16 Pro starts at RRP A$1,799 inc.GST and iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at RRP A$2,149 inc.GST.
- Customers in more than 58 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S., will be able to pre-order iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max beginning at 10pm AEST this Friday, 13 September, with availability beginning Friday, 20 September.
- iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be available in Macao, Vietnam, and 19 other countries and regions beginning Friday, 27 September.
- iOS 18 will be available as a free software update from Monday, 16 September.
- Apple Intelligence will be available as a free software update. The first set of Apple Intelligence features will be available in beta next month as part of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come. It will be available on iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac with M1 and later, with device and Siri language set to U.S. English.
- Additional languages and platforms are coming over the course of the next year. Later this year, Apple Intelligence will add support for localised English in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. In the coming year, Apple Intelligence will expand to more languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
