Apple has announced the iPhone 16, the company’s latest iPhone, and the successor of iPhone 15 along with the iPhone 16 Plus, as expected.
These get a new A18 SoC with support for Apple Intelligence and also get the action button which was previously exclusive to Pro models, and there is new Camera Control. These retain the 6.1 and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display displays, respectively.
Apple A18
The Apple A18 features a 16-core neural engine, optimized for running large generative models, and is up to 2x faster for ML. This has 17% more system memory bandwidth, giving more efficient access to generative models, and uses 2nd-gen 3nm technology.
There are 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores, and the company says that it is 30% faster than A16 bionic in iPhone 15 and up to 60% faster than A14 Bionic from iPhone 12. It uses 30% less power than A16 Bionic. The 5-core GPU is up to 40% faster than iPhone 15, and 2x faster than iPhone 12, and uses 35% less power for the same performance.
Camera control
There is a new camera button, which the company is calling camera control. This is flush to the surface, covered by a sapphire crystal and a colour-matched stainless steel trim. You can click to launch the camera app, click and hold to record a video. The click experience uses a force sensor and taptic engine, ensuring responsive haptic feedback like in a mechanical camera shutter.
Touch gestures are also recognized, allowing the camera control to distinguish between a full click and a lighter press. A lighter press reveals a new preview, helping focus on framing the shot. A new overlay allows for quick access to camera functions like zoom. Press lightly twice to see other controls, and slide to the control you want.
New cameras
The phones feature a new 48MP main camera with a larger f/1.6 aperture. The quad-pixel sensor that combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2µm at 12MP and has sensor-shift optical image stabilization. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom.
There is 12MP autofocus Ultra Wide camera with a larger f/2.2 aperture, 2.6x more light for higher image quality and supports macrophotography.
Stereoscopic information from the two lenses can now capture Spatial Video and Spatial Photos for the Vision Pro. It also has intelligent audio treatment to reduce wind noise. The Photos app is also customizable to reorder collections and albums and to use Apple Intelligence to remove distracting items from photos.
iPhone 16 delivers 30% higher sustained performance for gaming, thanks to new thermal optimizations. It also has ray tracing support, and supports AAA games like Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, and Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, that previously only worked with the iPhone 15 Pro models. These have an Aluminium design, Latest-generation Ceramic Shield front and Colour-infused glass back.
There is Wi-Fi 7 support and a bigger battery, which, combined with A18 and advanced power management, promises a big boost in battery life. These now support up to 25W Magsafe charging.
Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus specifications
- iPhone 16 – 6.1-inch (2556×1179 pixels) OLED 460ppi Super Retina XDR display, 1000 nits max brightness, 1600 nits peak brightness, up to 2000 nits peak outdoor brightness, HDR, True Tone, Ceramic Shield protection
- iPhone 16 Plus – 6.7-inch (2796×1290 pixels) OLED 460ppi Super Retina XDR display, 1000 nits max brightness, 1600 nits peak brightness, up to 2000 nits peak outdoor brightness, HDR, True Tone, Ceramic Shield protection
- Six-Core A18 (2 performance and 4 efficiency cores) 3nm chip with 64-bit architecture, 5‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
- 128GB, 256GB, 512GB storage options
- iOS 18
- Water and dust resistant (IP68)
- Dual SIM (nano + eSIM)
- 48MP wide-angle (f/1.6) camera, second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation for video, 2x Telephoto, 100% Focus Pixels, Photonic Engine, True Tone flash, HDR video recording with Dolby Vision at 4K 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 240fps, Cinematic mode up to 4K Dolby Vision at 30 fps, 12MP 120° Ultra Wide (f/2.2) autofocus secondary camera, Macro photography
- 12MP TrueDepth (ƒ/1.9) front camera, Autofocus with Focus Pixels,
Retina Flash, HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 120fps - TrueDepth camera for FaceID facial recognition, Stereo speakers
- Action button – Silent mode, Focus, Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo, Recognise Music, Translate, Magnifier, Controls, Shortcut or Accessibility
- Camera controls – Exposure, Depth, Zoom, Cameras, Styles, Tone
- iPhone 16 dimensions: 147.6×71.6×7.80mm; Weight: 170g
- iPhone 16 Plus dimensions: 160.9×77.8×7.80mm; Weight: 199g
- 5G (sub‑6 GHz) with 4×4 MIMO, Gigabit-class LTE, 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip for spatial awareness, Thread networking technology, NFC with reader mode, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery with up to 25W with 30W adapter or higher, USB-C fast charging, up to 22 hours (iPhone 16) / 27 hours (iPhone 16 Plus) of video playback
Pricing and availability
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus come in black, white, pink, teal, and ultramarine colours in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB storage options and the pricing remains the same as iPhone 15 series.
- iPhone 16 128GB – Rs. 79,900
- iPhone 16 256GB – Rs. 89,900
- iPhone 16 512GB – Rs. 1,09,900
- iPhone 16 Plus 128GB – Rs. 89,900
- iPhone 16 Plus 256GB – Rs. 99,900
- iPhone 16 Plus 512GB – Rs. 1,19,900
The iPhone 16 series will be available through apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app, with availability in stores beginning next Friday, September 20 with pre-order starting from this Friday, September 13th at 5:30PM IST.