iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: What Should I Buy?

Apple on Monday unveiled its new iPhone 16 lineup, giving us our first look at the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro ahead of their official launch. But what sets this year’s “Pro” iPhone apart from its more modest sibling? And, which one should you buy? Here’s a quick rundown of the differences in specs, features, and price to help you decide:

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro

• Colours:
  • iPhone 16: Ultramarine, Teal, Pink, White, Black.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: Desert Titanium, Natural Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium
• Price:
  • iPhone 16: Starting at $1,129.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: Starting at $1,449.
• Display:
  • iPhone 16: 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with a 2556-by-1179-pixel resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display with a 2622-by-1206-pixel resolution, ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz, and Always-On display support.
  • The two devices have the same pixel density, at 460 ppi.
  • Both models boast a max brightness of 1000 nits (typical) with a peak brightness of 1600 nits (HDR) or 2000 nits (outdoor).
  • New for this year’s iPhone lineup, the screens on both phones can scale all the way down to 1 nit of brightness.
• Design & Build Quality:
  • iPhone 16: Aluminum chassis with a colour-infused glass back.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: Aerospace-grade titanium chassis and a textured matte glass back.
  • Both models feature a new touch-sensitive, capacitive Camera Control button on the right side that can launch the Camera app, capture photos and videos, zoom in or out, adjust the strength of the bokeh effect in Portrait mode, and more.
  • Both phones are water-resistant to a depth of 6 metres for up to 30 minutes, with an IP68 rating.
  • On the front, both phones are protected by the latest-generation Ceramic Shield, which Apple says is tougher than any smartphone glass.
• Size & Weight:
  • iPhone 16: 147.6 mm height, 71.6 mm width, and 7.80 mm depth at a weight of 170 grams.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: 149.6 mm height, 71.5 mm width, and 8.25 mm depth at a weight of 199 grams.
• Processor:
  • iPhone 16: A18 chip with a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: A18 Pro chip with a 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.
• Main Camera:
  • iPhone 16:
    • Advanced dual-camera system with 48MP Fusion (with anti-reflective coating) and 12MP Ultra Wide lenses.
    • Sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
    • 0.5x, 1x, 2x optical zoom options.
    • Macro photography.
    • True Tone flash.
    • 4K Dolby Vision video recording at up to 60 fps.
  • iPhone 16 Pro:
    • Pro-grade triple-camera system with 48MP Fusion (with anti-reflective coating) camera, 48MP Ultra Wide lens, and 12MP Telephoto sensor.
    • Second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization.
    • 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x optical zoom options.
    • 48MP macro photography.
    • Adaptive True Tone flash.
    • Night mode portraits.
    • Apple ProRAW support.
    • 4K Dolby Vision video recording at up to 120 fps.
    • ProRes video recording at up to 4K/120 fps.
    • Academy Colour Encoding System.
    • Studio-quality four-mic array.
  • Both phones offer super-high-resolution photos (24MP and 48MP), next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control, and spatial photo/video capture.
• Front Camera:
  • Both have a 12MP TrueDepth front camera with an ƒ/1.9 aperture.
  • The iPhone 16 Pro adds support for ProRes video recording (up to 4K/60 fps) on the front camera.
• Safety Features:
  • Both have Emergency SOS, Emergency SOS via satellite, Messages via Satellite, and Crash Detection features.
• Connectivity:
  • iPhone 16: USB-C port with support for USB 2.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: USB-C with support for USB 3 (allowing for up to 20x faster transfers, per Apple).
  • Both support 5G cellular, Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, and other similar cellular and wireless technologies.
• Other Features:
  • Both the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro will support Apple Intelligence — Apple’s suite of upcoming AI features that the company says “helps you write, express yourself and get things done effortlessly.”
  • Both devices are compatible with MagSafe accessories.
• Battery: 
  • iPhone 16: 3,561 mAh, rated for up to 22 hours of video playback by Apple.
  • iPhone 16 Pro: 3,577 mAh, rated for up to 27 hours of video playback by Apple.
  • The entire iPhone 16 family can also fast-charge wirelessly (up to 50% in 30 minutes) with a 30W adapter or higher paired with a MagSafe Charger.

Forking over an extra $320 — at a minimum — for the iPhone 16 Pro essentially nets you a slightly larger display (with, more importantly, a 120Hz refresh rate), a Pro-grade camera system (complete with an additional Telephoto lens), better camera features, increased battery life, a titanium body, and a faster USB-C port.

If any of those features is a must-have for you, then the iPhone 16 Pro is the only way to go. However, while it beggars belief that the $1,129 iPhone 16 still lacks a 120Hz screen when Android phones that cost less than half as much come with 120Hz OLED displays, the base iPhone 16 is still getting the new Camera Control button and Apple Intelligence support, along with camera upgrades and a better battery.

That said, if you don’t absolutely have to have the latest and greatest from Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro might be a good middle ground in terms of price-performance ratio. The iPhone 15 Pro offers similar camera features to the iPhone 16 Pro (barring the new Fusion lens and Dolby Vision video capabilities), support for Apple Intelligence (whenever Apple gets around to actually making it available), and, with the release of the newer generation, a more reasonable price point.

You can pre-order the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro starting this Friday, September 13. This year, Apple’s even letting customers configure their orders before pre-orders officially kick off. The iPhone 16 lineup is set to launch at Apple Stores across the globe next week on September 20.