Intro

Apple has just unveiled the new base iPhone 16 model and there are a number of important changes, including a refreshed design, a couple of new buttons as well as better battery life.

Remember that there are four models in the iPhone 16 series, but here we focus on the regular iPhone 16 model and all the new features compared to the previous iPhone 15 model.

If you are looking for more information about the other models, we have separate breakdowns of the iPhone 16 Pro vs 15 Pro changes, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and all the rest.

With this in mind, let’s go back to the iPhone 16. It remains the base and most affordable model in the lineup. The starting price stays at $800 for a 128GB configuration, which is good news considering many other brands are hiking prices.

On the back of the phone you see a new pill-shaped rear camera, while on the inside a zippier and more power efficient Apple A18 chipset runs the show and it supports all of the AI features. Most AI features, however, will be coming via software updates later on this year and even next year.

So should you upgrade if you own the iPhone 15? Let’s dive in and find out.

iPhone 16 vs iPhone 15 differences:

iPhone 16

iPhone 15

Same 6.1-inch form factor
6.1-inch size

New Action Button in place of Mute Switch
New Camera Control for camera
Older Mute Switch only

Newer and faster Apple A18 chipset
Apple A16 Bionic chipset

More memory, 8GB RAM
6GB RAM

Support for AI
Does not support AI

Same storage options
128 / 256 / 512GB storage models

New vertical camera with support for Spatial Video

Diagonal camera layout

48MP Fusion main camera
48MP main camera

12MP ultra-wide camera with macro support
12MP ultra-wide camera

Longer battery life
22 hours of video playback
20 hours of video playback

Same 20W wired charging
20W wired charging speed

Much faster 25W MagSafe
15W MagSafe wireless charge

New color options
Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow, and Black

Design and Display Quality 

The iPhone 16 keeps the overall size and shape of the previous model, so we have a 6.1-inch form factor as before, an aluminum frame with slightly tapered edges and a matte glass finish on the back.

One improvement could be a reduced screen border, but that is not certain as Apple usually reserves such tweaks for the Pro models.

What is changing for sure, however, is the camera styling. Apple adopts a new-old vertical camera arrangement on the iPhone 16. We had that look back in the days of the iPhone X and until the iPhone 12 series, and now the iPhone 16 is going back to this pill shape. The reason for the change this time is purely practical – Spatial Video. This new 3D video format that looks stunning on the Vision Pro requires the camera lenses to be arranged in a line to work.

Another big and welcome change coming to all iPhone 16 versions, including this base iPhone 16 are buttons. You get an Action Button (which replaces the mute switch), as well as a brand new Camera Control for quickly launching the camera. This Camera Control works like a shutter key on a camera, so it will focus on a slight press and take a picture once you click it all the way in.

So the Action Button is on the left side, above the volume keys. Then the Camera Control is on the right, below the Power Button. This is where Apple placed the mmWave antenna previously, so that will now have to move to the bottom left side, below the volume keys.

The rest is pretty much the same: there is no change in size or weight. And of course, you still have a USB-C port on the iPhone 16, and IP68 water and dust protection.

Unfortunately, the base iPhone 16 model still only support USB 2 transfer speeds (the Pros support USB 3 since the iPhone 15 Pro model).

Oh, and in terms of colors, we get more vibrant hues which look really cool.
For the screen, most of the specs remain the same. You get a 6.1-inch screen size, the familiar OLED with perfect blacks, and the max brightness is the same as before at 2,000 nits peak, but the minimum brightness has dropped to 1 nit, which is a big improvement if you use your phone at night in bed.

You also get a new generation Ceramic Shield cover glass that is tougher than before and Apple says is tougher than any phone glass.

This change is nice, but THE ONE change everyone was looking for did not happen on the iPhone 16.

We are talking about the 60Hz screen of course, or more specifically the lack of 120Hz ProMotion. The iPhone 16 still runs at 60Hz, just like the iPhone 15 and many others before. And that’s a bummer! 60Hz is nowhere nearly as smooth as ProMotion.

Rumors say ProMotion will finally arrive with the vanilla iPhone 17 model in 2025, if that’s any consolation.

Performance and Software

New iPhone, new chip

The iPhone 16 gets a new Apple A18 chip, built on second-gen 3nm technology. No other phone is built using such advanced process at the time of the launch.

For context, the iPhone 15 runs on the A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 16 is expected to be the first vanilla iPhone model to use a 3nm processor. This is a two generations jump in technology.

This new chipset is also the first built from the ground up about AI optimizations. Apple missed the AI hype train last year, but it’s fully invested in this year.

And speaking of AI, the iPhone 16 also likely has 8GB of RAM, up from 6GB RAM on the iPhone 15. Most AI tasks seem to require extra RAM and that’s probably the number one reason for the upgrade. What this also means, however, is that it’s possible that at least some AI features will not be available on the older iPhone 15.

Remember that AI is a staggered roll-out for Apple with big ticket items like the ChatGPT integration coming by the end of the year, while the all-new Siri is due in the fist half of 2025.
We don’t have any changes to the storage tiers, so you can choose between 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of native storage.

The iPhone 16 is also likely to use the same modem as the iPhone 15, the Snapdragon X70. It’s a perfectly good solution, just not quite as advanced as the expected upgraded modem in the iPhone 16 Pro. That Pro model will likely get the X75 version with improved carrier aggregation, and a combined sub-6GHz and mmWave chip that takes up 25% less space on the board and uses 20% less power.

Camera

Spatial Video, baby

With a new pill-shaped camera system, the iPhone 16 looks different than before, but apart from the new styling it is a less exciting camera upgrade than last year’s iPhone 15.

All iPhone 16 versions are also getting a new physical Camera Control, which is placed below the power key. This new button is a capacitive one, meaning that it only registers a press when you push it with your finger, so it won’t get accidentally triggered in your pocket. You can customize it to work with various camera apps, including third-party ones.

And when you are in a camera app, a half press would allow you to lock exposure or focus, while a full press would capture an image or start recording a video. We are very happy with this change, as it will make it just a bit easier to not miss that important moment and capture it faster with a press of a button.

Interestingly, since this is a capacitive button, you will also be able use it as a trackpad in a way. For example, one possible feature is you could slide your finger to zoom in and out. It could also control the amount of background blur for portraits, or quickly cycle through filters. Neat!

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As for the camera hardware, the iPhone 15 was the first base model iPhone to get a 48MP main camera, a huge upgrade in both detail and low light imagery compared to the 12MP snapper used in previous iPhones.

This year, with the iPhone 16, there are no big hardware changes as Apple sticks with two cameras (so again, NO dedicated telephoto lens for the base models). The 48MP main camera has the same f/1.6 aperture and ability to provide nearly lossless quality at 2X zoom via sensor crop.

As for the ultra-wide camera, it keeps the 12MP sensor, but use a slightly faster aperture (f/2.2 now vs f/2.4 before) that allow more light to hit the sensor, and for the first time on a base iPhone, Apple adds support for macro photography. Only the Pro series have so far had macro support, so it’s nice to see this feature coming to the base iPhone models too.

On the software front, you get new generation Photographic Styles that are much more powerful than before.

With AI on board the iPhone 16, we expect to see new image editing features: smart resize and smart move of objects in the photos are just some of the tricks Apple might borrow from Samsung’s and Google’s AI handbook.

As for video quality, Spatial Video and Spatial Photos are another upgrade. You cannot truly appreciate these 3D videos on your phone, but you can on a AR/VR headset like the Apple Vision Pro, and having tried that, we are glad to have this option. Realistically, though, not many people own such a headset yet, so it might take a while until Spatial Video gets the appreciation it deserves.

Audio Quality and Haptics

Apple continually improves the audio quality from the iPhone loudspeakers, and we expect another gradual improvement, but nothing major.

And as for haptics, they have been excellent on iPhones ever since the Taptic Engine made its debut on the iPhone 6s! Don’t expect anything new on that front.

Battery Life and Charging

Bigger battery and faster MagSafe

With the iPhone 16 size and form factor roughly the same as the previous iPhone 15, there will be no space for a much bigger battery.

Still, rumors say a slight upgrade is possible. We will only have the exact battery size later on, but Apple tells us the iPhone 16 gets 22 hours of video playback, compared to 20 hours on the iPhone 15. This is a nice 10% improvement, but for other tasks such as audio playback, Apple quotes the same 80 hour number on the two models.

In other words, there is a very slight improvement in battery life.

Rumors projected the iPhone 16 to get a 3,561mAh battery, up from a 3,349mAh battery size on the iPhone 15, or an upgrade of 6%.

We were hoping for faster charging and we kind of get it but only when you charge with MagSafe, which now supports 25W, up from 15W before. You would need to connect the wireless charger to a power brick with at least 30W of output to benefit from this. The iPhone 16 also supports the Qi2 standard.

Unfortunately, wired charging speeds seem to remain the same at 20W. This is the first time we see wireless charging being faster than wired charge.

Specs Comparison

And here is a bird eye’s view of the iPhone 16 vs iPhone 15 specs:

Specs
iPhone 16
iPhone 15

Dimensions
147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm
147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm

Weight
170 g
171 g

Screen
6.1-inch
OLED
60Hz
6.1-inch
OLED
60Hz

Processor
Apple A18
3nm
Apple A16 Bionic
4nm

RAM, Storage
*Price expectations
8/128GB for $800
8/256GB for $900
8/512GB for $1,100
6/128GB for $800
6/256GB for $900
6/512GB for $1,100

Cameras
Same at 48MP, f/1.6, 26mm
12MP, f/2.2, 13mm

12MP front
48MP, f/1.6, 26mm
12MP, f/2.2, 13mm

12MP front

Battery Size
3,561 mAh
*possibly
3,349 mAh

Charging Speeds
20W wired
25W MagSafe
20W wired
15W wireless

Should you upgrade?

So… is the iPhone 16 a good upgrade?

Compared to the iPhone 15, it’s not a huge upgrade.

The two new buttons, the more vibrant colors, the faster wireless charging, the macro capabilities of the camera and the tiny improvement in battery life are the highlights.

But the most defining feature is clearly Apple Intelligence which will not be supported on the iPhone 15.

We feel most let down by the lack of 120Hz ProMotion on the iPhone 16. This will continue to be the one feature designed to nudge you towards the pricier iPhone 16 Pro.

We don’t see an immediate need for upgrade if you have the iPhone 15, but what do you think? What is your favorite new iPhone 16 feature?