2024-09-20 06:28:31
The iPhone 16 comes with a new button – for all models. Is that enough reason to buy? We tested the new devices.
There have been no major innovations in smartphones in recent years. Apple was no exception. Since the iPhone 12 in 2020, the manufacturer has barely changed the appearance of its phones. Sometimes the casing was a little thinner, sometimes the camera block on the back of the device was larger.
With the iPhone 14, the notch on the top of the screen finally disappeared on the Pro models and was replaced by the Dynamic Island. The notification system proved to be practical, and Apple implemented the feature in all new models a year later with the iPhone 15.
This year, the iPhone 16 brings what is probably the biggest design change in recent years: an additional button on the right side of the smartphone case.
We tested the iPhone 16 and the 16 Pro Max and were excited to see what the new camera button could do and how it felt to operate the smartphone with it. First of all: The Dynamic Island introduced with the iPhone 14 impressed us more than the new button.
The iPhone 16 also brings a new mobile processor to the device generation: the A18 and A18 Pro. Thanks to a new manufacturing process, the chips should consume less energy, according to Apple. The processors should also work up to 30 percent faster than the previous models.
In everyday life, the user is unlikely to notice much of this. The previous models are also still easy to use. In the “Geekbench 6” test program, the iPhone 16 performed better than the iPhone 15 (6,447 points) with 7,934 points (multicore), as expected. The graphics chip also runs faster. The tests for the iPhone 16 Pro were similar.
When the action button was introduced at the Apple event last year, not everyone was enthusiastic. Nevertheless, the company has now built the button into all devices. With the iPhone 15, this was only available on the Pro models.
The action button replaces the slide switch that previously put all iPhones into silent mode. This can still be done by holding down the button for a longer period of time.
When setting up the iPhone 16, users have the option of assigning a different function to this button: It can be used to activate the flashlight, open the camera app, start a voice recording or activate the magnifying glass function. The desired focus mode can also be switched on in this way.
In theory, you can actually start any complex action with the side button, as you can also store shortcuts. However, setting them up is probably too complicated for many users, so most users will probably fall back on one of the presets.
We were already surprisingly impressed with this in our test last year – also because when you open the camera app, you can preset whether photo, selfie, video or portrait recording should be activated directly.
As always with new smartphone models, manufacturers are improving the cameras in the devices. This is also the case with the iPhone 16. It starts with the name. Apple now calls the main camera the Fusion Camera.
Why? Because users can use the camera to take pictures that can be displayed three-dimensionally on corresponding hardware such as the Apple Vision Pro VR glasses. This is made possible by the new, vertically mounted camera block on the back of the iPhone models.
The main camera in all models still has 48 megapixels. But as in the previous models, the Pro versions of the iPhones offer the better cameras. They contain chips with a so-called quad-pixel sensor, which captures more light and takes sharper pictures.