iPhone 16
Camera Control and the Action button both arrive, the cameras go vertical for spatial video, and 8 GB of RAM becomes the baseline for Apple Intelligence.
Released September 20, 2024 · From $799 (128 GB, unlocked)
Apple added two buttons and built the whole phone around software that was not ready. Camera Control sits on the right edge, a capacitive button that launches the camera, then responds to presses and swipes to change zoom and exposure, and it took a few updates before it stopped being fiddly. The Action button came down too. Apple Intelligence was the headline, and it shipped in pieces across a year of updates, well after the phone itself had gone on sale and long after the advertising had stopped. The cameras moved back to a vertical stack so the phone could shoot spatial video for the Vision Pro. The A18 brought a big GPU jump and 8GB of RAM as the new baseline, which exists because the on-device models need it.
Reviews & Reception
Scored 90 out of 100. Reviewers noted that the standard model got the Pro's headline features in the same year for once, and that Apple Intelligence was not actually on the phone at launch.
For once, you don't have to wait a year to get the best new features from the iPhone 16 Pro.
The regular iPhone will likely suit your needs just fine, since splurging on the high-end model has become more of an indulgence than a necessity.