Review: The Apple iPhone 16 Pro Added A Feature I Didn’t Know I Needed

While I’m the Forbes Vetted consumer tech editor by day, by night I’m a cat mom–and I’m always taking pictures of them curled up in their favorite chair, playing and generally just being the silly little furballs I adore. In the past, I’ve used my Android to snap all of my pics—but the new Apple iPhone 16 Pro gives Android a true run for its money.

Outside of the camera, there are some solid upgrades that make the iPhone 16 Pro a worthy investment if you want good cameras but are leery of the bulk of its sibling, the iPhone 16 Pro Max. I’ve been using the iPhone 16 Pro around my home and around New York City for the past week, taking photos, surfing the internet, gaming and more. Read on for my thoughts on its design, performance and those new camera features.

Best for:

• Carrying one of the best iPhone camera setups thanks to Camera Control
• Enjoying a powerful device with a smaller footprint

Skip if:

• You need a bigger display for gaming

Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Design

Sleeker Than Before

The iPhone 16 Pro reduces the bezels around the device so it feels like a larger display. In reality, it hasn’t changed too much. It adds a 0.1-inch height and a 0.4-inch width to make a slightly bigger device, but it doesn’t feel all that different in my hand. Again, as I mentioned in my Google Pixel 9 Pro review, I’m enamored with this sizing, if only because it doesn’t feel bulky. I don’t feel like I’m lugging around a brick when I shove it in my back pocket or in my bag. It’s also fun to note that put side-by-side, the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Apple iPhone 16 Pro are similar in scale.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the new color that the iPhone is available in this year: desert titanium. I received a review unit in natural titanium, but having seen the desert titanium in person, it’s gorgeous. You really can’t go wrong with any of the colors available.

One of the biggest changes to the design is the introduction of a new button on the right side. This is the Camera Control button, which I get more into below. But it’s safe to say that Apple didn’t stray far from its signature design, and that’s not a bad thing.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Performance

Apple Intelligence Makes Its Debut—Sort Of

At the Apple “It’s Glowtime” Event, Apple debuted its Apple Intelligence that’s coming to iOS 18 this fall. Because it’s hasn’t fully unrolled yet—it launches soon, in Fall 2024—I focused on testing the new features like Camera Control and the new build I felt was designed for gaming and multitasking.

Underneath the hood, there’s the A18 Pro processor and, according to Apple, a new thermal structure that’s designed to reduce heat buildup. These two features combined were built to make the 16 Pro all the more powerful at multitasking and, more importantly, mobile gaming. When I first set up the iPhone, I was surprised at how warm it felt to the touch. Thankfully, it dissipated. Since I didn’t experience any other temperature issues, I chalked that up to setting up the new device. It’s felt as cool as a cucumber since.

One of the games I use during testing, because I feel it packs a punch, is Genshin Impact. It’s a pretty power-hungry game, and with other smartphones, I’ve noticed they can get pretty toasty when it’s fully booted. Yes, the iPhone 16 Pro felt warm, but the graphics on the 6.3-inch Super Retina display looked gorgeous and smooth. For heavy gamers, it may be a little too small. If that’s you, then opt for the iPhone 16 Pro Max for more screen real estate. I felt the display on the Pro was good enough for my gaming needs, though.

And, of course, there’s also the fact that the battery has improved. One of my biggest issues moving around New York City on any day is that by the time I’m heading back to my apartment, my phone is a little too close for comfort to the dreaded low-battery notification. But the 16 Pro’s battery stays pretty strong throughout the day. Even if I caught up on news, snapped photos, read on the Kindle app and responded to texts and calls, it still had a good amount left over. That’s pretty big for me, since I usually have to pack a portable charger in my bag.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Cameras

Camera Control Is Front And Center

My favorite feature by far is the new Camera Control. Remember that button on the right side of the device? When pressed, it opens up the camera. But it goes further than that; lightly press on the button again, and you can control the feature currently open. I say currently open because a light double press brings up different functions: zoom, focus, camera styles and more. Fully pressing it while the camera is on snaps a photograph. It’s one of the neatest features.

In testing, I loved it. As a mostly Android user, it’s great to press the button and have all of the editing features I love at my literal fingertip. Again, I live with cats, who usually only give me a moment to snap a cute photograph before they get a wicked case of the zoomies, and the Camera Control helped me capture those fun moments quickly. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of the button, so don’t expect to jump into it without a mild learning curve. I suspect this is also a great tool for parents wanting to snap moments in time.

But it’s not just the Camera Control that helps make this possible. The iPhone 16 Pro uses a “fusion” camera—aptly called a Fusion Camera. In a nutshell, it compiles two different camera lenses into one. It’s designed that way so that you’re not scrambling among multiple lenses to get the perfect shot. In testing, it worked well because even if a photo a little off (note: my photos weren’t), be it blurry or in the wrong focus, I could pull up the photo and adjust it to my liking. Yes, that includes the focus, which I could change after taking a shot. It’s also important to note that the iPhone 16 Pro also gets that 5x tetraprism lens that launched with the iPhone 15 Pro Max last year, so you’re really getting a series of powerhouse lenses that can tuck away in your pocket.

There’s also the fact that Apple enhanced the microphones for a studio-quality four-mic array and tricked out their software. The microphones can register and isolate noise into different levels. If I filmed a silly video of my cat, Toby, crying while he waited for his dinner as my husband joked about feeding him off-camera, I could isolate the cat cries or my husband’s voice. I could create a video, in post, of just Toby crying for his dinner with no extra audio with this software. For content creators, this is a golden tool. It’s like magic how it can register different voices and noises and isolate them. I personally don’t expect to use this too much, because I skew toward photography, not videography, but my hunch is it will be incredibly popular.

Quick videos of my cats showcased well, too. The iPhone 16 Pro films in 4K 120 frames per second (fps) with Dolby Vision. It looks good on the screen, and because it’s filmed at 120 fps, I could adjust for dramatic slow-motion shots at lower fps rates, all the way down to 30. I appreciate the Dolby Vision partnership Apple has fostered here; it pays off well.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro: Verdict

A Great Addition To The iPhone Family

It’s pretty common knowledge that the average phone upgrade is every three years or so (or when the mobile service contract ends on a device). For those coming from the iPhone 13 or 14, there are some pretty great improvements that will wow you. The Camera Control alone is the niftiest upgrade to a device in some time. I hope other companies adopt that, because Apple struck gold with how adjustable capturing a photo is without having to dive too far into the nitty-gritty.

Content creators should enjoy the iPhone 16 Pro because it comes with a ton of features designed with them in mind. Camera Control can help maximize content capture without sacrificing precious seconds opening up the camera, and I can already foresee the built-in studio-quality four-mic array really boosting audio in TikToks and Instagram reels. And, at $999, it’s not too crazy of a price for this whole package.

How I Tested The Apple iPhone 16 Pro

I used the Apple iPhone 16 Pro as my main device for one week. I captured photos, messaged friends, checked weather, navigated the city, gamed on Genshin Impact and much more. I ran multiple apps across the device while capturing video for friends and family.

To test the camera, I used it across urban settings around New York City, and I snapped portraits indoors using my cats, my husband and myself as subjects. I used it in bright sunlit areas, at golden hour and at nighttime. The camera saw action both indoors and outside to see how still life and action shots turned out under various circumstances, and the same went for video to share with friends and family.

I also did a deep dive into Camera Control, rigorously testing how intuitive the new feature is. Additionally, I cross-tested it with Samsung’s and Google’s camera systems to see how the camera held up against the competition.

My Expertise

I’ve been the consumer tech and electronics editor at Forbes Vetted for over five years. In addition to working with home entertainment, such as testing the best gaming TVs, I have also tested most of the latest smart wearables currently on the market, from the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to the Apollo Wearable and more.

I’ve spent plenty of time testing the latest mobile devices. I’ve deep-dived into the Apple ecosystem with the iPhone 15 Pro and reviewed plenty of Android devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Google Pixel 8. Most recently, I tested the Google Pixel 9 Pro.

My time testing mobile devices focuses on everyone, from the casual folks who want a simple phone for taking calls to die-hard gamers who want a full-fledged device ready to play their favorite games. For this story, I focused on the new camera features Apple introduced, including Camera Control and the new audio-capture software and four-microphone hardware.