Apple Unveils iPhone 16 with Extra Button, Bigger Screen and Apple Intelligence

If there are two things Apple considers iPhone fans to be favorites of, it’s big screens and camera tricks. Apple finally took the wraps off the upcoming iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max phones during its neon Glowtime event on Monday. While the Pro models are bigger than ever, the headline feature is a physical “camera control” button that’s meant to be a bit more versatile than simply using the volume button to take photos.

Oh, but there are perhaps three things Apple is looking forward to for its fans. Those long-promised AI features, called Apple Intelligence, are back in Glowtime. Some of those previously announced intelligence features will take advantage of camera controls. The iPhone 16 should be the phone that showcases many of these new AI integrations, although customers who pre-ordered the phone ahead of its September launch will have to wait at least another month to get ChatGPT on their phones.

The iPhone 16 lineup looks a bit like the iPhone 15 — minus the pill-shaped camera on the entry-level models — but this time, the Pro model is a bigger beast than the entry-level iPhone. While the regular iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch display and the iPhone 16 Plus has a 6.7-inch screen, the Pros now have a 6.3-inch screen, and the Pro Max has a 6.9-inch screen. Sure, Google Pixel 9 Pro They changed the screen sizes for the XL, but Apple clearly thinks its customers want more screen space. Period.

There are a number of new colours available for pre-order, including the rumored ugly brown color “gold titanium” first suggested in leaks last month. The regular iPhone 16 is also available in shades of green, pink, blue and white. More than anything, Apple seems to be promoting a lot of the same hardware improvements as the base iPhone 16 and Pro models, though the more expensive phones will have additional camera capabilities like 4K slow-motion recording at 120fps.

The iPhone 16 starts at $800, while the 16 Plus will retail for $900. The 16 Pro starts at $1,000, and the Pro Max starts at $1,200. All are available for pre-order now, and Apple will begin shipping on September 20.

How does the camera control button work on iPhone 16?

Apple made a big deal out of “photos on iPhone” in previous iPhone releases (albeit with thousands of dollars of extra hardware and post-production, of course). Now, the idea is to make you feel like a photographer thanks to some extra buttons on the iPhone 16. This takes the form of a low-profile switch on the right side of the phone. You use it to launch the Photos app, take a photo, and even swipe a few basic camera controls. Finally, Apple introduced that “taptic” button it couldn’t make happen on the iPhone 15.

With a light press, you can brighten up some of the controls, like zoom or exposure. A full press will actually take a photo. It’s not exactly like a DSLR, where a half press locks the exposure and a full click takes the photo. However, in a later update, Apple promises to add a two-step shutter to lock focus and exposure. It’ll be significant and seems like an obvious addition that those who pre-order won’t notice at first. Apple also said it will allow it to be used in third-party photography apps, like Cinema.

All cameras have undergone minor improvements regardless of whether the sensors are arranged vertically or in a triangle.

The Pro models will feature an upgraded ultra-wide-angle lens from the previous 12MP to a 48MP sensor. The Pro’s periscope lens now allows for a 5x optical zoom, just like the Pro Max. If that’s not enough, Apple says the Pro models can now record 4K at 120 FPS, allowing for 60 FPS, 30 FPS, or a lower-frame slow-mo video effect at 24 FPS. A new “Audio Mix” feature on the Pro versions lets editors make slight adjustments to the audio after it’s been recorded.

For those hoping to watch 3D movies on the entry-level iPhone, the standard 16 model supports them on a new, complex camera setup. But if you’ve already spent $3,500 on a Vision Pro, you can now turn any regular image or even a work of art into a fake 3D surround image with VisionOS 2.

What will iOS 18 software look like on iPhone 16?

Apple has improved the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus with the A17 Bionic chip from last year’s iPhone 15 Pro. As expected, engineers from the end of 1 Infinite Loop have put the A18 Bionic chip into the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. If you want better graphics processing, choose a device with the A18 Pro Bionic chip, which has additional GPU cores and supports ProMotion and Always-On displays. The 6-core Pro version also has a 16-core NPU, which could better handle some background AI tasks. Either way, they should be slightly more efficient and powerful than the A16 Bionic chip in the iPhone 15.

Another advantage of the new iPhones is the increased amount of RAM, which is now 8 GB compared to the previous 6 GB in the iPhone 15. This is primarily intended to support AI functions.

Every phone is expected to run iOS 18 out of the box. But many of the promised features of Apple Intelligence’s generative AI they still have some time to bake in Tim Cook’s crowded bakery ovens. First on that list is ChatGPT integration, which is coming “later in the year.” Additionally, “later in the year,” Apple will enable Camera Control to pull Apple Intelligence features like Google Lens-like search with user-taken photos. The feature could also add events to your calendars or find places to buy what you’re currently looking for in a shop window.

If you haven’t tried it yet iOS 18 beta version, offers a few more home screen customization options, RCS support, and dozens of other small quality of life improvements. Combined with the rest of the list of operating systems Apple expects to release this month, there will be some new features for all iPhone owners, regardless of whether you buy the new-fangled iPhone 16 just because of the artificial intelligence and the special camera button.

Although we expected the iPhone 16 to be launched with the legendary ChatGPT Integrationwhich will apparently not happen before this year – according to forecasts, only in October Bloomberg Mark Gurman. Live call transcriptions and image editing tools similar to Magic Eraser should be coming later this year, according to Apple. Even the advertised AI image generator titled “Image Playground,” which the Cupertino company showed off at World Press Conference 2024 will not be available in time for the iPhone 16 launch.