Apple’s New iPhone 16 Pro Brings Joy and Disappointment

Updated September 23 with details on Apple’s marketing of the iPhone 16 Pro, and design changes to make the iPhone a more repairable smartphone.

The Apple community is getting ready to enjoy Latest iPhones With top specs, a new, material UI around the camera, and the transformative power of AI. While this will pleaseThey all arrive with an air of disappointment.

Update: Monday, September 23: The team at iFixit They took their new smartphones apart in the usual way to assess how they are put together and, more importantly, how easy it is for users to repair. This is one area where Apple has made significant improvements.

Battery service and replacement have been improved, though not every iPhone model will get every change. First, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models have a new adhesive that holds the battery in place. Instead of requiring pure force to separate the battery, running an electrical current through the adhesive will loosen it.

While the iPhone 16 Pro doesn’t include this update, it does have a new casing around the battery cells. Instead of the soft materials used in older models, the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery now has a more traditional hard casing, providing more protection in case a screwdriver or tool slips and hits the power source.

Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro comes with a physical design modification that allows the battery to be replaced through the front or back of the smartphone, whichever is more practical under the circumstances.

And while the iPhone 16 Pro Max lacks all of these battery changes, the steps toward a more repairable iPhone will be welcomed across the industry, even if there are issues around Use DRM to lock parts on an individual iPhone Remains.

Update: Sunday, September 22: Writing for Power On NewsletterMark Gurman highlights the side effects of Apple’s delayed release of Intelligence. It will be rolled out in three stages over the next six months: iOS 18.1 in October, iOS 18.2 in December, and iOS 18.3 in March. This long release cycle stands in stark contrast to the presentations that Tim Cook and his team gave at the iPhone launch and the advertising campaign that’s running alongside the new smartphones:

“Here’s where Apple gets a little tricky in its marketing. The company claims the iPhone 16 is the first model “designed from the ground up for Apple intelligence.” The truth is that the processor and other hardware in the new iPhones aren’t significantly better for AI. The key factor is the 8GB of memory, the bare minimum required to run Apple’s intelligence.”

Power users looking forward to new software features and hardware options are likely to be owners of the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max from last year. While Apple could count on some of these updates to be automatic — perhaps they’re part of Apple’s annual “New iPhone” program or simply the kind of fan who would automatically update every year regardless of how advanced the iPhone 16 Pro update actually is.

The specs may be higher than the iPhone 15 models they replace, but not significantly higher. The display can get a little dimmer and a little brighter as needed. The A18 Pro chip is faster than the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro, which was already enough to handle most of the phone’s demands. Apple has increased the memory to support new AI tools, and increased battery life when watching videos.

All of these updates are bigger and more welcome than they were twelve months ago, but none of them feel like progress. Instead, Apple has kept up with broader industry trends, and as the sole iPhone maker, those looking for something a little better have little choice but to buy the occasional update.

But there is one area where Apple has innovated greatly.

After introducing the programmable action button on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max last year, Apple has gone crazy with buttons. The action button is now available on all four iPhone 16 models, and a second capacitive button has been added. The camera control button functions as a shutter button, but thanks to its capacitive nature, it can offer multiple functions, all accessible with a single finger.

This includes exposure and depth-of-field controls, as well as photo filters, zoom, and switching between photo and video modes. The camera control button is certainly a welcome addition to the interface. Forbes contributor David Phelan singled out this change as a game changer for photography enthusiasts:

“There’s a learning curve here, but it’s shallow and easy to manage. The results are fantastic—this is the best way to shoot video and stills on the iPhone, with perfect button placement and responsive mechanics in the control itself.”

The camera button is one of the great features of the new iPhone design, but it’s certainly the only significant addition to the package. Does one button make a feast?

There is, of course, one elephant in the smartphone room that is revolutionizing the field: the use of generative AI.

The iPhone 16 series has been hailed as the first smartphone series designed with Apple’s intelligence. The use of generative AI in smartphones has spread into the public consciousness with the launch of the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in October 2023, and the second generation of the software is set to launch in August 2024.

Since then, Apple has introduced its generative AI system — called Apple Intelligence — to the press twice, first at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June and then at the launch of the iPhone 16 series itself. However, the system is still not available for public release.

The first hints of generative AI will be added to iOS in the v18.1 update due in October, with the popular ChatGPT not being added until December, and core functionality, as is the case across the Android platform, could arrive by March 2025.

The most significant innovation in smartphones won’t be available to iPhone users until spring next year. In the same period, most Android users will not only see the full suite of first-generation generative AI, but will also receive updated second-generation software.

Even with the most generous reading of the “Apple isn’t first, but it’s best” myth, Apple has missed the AI ​​train and is struggling to catch up.

Artificial intelligence has changed the smartphone game, and Apple has promised that AI will do the same when it finally arrives. At this point, it’s impossible to judge whether Tim Cook and his team got it right.

The camera control button has improved the camera performance. However, it would be remiss not to mention that the software for this device is not ready yet, and major features (such as half-pressing to hold focus) are expected to be added in a later update, but Apple has not provided a timeline for that.

Finally, bumping up specs a few percentage points each year like Top Trumps gives us longer battery life, brighter screens, faster processors, and more memory.

There are moments of exhilaration, the promise of more, and the appeal of the Apple brand. Ultimately, the iPhone 16 Pro — and the iPhone 16 family as a whole — is little more than an iterative update to last year’s iPhone 15 Pro.

Read more about Apple’s decision to downgrade the iPhone 16 series in Europe now…